time go to c-span.org/history. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. c-span3 is featuring omaha nebraska. chartered in 1862, union pacific along with the central pacific railroad were tasked with building the route from omaha to sacramento, california. the railroad was completed in 1869. our fox communication cable partners work with city tours staff when we travel to omaha to explore the city's rich history. learn more about omaha all weekend here on american history tv. >> it was established as the headquarters of the department.

all the indian wars were fought out of this place. even little bighorn, cheyenne outbreak, wounded knee and 1890. -- in 1890. >> the museum is named for general crook. the house was named after him because he was the first general who lived here. there was started in 18 78th and fascinating 79. -- it was started in 18 78t78, and finished in 1879. the buildings would be brick rather then wooden structures.

this is the first brick structure built on the fort. one of the things the fort is known for his holden standing there. standing bear was the leader of a small peaceful tribe. they had their homeland up north of where we are now in a place called the river country. they had been there for generations. during a treaty that the americans made, their homeland was given away by mistake and they were forced to move to oklahoma. the original promise was we will send you to oklahoma and if you like it we will send the rest of

the tribe down there. if you don't like it, you can come back up. that was never going to be the case. they hated it. it was hot. the land was foreign. they said that we don't like it and want to go back. they had to walk back up. eventually the whole tribe immigrated down to oklahoma. many died along the way. one of standing bear's daughters died on the trek down there, as well as many children and older people. the sun passed away, and it was his dying wish that he would be buried in the land of his fathers. his father with a small group of 20 people in the dark of night headed north, traveling by night they made it on foot all the way north of where we are now to the omaha and winnebago

reservations. it was there that they were finally caught by the army and the army demanded they be sent back to oklahoma. this is where general crook enters the picture. general crook had served in the civil war and most the rank of brigadier general. he was captured before the end of the war and held prisoner for a month before being released. he made his fame in the indian wars. he fought against toronto. he fought against crazy horse. over time, he started his career in the pacific northwest. so he fought over a span of several decades, and over time he became sympathetic to the native americans. he tried to ensure that as much as possible the treaties that had been made with them were actually honored. he was interested in native

american culture. he was registered in her history, religion, and over time he became interested in them and did not think of them as less than human. he thought of them as human just as he was. that sounds ridiculous, but at the time it was pretty unusual. and so i think he saw that they had families, love their children, love their husbands and wives, and he felt they were treated very poorly. he wanted to try to do what he could to ensure that they were treated honorably. he was asked to take them, send them back down to oklahoma with no delay. he felt this was an injustice and so he recruited a friend of his,, ta thomas tibbles, the

tolling the story. he said i would to rally support and sue me. a trial was held to determine whether they could be moved back to oklahoma. what happened was the 14th amendment had been passed not to long before this. tibble recruited some omaha lawyers to be standing bear's lawyers. they decided they were can use the 14th amendment, which was basically if you can be established as a person, then you have certain citizenship rights. native americans were not considered persons under the law. the attempt was to get the court to agree that this man was a person. and therefore he has certain rights, including the right to

live where he wanted to live. the upshot of the trial was that the judge decided that he was a person under the law and therefore had certain rights and could not be forcibly removed. the irony of it is that had this been held through the native americans would have been able to go back where they came from, mass chaos so the ruling was limited to standing bear and his 20 or so followers. they use the weapons available to them. armed resistance was futile. they had never been a warlike people anyway. the only -- the reason it worked as because they use the white man's own weapons against him the rule of law against them and if the the lord to refuty were to refute their own law

they would lose. to use the white man rules in order to get justice for this red man. after the trial after this ruling thundered through the >>, standing bear and his interpreter -- thundered through the courts, standing bear and his interpreter traveled across the country in kind of a fund-raising thing. they would speak, charge admission, raise money, to make this decision affect a lot more. to try to change laws for native american rights.

the poet longfellow became a follower and a sympathizer and said in his poem, hiawatha, he said i see the virtual representation of the character in his poem. there were these famous people who got on board. the end result was an act by senator who created this bill but what it did was, it was intended to provide citizenship for native americans. they were given 160 acres, and if they proved their -- they would eventually be able to become citizens. what happened was these lands

held by the tribe were broken up into 160 acre parcels, and of course there were some parcels that weren't claimed, so white settlers came in and took those or they would buy the 160 acres from native americans for a reduced price and the reservations were gutted because of the act. while the intention might have been good, the result was horrific. it was disastrous. another further irony of this whole attempt to gain equal rights for native americans. it was misused and abused and resulted in perpetuation of their inferior status as opposed to what it was intended to do. people look at this and say this is incredible that it took the rule of court to determine that a native american was a person.

it is. when we look back at the filter of our country and think how could that be and we not see this. and yet, there is also an error made in thinking this was a significant ruling that changed everything. it didn't. it changed things for standing bear and a few followers. the last person to begin in or native americans, 1924. after white males, black males females, and the last was native americans, 1924. 1879 on>> american history tv is featuring omaha nebraska. our staff traveled there to learn about its rich history. learn more about omaha and other stops on c-span.org/cities to

tour. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3. >> american history tv, 40 at hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter at c-span history for information are scheduled upcoming programs and to keep up with the latest history news. >> american artifex takes you to museums and historic places. we traveled to philadelphia to learn about the museum of the american revolution located two blocks from independent hall. it is scheduled to open in early 2017.

>> this is the first newspaper printing of the declaration of independence. many will have seen the large broadsides printed, posted up in public places, this is probably the way many colonial americans first red the words of the declaration of independence was in newspapers in philadelphia, then quickly scattering out to the other colonies and eventually appearing in print. independence had actually been already declared on july 2 1776. we celebrate the fourth. the fourth is the day the final version of the declaration was adopted by congress and then sent often printed. this is tuesday, july 2, 1776.

just general disruptions of activity going on in various cities around the world and around the nation, news, things going on a providence, newport new haven philadelphia. the news must have arrived very in the day because they had set the type, into the news column just before the classified ads and here, this day the continental congress declared the united colonies free and independent states. that is the announcement of the birth of the united states. then, to be sold and we move on to the classifieds. i love showing people that as much as the declaration. that is really the birth of the united states. >> the museum of the american

revolution will be a national museum dedicated to advancing learning about the american revolution. it will create a single place where americans can, and learn about the miracle of how this nation came into being, where its ideals came from, and how this original great generation established our country. >> on january 20 6, 1915 woodrow wilson signed the rocky mountain national park act spanning 415 square miles and north central colorado. up next on american history tv, author james pickering examines enos mills in the park creation