Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History 20150208

Interactions between european colonial powers and native american tribes on the great plains during the 1700s. He describes the importance of owning horses and guns, and how the tribes had the upper hand on trade and more. Lets go into this lecture about the great plains. Unlike some of the classic American History courses, we have a more expansive view. That includes the great plains. I think we will enjoy this. We have a couple of starting anecdotes. The year is 1720, the spanish in new mexico are hearing more about french activity coming out of louisiana and canada. They hear these rumors that french traders are moving west. That they are aligned with the indians on the great plains. 1720, the governor of new mexico sends an expedition to investigate. 45 spaniards and 60 pueblo indians go out. Everything is uncertain, but they probably get into what is now western nebraska, and they encounter a large group of indians who were probably parties pawnees. They attacked the spanish with both arrows and muskets. They are heavily armed. About two thirds of the spanish are killed in the battle. It is estimated about six survivors survive. It is basically a bit of a disaster for the spanish. The survivors contribute to a painting of the expedition. This is hard to see. It was difficult to get a good resolution copy. It is by an unknown artist. There is a group of spanish and pueblo indians, circled by a lot of indians. Some of the indians have bows, and some of them have guns. There is one thing they dont seem to have come and what might you guess that is . Exactly. In 1720, the spanish are on the planes, attacked by indians who dont seem to have horses. Well, the implications of this expedition, one, you can see spanish fear of the french presence and expansion, and particularly guns and french alliances with indians. You can see the absence of horses. Apparently, you also notice a group of planes indians can defeat a spanish expedition easily. They dont have any particular military advantage. In the aftermath, the spanish have no desire to venture onto the planes and have a repeat of this experience. That is her first outing point. The second starting point has to do with a group of explorers. We will by the way, that is a village that gives you a sense of the habitation the thing countered. Our next starting point is in the early 1740s, to french brothers, sons of the explorer whose document we red for today, go out into south dakota, north dakota, this area around the black hills. They are looking for a number of things, but in particular, they are looking for the headwaters of a Western River that will lead the pacific. That is their ultimate objective. They are probably in the vicinity of the black hills in south dakota. They report back that they couldve seen the pacific from the top. If you know anything about the geography, thats not the case. There guides, who they know as the bow indians, received reports of rates by another group of indians that they call the snakes, probably shoshones. They want to protect it from raiders. The exploration has to be abandoned as the bow indians go back to their home. At this time, all of the indians have horses. This is two decades later, a little bit farther north. The indians that the french explorers encountered to have horses. One way that we know about the location of some of these explorations is this is a great map these french guys are optimistic that maybe they can see the pacific from the black hills. There are some french views of north america that are different than the views we have today. There are persistent rumors in the first half of the 18th century that there is some cn Western North america. This is the leading geographer in france who put together the speculative image of what Western North america would look like. You see that your state is underwater. Europeans at this time dont really know very much about the chair of Western North america. It is still plausible that french explorers are thinking they can reach the waters of the pacific or some inland extension relatively easily. Any ideas what might give rise to this kind of image . Anybody been to utah . You have that thing salt lake that looks really big. If you been out there, you can easily imagine how the stories of salt lake could be magnified. Puget sound seems like an inland but he water. There are some basis for these rumors, but the conclusion that french jeffers come to our farfetched. This is a lead plate, which was left eye the expedition, which was found by some schoolkids during recess in south dakota in 1913. Thats back in the days when everything was totally cool. You can find western exploration when youre playing tag or something. Everybody has the idea that virginia has all these historical sites. You can see that as late as the middle of the 18th century, the french are pretty confused about Western North america. You can also see that the french resins out west is meager. You have two french explorers dependent on the indians they are working with. This is not the imposition of french power. This is a few scouts trying to figure out whats going on out there. Horses have moved north by the 1740s, and there seems to be indications of warfare in the northwestern plains by this time. With these anecdotes in view, we can address some questions. One question we might ask is why when did the study of our spanish of the spanish start . The first half of the course. 15 20s, 15 30s, the coronado expedition early 15 40s. The spanish have been in Western North america for over two centuries. Why are they still largely confined to places like new mexico, texas. Why isnt there more of a spanish presence as you go into other areas. That is one question. The other question is why are the french moving west . And what of the consequences of these movement that theyre pushing west into the planes from canada and louisiana . The final question is the most interesting. What is the relationship between what happens in the 18th century on the planes and the iconic image of north American Indians that most americans have, which is someone Something Like a sioux warrior on a horse. What is the relationship between what were going to talk about today, developments of the 1700s, and that big image . We will start with the spanish. Why is the spanish presence so tentative . Let me give you a couple of images to orient you. I will turn this thing off. This is a man dan indian village. That will be something you can have in mind when were talking about that document. It would have looked Something Like that. This is just a quick image of spanish expansion in texas in the late 17th century. It is moving along the coastal plains. Some key places that we will talk about. The missions around san antonio right there. Those are the most significant ones. Expansion of Spanish Missions into texas, the alamo im not sure it like like this and looked like this in the 1740s. This is a representation of the movement of horses north. Horses start up here in the southern parts of north america, mexico, north america, but you can see this movement of horses north along the planes through the great basin into the northwest. We will talk about that as one of the developments of the 18th century. Not the best map of hudson bay but something we havent talked about, there is this great inland body of water in canada hudson day. There are these british writing post in the late 17th century and 18th century. I want you to get a feel for those. The final image i will show you is basically a sense of new mexico moving up into southwestern nor north america. It is not controlled by the spanish. That will help to situate our discussion. That should be all we need for the moment. Lets talk a little bit about an imperial in fishel official in someplace like madrid. Protective line of places like mexico and peru. Other lucrative mines . Thats later on. Not in the 17th century and 18th century. If you think about the spanish empire, it extends down to the southern portions of south america, peru, bolivia a chile. Its not that surprising that it takes a while for the spanish to begin launching these forays into the planes. There are other ways they can allocate their resources. The coronado expedition back in 16 century we did not talk about that much you recall how this went . Not great. The spanish went out there and discovered thousands of formidable plains indians who were not necessarily going to welcome the spanish. They found the planes were an area of meager rewards and significant danger. That is one factor that held spanish expansion back until the 18th century. The texas it gets going in the early decades of the 18th century. The early decades of 1700s. What do you think is the impetus for the expansion of Spanish Missions into coastal texas . What is happening east of texas that might inspire you . [indiscernible] that is it. The french began a colony in 1699. There is some french exploration down the mississippi before that. The spanish are nervous about the presence of these french guys, the presence of a french colony that might conceivably be a threat to mexico and new mexico. That is the primary reason. The spanish expansion into texas is generally a few missions with a small number of soldiers to go with them. The founding of san antonio and 1718 thats the most significant example of spanish expansion. It is a fight that what do the spanish look for before they found a mission or settlement . If you recall from new mexico, for example. [indiscernible] thats exactly what they find. San antonio is a place with irrigated fields that has been established by local indian communities. The spanish are trying to move into an area that seems compatible with their style of life and also a place with a can grow food to support the mission. The hope is also that the spanish are looking for settled agricultural indians. Thats what they would really like to find. They think they are the most compatible with the spanish way of life and christianity. It is easier to establish a church that can work them in one place. In fact, the way the Spanish Mission in texas work theyre not a great success. Generally speaking, only the most desperate indians go there. They dont have any choice. The population does not increase. By 1760s, san antonio only has about a thousand people. What would bring spanish indians to Spanish Missions question mark works missions . [indiscernible] texas is a dangerous place in the 1700s. The Spanish Missions are one potential place of refuge. There are fortifications, spanish soldiers with guns, an alliance with the spanish empire. Indians are looking for a place where they can take refuge from some of the other indians in the 18th century. For a lot of indians who went to these texas missions, they did not see it as that major of a step in the way they were living. If you recall, there was that season of migration groups from one place to another nuts from one particular grove of trees, moving inland, moving to the coast. The texas indians a few the Spanish Missions as another stop and their seasonal migration. There would be food, a place of refuge. They viewed them as an adaptation of their lifestyle rather than a total change. You did some you do get some of these Spanish Missions, but they were not a great success. They dont generate wealth they dont get a lot of people, highly runnable to indian raids. They dont establish a dominating spanish president s presence. They are vulnerable to indians in that area. One way you can get a sense of bottled dodi is to look at san cyber saba fiasco. It is an effort to move north beyond san antonio. At the request of some local apache indians, in 1707 1757 the spanish build a mission. You get a Spanish Mission. 17 58th, a group of indians most likely an alliance of amenities and wichita indians annihilate the mission. That is a bad way to start out. It is an indication of a vulnerability, even a spanish fortified position in texas. Seeing that is unacceptable, the spanish pursue the comanches and their indian allies north. What they find as they go north is a well fortified indian cap a stockade with a ditch and walls. It is flying a french flag on the top. Its not clear with a came from. The spanish were attacked this fortification claimed there are all kinds of guns and ammunition. They also claim a substantial french presence. They claim that there are people caring french flags and wearing french uniforms. The spanish are repelled with 52 People Killed or wounded. The key point is the weakness of the spanish in texas, and also the fact the indians in texas are formidable. They have fortifications, mobile striking power on forces. The spanish dont have a clear military advantage in places like texas. That helps explain why there is a Spanish Movement to texas, and why its relatively limited. New mexico is also an interesting case, the other key spanish salient in north america. We will talk about california on wednesday. New mexico remains relatively similar to what its been throughout the course. It does not have a massive expansion in the 1700s. Mexico is never a big revenue generator for the spanish and empire. The french are convinced it is and theyre trying to get to it. Mexico is a poor Frontier Colony at the end of a long supply route for them. They dont find the silver mines that the spanish were hoping for. It is a poor salient in the north. In 1765, theres only about 10,000 people of spanish dissent and 10,000 pueblo indians in new mexico. It is relatively poor and small in terms of population. Isolated at the end of a long supply route for mexico city. It still does not have any big earning commodities. There is some trained trade. Any idea of what its economic basis would be . [indiscernible] theres some production of local crops but does not great export commodity. There is a small for trade, but again, not lucrative. There is a slave trade in new mexico, sending indian slaves taken in raids around mexico down into mexico itself. In that sense, from the sort of brutal logic of an early modern colony, the fact that mexico is up there with indians who are not part of the spanish system does mean that there are more indian groups that they can rate for slaves. That is part of new mexicos economy. The biggest problem new mexico has in addition to the fact that it is relatively meager economically is what would you guess . Its so far away from its a long way away from the center. If its a long way from the spanish power, what is a close to . [indiscernible] that is exactly right. There are a lot of indian peoples surrounding new mexico who become more and more formidable as the 1700s go on. New mexico has to worry about the comanches to the west, the apaches all over the place, the navajos, who are to the northwest. There are a lot of indian groups. The governor of new mexico is concerned. It is a highly vulnerable colony. It is surrounded. It is concerned that some of these indians surrounding it are increasingly caring french weapons. One big difference between the spanish colonies in new mexico and texas and the french colonies and places like louisiana is the spanish discourage the trade in guns with the indians. The french encourage the trade in guns. That makes the spanish very nervous. It means the potential enemy are much better armed. Lets talk now about lets shift from the spanish colonies and talk about these indians out the planes themselves. You can see that weve had a little hint of a very interesting story thats going on. Lets first go back in time of little bit and talk about some of the developments that lead up to what happens in the 1700s. The first thing to talk about is that when we are talking about the 1700s there are a lot indian communities on the great plains who are growing crops agricultural horticultural, big town surrounded by fields growing things like corn. This development really starts about going way back, there is a movement of the growing of corn moving up the mississippi and moving west along the trip to terrys of the mississippi to the point where a river like the missouri has these significant villages that are growing a lot of cornbread around them. These villages are surrounded by cornfields. The pawnees are another example of these communities. What typically happens to communities that grow a lot of food . They are very sluggish. They can move quickly. The population grows. One thing you get is that these towns often a really big hundreds or thousands of People Living in fortified substantial villages are towns along the tributaries of the mississippi and missouri. It is a formation of a new style of life from what it was before 780. The villages are not just growing corn. They are also hunting buffalo. You have to supplement a diet with protein. They are often involved in handicrafts and basic production. By the 18th century, they start getting horses. The spanish see some of these and the spanish and french see them in the 17th century and 18th century. Thats one big feature of the planes at this time. Theres another big feature of the planes, and this is what makes the planes and exciting place and a dramatic place. Lets go back to your iconic image of the north american indian, which is a guy on a horse. When does that start . When the spanish arrived when the french arrive, when the europeans arrived in north america, then there are horses in north america. They went extinct in that big way big big wave of extinction. What would you happen, what would you guess. What would you suspect that happened to those forces with spanish settlements and new mexico . [indiscernible] horses can move. They will escape. They can be stolen. Thats another possibility. Even by the middle of the 17th century, some horses are getting way from the spanish. They are getting into the possession of some of his indian peoples, some of the apaches seem to have horses before the pueblo revolt. That is one thing. There is that other thing, a pueblo real revolt of 1680. In addition to the spanish being temporary tempora rarely driven out, lots of horses. Tempora rarely. For a few moments, i want you to think of yourself as a horse ok . Its always constructive. You get away from the spanish here you are feeling good. You cross that range of mountains and take a good look over the planes. What you think . This is my lucky day. I just found one of the best places in the world to be a horse. What is there on the plains . Lots of grass, and not a lot of horses. There are buffaloes, but you can do with them. When the horses get away from new mexico, especially those who get onto the plains, this is a great place to be a horse. Horses multiply quickly on the plains. That is the horse side of the story, which is important. There is this other side of the story as well. If youre one of these indian groups around mexico, nor the new mexico, maybe moving on to the plains yourself. You suddenly cities big animals. You have some knowledge they can be domesticated. With experimentation you pick up a horse for yourself. Now you have peoples who for millennia have hunted on foot, now they have one of the more formidable creatures of the early modern world. If you wanted to have a good example of a people who profit from the presence of spanish forces, the comanches are good one. The comanches are a people who are related to the shoshones. They get to the planes by the 1700s. They move into the planes at a time when horses are already there. The comanches relatively quickly in the 1700s adopt horses for themselves. They make it a critical part of their lifestyle. They essentially become a mounted people. What is the advantage of being a mounted people on the plains in the 1700s . What can you do . [indiscernible] you can hunt buffalo when you have horses. What are the advantages of hunting buffalo . Yet. Yeah . [indiscernible] you have a great source of protein. And you have items that you can sell to other people, buffalo hide to pueblo indians. They give them the ability to haunt at a greater distance, more efficiently. The plains are a good place. Thats one thing. What else . You can hunt buffalo. Thats good. What else can you do with your horses . [indiscernible] that is kind of neutral language. You can expand your control. What with that expansion control feel like . [indiscernible] you could get on your horse and move quickly. All of a sudden, you have a military advantage over the folks you had a quarrel with for the past two decades. One thing that happens is the comanches move over into west texas, one group hangs on the plains near new mexico, but these comanches are now militarily and extremely Formidable Group of people. Even without rivals, but certainly when they get guns from the french. They can move fast. They can attack isolated spanish settlements. They can hit an outlying ranch. They can take what they want and disappear before the spanish can get them. They can choose the point at which they attack. They can also attack the apache settlements. Prior to the movement of the comanches on the Southern Plains, the apaches have been the dominant group. After the comanches get horses, the apaches are no longer the dominant group in the Southern Plains. They disperse off the Southern Plains. Some of them look for refuge with the spanish in texas. Some of them move into the mountainous areas in southern and western new mexico. They are driven away by the comanches, who become the dominant force on the Southern Plains over the course of the 1700s. It is important to know that comanches can rate rate other peoples. Raid other peoples. They will Exchange Buffalo items for various things. Other years, they will raid the spanish. It depends on a variety of factors. There is an alternation between violent interaction and peaceful economic interaction. That is true on the plains as a whole. One of the great ironies of all this and these comanche developments extend to a number of different plains people over the 1700s. As the horse moves north different people adopt horses. The sioux will adopt horses. Different groups see the horse as a potential advantage, and you get a lot of groups profiting. That example i gave you, you can see some of the consequences of people beginning to move easily across the plains and raid one another. One of the great ironies is this , whats the best way to get at this . Who are the bad as people in history . [indiscernible] i think there a contender. When you get to the 20th century, theres a lot of competition. The mongrels, genghis khan, you can argue hes the baddest dude in history. You could argue of attila and the huns are the baddest. What eric arises these classic baddies . Im just suggesting. If you took a poll. I think they are pumped about this in mongolia. What characterizes them . [indiscernible] absolutely. One of the great continuities of your race in history is you have these guys who live on the steps of eurasia. They get horses and that enables them to be these formidable mounted people. They dont have guns, but they have compound bows. They will have 12 horses at a time. You see these alternations and eurasian history between the power and the step nomads, and the settled people who always have to deal with this. Any idea when the step nomads are done as a feature of eurasian history . When theyre no longer a threat . Go ahead. [indiscernible] even earlier, actually, the 18th century. China launches an expansion to the west. They basically destroyed the major step, nomad empires. The point i want to get across is this feature of you raise in the 1700s. China is not worried about the step nomads after the 1800s. If you look at this in the broadest perspective, it is exactly the moment that a certain kind of lifestyle, certain military technology or tactics, exactly the moment when its over finished, antiquated in eurasia. It suddenly appears on the plains of north america. It is a balancing mechanism in the world where horses crop up and they have their heyday in north america well into the 19 century. Lets take a break. Should we take a break . Pardon me . [indiscernible] i did not think about that. I did not think about that. Let me give you a few more points, and then we will take a break. Where do the french fit into this story . They are trying to expand west in the 18th century from louisiana and canada. They have a number of objectives. Finishing up that discussion of the spread of horses onto the plains, it leads to people rising and falling quickly. To give you good example, the shoshone indians were so frightened in the 18th century. When lewis and clark go west, the shoshones are hiding in the rockies trying to survive. People have who have a brief moment of dominance on the plains, that moment is often brief. This a lot of conflict on the plains and that leads to instability. That will be one feature of the plains into the 19th century. The other factor, and i talked about how if youre a horse imagine that you go out of the mountains on to the plains, this is totally excellent. Assuming there are two horses, what happens relatively quickly after these horses get onto the plains and start eating grass . Three horses, for horses, all of a sudden you have a lot of horses on the plains. There are ready a lot of buffalo on the plains. The plains art big, our big our big. They seem infinite. You have wet periods, dry periods, hot. s,yeah . By the 19 century, you have an ego crisis on the plains when theres too many grass eating animals out there eating lots of grass. There are only so many animals that the plains can sustain. This gives you a sense of introducing a horse into a new environment. The consequences are endless. Ecologically, militarily culture, big change in many ways. Lets talk about the french and then we wont go for discussion. The french are expanding west from louisiana and canada. It is a little bit different than what you saw in the 17th century. There are still missionaries involved but there is more of an emphasis on trade, furs human beings, but less of an emphasis on missionaries conversion of indians. The french are quiet happy to trade guns to western indians. That does give them an advantage when theyre competing with the spanish. What are the french looking for as they go west into north america . Why would they bother to go at all . [indiscernible] [indiscernible] they are still hoping that there will be some relatively easy water route leading to the pacific. This is farfetched. And the first decade of the 19 century, they are still thinking that lewis and clark will still find something. There will be this nice navigable river. Instead, this is your moment. When lewis and clark get west of the rockies, what did they discover . Idaho. One range of mountains after another. The french dont know that. They are still hoping for a relatively easy way to get to the pacific. I will talk more about that on wednesday, but theyre hoping for a rude to the pacific and trade with asia. They are also hoping with new trading partners. They have heard rumors that there might be elaborate civilizations on the pacific coast. From what theyve heard from second hand accounts, they think maybe japan and china have outpost. They think maybe there is some kind of indian civilization in the northwest. It gives rise to that kind of story, places to the farther east. Anybody from British Columbia Washington State . You do have in the northwest big sophisticated indian towns in the Pacific Northwest with monumental architecture, big oceangoing canoes, fantastic sculpture, living in fantastic wealth because all they have to do is dip their hands into the water and they find to salmon. When youre talking about information traveling hundreds of miles, it could set up stories or even the two rumors of other peoples in the northwest. The french are very curious about this. They have heard rumors that there might be europeans in the west, spanish, russians. They are trying to figure this kind of stuff out. They are moving to the west. The big limitations on the french, theres not a lot of them. They are really beyond the range of french power. These are small parties. As we know from earlier in the 17th century, what do the french do to compensate for the fact that there are not many of them . [indiscernible] exactly. They try to make friends with the different indian groups. The same problem. In the 17th century, the french allow themselves and that makes them the indians of the earthquake. Who do they antagonize . The sioux. Back the french are among the less lucky adventures of the 18th century. The enemies they make are formidable. There is a family exploration that is killed by a sioux war party. Even if the sioux make certain allies, they also antagonize of the groups. If we wanted to summarize the take away points from this particular material, i think the first thing is regional dynamism. The plains are not static in the 1700s, all kinds of changes going on. The adoptions of crops cornbased agriculture, which you see in centuries preceding this, the horse coming out onto the plains in the late 17th century and 18th century. This is a different place than it was before. Regional dynamism. The second are these crop going peoples. The economic image of the plains indians it is worth noticing. If you think about the course as a whole, look at how many of these kinds of indian peoples we have seen. The folks at coronado met. The pueblo indians in new mexico. Different groups in her zone of. Again and again, we are seeing these indians that are different than the classic stereotype that we see in American History. I think the third point is the formation of these horse peoples of the plains in the 1700s. This really is a crucial development. It does set the stage for a lot of what you see in the 19th century. That is enough of me talking. Now i will make you guys perspire. I will shift the discussion and we will see how much fun you had over thanksgiving. You have to admit, these documents were short. No extra essays and everything. They should be a pleasure. If not, i can guide you through these. Do you want to start with the french or with new mexico . The french it is. We have this account in the fall and early winter of 17 38th, he is going out to biz of the man then villages. If he is trying to establish what . What is he hoping for . What kind of relationship would he like to establish . What kind of relationship to the french always want to establish question mark some kind of trading relationship. Go ahead and raise your hand before asking a question that will give time for the microphone to move to you. A microphone has difficulty keeping up with the rapidity of our thought. It is true. Some kind of trade relationship and alliance. If youre going to establish a french trading relationship with people like the mandan. If you want to trade with the french, who do not want the mandans to trade with . So, you remember that map i should your the beginning of class. I showed you at the beginning of class. . You have these egg inland seas in Northern North America called hudsons bay. On the edges, you have the british establishing these trading post along the edge of hudsons bay. The british, what they try to do is encourage indians from inland to come to the coast along the edge of hudsons bay and give them what . What in the age before whats the virtue of Northern Canada in terms of their particular commodities . [indiscernible] absolutely. They want the attendant indians to do all the work of getting the first and then giving the first furs. From the point of view of a french explorer . Outmaneuvered. If we look at page 295 the righthand column, he talks about i got the two chiefs to come to my tent. I knew they went to the english post. One of them received a present as an inducement. What is the problem . You have these indians trading with the british. You dont want that. What do you do to sort of what can you do to draw these western indians . Draw them away from english . Give them better gifts. Exactly. Nice. Better gifts and gifts. That is one interesting aspect of it. The french are trying to establish a trading relationship, but they have to give something away. There is a high initial investment of giving gifts to giving them to groups like the mandans. If the british rely in sitting in these forts and waiting for the indians to come to them, what can they do . They go out to the indian forts and communicate directly. Thats exactly what they do. The french began moving west. There is a chain of lakes extending west of the great lakes the goal the way to Northern Canada. The french are moving out into the western interior of north america. The going directly to the trading partners rather than waiting for them to go to hudson bay. Thats working a lot harder. When are the western indians are they without a negotiating position . What kind of thing to they say . We would love to have a trading relationship with you if for example, the french abandoned us. As long as the french remain in our lands, we promise you not to go elsewhere to what is the upshot of that . What is the upshot of that . They can have demands on the french. You cant just come and go. You have to stay. They are asking for an ongoing relationship with the french that will be equal and predictability for what they can do with the british and hudson bay. They are moving the french. Here is what we expect from you. There is a negotiation going on. Lets see, on 296 as were going down, we will keep quiet and let the sioux indians do the same. Our heart is still sore on account of your sun. That is just what i was talking about before. It is part of the french expansion into the interior, moving of these trade relationships. Some people dont come back. It is a dangerous operation. Lets see here, what makes it great to be a mandan . They seem to have impressive fortifications and they are expert traders. Absolutely. You go to the mandan and you dont find a bunch of tents. You dont find a paltry settlement. You see big towns with permanent buildings with fortifications, a big moat, but it sounds like some thing for middle to deal with. It is impressive physically. What is the basis for this mandan town . What establishes its position on the Northern Plains . What does it have to offer . You can kind of figure. If some people live by hunting buffalo for example, and other people spend time growing corn what might be a basis of exchange . [indiscernible] buffalo for corn. Yes thats one. You can imagine the exchange of Agricultural Products for animal products. If you have a nice town with nice houses and you spent a lot of time in those houses, especially in winters in north dakota and south dakota, what can you do with your spare time in your rich agricultural village in the upper missouri . With your buffalo hides that you traded for . Yes . You can work with it. You can create clothing. Absolutely. They are also a manufacturing town. They make baskets, clothing, all kinds of goods out of animal products and Agricultural Products which they can then trade with other plains people who are less secretary and move around. The mandans seemed like good at that. Seem quiet good at that. The town is well fortified. Are you happy to have people visited . I think so. People trade with you. Maybe you can establish a relationship with the french. Thanksgiving is a good time to talk about this. When people show up your village at your village, what do they want to do with your corn . They need to thing them feed them, but they dont want to sell it all. When they show up as guests they eat a lot of the mandan corn. Does this remind you of anything . When they were going to the pueblo towns, eating pueblo corn. This is reminiscent, this idea of moving around on the plains while europeans service the center of attraction. That provides you an entree to village, where you can eat here that is a significant factor. If they are worried that another group are eating too much of their corn, what do the mandan say . That the sioux are coming to attack. Exactly. On the one hand, i think the mandan looked down on another group. What does that tell you about we talked about trade. That is one thing that makes the mandan a prosperous village. We also talked about the fact that all you do is say that the sioux are over there, and they will run away. What does this say about the tenor of life on the Northern Plains in the late 1730s. There are different diplomatic relations and understandings going on between the different cultural groups. A high level of interaction that you would not otherwise expect. Theres economic relationships. There are relationships that seem to change regularly. There is a lot going on. You can see how just trying to figure out how this works, who is afraid of whom, who is allied with whom is not so easy. That is part of the difficulty that the french have when they get out into the Northern Plains. They try to understand these relationships, many of which are changing rapidly. If the french are interested in finding europeans civilized people in the west, do they find them . In their view . Is that were there were looking for . He does not sound that excited. He is happy to meet the mandan but he had heard rumors that there was a european people on the Northern Plains. He feels the disappointed. What reports does he get . Do the mandan talk about the other groups on the plains . On page 301, lefthand column they built their forts and lodges in the same way. They grew corn and tobacco down the river. The water was not drinkable. The land was inhabited by white people like ourselves. The word iran iron seems to be applied indiscriminately to all metals. By killing a horse iron bucklers which they handled with great skill. What we talking about . Probably . Most likely . It is an account of the spanish in new mexico. There may be some sort of mixing of categories. There are indians associated with new mexico who now have spanish weaponry and horses. Other groups are adopting horses , but the root of this is the spanish. What does that tell you about Information Networks on the Northern Plains . Is Movement Restricted . New mexico is a long way from south dakota and north dakota. Mandan information, if the can talk about the spanish that would suggest that information seems to be moving on the plains. What would facilitate the spread of information on the plains in the 1700s . Conceivably, horses are moving information more quickly. People are so terrified by horse peoples, information is moving less rapidly. It raises the question. I think it is that people are moving information and trading goods longer distances. Lets shift a little bit too new mexico governor in 1754. He is writing a report to his successor saying that if you want to be a governor new mexico, this is what you need to do. This flows from what we talked about earlier. What is the big problem for the governor new mexico . What keeps him up at night . It practically answers itself. Yes . [indiscernible] potentially, but also attacks on the indians outside the colonies. What mike a revolt of the pueblo indians less likely in the 18th century that it had been in the 17th century . Because they have already very brutally put one down. There is the unfortunate explains with the previous rebellion. Outside of new mexico, there are these indian groups that are as potentially dangerous as they are to the spanish. They are surrounded by people who are potentially trading new mexico is surrounded by potential trading partners and also dangers. Lets get a sense of this. Who are some of the names . Who are the groups of indians he talks about . On page three of three in the left column, you have the apaches, comanches yutes one after another. When he talks about the settlement new mexico on the north with the population driven out, is new mexico a stable colony in 1750 . No. There are certain parts of northern new mexico in danger of being wiped out. It is not just for the the comanches have horses. The yutes have moved into new mexico and adopted horses. They can raid spanish new mexico. He says the conservation of the friendship, a change in tone, and the rest of the allied tribes is one of the greatest considerations which their trade and good relations bring to this province. What has he done . You cannot beat them . Ally with them. You have a group like the yutes capable of ravaging parts of northern new mexico. The thing to do is establish an alliance with the yutes who presumably have enemies as well so you can protect yourself. Find allies among the people most dangerous to you. Is the relationship between new mexico and the surrounding indians on the planes always one of hostility . It is not. Sometimes there are trade fairs where they will come down. If you are the government of new mexico and have hundreds or more of different groups of indians coming together in his big trade fairs, what might you want to do as governor to make sure this works out nicely . What is the danger when you bring together hundreds of people from different ethnic groups, many of whom are heavily armed and are involved in economic relationships where there is a danger there will be trickery, fraud, and a seat deceit . He had the big bag with demand and, command and the mandan, and they stole his back of goodies. What is one danger when people come together to trade . Actually, multiple dangers. Theft, violence fraud. Exactly. Business. [laughter] all the things that happened today. There is a danger you will have people stealing each others stuff, have people trying to cheat each other and getting angry afterwards. Thefts fraud violence. You will have people who did not like each other the year before who are staring across a field outside of santa fe. So there is the danger of violence between these groups. What do you do as the governor of new mexico to keep a lid on this . You have troops in santa fe. They are not huge, but presumably you have an orderly presence. If you want to do a business deal today, what precedes a business deal . Sort of wine and dine them. Give them gifts. He wine and dine, share food, smoke together. At the time, you would smoke pipes to establish a friendly relationship. You can use your one another you reassure one another. As governor, bob down before me . Bad strategy. What do you do instead . What do you do today . How have you been . How are your wives . How did the rate go . You have to be polite and not condescending. Not let on what a lot of the spanish governors probably actually feel. You need to have good manners with people who are numerous and heavily armed. What is the danger if he see the spanish align with the utes . What would be the indepth new mexico . The less what would be the end of new mexico . If they all allied together. You want to be on good terms with a lot of these folks. You definitely do not want to be on bad terms with all of them. There are not that many spanish in new mexico. They are vulnerable. It cannot defend itself against that many people. You want to have trading fairs where it is profitable to interact peacefully. You want to be polite. Sometimes people wont listen to reason. What do you have to do then . For example, the comanches as he talks about at one point . At one point page 304 they have maintained good faith since i punished them with the armed forces. I have observed the greatest equity and kindness with arms which they did not believe in because they were arrogant from dominating the rest of the tribes. What you have to do . You have got to be polite. In his description you have to show from time to time you are formidable. Occasionally spanish would be called upon to go out and humble one of these indian nations. They think of the comanches as the most elevated in the sense of themselves because they have dominated the area between new mexico and texas in the 18th century. They feel like the lords of the Southern Plains. He is dealing with that. If you want to have peace with the utes, you would like to keep things stable of the comanches many of the groups he talks about many other groups he talks about who would you like to concentrate your attention on . If you want to make peace with everybody except one group, who is the one group you want to get rid of your other enemies and stabilize relationships so there is one group of people you can go after . If you only knew five indian nations from your watching of western movies growing up . The apaches actually. The apaches and navajo are related. The apaches were on the Southern Plains before the comanches drove them off. They moved into areas south of new mexico into northern new mexico. They are conducting extensive raids on spanish settlements. Is talking about lets make peace with everybody else and go after these guys. Lets attack the apaches and an end these raids on new mexico and other spanish settlements to. What makes it so difficult to defend new mexico and other spanish settlements . What is the strategic difficulty . Sam . It is a big place. It is a large colony. Is thinly settled so it is not densely populated. You have a large area with a lot of outlying ranches and small villages. What is the great danger for a Spanish Ranch in the 1750s . Yeah. Go ahead. The apaches could burn your house, into a little dance and leave before anyone realized what was happening. Exactly. The spanish cannot keep a military force at every ranch in new mexico. They have all these dispersed settlements. All of these are highly vulnerable. To comanches on mobile the comanches are mobile. They can attack in outlying settlement and the spanish cannot do much about it. On page 308, he talks about the people of new mexico. Because of extreme poverty, they are worthy of compassion. Their cattle and sheep are exposed to the attacks of the barbarians. The enemy never comes in large numbers but in small parties to hide their trailing prevent discovery. He goes on to talk about albuquerque later. They wish to have a soldier for every cow and horse they pasture. Ive tried to accustom them to the idea that each one should take care of the defense of his own hacienda. What is the solution . Yes. You are on your own. [laughter] the solution is you have flying parties to guard the access routes to the settlements. That does not always work. The other thing is good luck you know. Just imagine hypothetically for some reason you are in mexico city and it comes into your mind i need to immigrate, go someplace else, about new mexico what about new mexico . It does not seem like it would be that appealing. To see the dangers of new mexico you see the dangers of new mexico. Now i am going to hand back the papers. Join us each saturday evening for classroom lectures from across the country on different topics and eras of American History. Lectures are also available as podcasts. Visit our website or download them from itunes. Aside from the white house the smithsonian portrait gallery has the nations largest collection of president ial portraits. Join a sunday as the historian gives a tour of the president ial paintings including those of andrew jackson, abraham lincoln, and harry truman sunday here on American History tv. Each week, american artifacts visits museums and historic places. The United States Botanic Garden was first proposed by president George Washington in a 1796 letter. Next, a visit to the grounds of the oldest Botanic Garden in north america to learn about the history of this plant museum. My name is ari novy, i am the executive director of the United States Botanic Garden. We are standing on union square, which is the end cap of the National Mall on the east side just before you arrive at the United States capital. Is a fascinating piece of land because it has gone through many transformations in terms of what has been here over the course of the history of washington, d. C. , since around 1800. Eight is important to the Botanic Garden because the first United States Botanic Garden was on this piece of land even though today it is most notably associated with the reflecting pool and memorial to grant. What i would like to do today is present a little bit of the early history of the United States Botanic Garden, so a couple of the remaining trees that date back to the original Botanic Garden location, and also talk about the process by which the Botanic Garden came to be. Eventually moved across the street from where it is currently and a little about the famous fountain that originally was placed here by congress and also made its way to blocks south in the 20th century. We are open 355 days a year 306 the last 356 on leap years, free of charge. We get visitors from all over the world. We aim to delight people in the wonders of plants and put a smile on your face. And with that smile we believe we can educate about some of the wonders and services the plant kingdom provides to human beings. Here are some of our featured programs this weekend on the cspan networks. Tonight at 10 00 the Washington Bureau chief on the british efforts in 2009 to stop the taliban advance in afghanistan while awaiting u. S. Marines reinforcement. Sunday at 10 00, Senior Editor on the u. S. Senates torture report and why his company decided to publish it. On cspan3 all this month, interviews with former korean war p. O. W. s. At 10 00, an Army Sergeant captured by the chinese and held from 1950 until 1953. Just after nigh 9 00, look at a look back at some and the Voting Rights act. Let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. Call us. Email us. Or send us a tweet. Join the cspan conversation. Like us on facebook. Follow us on twitter. Author edith gelles e