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Manifest Destiny Unleashed: Journey and Struggle in the American West

Explore the turbulent era of westward expansion as pioneers clash with Native Americans, shaping history on the Western Plains. Witness the conflicts, policies, and settlements that defined the Wild West.

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Manifest Destiny Unleashed: Journey and Struggle in the American West

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  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

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