Native Americans

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park, the first American park created to “preserve the works of man.”  It’s since been called “the best cultural attraction” in the Western United States.

Hollow Horn Bear died on March 15, 1913. A Brulé Lakota chief, he fought during the Sioux Wars, including the Battle of Little Big Horn, and became a spokesman for his tribe.

Timothy H. O’Sullivan died from tuberculosis on January 14, 1882.  He was a well-known photographer who captured the brutality of the Civil War and the untamed beauty of the Western United States.

On January 12, 1953, Cape Hatteras became America’s first national seashore. Stretched over 70 miles of barrier islands, this seashore is a fascinating combination of natural and cultural resources.

On December 29, 1890, one of the last major American Indian battles occurred at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. The Wounded Knee Massacre saw the deaths of over 200 Lakota men, women, and children.

Stand Watie was born on December 12, 1806, in Oothcaloga, Cherokee Nation (present-day Calhoun, Georgia).  Watie was the only Native American to achieve the rank of general during the Civil War and was the last Confederate general to surrender.

Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa was established on October 25, 1949. The monument protects and interprets the history behind about 200 mounds built by Native Americans centuries ago.

On September 16, 1893, some 100,000 people raced to claim 6 million acres of land in former Indian Territory in Oklahoma.  It was the largest land run into Oklahoma and resulted in the establishment of 40,000 homesteads. 

Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park was established on May 22, 1902. It’s America’s fifth-oldest national park, the only national park in Oregon, and is home to the deepest lake in the country – Crater Lake.