Describe the evolution of United States Indian policy from relocation to reservation to assimilation.

In the earliest parts of US history, American policy was
to remove and relocate Indians to places where they would be allowed to simply live
independently.  This was done when there were still large areas of land outside the
settled US where the Indians could be sent.

Later on, these
open spaces disappeared with westward expansion.  When that happened, it was necessary
to put Indians on reservations.  There, they would be separated from whites but would be
controlled in ways that they could not be controlled
before.

Finally, there was a move to a policy of
assimilation as Americans came to believe they needed to "improve" the Indians rather
than simply getting rid of them.  This policy was meant to "kill the Indian to save the
man."  It was not incompatible with the reservation policy.  Instead, it was an addition
to that policy.