20 th Century

1. 20th Century Chapter 18 United States Adventures in Time and Place

2. Rails Across the Country • People in the East had no quick way to reach the rich farm lands and gold mines of the West. • Gold Rush in California. • Wagon trains took 4 to 6 months and it was dangerous. • Water routes took months too. • A transcontinental railroad was needed. • A transcontinental railroad is a railroad that crosses the entire continent.

3. Planning and Building the Railroad • Problems – where to start; varied geography like mountains, deserts, and plains; conflicts with Native Americans • Who – Union Pacific Railroad (west from Omaha, Nebraska) and Central Pacific Railroad (east from Sacramento, California) • Workers – Chinese immigrants, Irish, German, former Civil War soldiers, and free African Americans. • On May 10, 1869 the two railroads met at Promontory Point, Utah. • 6 years of work to lay 1,700 miles of track. The last spike was made of gold. • Many people died, Native Americans lost their land and buffalo, but people and products could travel faster.

4. The Race to Build the Railroad • the Central Pacific workers laid 10 miles of track in a single day! • The two railroad companies, eager for payment, kept building tracks right past each other. • Congress picked Promontory Point, Utah. http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/PamMack/lec323/transcontinental.jpg

5. Life on the Range • In 1866 a steer could be sold for $5 in Texas, but in the North where cattle were scarce, a steer was worth $40. • As population grew so did the demand for beef. • People realized if they could get their cattle to the railroads they could ship them east and sell them for more money….the cattle drive is born.

6. The Cattle Drive • About ¼ to 1/3 of all cowboys were African Americans or Mexican Americans. • Most of the white cowboys had fought for the Confederacy. • Life on the range was one of unending work. • Trail boss was in charge • Chuck wagon held food and supplies • 2,000 – 3,000 longhorn cattle tended by 8 – 20 cowboys. • In a stampede, cattle scattered wildly.

7. The Cattle Industry • One of the most famous cattle drive trails was the Chisholm Trail. • Railheads were towns that developed along the railroad. • Towns had stockyards (cattle pens), hotels, stores, restaurants, and other businesses to make money from the cattle trade as well as from the railroads. • Meat-packing plants in Chicago. • Railroads helped the cattle industry grow, but later put a stop to cattle drives and cowboys by taking up land.

8. Homesteading on the Plains • The Great Plains was known as the “Great American Desert.” • The U.S. government and the railroads sold off vast areas of land for cheap prices. • Many people from the East; African Americans from the South; and immigrants from France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Russia took advantage of the offer. Tornado Alley is a nickname given to the unique location in the United States where tornadoes are most likely to hit. Tornado Alley is located in the Central Plains and includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Also included are Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and portions of the other surrounding states.

9. Homesteaders • The Homestead Act gave 160 acres of public land to adult men 21 or older, widows, or heads of a family. All they had to do was pay a small fee, farm the land, and live on it 5 yrs. • People who claimed land this way were called homesteaders. • The Homestead Act was the government’s way of encouraging people to farm the plains even though it was hard work because of few trees and water and harsh climate. http://www.west-point.org/users/usma1958/22097/nebad.jpeg

10. Sodbusters • The new settlers became known as sodbusters because the top layer of ground, or sod, was so hard to “bust” through. • James Oliver invented a plow they could use in 1877. • The sod was used as a building material since there were few trees or stone to use. • Houses made from sod “brick” were called soddies. • They were dark, uncomfortable, and had bugs. • Hardships – prairie fires, unpredictable weather, and bugs. Dry grass caught fire easily, storms suddenly appeared, and grasshoppers and locusts showed up in the summer. • In 1874, the “Great Grasshopper Year,” they were piled 6 inches deep in some places and could eat 100 acres of corn in a few hours. Many settlers left. • Technology made life easier – windmills, irrigation, a new kind of wheat from Russia, barbed wire http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/photos/sodhse1.jpg

11. Exodusters • Many African Americans came looking for freedom from violence and unfair treatment. • Nicodemus, Kansas was founded by African Americans from Kentucky. • African Americans were encouraged to leave the south. • Many freed slaves believed that Kansas could be a type of promised land. • In 1879 alone, 20,000 African Americans went to Kansas. So many left that they were called Exodusters. • Many white Southerners jailed or refused to let black passengers onto boats leaving the South. • However, the Exodusters left a legacy of successful farming communities in Kansas.

12. The Plains Wars • Railroads, cattle, and farms were taking over land that once belonged to the Native Americans of the Plains. • Buffalo were shot, cattle ate grass the buffalo needed, homesteaders plowed and fenced the land. • By 1890 50 million buffalo shrank to less than 1,000. • Without buffalo Native Americans of the Plains lost their food, shelter, and clothing.

13. Native American Lands • The Homestead Act gave settlers property rights. • Property rights are rights to own or use something – such as land – for gain, profit, or sale. • Native Americans did not believe in land ownership, but they fought each other over hunting grounds. • The government signed treaties that said they would not take over Native American lands, but they broke their promises. • Native Americans were forced onto reservations, or land set aside for them. • Most Native Americans didn’t want to live on reservations. http://www.gozarks.com/louisianapurchase/treaty.jpg

14. The Battle of Little Big Horn • The government promised to leave Native American land alone. • Colonel George Custer led a group of miners, journalists, and photographers into the Black Hills. They found gold. So, 15,000 miners rushed to Lakota lands to mine it. • The government tried to buy the land, but the Lakota refused. So, the government tried to force them off their land. • Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led the Native Americans against the government. • The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho united to protect their land around the Black Hills. • They outnumbered Colonel Custer and his 600 Calvary soldiers. • Calvary fight on horseback. • Custer split up his men, unknowing he was outnumbered. Custer and about 200 soldiers died. • The Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” was to be the last major Native American victory on the Plains. http://www.sogonow.com/archives/crazy%20horse.jpg

15. The Nez Perce • The Nez Perce wanted to keep their lands along the Wallowa River in Oregon. • In 1876, the government demanded that they move to a reservation. • Chief Joseph refused. • Fighting between white settlers and young Nez Perce led to war. • The Nez Perce were forced to flee to Canada. • They were only 40 miles from the Canadian border when a large force of soldiers caught up with them. • Chief Joseph surrendered on October 5, 1877. http://www.baars.be/manita/images/2ChiefJoseph-Nez%20Perce1903.jpg