In Farm, Field, and Fireside you will find material that documents the "opening up" of Indian lands for settlement by Americans. The journals for the most part adopt the perspective of westward moving settlers: Americans who want to move onto reserved Indian lands, and those already living there--sometimes legally, sometimes illegally. 

The kinds of documents you will find include, but are not limited to:

• Land Advertisements. Example: Farmers, Here's Your Opportunity!
• Railroad Advertisements. Example: Homeseekers' Excursions.
• Other advertisements. Example: Rand McNally's Official Map of Indian Territory.
• Articles. Example: Opening the Great Cattle Driveways.
• Opinion pieces. Example: Moral Suasion for Indians.
• Letters to the editor. Example: Oklahoma vs. Indian Territory.
• Maps. Example: Map Showing the Great Sioux Reservation, and the Portion to be Open for Settlement. Example: The Status in Oklahoma.
• News briefs on government actions: The Oklahoma Tract.
• Descriptions of "open" land, and the spread of railroads. Example: Notes from Northern Nebraska.
• News on available lands. Example: Land of Opportunity.
• Fictional works. Examples: The Land Deal at Red Dog and Running Eagle: The Warrior Girl.
• Works for children. Example: Rural Voice Young People's League.

Keep your keyword searches simple to begin with. For example: "Pine Ridge" instead of "Pine Ridge Reservation."

Try both specific searches and general. For example, names of people like "Red Cloud", or of legislation like "Kinkaid Bill", would be specific searches. For general searches, combine keywords like Indian* AND Homestead*, or Indian AND Allotment*.

Use the language of the time period you're researching. For example, keyword searches like savage* or "red men" OR "red man." Of course, you won't always be familiar with contemporary language, which is why it's helpful to keep a record of vocabulary as you discover it in the articles you read.

Try variant spellings and variant forms, For example, "red men" OR "redmen." Names of Indian tribes also appear in variant forms. For example, try both Sauk, Saukee, and Sac; both Fox and Outagami; and Ojibwa, Ojibway, Ojibwe, Ojibbeway, and Chippewa.

Build searches by combining different concepts. For example, if I'm studying the construction of roads through Indian lands, I'd combine words like road* AND reservation*, or road* AND indians, or trail AND reservation*. Be sure to experiment with different words for each concept, using general and specific terms.

For more search strategies and background information, see our guide Farm, Field and Fireside: Indian Lands.