Henry M . Teller Henry Moore Teller ( May 23 , 1830February 23 , 1914 ) was a U . S . politician from Colorado , serving as a US senator between 1876 – 1882 and 1885 – 1909 . He also served as Secretary of the Interior between 1882 and 1885 . He strongly opposed the Dawes Act , intended to break up communal Native American lands and force assimilation of the people . He accurately said that it was directed at forcing the Indians to give up their land so that it could be sold to white settlers . Biography . Teller served in the Senate and Cabinet for over thirty years , and was connected with the Free Silver question , beginning in 1880 . During that time , he did much in and out of Congress with tongue and pen . In 1892 , he was instrumental in securing in the Republican National Convention a declaration in favor of bimetallism , and he was a conspicuous actor in the prolonged fight in the Senate against unconditional repeal . His standing in the Republican Party , together with his great ability and high character , made him the leader of the Silver Republican Party . At the Republican National Convention of 1896 in St . Louis , Teller led the revolt against the Republican platform , and his withdrawal from the party that year cost the Republican candidate thousands of votes . The silver Republicans favored his nomination for the Presidency , and his state of Colorado voted for him on the first ballot in the Democratic Convention . After the nomination had been made , he joined with other leading Silver Republicans in an address supporting the Democratic ticket . Unlike many other Silver Republicans , Teller never returned to the Republican Party . He served as a Democratic senator for the rest of his career , becoming one of few politicians to switch parties . Teller helped the Democratic Party gain more power in Colorado , which was previously dominated by Republicans . Historically , Teller is probably best known for sponsoring an amendment to the Joint Resolution for war with Spain , passed by the House and Senate on April 19 , 1898 . Teller died February 23 , 1914 , and is buried at Fairmount Cemetery in Denver . Teller and Indian rights . Teller was one of the most outspoken opponents of the allotment of Indian land . Allotment was a process by which communal ownership of Indian lands would be ended , and the land portioned out to individual Indians , the " excess " to be sold to the government . In 1881 , Teller said that allotment was a policy " to despoil the Indians of their lands and to make them vagabonds on the face of the earth . " Teller also said , “ The real aim this bill is to get at the Indian lands and open them up to settlement . The provisions for the apparent benefit of the Indians are but the pretext to get at his lands and occupy them … If this were done in the name of greed , it would be bad enough ; but to do it in the name of humanity , and under the cloak of an ardent desire to promote the Indian ' s welfare by making him lie ourselves , whether he will or not , is infinitely worse . ” Teller would be proven correct . Land owned by Indians decreased from in 1887 to in 1934 . Teller ' s defense of Indian land rights conflicts with his stance against traditional American Indian customs . As Secretary of the Interior in 1883 , he approved a " Code of Indian Offenses , " which sought to prohibit Native American traditional ceremonial activity throughout the United States . Customs , dances , plural marriage , and other practices were to be prosecuted by a " Court of Indian Offenses , " with authority to impose penalties of up to 90 days imprisonment and withholding government rations . The intent of the Code was to eliminate traditional Indian culture on reservations . The Five Civilized Tribes were exempt from the code . Sec . Teller installed Indian judges to prosecute any Indians involved in the " immoral " dances , in addition to polygamy , and the sale of Indian wives . White missionaries , educators , and the federal government feared that the traditional dances were war dances , especially the Sun Dance by the Sioux , in which young men tested themselves in painful displays . Suppressive measures against Indian culture were finally repealed by Indian Commissioner John Collier in 1934 .