Chapter 19

Growth In the West

1860-1900

Miners, Ranchers, and Cowhands

Section 1 Objectives

• To describe the geography and population of the West

• To explain how mining the West led to settlement

• To describe the cattle industry

• To establish how law and order was established in the West

1. Why did few settlers make their homes on the Great Plains?• Mid 1800’s towns such as St. Joseph and

Independence, MO, were jumping off places for settlers going west

• Last cities before the frontier

• Great Plains thought to be empty which attracted few people to its rolling plains, dry plateaus, and deserts (1)

The Great Plains

An escarpment on the Great Plains

The Sand Hills of Nebraska

Cliffs in North Dakota

2. What part did railroads play in the settlement of the West?

Trains carried the natural resources of the West-minerals, timber, crops, and cattle-to eastern markets. In turn, trains brought miners, ranchers, and farmers west to develop these resources further.

3. What developments opened Colorado

and Nevada to settlement?

In 1859 gold and silver strikes drew fortune seekers to Colorado and Nevada.

The Lure of Gold4. What effect did gold and silver strikes have on small towns?

They would often become a boomtown with large population growth and a ghost town when the mines dry up.

5. How did the mining process change over time?

Early miners used panning and sluicing to wash sand and gravel from a stream to separate out any bits of precious metal, but larger mining companies moved in after the surface mines no longer yelded gold or silver, using water cannons to blast away hillsides. Paid workers in company mines replaced independent prospectors.

6. What made cattle ranching profitable?

The extension of the railroad lines from Chicago and St. Louis into Kansas by the 1860’s created new markets for cattle ranchers in the west who drove their herds to cattle towns in Kansas to be sold in the meat-hungry cities of the East.

7. What was the purpose of the long drive?

The purpose of the long drive was to drive cattle along the many trails that stretched from Texas to Kansas and take them to rail towns such as Abilene and Dodge City so the cattle could be sold in eastern cities and shipped by rail.

End of the Long Drives• Cattle industry boomed for twenty years

• Extension of RR into Texas caused cattle drives to become shorter and shorter

• Cattle boom comes to an end by 1886

• Large supply of beef caused drop in price from $30 - $7 a head

• Barbed wire closed in frontier

• Sheep raising flourished

• During the winter of 1886-7, many cattle froze on the open range

The days of the long drives endedas the railroad extended farther south.Other technologies like barbed wire fenced off land and made it impossiblefor the drives to take place.

8. What ranching skills did American cowhands learn from the vaqueros?• First cowhands were Spanish Vaqueros who came

from Mexico in the 1500’s• American cowhand learned to rope and ride from

Vaqueros• Adapted Saddle, spurs, laríat, and chaps from

Vaqueros

9.What kinds of people became cowhands?• 1 in 3 cowhands in West was Mexican or African

American who came West because of the Black Codes in the South

• Many Union and Confederate soldiers

10. What were the main causes of disorder in cow towns?

• Growing cow town had no local gov't or law officers• Swindlers cheated people• Hard feelings from Civil War led many soldiers (both

sides) to lives of crime• John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Jesse and

Frank James as well as Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen

11. How did citizens respond to these threats?• Citizens formed vigilante groups• As towns became more settled, sheriffs and marshals

were elected

12. What ended the long drives?

By 1886, several developments had brought the cattle boom to an end. The price of beef dropped sharply as the supply increases in the early 1880’s from $30 to $7 a head. Settlers began to use barbed wire to fence in their farms to raise sheep which stopped free access to drive cattle to markets. Finally a harsh winter in 1886-7 froze thousands of cattle to death, putting ranchers out of business.

SummarizingA boomtown is a town that has a sudden burst

of economic or population growth. They often grew around areas where gold or silver was found and died when the mineral ran out.

Vaquero is the Spanish name for cowboy. American cowboys learned to rope and ride from vaqueros.

Vigilantes were people who took the law into their own hands due to lack of protection on the frontier. The punished criminals without a trial by hanging them or shooting them.

Native Americans Fight to Survive

Section 2 Objectives

• To describe Native American life on the plains

• To explain how plains tribes responded to white attempts to take away their lands

• To identify the outcome of Native American resistance efforts

• To evaluate the impact of the Dawes Act on the Plains tribes

Native American Life on the Plains• Before the arrival of Europeans, Plains tribes lived in

villages along rivers and streams• Women tended beans, corn, and squash• Men hunted deer, elk, and buffalo

1. How did horses change the way of life of the Plains people?

• Spanish brought horses in the 1500’s• Natives became expert riders which allowed them to

travel far from their villages seeking buffalo

2. Why was buffalo important to Plains tribes?

Plains Indians relied heavily on the buffalo. Nothing on the animal was wasted. Its meat became chief to their diet, while its skins served as portable shelters called tepees. Hides became clothing, shoes, and blankets. Dried manure was used for cooking fuel and bones and horns were used as well for tools and bowls. (2) Buffalo Jump-Episode 1 15:15

A Clash of Cultures• U.S. Government first moved Native Americans west of the

Mississippi in 1830’s• Promised that land was theirs “as long as the grass grows or

water runs”

3. Why did the government break its promises not to open Indian Territory to white settlement?

• Gov't policy was determined by belief that white settlers were not interested in the Plains because the land was considered too dry for farming

• Wagon trains crossed plains in the 1850's and saw the possibilities of farming and ranching on its grasslands

• Settlers pressured Government for more land and protection• Promises broken repeatedly

FAMILY LIFE ON THE PLAINS

• Tribes were very spiritual and land was communal

• Indians believed in the Sun God

• Danced the Sun Dance

OSAGE TRIBE

Medicine Man Ep. 1 Scene 5

The Trail of Tears was a forced movement of Cherokee tribe to Indian territory of Oklahoma during the winter of 1838-39. One-fourth died along the march.

SETTLERS PUSH WESTWARD

• The white settlers who pushed westward had a different idea about land ownership

• Concluding that the plains were “unsettled, “ thousands advanced to claim land

• Gold being discovered in Colorado only intensified the rush for land

A COVERED WAGON HEADS WEST

1851-The First Treaty of Fort Laramie

• Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Plains tribes met near Fort Laramie in Wyoming

• Government officials tried to buy back some Native American land

• Set boundaries for tribal lands

• Indians felt they had no other choice than to sign the treaty

1864 -The Sand Creek Massacre

• Cheyenne and Sioux resisted Fort Laramie Treaty

• Rather would have conflict with settlers and government than live on reservations

• Cheyenne warriors attacked miners and soldiers in southeastern Colorado

• 1200 Colorado militia opened fire on a peaceful Cheyenne village, killing 150 Cheyenne men, women, and children

• Soldiers mutilated the bodies of the Indians

In one of the most sordid affairs between whites and American Indians, more than 200 Cheyennes, mainly women and children, lay dead following Col. John M. Chivington’s destruction of Black Kettle’s Southern Cheyenne village nestled along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado, on November 29, 1864. The Chivington massacre included the mutilation of Indians, including severed genitals. Black Kettle’s village had camped near Fort Lyon with the understanding that they were friendly, an American flag flew from the village.

Black Kettle is second fromthe left in the front.

“What you are proposing is murder,” Lt. Joseph Cramer told his commanding officer, Colonel John Chivington of the Third Colorado Cavalry, shortly before daybreak on the morning of the planned assault. Cramer and several other members of Chivington’s command staff had severe misgivings about the prospect of a sneak attack against a band of defenseless Cheyenne Indians who had been promised protection.Chief Black Kettle had distinguished himself through repeated efforts to secure the peace – on one occasion riding weaponless between opposing skirmish lines to prevent a battle from breaking out. In witness of his non-belligerency he had been provided with a United States flag by military officers who promised to protect the Cheyenne and Arapahos who lived in his encampment. 

Episode 4 22:16 from http://beforeitsnews.com/strange/2012/10/what-to-remember-on-memorial-day-2444284.html

• Some of the Army officers who came to Fort Phil Kearny were "fire-eaters," who hoped to prove their courage and win recognition by battling the Indians.

• Foremost among these was Captain William Fetterman, who boasted that if he were given 80 soldiers he could "ride through the entire Sioux nation."

• One day, Fetterman was sent out with 80 mounted troopers to protect a column of soldiers that were bringing wood to the fort.

• A party of Indians led by Crazy Horse appeared on a ridge near the fort and, contrary to orders, Fetterman led his troops in pursuit of the Indians, over the ridge and out of site of the fort.

• On the other side of the ridge, Fetterman found himself in the midst of a thousand hostile Indian warriors.

• Fetterman had been lured into a trap, and he and his entire command were quickly and totally wiped out.

Fetterman Massacre1866

Episode 4 47:48

4. How did the Sand Creek and the Fetterman massacres affect government policy toward Native Americans?

These incidents forced the government to try to find a way to end the fighting. In 1868, U.S. officials signed the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie with the Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and the Arapaho, giving them a large reservation in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Battle of the Washita River• The Battle of Washita River (or Battle of the

Washita), occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp on the Washita River near present day Cheyenne, Oklahoma

• Custer had been suspended from command and rank for 1 year for desertion and mistreatment of soldiers in a military court

• Custer attacked the sleeping village and within 15 minutes scores of Cheyenne were killed (103)

• Black Kettle had met with the U.S. military the day before the attack in a show of peace

• Black Kettle was killed in the attack and 53 women and children were captured

1868 - The Second Treaty of Fort Laramie

• Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho signed treaty

• Gave these tribes a large reservation in the Black Hills of South Dakota

• In 1874, white prospectors discovered gold in the Black Hills

• 1000’s of miners rushed onto Sioux land• No attention was paid to the treaty• Tribal leaders rejected offer to buy back land• United under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

Indians were promised that the Black Hills would be theirs as long as"the grass grows and the water flows" according to the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie. In this case that was all of 8 years.

Tatanka-Iyotanka (1831-1890), also known as Sitting Bull was the chief of the Lakota Sioux tribe who fought against American expansion into the Great Plains region of the Dakotas. Sitting Bull was killed by a Lakota policemen who put a bullet through his head.

5. How did the Battle of Little Big Horn affect government Indian policy?

• Seventh Calvary under the command of Lt. Col. George A. Custer set out to return the Sioux to the reservations

• June 25, 1876, Custer’s forces met several thousand Sioux and Cheyenne near the Little Bighorn River in Montana

• In less than 2 hours, Custer and his men, 211 in all- were wiped out

• The government responded by stepping up military action against Native Americans, ending the resistance.

Resistance in the Northwest and Southwest

• Nez Perce were a peaceful tribe in the Northwest (eastern Oregon and Idaho)

• Land guaranteed by 1855 treaty

• Government forced them to sell land as settlement increased in 1860’s

• Chief Joseph led group that refused to sell land and move to a narrow strip of land in Idaho

In 1877, a group of Nez Perce Indians, led by Chief Joseph, refused to move to new lands in Idaho and fled, seeking refuge in Canada. For 4 months the Nez Perce traveled across 1,000 miles of rugged terrain with army troops in pursuit. The U.S. army caught up with them just 40 miles from the Canadian border. Chief Joseph said, “I will fight no more, forever.”

• In the Southwest, both the Navajos and the Apaches fought against being removed to reservations

• U.S. troops ended Navajo resistance in Arizona in 1863 by burning Navajo homes and crops

• 8,000 Navajos were forced on a brutal 300 mile journey to a reservation in eastern New Mexico

• Called “the Long Walk”

• Hundreds died on the way

• Allowed to return to Arizona after 4 years

Most of the Navajos were forced to walk more than 300 miles to captivity; many did not survive the journey.

Geronimo

After decades of pursuing Geronimo and his fierce band of Chiricahua Apache, the U.S. Army finally captured him in 1886. He was first sent to Florida where he was imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor. Years later, he was released to a reservation in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

6.What were the results of efforts by Nez Perce, Navajo, and Apache to resist removal to reservations?

All resisted which led to mistreatment by the U.S. government and eventual removal to reservations.

7. Why did the buffalo almost vanish from the plains?

Hired hunters killed the animals to feed crews building Railroads. Others shot them for sport or to supply Eastern factories with leather for robes, shoes, and belts.From 1872-1882, hunters killed more than 1 million buffalo eachyear.

8. What events led to the Wounded Knee Massacre?

• Buffalo herds dwindled from 30 million to almost extinction

• By 1880’s most Plains tribes were forced on reservations

• Paiute prophet, Wovaka, urged Native Americans to perform the “Ghost Dance” because of his vision in which whites were removed and Natives could hunt the buffalo

Wounded Knee Massacre• Many of Wovoka's followers, especially the

Sioux, fled the reservations and gathered at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota

• Fearing war, the army was sent to track down the Ghost Dancers and rounded them up and set up a temporary camp along the Wounded Knee Creek in S.D.

• On December 29, 1890, the Sioux were giving up their weapons when someone fired a shot

• 300 men, women, and children were killed by the army

The Ghost Dance was the last desperate hope of the Plains Indians to regain the old way of life the white man had wrested from them. It arose from a vision by a Paiute medicine man named Wavoka, who in 1889 was in a high fever at the time of a major eclipse of the sun. He said that in his vision he was carried to the afterworld, where all those who had died were living a happy life.  The movement spread like wildfire. Tribes as widely dispersed as the Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Shoshone, and Arapaho began dancing and chanting to make the white man go away and the great buffalo herds return. In the painting, Arapaho figures wear buckskin garments with long, flowing fringes, ghost shirts supposed to be impervious to bullets. They cast dust into the wind to signify the burial of the whites beneath the earth.  The movement greatly alarmed the authorities. Trouble came to a head on December 29, 1890. The Seventh Cavalry, still keen upon vengeance for Custer, massacred almost a hundred and fifty men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek, losing twenty five of their own. 

9. In what ways did the Dawes Act try to force Native Americans to assimilate?

• Many well-meaning reformers wanted Native Americans to be assimilated into society by “Americanizing” them or making them like whites

• The Dawes Act was intended to encourage Native Americans to give up their traditional ways and become farmers

• Reservations were divided into plots for each family and sent children to special boarding schools where they were taught white culture

10. What were the affects of the Dawes Act on Native Americans?

It did little to benefit Native Americans. Not all of them wanted to be farmers. Those who did lacked tools, training, and money to be successful. Over time, many sold their land for a fraction of its cost.

Life in the West

Section 3 Objectives

• To describe the challenges and opportunities for women in the West

• To analyze the reasons for the growth of western cities

• To explain how Mexicans were affected by American settlement

• To identify myths about the Old West

1. What were challenges of pioneer life for women in the West?

• Loneliness was a constant problem as they rarely saw their neighbors

• They had problems with the wind and cold and taking care of everyone’s needs

2. What legal rights did women in the West gain first?

• Women could own property• They could control their own money• They were given the right to vote

3. What factors led to the rapid growth of western cities?

• Gold and silver strikes created instant cities of places like Denver and San Francisco

• The railroad also called cities to grow around them

Denver was a sleepy littletown, nestled along the FrontRange of the Rocky Mountainsin the mid 1800’s until gold wasdiscovered near Pikes Peak in 1859. Soon, it became the capitalof the state of Colorado. In 1860its population was 2,603. by 1890It was 106,713.

4. How did the railroad affect the population of western cities?

The railroad caused rapid growth of cities as towns like Omaha, NB, flourished as a meat processing center for cattle ranches. Portland, OR, became a regional market for fish, grain, and lumber.

5. What attracted English-speaking settlers to the Southwest?

In the 1840’s, the annexation of Texas and Mexico’s defeat in the Mexican War brought much of the Southwest under the control of the United States, bringing English-speaking white settlers who wanted to ranch, farm, and mine. Their numbers grew in the 1880’s and 1890’s.

6. How did Anglo-American settlement affect Mexicans and people of Spanish descent living in the Southwest?

As American settlers crowded into the SW, the Mexicanos lost economic and political power. Many also lost land.

7. What were some myths about the American West?The American West was portrayed as a larger-than-life place where brave men and women tested themselves against hazards of all kinds and won. Native Americans were often portrayed as villians.

8. How were the myths spread?

People read exaggerated accounts of real-life incidents in “dime novels” or more serious accounts in novels that portrayed white settlers as the heroes and Native Americans as the villains.

9. How was the real West different from the mythical West?

The myth of the West overlooked the contributions of many peoples. People of Mexican, African American, and Native Americans played a key role in the shaping the real West. The Chinese played an important role in building the railroad. The government also contributed greatly to the settlement of the West by building railroads and opening up land for settlement.

Farming and Populism

1. How did the federal government encourage western settlement?

• Homestead Act passed in 1862• Offered 160 acres of western land free to anyone

who would live on it and improve it for 5 years2. What attracted African Americans and

Europeans immigrants to the West?• African Americans who settled in Kansas called

themselves Exodusters were looking to escape the discrimination of the South (50,000 settled in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois)

• Thousands of Europeans sought new lives and the chance to own their own land

Thousands of African Americans calledExodusters migrated to the Great PlainsIn search of new opportunities and free land.Word was spread in many different ways about the opportunity.

Life on the Farming Frontier

• Pioneers faced many challenges

• Treeless plains

• Build homes out of sod (Sodbusters)

• Burned “cow chips” for fuel

• Blizzards, prairie fires, hailstorms, tornadoes, grasshoppers, and drought added to their misery

3. How did new inventions help farmers meet the challenges of the plain?

A steel plow invented by John Deere in 1838 sliced through the tough sod. Windmills pumped water from deep wells to the surface. Barbed wire allowed farmers to fence in land and livestock. Reapers made the harvesting of crops much easier, and threshers helped farmers to separate grain or seed from straw.

4. What financial problems did farmers in the West and South face in the 1870’s?

Prices for crops dropped dramatically as farmers overproduced more and more food. Wheat that was $1.45 a bushel was 49 cents thirty years later. It also cost more and more to run their farms because of the cost of new machinery, and railroad rates to carry crops to market were high as well as the fees to store their grain in elevators owned by the railroad companies.

THE GRANGE AND THE RAILROADS

• Farmers were especially affected by corruption in the railroad industry

• Grangers (a farmers organization) protested land deals, price fixing, and charging different rates to different customers

• Granger Laws were then passed protecting farmers

• States were given regulation control of railroads by the Courts

GRANGERS PUT A STOP TO RAILROAD

CORRUPTION

5. How did state and local government respond to farmers’ demands for help?

Farmers demanded action from the government to change their circumstances in regulating freight rates and storage charges. IL, MN, WI, and IA all passed laws regulating the railroad industry. In 1877 the Supreme Court backed farmers when it ruled that states and federal government could regulate the railroads because they were a business that served the public interest.

6. Why did Populists favor a free silver policy?

The Populist, or People’s Party, wanted a free silver party or unlimited coining of silver because it was plentiful and would put more money into circulation which would cause inflation, resulting in higher prices for their crops which would help farmers pay back the money they had borrowed to improve their farms.

7. What were the arguments for and against free silver?

Opponents of free silver wanted to keep the gold standard because the government backs every dollar with a certain amount of gold. Because the gold supply is limited, fewer dollars are in circulation, making inflation less likely which protects the value of money by keeping prices down.

8. Who were the candidates in the election of 1896? What were campaign positions of each candidate?

• Money matters were top issues• Country had suffered through depression

following the Panic of 1893• Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat

William Jennings Bryan• Jennings and the Democrats ran on a “free

silver” platform• McKinley and the Republicans favored the gold

standard and were backed by industrialists, bankers, and other business leaders

9. What events symbolized the closing of the frontier?

• By the late 1880’s, fenced-in fields had replaced open plains. The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 symbolized the closing of the frontier as settlers flocked to claim land that had once belonged to Native Americans. By 1890, the federal government announced that the frontier no longer existed.

In 1889 the United State government opened Up 2 million acres of land in Oklahoma forSettlement. Some arrived early and hid andclaimed land ahead of time. They becameknown as “Sooners.”

10. Why do historians today question Turner’s opinions about the importance of the frontier to American Life?

Historians believe Turner gave too much importance to the frontier in the nation’s development and in shaping a special American character. These historian point out that the United States remains a land of opportunity long after the frontier’s closing.