The West

1. 17 The West

2. Beyond the Frontier • Western Plains - Great American Desert • Beyond Mississippi – “uninhabitable” • Most pre-Civil War settlers head directly for Pacific Coast • 1870 – 1900 triple white population on Plains

3. Physiographic Map of the U.S.

4. Crushing the Native Americans • Before settlement – Unfinished Business • 1867 - 250,000 Indians in western U.S. • Displaced Eastern Indians • Native Plains Indians (Sioux, Pawnee, Apache, Comanche, Cheyenne, Shoshoni) • U.S. government tries various policies to deal with Native Americans • By the 1890s, Indian cultures crumble

5. Life of the Plains Indians:Political Organization • Plains Indians nomadic and warlike, hunt buffalo • Skilled horsemen – horses very important • Tribes develop warrior class • Wars limited to skirmishes, “counting coups” • Complex tribal bands and cultures governed by chief and council • Work assigned on basis of gender • Loose organization confuses federal policy • Trade important to Indians

6. Searching for an Indian Policy • Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 excludes any white from Indian country without a license • Land regarded as one big Indian preserve

7. Native Americans in the West: Major Battles and Reservations

8. Searching for an Indian Policy • After gold rush, by 1850, more whites in Indian Country • Wagon trains crossing West • Prospectors kept finding gold and silver in West • Plans for transcontinental railroad • Government wanted to settle the West

9. “As Long As Waters Run”:Searching For An Indian Policy • Concentration Policy – Government confines Indians to certain areas and boundaries • Indians given land for “as long as water runs and grass grows” • Conflicts eventually changes policy • 1864, John Chivington and the Sand Creek massacre • Sioux War of 1865 – 1867 and Fetterman Massacre

10. Chief Black Kettle • Chief Black Kettle • Southern Cheyenne • Sand Creek Massacre

11. Searching for an Indian Policy • Debate over Indian policy • East - Humanitarians/Reformers want to “civilize” Indians • West - wants firm control and swift reprisal • Humanitarians win with “small reservation” policy – Goal is for Indians to become farmers and civilized • Children sent to white schools in East • 1871 – Government stops dealing with Native American tribes as sovereign nations

12. Final Battles on the Plains • Small reservation policy fails • Young warriors refuse restraint • White settlers encroach on Indian lands • Life of poverty and isolation for Indians • Final series of wars suppress Indians • 1876, Little Big Horn: Sioux defeat Custer • Largest Indian Army ever assembled in U.S. and largest Indian victory • Most battles result in Indian defeat, massacre • 1890, Wounded Knee: Massacre of Sioux to suppress “Ghost Dances” – seen as a cult

13. Lt Colonel Armstrong • George Armstrong • Little Bighorn • Indian victory

14. The End of Tribal Life • 1887: Dawes Severalty Act • Destroys communal ownership of Indian land • Gives small farms to each head of a family • Indians who leave tribes become U.S. citizens • Most devastating blow to Plains Indians was near-extermination of buffalo • Buffalo – main Indian resource and basis for their unique way of life

15. GOVERNMENT INDIAN POLICY • Prior to 1849 Gold Rush – One Big Reservation • 1851 Concentration • 1867 Small Reservations • 1870/1880s Assimilation • 1887 Dawes Severalty Act • 1934 Indian Reorganization Act

16. Settlement of the West • Unprecedented settlement 1870–1900 • Most move west in periods of prosperity • Most settlers went west for economic reasons • Rising population drives demand for Western goods • People made effort to keep migration familiar – travel with family groups

17. Men and Women on the Overland Trail • California gold rush begins Great Migration to California and Oregon over Overland Trail • Settlers start from St. Louis, Missouri, in April to get through Rockies before snow • Pacific trek takes at least 6 months • Settlers face new challenges not experienced back home

18. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT – LARGEST LAND OWNER • 1860–1900: Federal land grants • 48 million acres granted under Homestead Act • 100 million acres sold to private companies individuals, corporations • 128 million acres granted to railroad – Government gave most to railroads • Homestead Act failed because land was too arid for farming

19. Land for the Taking:Speculators and Railroads • Most land acquired by wealthy investors • Speculators send agents to stake out best land for high prices • River bottoms • Irrigable areas • Control of water – dominant issue in West • Railroads sell grants of land to immigrants

20. The Bonanza West • Quest to “get rich quick” produces: • Uneven growth • Boom-and-bust economic cycles • Wasted resources • “Instant cities” like San Francisco • Institutions based on bonanza mentality • People rushed West for economic reasons and cities spring up

21. The Mining Bonanza • Mining first attraction to the West • Individual prospectors remove surface gold, Placer mining • Big corporations move in with the heavy, expensive mining equipment • 1874–1876: Black Hills gold rush overruns Sioux hunting grounds

22. Mining Regions of the West

23. Mining Bonanza: Camp Life • Camps sprout with each first strike • Camps governed by simple democracy • Men outnumber women two to one • Most men, some women work claims • Most women earn wages as cooks, housekeepers, and seamstresses

24. Mining Bonanza:Ethnic Hostility • 25–50% of camp citizens were foreign-born • French, Latin Americans, Chinese hated • 1850: California Foreign Miner’s Tax drives foreigners out • 1882: Federal Chinese Exclusion Act suspends Chinese immigration for 10 years – few Chinese came into Country

25. Mining Bonanza: Effects of the Mining Boom • Contributed millions to economy • Comstock Lode – Virginia City, Nevada, largest discovery of gold and silver • Helped finance Civil War, industrialization • Early statehood for Nevada, Idaho, Montana • Caused problems for Indians • Scarred, polluted environment • Ghost towns

26. Gold from the Roots Up:The Cattle Bonanza • The Far West ideal for cattle grazing • Joseph McCoy responsible for trail drive • Cattle drives take herds to railroads • Trains take herds to Chicago for processing • Profits enormous for large ranchers • Cowboys work long hours for little pay • Half of cowboys were Black or Mexican • Rules governed behavior on the trail • Cattlemen’s Boom – railroads and population in East

27. Cattle Trails

28. Gold from the Roots Up:The Cattle Bonanza • By 1880, wheat farmers begin fencing range • Mechanization modernizes ranching • 1886: Harsh winter kills thousands of cattle • Overproduction/overgrazing • Ranchers reduce herds and crossbreed with other type cattle, switch to sheep

29. Sodbusters on the Plains:The Farming Bonanza • 1870–1890 farm population triples on plains (Homestead Act) • Settlers come for economic opportunity • African American “Exoduster” farmers migrate from the South to escape racism • Water, building materials (lumber) scarce • Sod houses common • Houses are isolated

30. New Farming Methods • Barbed wire allows fencing without wood – allows farmers to pen animals • Dry farming: Deeper tilling, use of mulch • Chilled iron plow • New strains of wheat resistant to frost • 1885–1890: Drought ruins small scale bonanza farms • Diversified farming adopted

31. Discontent on the Farm • Farmers’ grievances: • Declining crop prices • Rising rail rates • Heavy mortgages • The Grange starts as social organization and later farmer alliances become a political lobby

32. The Final Fling • 1889: Oklahoma (Indian Territory) opened to white settlement • Boomers waited and Sooners jumped the gun to gain