the frontier experience ranching. cattle drives long before texas was a state, spanish settlers...
TRANSCRIPT
The Frontier ExperienceThe Frontier ExperienceRanchingRanching
Cattle DrivesCattle DrivesLong before Texas was a state, Spanish settlers brought cattle from Spain to the region. Over the years, the Spanish cattle developed into rugged steer called the Texas longhorn. During the Civil War, many of the men in Texas went to war and left the cattle to roam free.After the Civil War, beef in Texas was so cheap that it wasn’t worth rounding up the cattle even if they were worth around $2 a head. There was, however, a tremendous market for beef in the East.Enterprising Texans decided to round up herds of longhorns and literally walk them to where the railroads crossed on the Great Plains. From there, the cattle would be shipped by rail to the more profitable markets in cities. “Walking” the cattle from Texas to the railroads was called a long cattle drive.
Cattle RanchesCattle Ranches
You’ve seen that some of the first people to move West were miners. The second type of people to move West were ranchers. Ranchers raised cattle or other livestock to be sold. Ranches are large areas of land where cattle or other livestock were grazed, so some homesteaders used their land for this purpose. In the mid late 1800s, ranchers also allowed their steers to graze on the open range, public land owned by the government. Since grass on the open range was free, the profits for ranching were enormous. Such profits attracted investors from back East and as far away as England.The huge profits encouraged greed, but greed led to a lack of planning. First, the market became flooded with beef, which caused the price to drop. Second, since the grass on the open range was “free,” over-grazing was common. Over-grazing occurred when cattle were allowed to eat the grass so short that it would not grow back.
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Cattle RanchesCattle RanchesIn the late 1880s, nature added its own cruel twist to ranching. A blizzard buried the eastern and southern plains with three feet of snow. It has been estimated that between 50% and 85% of the cattle on the open range died of exposure or starvation. Many ranchers who survived the blizzard were ruined by the drought that followed in the summer.Cattle ranching on the plains survived, but only as big business with fenced pastures. The fence of choice was barbed wire, which was invented in the 1860s but then improved and patented by Joseph F. Glidden in 1874. Barbed wire made fencing large areas practical and inexpensive. These new fences kept each rancher’s cattle within the boundaries while it kept the other cattle out. The widespread use of barbed wire by the late 1800s combined with large-scale over-grazing ended the era of grazing cattle on the open range. Barbed wire also made long cattle drives impractical or impossible. The cowboys who had herded steers along the cattle trails and on the open range became ranch hands. The longhorns were replaced with more traditional European breeds.
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Practice QuestionsPractice Questions
1. The cattle in Texas were brought to America by _______ settlers.2. “Walking” cattle from Texas to the railroads was called a long _________.3. Major slaughterhouses were located in Chicago and ___________.4. Public land where livestock grazed for free was called the _________.5. The practice of _________ killed the grass on the open range.6. The invention of _________ ended long cattle drives.7. After miners moved into western lands, _________ moved West to raise livestock.8. Joseph ________ patented barbed wire in 1874.
AnswersAnswers
1. Spanish
2. cattle drive
4. open range
5. over-grazing
6. barbed wire
7. ranchers
8. Glidden
The Frontier ExperienceThe Frontier ExperienceFarmingFarming
The Frontier ExperienceThe Frontier ExperienceFarmingFarming
Introduction: As more settlers arrived on the Great Plains, many became farmers, and they began to fence in the open range. The new arrivals to the plains faced many hardships. Winters were harsh, wood for homes and fuel was scarce, and neighbors were scarce as well. Isolation (not having many neighbors) was a serious hardship for homesteaders. The nearest neighbor could be miles away. The railroads increasingly provided plains farmers with the supplies they needed and helped with the neighbor problem by bringing even more settlers.
FarmingFarming
Since wood was scarce, many farmers built sod houses. The plains were covered with thick grass and tightly matted roots. The grass and roots along with the dirt than came with it was called sod. The sod was removed from the ground, cut into chunks, and stacked to form the walls of a sod house. Poles were used for the framework of the roof which were covered with layers of sod. Many floors were simply dirt. A fireplace provided heat, some light, and a means for cooking. Those used to “finer things” found it difficult to endure the damp and dreary living of a sod house.
Land for FarmersLand for Farmers
Land on the plains was available from two sources:
1.) the government and 2.)railroads.
HomesteadersHomesteadersYou may recall that in 1862 Congress passed the Homestead Act. This act gave homesteaders 160 acres of land if they were 21 years old, planned to become citizens, and lived and worked on the land for 5 years. Thousands took advantage of the offer and rode the rails westward to stake their claims.In 1889, the government opened parts of the Oklahoma Territory for settlement. This land was previously given to the Indians who had been removed from the Southeast. Then, under the Dawes Severalty Act in 1887, the government divided reservation land among Indian families and gave them each up to 160 acres. The left-over reservation land was opened to white settlement.
Oklahoma Land RushOklahoma Land Rush
When land in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma was opened for settlement, thousands of homesteaders lined up on April 22, 1889, and waited for a signal when they could legally stake their claim. At noon the signal was given, and a mad dash to claim the best was on. This event was known as the Oklahoma Land Rush. Tent cities sprang up overnight and blossomed into full-blown towns in a matter of months. Settlers that slipped in early to stake claims became known as Sooners. By the end of 1889, Oklahoma had enough people to become a territory, and in 1907 it was granted statehood.
SettlersSettlers
To encourage companies to lay more track in the West, railroads were given millions of acres of public lands along the railway route. The railroads then sold the land to those willing to move West. As opposed to homesteaders, settlers bought their land-usually from the railroads. Having settlers along the railway provided customers with the goods railroads carried. For those who farmed the land, the railroads also provided transportation to sell their produce to other areas of the country.
The Illusion of Plains FarmingThe Illusion of Plains FarmingA man named John Deere invented the steel plow in 1837. As farmers began to settle on the great Plains, this invention made tilling the hard grass-matted soil of the plains possible. Farmers rushed to break the sod with their new steel plows. Those who could afford them also used windmills to pump water to help irrigate the fields.Farmers were warned that there wasn’t enough rainfall to farm the land beyond the 100th meridian without a great deal of irrigation. Encouraged by high wheat prices due to crop failures elsewhere and an unusually good period of rainfall in the early 1880s, many farmers ignored the warnings. Land speculators, eager to sell to the farmers, didn’t always tell the truth about farming on the plains. A popular slogan of the day was “rain follows the plow.” The thought was that cultivating the soil would change the climate. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the plains farmers in search of a better place to farm than the plains.
Dry FarmingDry Farming
To cope with a lack of rainfall, new farming techniques were developed. Dry farming was one method that involved planting seeds deep in the soil where the moisture was located and turning the top layer of soil into dust to hold in the moisture. Unfortunately, the dust could be carried away by the wind. In the 1930s, frequent high winds turned the Great Plains into the “Dust Bowl.” More about that later when we cover the Great Depression.
Closing the FrontierClosing the Frontier
So far, you have seen that during the last half of the 1800s, miners, ranchers, and farmers moved into western lands. You’ve also seen how this movement caused conflict with Native Americans during this time. The “frontier,” the land beyond settlements, grew smaller and smaller until eventually, there was no frontier left. The Census Bureau defines settled land as having a population of 2.5 persons per square mile. That may not seem like very many people, but in 1890, that standard was met in the West. In 1890, the frontier was declared to be “closed,” or settled.
Farming Becomes Big BusinessFarming Becomes Big Business
Many small farmers gave up on farming the Great Plains, but for others, farming was profitable. Those with the money for machines and manpower were able to make huge profits by cultivating thousands of acres at a time. New machines like mechanical reapers, harvesters, and threshers allowed farmers to use machines instead of laborers to do the work. Farming on the Great Plains eventually became big business just as the cattle industry had done.
Farmer GrievancesFarmer Grievances
In the late 1800s, farm incomes did not keep up with the tremendous growth in the rest of the economy. High tariffs protected industry from foreign competition, but the tariffs did not help the farmers at all. In fact, tariffs made the things farmers needed cost more. Farmers were getting squeezed by bad weather, expensive machinery, and high rates by railroads to carry their goods to market. They were having a difficult time paying off their debts. Farmers tried several things to change their situation, including forming their own political party.
The GrangeThe Grange
The farmer’s first attempt to organize for their common good was known as the “Grange,” that’s short for “the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.” The Grange was founded in 1867 as a fraternal organization (a “fraternity”) that united farm families. Remember that farming on the Great Plains could be quite lonely. The Grange originally provided social and educational activities to combat the isolation, but it soon developed into an organization that dealt with other issues faced by farmers. Ultimately the Grange failed to have much of an impact on the farmers’ economic condition, so new organizations were formed.
CooperativesCooperatives
Local granges or other groups of farmers sometimes joined together to form cooperatives, also called co-ops. A cooperative pools the resources of a group for the good of its members. For example, a farming co-op might buy seeds and fertilizer in bulk at a better price and then distribute those supplies to the farmers who are members.
The Farmers’ AllianceThe Farmers’ Alliance
The Farmers’ Alliance began in Texas in 1877 to address economic issues faced by farmers. When the group began to recruit members outside of Texas in the 1890s, the Alliance grew to between 1.5 and 3 million members. The Farmers’ Alliance formed very large cooperatives called Exchanges. The goal for the Exchanges was to force farm prices up and to make low interest loans to farmers. Exchanges were moderately successful but still did little to ease the economic suffering of farmers.
Farmers’ DemandsFarmers’ Demands
In 1890, members of the Farmers’ Alliance as well as several other farming organizations met together in Ocala, Florida, to discuss changes. They came up with several “solutions” for their problems. Their ideas for political changes were called the Ocala Demands. Here is what the farmers wanted:
The Ocala Demands• Inflation by the free (unlimited) minting of silver coins• Tighter regulations on the railroads• Support for the subtreasury plan (government built warehouses and low
interest loans)• An end to protective tariffs and national banks• A graduated income tax• Direct election of Senators by voters rather than by state legislatures
*Let’s take a look at some of these demands.
Cheaper MoneyCheaper MoneyOne of the main things farmers wanted was inflation, or “cheaper money.” They wanted more currency circulating. The more money that was in circulation, the less the money was worth. If the money was worth less, farmers could pay off their debts easier. It would also cause the price of their crops to increase. Farmers wanted the government to create inflation in two different ways: by printing more paper money and by adding more specie (gold or silver). First, they believed that the government should print more paper money, called greenbacks. A political party called the Greenback Party was formed to fight for this goal, but the party wasn’t very successful and didn’t last long. Second, they wanted the government to coin more silver.
Railroad RegulationRailroad Regulation
Farmers also wanted the government to regulate the railroads. Remember that the railroads basically had a monopoly on transportation. Because they had no real competition, railroads charged whatever they wanted. As you’ll see later, there was also a great deal of corruption in the railroad industry. Farmers’ cooperatives and alliances were not large enough to demand better prices, and the railroads charged the farmers high prices to ship their goods. Farmers thought the government should do something.
Warehouses and LoansWarehouses and Loans
Farmers wanted the government to build warehouses in every state to store non-perishable crops such as grains. They also wanted the government to provide low interest loans based on those stored crops. The idea was that once the price of the crops increased, the farmers would then sell from the warehoused supply and pay off their loans to the government. This plan that originated with the National Farmers’ Alliance was called the subtreasury plan.
The People’s PartyThe People’s Party
Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party did much to help the farmers, and both mostly ignored their early demands. When the Farmers’ Alliance was unable to “fix” farm problems, some of its members formed a third party called the Populist Party, also known as the “People’s Party.” Their goal was to help farmers through political action.
The People’s PartyThe People’s PartyThe Populist Party chose its own candidates for Congress in the 1890 election. In an attempt to keep farmers from voting Populist candidates, the Republicans passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. The Act directed the United States treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month so that more silver would be coined. Unfortunately, the Act did very little to help farmers.In the 1892 Presidential election, the Populists chose their own political candidate, and the party adopted the Omaha Platform, which was basically the same as the Ocala Demands. The Populist Movement ended with the 1896 elections when both parties, Democrats and Republicans, began to adopt some of the reforms the farmers wanted.