PLAINS

INDIANS

In 1840’s - Great Plains sparsely populated by Plains Indians (nomadic hunters/different tribes).

By 1845 - Great Plains populated by homesteaders with ranches/towns/cities/railroads. Plains Indians confined to reservations and their precious buffalo had been slaughtered.

EACH FAMILY LIVED IN A TIPI

Made from buffalo skins/supported by circular wooden frame

Responsibility of the women—made them/owned them/put them up/moved them/packed them up for transport

RELIED ON BUFFALO

Meat

Skin for wool/clothing/

shoes/tipis

Sinews for threads/ropes/

bow strings

Bones for implements

Dung for fuel

RELIGION

SPIRITS: Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) created the world and everything that lived. All things had spirits and these influenced their lives

LAND: People came from the land and returned to the land after death. Land could not be owned or bought. High places were sacred. Black Hills were sacred as it was where their nation began.

CIRCLES: Sioux circle of nature, circles surrounded them (sun, mon, horizon). Life was a circle (birth, childhood, adulthood, old age, second childhood, death). Tipis were circular.

DANCES/CEREMONIES: Used when whole tribe would contact the spirits. Buffalo Dance (call the spirits to call the buffalo). Sun Dance (guidance from spirit world).

VISIONS: To contact the sprit world. Women could easily contact the spirit world which gave them status. Girls trained from early age. Visions influenced decisions, especially about war.

MEDICINE MAN: Believed they could cure illness by using spirits. Could be possessed by an evil spirit if ill so would need to be driven out. Herbs also used.

FAMILY LIFE

MEN: Hunters, looked after horses, protector of the band. They were

judged by their skills as hunters, warriors, horsemen. Most men were

warriors—warfare was part of their culture (low intensity warfare/raiding

for animals would gain prestige).

WOMEN: Responsible for the tipis. In charge of food, water, making

clothes. Judged by their skills in crafts, home makers. Highly valued as

bearers of children.

CHILDREN: Future of the bands. Learned useful skills from early age

from their parents and relatives.

OLD PEOPLE: Important to the tribes as they could offer advice, help to

bring up the children. If too old, however, may be left behind when

moving.

POLTICAL ORGANISATION: Band members had to co-operate and work together, be well organised. Sometimes,

they would meet up, camp and hunt together. Once a year they would meet up as a nation.

GENEROSITY EXPECTED BY CHIEFS: Highly individualistic and cherished fine possessions - but not more than they

could use. Those in need would be provided for - added prestige. If not then could lose influence.

12 MARKER

Why were the Plains Indians able to live so successfully on the Great Plains?

INDIAN SOCIETY

1) BAND - Usually relat-ed to each other and led by chiefs. Had council advisers that would agree to everything the bad did. Protection/survival of the band was more important than individuals.

2) CHIEF/COUNCILS - Chiefs were chosen due their wisdom/skills as warriors and hunt-ers. Alongside the council the Chief would make decision for the tribe. They did not have to be obeyed.

3) TRIBES - Bands in the same tribe support-ed each other. Held tribal meetings to ar-range marriages, trade horses and discuss is-sues. Chief and elders formed tribal councils.

4) WARRIOR SOCIE-TIES - Best warrior from each band formed its society and would supervise hunting and protect their bands from attack.

FIGHTING AND WAR

Why did Indians fight?

Demonstrate skills/bravery/courage

Protect hunting ground

Revenge or honour

Capture horses/weapons

Help tribal unity

Chiefs could test their power/position

Elders could control younger braves

How did Indians fight?

Short raids in small groups

Warriors gained honour by ‘counting coup’ (performing feat such as touching enemy with hand or stick)

Killing was rare - few tribes scalped dead enemies so their spirit could not fight in heaven

Retreating was a re-sponsible action (to stay alive for families) Refuse to fight if the couldn't win.

QUESTION:

Why was the buffalo so important to the Plains Indians?

EARLY

PIONEERS

MOUNTAIN MEN

Explorers/trappers had knowledge of routes (Oregon Trail/California Trail/South Pass Route). Had a variety of backgrounds but mainly adopted Native American survival skills.

GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: Great Plains were situated

between east and fertile lands in Oregon. Extremes of climate,

sparse rainfall and hard ground. First thought to be suitable for

agriculture.

WHY DID PEOPLE GO WEST?

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

1848 - GOLD FOUND! By James Marshall working in a sawmill (9 days before California changed hand from Mexico to USA. People went crazy and soon ten of thousands of people arrived seeking fortune - known as the ‘49ners’

1848-1852 - Non Native population increased from 14,000 to 225,000. Many lived in makeshift camps which began to grow into mining towns (Angel Camp/Placerville)

Some came to run service industries such as store keepers, saloon owners, prostitution

Few made a fortune from gold but they spent their savings to go mining which kick started California economy. When they gave up their dreams of gold they moved onto the land and settled as farmers. Women who have arrived became wives

1850 - California set itself up as a state of the USA with a governor

NOT EVERYONE MADE A FORTUNE - First gold was found by panning stream beds so some people were only equipped for this (soon became exhausted) and expensive underground mining took over. Price for everything increased. 49ners’ had little choice - work for mining companies in foul conditions or starve.

Exam Tip: LEARN THE

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

THE GOLD RUSHES OF

1849, 1859 AND 1874

12 MARKER EXAMPLE

Trappers and Mountain Men/Miners - Explain why they travelled west in the 1840’s

PUSH FACTOR PULL FACTOR

Poverty New Start

Disease Tall tales/ Newspaper

reports

Religious/ Social persecution Fertile land cheap

Taxation Government encourage-

ment

Eastern overpopulation Gold/Silver

TOUGH JOURNEY THROUGH THE PLAINS

Oregon/California trails around 2000 miles (approx. 5 month by wagon)

Rivers/mountains/deserts had to be crossed (lack of discipline/experience caused delays or worse)

Donner Party 1846 - California Trail crossing. Party led by Jacob and George Donner left with 60 wagons and 300 people. Smaller group tried a short cut and got trapped in deep snow in Sierra Nevada. Less than 50 survived out of 87 emigrants - by eating those who had died until spring

Crossing continent was not cheap and many were famers who had sold their farms for profit. Young men without funds could hire themselves out as helpers on long trails

PROBLEMS OF LAW & ORDER IN MINING TOWNS

Gold rush attracted criminals, con men, violent thieves and claim jumpers (who stole other peoples claims to successful mines). People stole land or mining stakes so many man carried guns and weapons. Disagree-ments would often result in shootings

No US Government law enforcers to protect the miners/mining areas - people made their own arrangements

Heavy drinking was common and caused arguments

Identify 6 ways in which the gold rush of 1849—1856 helped to encourage the development of the American West.

THINK ABOUT:

Who were the first settlers to move west

Why early settlers moved west

How first settlers moved

What experiences first pioneers has when they travelled

MANIFEST DESTINY - White Americans believed they were destined to occupy and govern all North America. It was their God given right. White religion and culture superior than that of the Native Americans.

MORMONS

WHO WERE THE MORMONS/ WHAT WAS THEIR BELIEFS?

FAITH - Started by Joseph Smith who claimed to have a vision on an angel who told him to find some engraved golden plates hidden on a hillside. They were found, translated and published

BOOK OF MORMON - Jesus visited America after his resurrection and lost tribes of Israel had also come to America. Native Indian descended from them

RELGIOUS BELIEFS:

Polygamy - Men had more than one wife

Gods chosen people—superiority

Racial equality (free slaves and friendly with Indians)

Against drinking/gambling

Make God’s kingdom on earth

WHY DID THE MORMANS KEEP MOVING IN THE EAST?

Kirtland, Ohio 1831—Mormon were hardworking and successful. They founded the Bank of Kirtland. Many non-Mormons invested in the bank but when there was a financial crisis they became bankrupt and lost money. Mormons were blamed and driven out of Kirtland.

Missouri, 1837— Mormons mixed with black and encouraged them to join the church on an equal basis. Gentiles were jealous of their success, their ideas of being superior and feared they were growing in numbers. Government issued extermination order.

Nauvoo, Illinois 1839— Mormons rebuilt town of commerce, Nauvoo. Gained a charter to become an independent state. In 1844, Joseph Smith introduced polygamy which others thought was immoral and feared a Mormon overpopulation. Some Mormons did not agree with polygamy and criticised him in a newspaper. Smith was furious and destroyed the printing press (showed him as a dictator). When Smith showed his intent to stand for President, he was arrested and killed when an angry mob attacked him.

BRIGHAM YOUNG AND THE DECISION TO GO

WEST

New Mormon leader, Brigham Young, decided that they needed somewhere isolated to live. Knew Oregon Trail was most isolated area in the west and by the Great Salt Lake. As it was a part of the Rockies and still belonged to Mexico it was outside the control of US Government. Decision to leave was made in 1845.

WHY DID MORMONS SUC-

CEED IN THE WEST

Their religious faith encouraged them to work hard, never give up

Young good leader and made good decisions. Perpetual Emigration Fund allowed Mormons to emigrate

Towns ran efficiently/ settlers had varying skills/occupations

Dug irrigation ditches providing water to farm land

12 MARKER EXAMPLE

Which was Brigham Young’s most important contribution to the Mormons:

deciding to go west

Organising the journey

Organising the community at Salt Lake

MORMON JOURNEY WEST

Young was a great organiser and prepa-rations went on over winter - building wagons, collecting equipment and sup-plies. Some left early to set up camps/plant crops/mark out routes. After loot-ing, they set off early and split into small-er groups with a leader in each one to help keep everyone alive. Followed a strict schedule and built winter quarters.

PROBLEMS WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT GREAT

SALT LAKE

Developed irrigation schemes using snow water from the mountains. Area lacked materials so had to build homes from mud bricks. Not enough people for community to become self sufficient - called others to join them leading to large migration. No private ownership - church assigned land according to needs.

Joseph Smith Brigham Young

Founded Mormon church Made decision/ organised journey

west

Charismatic/personality attracted

new Mormons

Organised a community at Salt

Lake

Organised movements in the east Encourage converts from Europe

Polygamy made movements

unpopular

Acted like a dictator - his word

was law in Great Salt Lake

Running for US Presidency

increased gentile fears

Acted like a dictator when he

destroyed the printing presses

REACHING POLITICAL SETTEMENT WITH US

GOVERNMENT

In 1848, Salt Lake Valley changed hands from Mexico to Utah. Young became Governor. Mormons ignored US law and Danites suppressed opposition and attacked US officials. In 1857, US appointed non-Mormon as Governor and arrived with 2500 troops. Shortly after, 140 non-Mormons was massacred at Mountain Meadows. Mormons were blamed for this. Utah was not allowed to become a state while practising polygamy. Young died in 1866. Polygamy abandoned in 1890. Utah became a state in 1896.

PERSECUTION:

Non-Mormon - Polygamy was immoral and would increase Mor-mon population. Blasphemy.

Efforts to convert people - fear of expansion which annoyed the gentiles

Danites (‘police force’) attacked and robbed gentiles

Fear of large/growing numbers of Mormons led to a fear of them taking over

12 MARKER EXAMPLE

Who had the greater impact on the growth of Mormonism - Joseph Smith or Brigham Young?

HOMESTEADERS

WHY DID SO MANY PEOPLE WANT TO BECOME HOMSTEADERS

AND SETTLE ON THE PLAINS?

Homestead Act 1862 - Families given 160 acres of land for free, providing they lived on the land for at least 5 years.

Timber Culture Act 1873 - Settlers given further 160 acres of free land if they agreed to plant 40 acres with trees.

Desert Land Act 1877 - Settlers who wanted more land could buy up to 640 acres cheaply in areas where lack of rainfall was a problem.

End of Civil War - 1000’s of demoralised soldiers and their families wanted to rebuild their lives. Freed black slaves were looking for a new life. Many ex-slaves/ex-soldiers became homesteaders/cowboys/railroad builders.

Building the Railroads - It was easy for homesteaders to get into the Plains. Land cheap to purchase from railroad companies setting land either side of the railroads.

Manifest Destiny - The idea that white Americans were superior and it was their fate to expand and encourage the west to adopt the American way of life. Writer, Horace Greeley, popularised this idea.

FEMALE HOMESTEADERS - Jobs included making/washing clothes/preparing food/making household items/looking after the family. They had little, if any, social life. Mental health suffered due to this, the heavy workload and contact with hostile Indians.

HOW DID THE HOMESTEADERS SURVIVE THE PLAINS?

FACTORS TO BE SUCCESSFUL:

Exact locations of fertile farming land (some parts not fertile enough)

Adaptability to new farming techniques (fail to adapt = no success. Weather conditions (severe droughts = bankrupt-cy)

Hard work/determination - those who survived helped by

PROBLEMS WITH LAW AND ORDER

Land was federal territory and belonged to the US government. Governor, judges and US Marshalls administered order. Local elected sheriffs support-ed order. Miner’s court set up to settle local mat-ters and disputed claims. However, unable to stop gangs of outlaws. Vigilante groups dished out summary justice. Main issues:

Distance—difficult to cover large areas of land

Poverty—harsh conditions/desperate measures

More men in areas—disagreements common

Different races—language/culture barriers

Land claims– often disputed

Cattle Barons—fear of reprisal/juries bribed/bias

Poor court system—poor knowledge /lacked convictions

Violent cultures—sorted problems with guns

Vigilantes—took matters into their own hands

ENABLING

FACTORS

Later home-steaders could travel by rail-roads. Indians cleared from the lands (after de-feat to US army) and confined to reservations fur-ther west.

PUSH FACTOR PULL FACTOR

Offer of free land Escape poverty/unemployment

Chance of a new start Looking for good farming land

Advertisements by railroad companies

Escape religious persecution

Letter from those who have already gone west - successful farming encourages others

Ex-soldiers saw lack of opportunity when the returned home

PROBLEM SOLUTION

Water

shortages

Water scarce/difficult to grow crops/could

not keep clean

Windmills used to pump water/dry farming

introduced in the Plains

Weather

Extremes

Droughts in summer/cold in winter/fierce

winds - destroyed crops

Dry farming to overcome problems

Fuel No wood to burn for heating or cooking Buffalo dung/cow dung used for fuel

Dirt and

disease

Disease easy to develop in conditions/

common

Women used natural remedies to treat peo-

ple

Building

materials

Lack of wood/couldn’t afford wood to build

houses/no fences to keep cattle off crops

Blocks of earth cut and used as brick. Barbed

wire used as fencing (patented by Joseph

Glidden 1874)

Natural

hazards

Prairies fires during summer months/

grasshoppers destroyed crop

No solution - had to endure

Isolation No doctors/midwives/no social life Made most of any trips

Law and

Order

Local government non-existent. Early law-

men (Henry Plummer) worse than bandits

Law courts/sheriffs (Wyatt Erap/Pat Garratt)

established

Farming Hard soil/couldn’t afford ploughs or ma-

chines/not enough workers

Teams of ‘sodbuster’ using steel ploughs.

1880 - hire help for harvests

Question

examples

on next

page

HOMESTEADERS EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

9 MARKERS

1. Describe the problems faced by the Homesteaders

in the 1860’s and how they overcame them

2. Explain why the Homesteaders were so successful

in the Great Plains in 1860’s and 1870’s

12 MARKER

1. Which of these pull factors

was the greatest for filling

the Great Plains -Discovery

of gold or Opportunities to

establish a homestead?

2. Who was more successful

in the west; Homesteaders

or the Mormons? Explains

your answer with your

knowledge.

16 MARKER

Push factors were far more important in

getting groups to settle n the Great Plains

than pull factors. How far do you agree with

this statement?

QUESTION:

What was life like for women on the homesteads?

QUESTION:

What role did the Government

play in persuading the Home-

steaders to settle on the Plains?

Source: A view of the Homesteaders’ Life 1887

This cartoon entitled “A farmers’ life is not a happy one” or the woes of Western

Agriculture” was published in “The Puck Magazine”. This magazine began in 1876

and was very successful in the 1880s, selling 80000 copies a week. The magazine

tackled social and political issues.

QUESTION:

How useful is Source E for understanding the problems faced by

white people who farmed on the Plains?

IMPORTANCE

OF RAILROADS

WHY DID THE US GOVERNMENT NEED RAILROADS TO CONNECT THE EAST AND

THE WEST?

Enable troops to be moved around control Indian uprisings. Federal law officers could reach new settlements having issues with law and order

Allow Americans to keep in touch - national unity

Help to fill white Americans Manifest Destiny - easier to migrate

Transport goods to ports in Oregon and California

IMPACT ON PLAINS INDIANS

Brought other settlers into the area the Plains Indians use to roam freely (reduced access, loss of lands)

Plains Indians depended on the buffalo but had difficulty hunting due to settlers, farming, fences, other cattle and white hunters who killed buffalo for sport

Plains Indians thought the railroads and settlers were ruining sacred land causing hostility and conflicts

QUESTION:

Why did the railroad companies want to build railroads across the whole of the USA? Explain your answer

BENEFITS OF THE RAILROADS

Created jobs

New industries (cattle ranching/cow towns) developed

Agricultural produced transported further in the US. Machinery for farming transported to homesteaders that could afford it. Goods and supplies available

Growth in industries supplying railroad materials

Law officers could enforce the law more easily

Increase in migration

Trade to other countries developed

New towns and cities grew alongside the railroad

QUESTION:

Why did the US government need railroads to connect the east and the west coasts? Explain your answer.

TURNING POINT IN DEVELOPING

THE WEST:

Helped to start USA’s industrial revelation - increased

demand for material - which stimulated economic

growth and increased markets

Improved communications - ease the sense of isola-

tion, created communities and increased national

cohesion

Led to more people successfully settling in the west,

improved law and order

Played large role in destroying the Plains Indians’ way

of life

QUESTION:

Give four types of transport used to cross America.

Government Action

Pacific Railways Act 1862 - Union Pacific Railroad Company (track east to west) & Central Pacific Railroad Company (track west to east)

Township land Parcels - Given to railroads companies to help finance railroad building

QUESTION:

How did the homesteaders who had settled on the Great Plains benefit from the railroads? Explain you answer.

PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS

Raising money Largely solved by governments gift of free

land

Difficult terrain

(mountains/deserts)

Great engineers/hard working labourers

Hostile Indians Remained a problem

Finding people to work Immigrant labour used from China and Ire-

land

Dreadful living

conditions

Labourers died due to bad weather/lack of

food supplies - remained a problem

HOW DID THE CATTLE INDUSTRY DEVELOP?

Background Information: Cattle first introduced to America by European invaders. By 1880’s, Southern Texas was the major centre of cattle ranching. Cattle was driven by cowboys to markets where they were sold. As they did this they came into conflict with the homesteaders.

Beef popularity - demand increased in 1880’s in eastern USA

Effect of the Civil War - Cattle ranchers returned from fighting to find herds had grown dramatically

New Markets - US army in west, Indians on reservations, miners, railroad builders

Railroads - beef could quickly get to new markets. ‘Cow towns’ (Abilene/Dodge City) built along the railroads

Charles Goodnight/Oliver Loving - first to drive cattle out of Texas (north route known as the ‘Goodnight Loving’ trail

Joseph McCoy - created ‘cow town’ Abilene in 1867. Bought the land, built pens and advertised the town as a shipping point

CATTLE INDUSTRY

& RANCHES

JOHNSON COUNTY WAR

BACKGROUND: Johnson County, Wyoming was settled by cattle barons in 1870’s - men who ran large ranches. They became powerful in the state and joined the Wyoming Stock Gravers Association, whose purpose was to protect the interests of powerful members. By 1880’s - 3 threats/issues had developed:

Beef prices had fallen. Harsh winters of 1886/87 had damaged ranching cattle

Homesteaders/small ranchers settled in Wyoming causing disputes over land ownership

Cattle rustling a problem. Barons had lost cattle to rustlers and blamed it on the homesteaders and small ranch-ers. Hard to get the juries to convict men accused of rustling so the barons took matters into their own hands.

EVENTS OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY WAR

1889 - Jim Averill, who ran a small store and saloon with his partner Ella Watson, was living on land claimed by a cattle baron (and Ella had been accused of rustling). They were lynched outside their cabin. No one was prosecuted for the crime.

1892 - Cattle barons planned an invasion of Johnson County. The gover-nor of Wyoming supported cattlemen and supplied guns. A death list was created and up to 50gunfighters hired ready, who were brought to Wyoming by railroads.

PLAN - To capture the town of Buffalo and kill the sheriff (Red Angus who showed support for the homesteader and thought that the cattle barons were stealing the land) and kill the men on the list.

INVASION - Began by cutting the telegraph wires to cut Johnson County off from the outside world. They attacked the KC ranch and were stopped by Nick Champion and Nick Ray. Champion round-up local foreman of the Wyoming Farmers and Grower Association and held of the invaders all day, until they burnt him out of his cabin. The invasion was spotted by passer-by who raised the alarm in Buffalo. As the invaders approached Buffalo, they heard that the locals were armed and ready and decided to retreat. Red Angus and approx. 300 men rode out and trapped the invaders at a ranch. The US Cavalry arrived and rescued the cattlemen and took them into protective custody. The cattlemen were charged but the case was dropped. ‘War’ had ended and so has the power of the cattlemen. Homesteaders continued to live in peace.

QUESTION:

‘The Railroads were the critical factor in the development of cattle ranching’ Do you agree with this statement? (Remember WHY, HOW, WHO, WAY THE RAILWAY AFFECTED THE DEVELOPMENT)

PROBLEMS FOR CATTLEMEN

Hard to drive cattle to markets in the east (long, tough journey)

Cattle drives brought cattlemen into conflict with homesteaders

Homesteaders settled and block cattle drive routes

Texas Longhorn carried Texas fever killing cattle - created fear for homesteaders

WHAT WAS THE OPEN RANGE?

Rather than driving across the Great Plains, ranches were set up instead - known as the Open Range. Unfenced land was used to graze cattle as they roamed around freely. Cattle was branded to show which ranch they belonged to. The land was not owned as no rancher could afford to own the land required to graze cattle.

WHY WAS THE OPEN RANGE SO SUCCESSFUL

Plains Indians had been defeated and were confined to Reservations

Buffalo slaughtered by hunters - cattle demand increased

WHY DID THE OPEN RANGE END?

Terrible winters of 1886/87 caused the death of thousands of cattle

Overcrowding of cattle as more came to settle

Cost of cattle increased which decreased profits for ranchers

Price of beef fell due to over-stocking. Ranchers struggled to make a profit

Large ranching corporations squeezed out the smaller cattle ranches

John IIiff: As a young man he set up as a trader in Kansas, selling food and goods to travellers on the Oregon and California trails. He then decided to try being a cattleman. He began to graze cattle on the Plains. This was the beginning of cattle ranching as others began to copy IIiff.

LIFE OF A COWBOY

Cowboys’ basic responsibilities were the care of the cows, particularly on the long trails. They drove cattle from Texas to the cow towns within the Plains. Ton a regular basis they treated sick cattle and protected the cattle from rustlers, who would try to steal cows. Other jobs included repairing fences when cattle ranching took over from the long cattle drives.

Cowboys were usually young men; black Americans and Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans as well as white Americans. Many were former Confederate soldiers who were desperate for work after the Civil War. A lot of them were drifters and criminals on the run from the law. As they were usually hard hitting, hard drinking men, they were rarely married an took full advantage of brothels and saloons in cow towns when their work was done..

LIFE AS

A

COWBOY

TRAILS AND DRIVES

The cowboys rounded up the cattle in the Spring and sorted out which were to go on the long drives and which would be left behind. They might drive their boss’ herd or several herds at once - trails of cow could be 2km long. Organisation was essential, each had a specific job so that the animals did not wander off and the drive was kept up to speed.

Dangers and Problems: Cowboys moved the herd fast to start with and then slowed it down to allow the cows to graze - enabling the cows to be fat for market.

Stampedes were frightening and usually happened during the first days of the drive, when the cows were nervous and ready to bolt at anything

Wildlife was abundant on the Plains - wolves could be particularly troublesome, as could scorpions and poisonous snakes

Water was treacherous. Rivers had to be crossed and undercurrents could be dangerous

Indians could be unpredictable - sometimes friendly and sometimes aggressive

Night - when the cows were contained within one or more rope corrals, was the time when most cowboys could relax. However, they still needed to be guarded

Ranching

Ranching and the end of the drives changed the work patterns and the lives of cowboys. They still rounded up cattle and branded them and they still took cattle to market. But they also had to ‘ride the line’, checking the boundaries of their boss’ range to make sure no one else was crossing the property line, looking out for sick animals and animals in distress and shooting predators. They also would repair fences.

Cowboy’s lives were more comfortable - they had bunkhouses to sleep in and provided shelter and cookhouses where their food was prepared.

It was not always easy to force men who had been used to the freedom of the open range to live on ranches and keep to the rules of the ranch, working regular hours. It was common for ranch bosses to forbid drinking and gambling as well as carrying guns and knives whilst on the ranch.

12 Marker

Why did the life and work of the cowboy change in the years 1865-95? Explain your answer.

You can use:

1866, cattle drives began from Texas

By 1880, there were approx. 4.5 million cattle on ranches on the Great Plains

During 1865-1886, there were huge losses of cattle owing to drought and a severe winter

Excellent answers will include detailed in-formation on how the cattle industry changed in this period and why these de-velopments meant that the life and work of the cowboy had changed.

SUMMARY— The establishment of fenced ranches meant that the need for cowboys decreased. Those that remained had to live with jobs that were becoming mundane and predictable. The wild life of a cowboy was over.

LEGAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

During the 1860’s , most of the areas in the west were territories not

states - meaning the federal government in Washington DC was

responsible for law and order. This meant that justice could take

months. States could appoint there own judges.

US Marshals - Appointed by the President to be responsible for a

state or territory. States were so big they required deputies.

Deputy Marshals - Assigned to specific towns and counties in the

federal territories.

Town Marshals - Appointed by townspeople on a yearly basis. Dealt

with local outbreaks of lawlessness such as saloon brawls and

drunken shootings. They could appoint deputies if required.

Sheriffs - Appointed in the counties for a two year period of office.

They could force people to form into a posse to chase lawbreakers.

They could appoint deputies if necessary.

TASK:

Explain the ways in

which the federal

government tried to

bring law and order to

the west.

PROBLEMS OF LAW & ORDER IN MINING TOWNS

Gold rush attracted criminals, con men, violent thieves and claim jumpers (who stole other peoples claims to successful mines). People stole land or mining stakes so many man carried guns and weapons. Disagreements would often result in shootings

No US Government law enforcers to protect the miners/mining areas - people made their own arrangements

Heavy drinking was common and caused arguments

PROBLEMS WITH LAW AND ORDER

Land was federal territory and belonged to the US government. Governor, judges and US Marshalls administered order. Local elected sheriffs supported order. Miner’s court set up to settle local matters and disputed claims. However, unable to stop gangs of outlaws. Vigilante groups dished out summary jus-tice. Main issues:

Distance—difficult to cover large areas of land

Poverty—harsh conditions/desperate measures

More men in areas—disagreements common

Different races—language/culture barriers

Land claims– often disputed

Cattle Barons—fear of reprisal/juries bribed/bias

Poor court system—poor knowledge /lacked convictions

Violent cultures—sorted problems with guns

Vigilantes—took matters into their own hands

1)LAW AND

ORDER

HOMSTEADERS

MINERS

FACTORS ENCOURAGING LAWLESSNESS

GEORGRAPHICAL - West

was vast and initially

sparsely populated. Ter-

rain rough and weather

extremes. Transport was

very slow

POLITICAL - Shortage of

reliable law enforcers in the

mining/cow towns. Judges

and juries easy to bribe.

Politicians would not pay to

employ new and better law

officers

VALUES/ATTITUDES - It was your

responsibility to sort out your own

problems. Lack of respect for the

law. Many carried guns for protec-

tion leading to them being used to

solve arguments or in self defence

(which were not against the law)

SOCIAL - Conflicts be-

tween different ethnic

groups (Chinese, black

free slaves, Europeans).

Civil war soldiers strug-

gled to readjust to nor-

mal life. Conflicts be-

tween North and South

Civil war soldiers

ECONOMIC - Many people

trying to make a profit.

Conflicts between compet-

ing groups (cattle barons,

small ranchers) *Johnson

County War. Land owner-

ship disputes

VIGILANTES - Rise in people taking

the aw into their own hands. Drove

suspected criminals out of towns or

lynched them. In early days it took

time for law and order to get estab-

lished. These groups helped when

there was no alternative but often

add to the problems by accusing

and punishing the wrong people

COMMON CRIMES

Bank robbery

Cattle rustling

Claim jumping

Fence cutting

Horse stealing

Racial attacks

Train/trail robbery

Murder

QUESTION

Why did the cattlemen clash with the homesteaders?

QUESTION

What were the problems that hindered the establishment of law and order?

GANGS AND GANGSTERS

There is no doubt that the West was a violent and dangerous place.

Most of the legendary shoot outs happened in the cow towns of the

Midwest. Trigger happy gangs of high spirited cowboys (desperate to

let off steam after the long drives) created chaos. Desperate for

relaxation and entertainment, they gave the cow towns reputations

for gambling, womanising and gunfights.

However, historians point out that regulations against carrying guns

were in force in all cow towns and between 1870 and 1885, only 39

men died from gunshot wounds. In 1870, Abilene was large enough

to have a local government and official stopped guns being brought

into towns and cowboys themselves were banned in 1872.

QUESTION

What do the careers of

Billy the Kid and Jesse

James tell us about law

and order in the

American West?

LAW ENFORCERS Just as there were legendary criminals, there were legendary lawmen, who worked hard to uphold the rule of law.

William Tilghman (1854-1924)

Born in Fort Dodge, he spent most of his childhood on a homestead in Atchison, Kansas. In 1869, he became an animal hunter, claiming to have killed 12,000 buffalo. His activities angered the local Indians and in a fight in 1872, he killed 7 Cheyenne braves. He moved to Dodge City in 1875 and opened a saloon. By 1878 he had become the deputy sheriff and later marshal of the city. He gained the reputation of being a honest lawman and pursued criminals relentlessly, using disguises and entrapment whenever necessary. He preferred persuasion over violence. In 1889, Tilghman moved to Guthrie, working as a deputy US marshal and alongside Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen wiped out organised crime in Oklahoma. He retired in 1910 and became Oklaho-ma City Chief of Police. He was killed in 1924 whilst trying to arrest Wiley Lynn, a corrupt probation officer.

Wyatt Earp (1848-1929)

Elected constable of Lamar in Missouri in 1870 but was later sacked for

horse theft and became a lawman in Wichita. He was sacked again in 1876 for fighting with a fellow officer and went on to work in Dodge City as a deputy marshal. From there, Earp joined his brothers Virgil, Morgan and James in Tombstone, Arizona as a ‘special constable’. He worked for the law and helped tame the wild cowboy culture that pervaded the frontier. The Earp family argued with 2 families; Clantons and McLaurys, and Sheriff John Behan - which came to head in 1881 in a gunfight at the OK Corral where Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil overcame both families. Sheriff Behan arrested them for murder but after a 30 day trial the judge decided their actions were justified. After that, the Earp family struggled to maintain control; Virgil was injured in an assassination attempt and Morgan was killed whilst playing billiards. As a result of Morgan's death, Wyatt Earp set off in search of venge-ance with a small posse of others, roaming the frontier on a killing spree that made headlines around the nation, earning the group both praise and condemnation for taking on the West's wild cowboy culture. Forced to flee from Tombstone, Wyatt spent his remaining years en-gaging in pretty theft and settled in Los Angeles until his death.

ACTIVITY - JOHNSON COUNTY WAR

QUESTION - What can you learn from the Johnson County War?

A study of the Johnson County War will show you some of the problems involved in keeping law and order in the West. Copy and

complete the grid .

The Johnson County War: Problems and Solutions

2) LAW AND

ORDER

FAMOUS LAWBREAKERS

Billy the Kid (1859-1881)

Henry McCarty, nicknamed ‘Billy the Kid’, started his life of crime at the age of 16. Accused of robbing a Chinese laundry, he fled to Arizona where he became involved in cattle stealing. From 1877 he began working for John Turnbull, but when Turnbull was murdered he swore revenge on all involved. He joined the ‘Regulators’, a gang that killed at least 5 men, including sheriff William Brady - believing them to be involved in Turnbull’s murder. Billy was arrested for murder but escaped custody. After the escape he formed a gang that specialised in cattle stealing. In 1880, Pat Garrett was elected sheriff and captured Billy for sheriff Brady’s murder. Billy escaped once again, but killed 2 guards in the process. Garrett hunted Billy down and killed him in a shoot out in 1881.

Jesse James (1847-1882)

Jesse was a Confederate supported who joined the ‘Quantrill Raiders’ during the Civil War. The Raiders attacked troops, terrorised communities and murdered individuals who they believed were anti-Confederate. In 1863, they attacked the town of Lawrence, killing 150 people and set fire to over 180 buildings. When the Civil War was over, Jesse and his brother Frank formed a gang that specialised in robbing banks, trains and stage-coaches - killing a dozen people in the process - in the areas of Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota. It all went badly for them in 1881, when they tried to rob a bank in Minnesota, where Jesse killed a bank cashier. The townspeople fought back, killing three members of the gang and wounding all the others. Jesse and Frank managed to escape. Jesse went into hiding and changed his name to J.D Howard. He recruited a new gang which began raiding in Missouri. Thomas Crittenden, the governor of Missouri, offered a reward of $10,000 for the capture of Jesse James. Robert Ford, a member of Jesse’s gang, visited Jesse in his home and shot him in the head. Ford was arrested, charged with murder and sentenced to death but only a couple hours later, the governor pardoned him and gave him the reward. QUESTION

Would you describe Wyatt Earp as a lawman or a criminal?

PROBLEM SOLUTION

GREAT SIOUX WARS 1876/77

16 MARKER

‘Winning the Battle of Little Big Horn in

1876 meant the end of the Indian way of

life on the Great Plains’. Do you agree

with this statement? Explain your answer

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN 1868

General Sheridan issues a 3 pronged attack on the Sioux Indians - Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and their people, who were camping in the valley of Little Bighorn. The 3 columns had no way of communicating with each other and failed to find out how many Indians were there. Custer refused the offer of the Gatlin gun, reinforcements and refused to wait for General Terry. On 25th June 1876, Custer and his men attacked the Indian camp and were defeated - 225 men died and many were stripped, disfigured and scalped.

INDIAN WARS

LITTLE CROW’S WAR 1861/62

EVENTS CONSEQUENCES

1861 - Reservation system introduced by the US government

Bad harvest in the reserva-tion and non-payment of the annual government cash payments

12,000 Santee Sioux unable to buy food

Indian agency attacked by Sioux Indians

Killing of approx. 700 white settlers by undisciplined bands

October 1862 - 2,000 Santee Sioux were captured or surrendered

303 Sioux sentenced to death but due to weak evi-dence. President Abraham Lincoln reduced all sentences to all but 38, who were hanged in December

Remainder transferred to a new reservation

EVENTS CONSEQUENCES

1862 - Gold discovered in the Rocky Mountains. The Bozeman Trail passed through the Sioux lands

Government failed to stop miners from breaking the peace treaty

Sioux Indians attacked travellers along the trails

Government open talks with Red Cloud to resolve the issues. At the same time, the government ordered the US army to build a chain of forts along the Bozeman Trail to protect the travellers

Red Cloud found out and broke off the talks and attacked the US army

Sioux laid siege to forts and although the government were unable to capture them, they managed to prevent free movement of the US army along the Bozeman Trail

1868 - Government realised that the Sioux could not be defeated by using the military

Alternative route opened in mining areas

Government agreed to withdraw from the forts on the Bozeman Trail

Treaty of Fort Laramie - US government agreed to abandon three forts and the Bozeman Trail. Red Cloud agrees to move his tribe to a reserva-tion stretching from Black Hills of Dakota t Mis-souri River. Great Sioux Reservation allowed no non-Indian travellers/settlers to enter this land (Both partied favoured this treaty, however, the Indians were now split into reservations on separate sites and would find it hard to act together)

EVENTS CONSEQUENCES

1874 - Expedition led by General Custer to Black Hills to protect railroad surveyors and find gold. This broke the Treaty of Laramie

Custer reported there was plenty of gold which caused an influx of miners. The US army were unable to prevent invasion of this territory

Sioux refused an offer to buy the Black Hills as they were sacred land

December 1875 - all Sioux were ordered to return to the reservation (impossible to achieve)

7,000 Indians from various tribes were in Powder River County

February 1876 - army instructed to treat all Indians outside the reservations as hostile

General Sheridan ordered the army to form a 3 pronged campaign

Army suffered heavy defeat at the Battle of Little Horn

News of Battle of Little Big Horn reached the rest of America by the 4th July (100th anniversary of declaration of Independence being signed)

Reaction - great shock and no effort spared in support of the army and their next campaign

Little bands of Indians split after the battle and were followed and attacked during the winter of 1876/77

They were outnumbered and short of food supplies. They gave in and returned to the reservations

5th May 1877 - Crazy Horse rode into the reservation and surrendered the day before Sitting Bull and his followers escaped to Canada

Armed resistance of the Sioux was over

12 MARKER

Who was most responsible for the Indian victory at Little Big Horn - Crazy Horse or General Custer?

THE FORT WISE TREATY 1861 (LATER FORT LYON TREATY)

After Gold was discovered in 1859, the white men surged through the Cheyenne

and Arapaho lands—forgetting about the agreement with Indians. Miners and oth-

er settlers moved onto the lands owned by Indians in Nebraska and Kansas. Rail-

road companies demanded the removal of buffalo and Indians from routes which

were to be used to building railroads

The Cheyenne and Arapaho took revenge as the Americans had broken the treaty

terms—began to attack railroad surveyors and travellers

In 1861, the government summoned the tribal chiefs to Fort Wise to force them to

agree to abandon the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty. In return they were given

a small reservation between the Arkansas River and Sand Creek, Colorado

Indian chiefs had no power to force their people to agree to this, most warriors

refused to accept the Fort Wise Treaty and went on the warpath– raiding mining

camps and attacking mail coaches

The treaties had not worked for the government or the Indians

FORT LARAMIE TREATY 1868

US government agreed to abandon three forts and the Bozeman Trail—they had found another route from the gold fields

Red Cloud agreed to take his people to a reservation in Dakota, stretching from the Black Hills to Missouri River

Red Cloud was pleased with this and thought that he had won

HOMESTEAD ACT 1862

Settlers could legally claim a section of land to live on and farm in the open Plains. 160 acres.

TIMBER AND CULTURE ACT 1873

Government realised 160 acres was not enough to support a homesteader family and allowed them to claim a further 160 acres if they promised to plant trees on half of it.

DESERT LAND ACT 1877

This gave settlers the right to buy 640 acres of land cheaply in areas where lack of rainfall was a problem.

PACIFIC RAILWAYS ACT 1862

This set up two companies (Union Pacific Railroad Compa-ny and the Central Pacific Railroad Company)

DAWES ACT 1887

Dawes General Allotment Act was passed due to a general belief that if Indians behaved like white men, they could be given land to farm. It divided Indian reservations into 160 acres for each adult and 80 acres for each child in a family. Any land left over was to be sold to shite settlers. The problem was that many Indians would not accept the land and sold it back to the white men as soon as they sound. More and more Indians became dependant on white people to feed them and give

them shelter.

OKLAHOMA LAND RACE 1889

Indian territory would be opened up to white settlers. President Harrison announced that 2 million acres of land would soon be opened up to settlers — so they gathered around the edges to race and claim the land

ALMOST 60 YEARS EARLIER, THIS LAND HAD BEEN PROMISED TO CHEROKEE INDIANS FOR EVER

TREATIES

AND ACTS

THE FORT LARAMIE TREAY, 1851

In 1849, the US government had made trea-ties with the Comanche and Kiowa, whereby the Indians agreed not to attack travellers in the Santa Fe trail in return for the promises of land.

Thomas Fitzpatrick, government agent, agreed similar terms with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians (who were attacking wagon trails along the Oregon trail)

The Indians agree to the terms, giving them lands (that they believed would be forever) along with the foothills of the Rocky Mountains

Government promised to protect them and pay the tribes $50,000 a year for 10 years

What was the importance of the Ghost Dance?

A Paiute Indian, Wovoka, claimed to have had a vision which told him that Indians

everywhere had to dance; in turn the Great Spirit would bring all the dead Indians back

to life, a flood would carry away all the white people and all the land would return to

the Indians once again. The Ghost Dance spread rapidly through the reservations.

Indian agents were worried, especially when some Indian began to dance with rifles

held above their heads. US President, Harrison, ordered the army to go into the

reservations and take control. Chief Sitting Bull, one of the Chief’s supporting the Ghost

Dance, was killed in a botched attempt to arrest him. He was shot dead by one of his

own tribe – a Sioux policeman

BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE -

1890

Sitting Bull’s followers fled south to join the band of Big Foot in the Cheyenne River

Reservation. But the US army were moving fast to

arrest Big Foot too, who had fled with his band of 120 men and 230 women and

children. Deep December snows and

many suffering from pneumonia hampered the

Indians and they were in a bad way by the time the 7th

Cavalry caught up with them. The Indians were

taken under armed guard to Wounded Knee Creek, where

the army began to disarm them.

At least one Sioux warrior resisted and others began to dance. In the confusion, a shot rang out and the 7th Cavalry opened fire with repeating rifles and the Hotchkiss Cannon. The

Indians fought back with the

weapons they had but they did not stand a chance - it was all over in 10 minutes,

250 Indians (including children) and 25 soldiers lay

dead. A soldier remarked that “this is where we got even for the Battle of Little Big Horn”. The struggle for

the Plains was over!

Source: From Dee Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, published in 1971.

To justify the breaches of the Permanent Frontier, the policy makers in Washington invented the ’manifest destiny’. The Europeans and their descendants were or-dained by destiny to rule all of America. They were the dominant race, and therefore responsible for the Indians—along with their lands, their forests and their mineral wealth.

BATTLE OF

WOUNDED

KNEE - THE

FINAL

TRAGEDY

By the end of the 1880’s, the atmosphere

among Indians on the reservation was one of

disillusionment and despair. This was

heightened by the government imposed cut of

the Sioux reservations and he drought of 1890,

which led to the failure of the Sioux crops. The

times were hard and grim and led to the Ghost

Dance.

ACTIVITY

1) Reflect on the Battle of Little Big Horn and on the Battle of Wounded Knee. Would you agree that the Battle of Little Big Horn marked a turning point in attitudes to and treatment of the Indians?

2) Was the destruction of the Plains Indians’ way of life inevitable?

RESERVATIONS

The reservations were set up to keep the whites and the Indians apart but they became places that tried to destroy Indian culture by forcing them to act like white men. It was supervised by government appointed Indian agents and they were expected to live as farmers. At first they were allowed to leave for buffalo hunts but after the conflicts of 1860/70’s they lost this right, this condition. They were set up on lands that settlers did not want (poor farm land) and it became difficult for Indians to feed them-selves. Indian agents sometime treated them badly too.

1. TERRITORIAL - Series of laws were passed reducing the size of the Sioux into smaller groups.

2. POLITICAL/TRIBAL CHIEFS LOST THEIR POWER - Their powers were slowly removed so they could no longer govern themselves. Lost all power to punish bands within the tribes. 1871: could no longer sign treaties. 1880’s: No longer looked after the reservations (councils did). 1883: judged and punished in special courts. 1887: Dawes General Allotment Act meant that Indians did not need to go their Chiefs and could become self sufficient.

3. EDUCATION/INDIAN CHILDREN WERE TAUGHT WHITE AMERICAN VALUES - children were taken away from their families and sent to boarding schools. Here they lived under military conditions and punished for using their own language. They no longer fitted in with their families and were not accepted by whites either.

4. RELIGION/INDIAN BELIEFS WERE BANNED - feasts, dances and ceremonies were banned. Medicine Men were undermined. Little need for the young to seek vision to give power on war on buffalo hunts. Christian missionaries were sent in to ‘civilise’ them

5. INDIANS NOT ALLOWED TO HUNT - Affected their whole social structure and removed the men’s tradition role within the tribes. They were de-skilled - no horses on the reservations, not allowed to hunt and refused to learn ‘white’ skills.

END OF THE PLAINS

INDIANS

LIFE ON THE RESERVATIONS

DESCTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO

Buffalo was the Indians source of life and in 1840 there were at least 13 million buffalo on the Great Plains. By 1885, only 200 survived, the buffalo were close to extinction. Settle-ment on the edge of the Great Plains, railroads, destruction of their natural habitat and the introduction of new diseases all contributed to the destruction of buffalo herds.

HUNTED FOR SPORTS - Buffalo were hunted for food/sport and this increased with the introduction of the railroads. Ex-cursions ran so people so people could hunt for sport. Buffalo hunters were employed to keep workers supplied with meat also.

HUNTED FOR HIDE - In 1871, Eastern Tannery produced high quality leather from buffalo hide. Trains could transport this easily. White hunters earned good money to supply the tannery companies. By 1875 the southern herd was de-stroyed. By 1883 the northern herd was destroyed.

HUNTED FOR BONES - Homesteaders, crews, professionals and bone pickers collected skeleton which were sent to the east. They were turned into fertiliser, buttons, combs and knife handles. Their hoofs were made into glue.

GRASSLAND DESTROYED - The grassland they fed on was destroyed or eaten by other animals and also used by set-tlers for land to build towns farms, houses or railroads.

WHAT LED TO THE END?

Destruction of the buffalo

Development of the railroads

Government reservation policies

US army actions

Cultural differences with whites

Discovery of gold

Cattle trails and ranches

Homestead on the Plains

INDIAN AGENTS - Government appointed to look after the reserva-tions but were often corrupt and money would disappear

RESERVATION LANDS - Created on land that was poor and unwanted by white Americans

LIVING CONDITIONS - Rations were poor and crops often failed. Medical care limited and illnesses were common

INDIAN AGENCY POLICE - Some joined forces with the police to help control the reservations. In return were given better clothing, food and shelter

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:

Plains Indians were very dif-ferent than the white Ameri-can:

Race - Indians had red skins. Whites regarded Indians as submissive. President Jeffer-son wrote ‘backward in civili-sation like beasts’

Attitudes to land (no one can own the land, so land cannot be bough or sold). White Americans thought it was their God given right to make money from the land

Lifestyles - Indians led a

nomadic life whereas white Americans preferred to settle down in houses (not in tipis)

Beliefs/ways of life/religion (spirits and medicine men)/customs (whites thought it was barbaric that Indians left their elderly to die)

Methods of warfare - Preserve life, ambush and stealth attacks, scalping - all of which whites thought were barbaric

Leadership - roles different

KEY STEPS

November 1876 - US began winter campaigns, starving them to surrender. Colonel Mackenzie de-stroyed Cheyenne camps driving them into hills without food supplies

January 1877 - Sitting Bull fled to Canada

October 1877 - Chief Joseph of Nez Percé tribe tried to escape to Canada also but was intercepted

1879 - Richard Pratt opened first boarding school for Native American children

1879 - Sioux given cattle to become cattle herders

1881—1887– Geronimo led a series of rebellions by the Apache warriors and eventually surrendered and became a vegetable farmer

1883 - Dawes Act divided the Native Americans on reservations

1889 - Oklahoma Land Run. People had to race to claim a plot of 160 acres (each taken from Indian territories)

1890 - Medicine Man called Waroka started the Ghost Dance, after a vision told him if they kept dancing, the Great Spirit would bring back the dead and wash away the white people in a big flood, and although initially peaceful the army feared rebellion. Tried to arrest Sitting Bull and he was killed in attempt. Sioux chief Big Foot tried to avoid the trouble and led his tribe away to Wounded Knee Creek where they were massacred by the US army.

‘INDIAN RESERVATIONS’ IS AN IMPORTANT

TOPIC SO YOU MUST REVISE!!

PLAINS INDIANS:THEIR BELIFES AND WAY OF LIFE

Plains Indians believed in one Great Spirit that ruled over everything. All living things had their own spirits and had to be treated with respect because all life was holy

Horses meant that Indians could move around more freely instead of living on the fringes of the Plains. They could also wage war more efficiently and with speed

Buffalo were essential to the Plains Indians— they used every part of the ones killed to support their lifestyle

MIGRANTS AND SETTLERS IN THE WEST

Trappers and Mountain Men began the process of opening up the West— they were the first white men to see fertile lands that lay beyond the Rockies and Sierra Nevada

Banking collapse in the East and subsequent farming crisis in the Midwest led to many contemplating a move far West—Wagon trails established but not all experienc-es were successful (The Donner Party)

Discovery of Gold and the rush of 1848 involved Americans as well as people from around the world—further discoveries in 1858/59 increased migration. The discovery led to the economic development of the West and the pre-eminence of California as a finance centre

Mormons were forced West due to persecution and established themselves on land surrounding the Great Salt Lake

FARMING ON THE PLAINS

Concept of ‘manifest destiny’ envisaged the whole of America being populated by white Americans—they believed it was their right and the natural thing to do. The government encouraged this

Us government helped people settle on the Plains by passing the Homesteader Act in 1862—enabled homesteaders to claim 160 acres cheaply and the Timber and Culture Act in 1873—claim a further 160 acres if planted half of it with trees

Homesteaders settled; women did housework and kept families fit and healthy, men did the farming. Early homesteaders faced enormous problems in farming on the Greta Plains—need for new technology (solved by 1895)

SUMMARY

CATTLEMEN AND COWBOYS

US Civil War interrupted the development of the cattle trails from Texas to the markets in the East

Goodnight-Loving Trail - different as it did not go to a railroad. Supplied the army and the Indian reservations direct

Problems with the long trails to the railroads led to establishment of cow towns—first town called Abilene. Led to a boom period for cattle industry

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868—Indian began to charge cattlemen for driving cows across their lands

Overstocking, fall in demand for beef and the terrible winter of 1885/65 led to collapse of the cattle industry

Cowboy’s basic responsibility was to tend to the cows, particularly on long trails. It was a hard life; plenty drinking, hard-living and from a range of ethnic groups—lives changes when ranching came about

CONFLICT

1851, Fort Laramie Treaty ended Permanent Indian Frontier and the concept of one big reservation- ‘concentration’ where Indians were concentrated in specific areas and not roaming the Plains

Discovery of gold in the Rockies (1859) led to US government permitting encroachment into Cheyenne and Arapaho lands—resulted in wars. Fort Wise Treaty (1861) moved the Indians to smaller reservations (which many Indians refused to accept)

1862, starving Santee Indians led by Little Crow, attacked their reservation agency and stole food—attacks extended to wagon trails (stole only food). 38 were hanged and rest sent to smaller reserva-tions. Similar problems faced in other reservations (Sand Creek Massacre)

Discovery of gold in Montana led to devel-opment of Bozeman Trail through the hunting ground of Sioux, which broke Fort Laramie Treaty —resulted in war. 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, government abandoned the Bozeman Trail

Discovery of gold in Black Hills of Dakota (Indian sacred place) - government unwillingness to stop miners entering and mining which also broke the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty—led to Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876

DESTRUCTION OF WAY OF LIFE

Impact of Battle of Little Big Horn—attitudes changes, public opinion shocked at brutality. Indians forced back into reservations after army was reinforced

US army=forts took them deep into Indian territory– used as bases to protect settlers, travellers and miners. Some Indians used as scouts. Change of tactic to total war and winter campaigns to ensure defeat

Railroads=disturbed their traditional hunting grounds and helped to develop cattle industry. Brought in settlers and tourists

Government=supported Americans wanting to cross the Plains, settle and work on them-backing the army’s strategies and tactics. Agreements between then government and Indians were constantly broken (pressure to exploit Indian lands). Policy ‘encouraging’ Indians onto reservations was continued and extended. Dawes Act (1887) divided reservations in farming sections (alien concept to Indians)

RESERVATIONS

Controlled the Indians—power of chiefs diminished, children educated in white ways, ceremonies banned, medicine men lost all powers, Indians deskilled, buffalos were wiped out and corrupt government agents ran the reservations

Indians, fed up with white Americans, began to do the Ghost Dance (signified the end of white men on the Plains). Fighting broke out and many were killed. Led to end of Indian resistance on the Plains—Battle of Wounded Knee

CONSTRUCTION OF THE RAILROADS

US government supported railroad development because it wanted to encourage trade to the Far East, boost the economy, bring law and order to the West and achieve its manifest destiny

Union Pacific Act and Central Pacific railroad compa-nies were granted permission to build tracks and attract settlers

Problems of railroad construction involved difficult terrain, hostile Indians, unreliable workforce and need for financial supports

Impacted on homesteaders and cattle ranchers by supplying materials and goods. Impacted Indians by enabling the destruction of their way of life

Railroads stimulated the economy by consuming manufactured goods themselves or delivering goods. Enabled law and order to be established and created cohesive community

LAW AND ORDER

The West was a violent and lawless place—poor communications made it difficult for law enforce-ment officers to get to distant communities and few trained law officers

Shootings were common, usually occurred to solve problems between settlers. Crime was high; theft, assault, murder, claim jumping and fence cutting were common crimes

Gangs and gangsters operated in and around cow town gaining reputations for drunkenness, violence, prostitution and general lawlessness (Billy the Kid/ Jesse James)

Hierarchy of US marshals, deputy marshals, town marshals and sheriffs established (William Tilghman/ Wyatt Earp)

Johnson County War—group of cattle ranchers went with hired guns into Johnson County to put an end to what they thought was cattle rustling

END OF THE PLAINS INDIANS EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

QUESTION:

In what ways did the white

Americans destroy the

buffalo?

QUESTION:

What were the short term

and long term causes of the

collapse of the Indian re-

sistance?

QUESTION:

In what way did the Indian reservations

change the traditional Indian way of life?

WHY DID THE WHITE AMERICANS WIN THE WEST?

1) Battle of Little Big Horn - Massacre of Custer’s men caused

thousands to join the army and avenge their deaths 2) Lies - Government made may promises which were later

broken 3) Economy - US government had unlimited men and money.

After the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Sioux had to disband army because the land could not support a large group of people

4) Technology - Army had access to repeating rifles, machine guns, cannons and the telegraph. Native Americans had to buy rifles and used smoke signals to communicate

5) Railroads - White American and soldiers could travel to the west within hours using the railroads

6) Slaughter of the buffalo - White hunters had destroyed the buffalo by 1870’s (for hides, meat, bones and to destroy the Native Americans - they’re life depended on these animals)

7) US army - too big and too strong for the warriors. They controlled the Plains with a system of forts

8) Reservations - destroyed the Indian way of life as they were forced to become farmers and adopt ‘white’ way of life. The influence of the Chief declined as the reservations were run by Indian agents. Code of Religious Offence destroyed Native American religion and belief. Dawes Act ended community ownership

9) Education - Indian boarding schools introduced and forced the children to become ‘white’. Beaten if they spoke in their own language

12 MARKER

Which was the bigger factor in the final; defeat of the Indians - Slaughter

of the buffalo or the setting up of reservations? Explain your answer

16 MARKER

I. How true is it to say that the White Americans tried to exterminate all

Indians on the Great Plains?

II.The development of the railroads was a crucial factor in ending the

Plains Indians culture. How far do you agree with this statement?

Explain your answer

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1850’s

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not

ente

r th

eir

land.

1860’s

1860 –

The P

ony E

xpre

ss s

tart

ed.

1861–65 –

The A

meri

can C

ivil W

ar.

Nort

h v

South

, th

e N

ort

h w

on a

nd a

bolished s

lavery

.

1861 –

The t

ranscontinenta

l te

legra

ph intr

oduced.

1861 –

The F

ort

Wis

e T

reaty

– S

and C

reek r

eserv

ation s

et

up for

the C

heyenne o

n v

ery

poor

quality

la

nd.

1862 –

Work

on t

he t

ranscontinenta

l ra

ilro

ad b

egin

s.

1862 –

The H

om

este

ad A

ct

passed –

fre

e land g

iven t

o s

ett

lers

.

1862 –

Little C

row

’s W

ar

– S

ioux I

ndia

ns r

ise u

p a

gain

st

poor

conditio

ns o

n t

he r

eserv

ation.

1863-4

– C

heyenne U

pri

sin

g –

sta

rvin

g C

heyenne a

ttack w

agons for

food.

The A

rmy r

eta

liate

with t

he

Sand C

reek M

assacre

.

1866 –

The fir

st

long d

rive o

f Texas longhorn

cow

s.

1867 –

Red C

loud’s

War

– S

ioux a

ttack t

ravellers

forc

ing t

he a

rmy t

o w

ithdra

w a

nd d

estr

oy a

ll t

heir

fo

rts.

1867 –

Medic

ine C

reek T

reaty

– a

new

reserv

ation s

et

up for

Cheyenne I

ndia

ns.

1868 –

2nd F

ort

Lara

mie

Tre

aty

re-d

efined t

he land b

elo

ngin

g t

o t

he S

ioux,

makin

g it

sm

aller.

1868 –

The W

inte

r Cam

paig

n –

the a

rmy a

ttack C

heyenne a

t W

ichita.

1869 –

The r

ailw

ay c

om

ple

ted a

cro

ss A

meri

ca.

1870’s

1873 –

The T

imber

and c

ulture

Act

passed –

fre

e land g

iven in r

etu

rn for

gro

win

g t

rees o

n it.

1874 –

barb

ed w

ire invente

d.

1876 –

The B

att

le o

f th

e L

ittle B

ighorn

– t

he S

ioux w

ipe o

ut

Custe

r’s 7

th C

avalr

y.

1877 –

The D

esert

Land A

ct

passed –

fre

e land g

iven a

way in a

reas o

f lo

w r

ain

fall.

1880’s

1880-5

– T

he p

eak p

eri

od for

dem

and o

f beef.

1886-7

– s

evere

win

ter

kills

many c

ow

s.

1887 –

The D

aw

es A

ct

– m

ore

land t

aken o

ff t

he I

ndia

ns.

The d

estr

uction o

f th

e B

uffalo

was a

lmost

com

ple

ted.

1890’s

1890 –

The B

att

le o

f W

ounded K

nee.

1892 –

The J

ohnson C

ounty

War.

Catt

le r

anchers

again

st

sm

all farm

ers

.

1896 –

Uta

h b

ecom

es a

sta

te.

CHECKLIST

3) Conflict on the Plains

Events and misunderstandings that led to the Fort

Laramie Treaties and the Fort Wise Treaty

Reasons for Red Cloud’s War and the Great Sioux War

Parts played by Red Cloud and General Custer - Battle

of Little Big Horn. The significance of the battle and the

attitudes to and against the Plain Indians

Destruction of the Plains Indians’ way of life

Importance of the Dawes Act

Life on the Reservations - the ways in which the

government controlled Plains Indians

Destruction of the buffalo and the impact on the Plains

Indians

Significance of Ghost Dance and the Battle of Wounded

Knee

THE AMERICAN

WEST

CHECKLIST

1) Inhabitants and Early Settlers

The Plains Indians’ beliefs

The Indians’ way of life on the Great

Plains

The ways in which, and the reasons

why, Plains Indians fought

The reasons why different groups of

migrants moved west

The importance of the concept of the

‘Manifest Destiny’

The reasons for the long-term success

of the Mormons in Salt Lake City

The impact of the gold rush and the

mining towns on the Great Plains

The role of the government in

encouraging settlement on the Great

Plains

The contribution made by women to the

settlement of the Great Plains

The problems faced by homesteaders

and the extent to which they found

solutions?

CHECKLIST

2) Development of the Plains

The reasons why the US government

supported the railroad companies in

promoting and planning railroad

construction

The problems involved with railroad

construction

The impact of the railroads on the West

Reasons for the ‘boom and bust’ of the

cattle industry

Contributions made to cattle industry by

Charles Goodnight, Joseph McCoy and

John Iliff

Role of the Cowboy

Lawlessness in early settlements

Role of US government and local

communities in tackling lawlessness

Contribution made by individual

lawmakers and lawbreakers such as

Jesse James and Wyatt Earp

Conflict between homesteaders and

cattle ranchers—Johnson County War

QUESTION

Were all Homesteaders successful on the Great

Plains? Homesteaders reacted in different ways to

the problems they faced. Read the Source below

and use your knowledge to explain what reasons

might there have been for homesteaders to give up.

Source: Part of a report in a Kansas newspaper, The Gazette, in 1895.

There came through yesterday two old-fashioned wagons heading

east, four horses, very poor and very tired, and one sad-eyed dog. A

few farm implements of the simpler sort were loaded in the wagon. For

ten years they had been fighting the elements. They have tossed

through hot nights, wild with worry, and have arisen only to find their

worse nightmares grazing in reality on the brown stubble in front of

their sun-warped doors. They had such high hopes when they went out.

QUESTION

Some soldiers

said of the

Battle of

Wounded

Knee ‘This is

where we got

even for the

Battle of Little

Big Horn’.

Do you agree

with their

statement?

Explain your

answer

Consider the three agents of change: the

army, the railroads and the government.

Which was the most important in bringing

about change? Weigh up the evidence to

reach a supported judgement.

GLOSSARY

Cattle Drover - a cowboy who herded the cattle along the

trails

Chuck Wagon - a wagon where cowboys kept food and cooking

utensils while travelling the trails

Claim - an amount of land registered by a homesteader or min-

er for his own use

Claim-jumping - stealing another person’s claim to prospects

for gold in a specific place

Corral - an enclosure for cattle or horses

Counting Coup - the act of touching an enemy

Danites - Mormon secret police

Dry Farming - a technique whereby farmers ploughed their

land whenever it rained or snowed, thus creating a layer of dust

that trapped the moisture

Federal - Relating to a government that makes laws for all the

United States

Gatling Gun - an early machine gun that could fire rapidly

Ghost Dance - an Indian dance that was believed to bring all

dead Indians to life in order to have a final battle with the white

man (signified the coming of the end of the white man)

Homesteader - a person who has settled on the Great Plains

Indian Agent - Indian appointed by the government to help run

the reservations

Lynching - hanging without a trial

Manifest Destiny - belief that white American should populate

the United States

Medicine Man - Indian holy man

Mountain Men - man who was a hunter, trapper and tracker in

the Rocky Mountains

Nomadic - Moving around from place to place

Polygamy - Having more than one w ife

Reservation - an area designated for Indian use

Rustling - stealing animals that were part of a herd

Sacred Land - holy land

Scalping - cutting away the hair and scalp of a defeated enemy

Tannery– factory where buffalo skins were made into leather

Vigilante - member of a community that took the law into their

own hands

PLANNING ZONE

Key to success in exams is usually down to good planning as well as knowledge. Knowing what you need to do and when you need to do it is the best path to a stress-free experience.

Know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Make a checklist of how well you think you know the topic. Use Mock exam results and feedback to check your self assessment. This will help you to plan your personal revision effectively - putting extra time into areas you are weaker at

Create your plan. Make time to consider how topics interrelate and factor that into your revision plans and work on showing your ability to link topics and events. You need to now not just the date, but why events happened, how important it was and how one event can relate to another.

Finally, follow the plan!

REVISION TIPS

ZONE IN ! !

Athletes and performers work hard to perform well

in competitions. They practice in order to do their

best. To do this they often get ‘in the zone’ -

preparation for performance. You can also do this

and by doing so, you will perform brilliantly in your

exam. Just follow some simple steps before the exam.

Understand it - Make sure you understand the exam process and what revision you need to do - this will give you the confidence and also help to get things into proportion

Deal with Distractions - Think about what issues in your life may interfere with revision, write them down. Think about how you can deal with each issue so they don’t affect your revision

Diet and Exercise - Eat sensible and exercise well. If your body is not in a fit state, how can your mind be? Substantial breakfast will set you up for the day and a light evening meal will keep your energy levels high. Drink plenty of water whilst revising and during exam (even when you are resting, your brain uses up about 30% of your energy and fluid intake to be able to work effectively!)

Build Confidence - Use revision time not only to revise content but also to build up your confidence in readiness for tackling the exam. Do practise questions whilst timing your-self to help improve time keeping during the exam

Friends and Family - let them know when you are revising, share your revision plans and reduce distractions. This means you can have better quality time with them when your not revising as you wont be worrying about revision

Compartmentalise - put any worries about other things to one side and keep focused. Sort out other things after your revision session or exam.

DON’T PANIC ZONE

As you get closer to completing your revision, the Big Day will be getting nearer and nearer. Many students find this the most stressful time and can enter panic mode. They start working longer hours without giving their brains a chance to absorb information.

However, panicking simple makes your brain seize up and information ad thoughts simply cannot flow naturally. Most students build the exams up into more than they are.

Remember — exams are not trying to catch you out! If you have studied the course, there will be no surprises on the exam paper!

Take deep breaths and relax. Don’t let it take the stress take over your life.

EXAM ZONE

Make sure you know which order you are sitting your exam and prepare for each accordingly. Check with your teacher if your not sure

Know how long each exam is and how long you should spend on each question for be fully prepared to use your time effectively and answer questions more successfully

Understand the language of the exam paper:

Describe Examiner is looking for concise and organised account

Explain how/why

Examiner is trying to discover whether you understand the key ideas about how and why developments happened. The more details you can give, the more marks you will receive

How useful …?

How reliable …?

Source evaluation skills—look for clues that tell you about origins, intention, nature, selection …

How far Looking for you to consider different sides and come up with a balanced judgement

Be realistic about how much time you can devote to your revision but make sure you still put enough time in

Chunk revision in each subject down to smaller sections making it more manageable

Assess your progress/improvements are little victories will help to build your confidence

Regular rest breaks or different activities to give your life some variance