Ch. 16The Conquest of the West

After the Civil war, a dynamic period in American history opened-the settlement of the West. The lives of Western miners, farmers and ranchers were often filled with great hardships, but the wave of American settlers continued. Railroads

hastened this migration. During this period, many Native Americans lost their homelands and their

way of life

What is the West?• A mix of myth with reality• The “Great American Desert” Stephen Long• Diverse land and inhabitants

Who lived there?

• Native Americas—diverse

Native Americans

• The Great Plains were home to many Native Americans

• Some were farmers• But the majority were

nomads—roamed the vast distances following their source of food—the buffalo

• As ranchers, miners and farmers moved out to the Plains—Native Americans were deprived of their hunting grounds

• The Buffalo was killed for sport—by the millions

Hispanics

• New Mexico, Texas and California—as the Anglo American presence increased and new ranching and farming operations followed, Hispanics were no longer in control of the region and were relegated to unskilled farm work and industrial labor

Chinese—RR, Chinese Exclusion Act, Anti-Coolie clubs

Homestead Act

• “Rain follows the Plow”• Homestead Act- the

government would give up to 160 acres of land and receive the title to that land after 5 years.

• Life was hard

Despite all –settlement occurred.Why?

Railroads—the US government gave them land to build the RR—the RR in turn sold land to prospective settlers

Migration from the East

• After the Civil War, over 2 million came from the East—Scandinavians, Germans, Irish, Russians, Czechs and others

The Changing Western Economy

• In the 19th century the region produced 3 major industries: mining, ranching and commercial farming

• Gold, silver and copper• Boom to Bust

Cattle Kingdom

• Ranchers—at first ranching was not practical—no water, cattle could not survive—tough prairie grasses—but in Texas—The Longhorn—lean and rangy—the longhorn could survive.

Open Range-a vast area of grassland owned by the government.

• Hispanic cowhands developed the tolls and techniques for rounding up and driving cattle.

• Lariat, lasso, stampede

• After the Civil War meat prices soared

• Millions of longhorns roamed in Texas

• How to move the cattle to the RR

• Long cattle drives-The Chisholm Trail

• Barbed wire• http://player.discovery

education.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=5EB648BC-FBA8-42BD-A0C0-F9B5E28CE42D&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US

Cowboy Culture

• Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show• http://youtu.be/SARb8vJJmuA

Romance of the West

• Artist flocked to the West to capture the incredible magnificence of the scenery.

• Albert Bierstadt• Thomas Moran

Thomas Moran

Frederic Remington