The Closing of the Western Frontier

1. The Closing of the Western Frontier Out of Many Chapter 18 A lot of slides within this powerpoint were created by Pamela Montague.

2. Key Tensions Buffalo HuntersRailroadsU. S. Government Native Americans Cattlemen Sheep Herders Farmers Ranchers

3. Key Tensions EthnicMinorities Nativists Big Business InterestsLocal Govt. OfficialsFarmersBuffalo Hunters Environmentalists Lawlessness of the Frontier “Civilizing” Forces

4. Plains Indians Nomads – followed their food source buffalo, 12 to 15 million Horses made them better hunters and warriors Plains Wars, 1860-1890 Fight to protect land and stop waste (buffalo)

5. THE BUFFALO The buffalo or bison was an extremely important part of the plains people’s lives. They used virtually every part of the buffalo from the hide for clothing, to the stomach for holding water. At one time, an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of the present day United States and Canada. A buffalo can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and live as long as 30 years.

6. Dept. of Interior in charge – gross corruption Initial policy of CONCENTRATION Deal with each tribe individually; to define territories Allegedly to stop intertribal warfare but actually to divide & conquer By the 1860s, policy is one of confining all to reservations in Black Hills of SD, or OK – Indians to become farmers on the reservations Indians received food, supplies in return for removal to reservations & promise to be left alone INDIANS WAGED WAR!! Plains Wars last from 1860-1890 Plains Indians are excellent warriors Sherman:“…a mere 50 Indians could often checkmate 3000 U.S. soldiers.” U.S. Government Indian Policy

7. The Buffalo Soldiers on the Great Plains 1/5 of soldiers on frontier The nickname was given to the "Negro Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought; the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866:

8. SAND CREEK MASSACRE Colorado, Nov. 1864 Cheyenne, under Chief Black Kettle, came to U.S. fort to negotiate Col. Chivington arrives at fort & ignores attempts to negotiate Executes them all –men, women & children Much mutilation Colonel John Chivington Kill & scalp all, big & little!

9. Battle of Little Bighorn • Treaty of Fort Laramie – granted Sioux the right to occupy Black Hills • Gold found in Black Hills, DK, 1874 • Col. George A. Custer, 7th Calvary – leads expedition of 264 soldiers • Suppose to say that there wasn’t much gold to be found • Instead, said the opposite • Sioux & Cheyenne force of 2,500 • “Custer’s Last Stand” • 1st major victory for Indians after a long series of defeats • But, short-lived victory

10. Chief Joseph: Iwill fight no more forever! Reservation reduced by 90% after gold discovered 6 million acres at less than 10 cents/acre Flee towards Canadian border Surrender after 3 months & 1700 miles…..only 30 miles from the Canadian border Told they’ll be returned to ID, instead are sent to OK and 40% die of disease Nez Percé tribal retreat (1877)

11. Dawes Severalty Act (1887):Assimilation Policy • Tribal lands split into allotments - each family 160 acres • Land can’t be disposed of for 25 years • After 25 yrs., would get citizenship & ownership of land

12. ASSIMILATION Attempt to have Indians “become white” and become part of white man’s culture Boarding schools, like Carlisle School, PA “Kill the Indian & Save the Man!” U.S. government tries to give them land and turn them into farmers Failed – Indian culture was nomadic – don’t make good farmers Apache children on arrival at the Carlisle Indian School (Pennsylvania) Apache children at the Carlisle School 4 months later.

13. Arapahoe “Ghost Dance”, 1890 • Prophet had vision • If the Indian peoples learned to love each other, they’d have a special place in the afterlife • The Sioux came to believe that when the day of judgment came, all Indian peoples who had ever lived would return to their lost world • White people would vanish from the Earth • White settlers saw this as a threat

14. Battle of Wounded Knee Sioux fleeing reservation after Sitting Bull shot Rounded up by Army; surrendered & herded into Wounded Knee Army Camp Ghost Dance Army ordered to disarm Indians 190 unarmed Indians massacred in the process End of Plains Wars Chief Big Foot’s Lifeless Body

15. Factors which brought an end to Plains Indians’ way of life: RAILROADS!! Destroy Buffalo Bring out settlers, miners, etc. Discovery of gold/silver on Indian lands Disease & Firewater Indian Wars Either killed them OR Survivors forced to move to reservations (Dakota and Oklahoma) Lakota Sioux Chief Crazy Horse, Black Hills, SD "Crazy Horse is being carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse -- to his people."

16. MAJOR GOLD STRIKES: California, 1848 Colorado, 1858 (Pike’s Peak or Bust!”) Black Hills of the Dakotas, 1877 MAJOR SILVER STRIKE: The “Comstock Lode” in Virginia City, Nevada Over $300 million of silver extracted over 18 yrs COPPER – MT Only those who could afford to invest in the large machinery were making huge profits MINING IN THE OLD WEST:

17. THESE STRIKES CAUSED MINING TOWNS TO SPRING UP: • “Helldorados” • 1 in 3 buildings is a saloon • Gambling, prostitutes, etc. • “Vigilante” and “lynch law” justice • Deadwood, OK • Home of many famous “Wild West” legends

18. Colt .45 Revolver God didn’t make men equal.Colonel Colt did!

19. Legendary Gunslingers & Train Robbers Jesse James Billy the Kid

20. Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost Towns Calico, CA

21. Eventually becomes “big business” Small miners can’t get to deep ores; need big $ Attracts people & wealth to West Helped fund the Civil War & building of railroads Brought more conflict with the Plains Indians Another effect: Discovery of gold/silver leads to increased interest in the West…. enter the Wild West Shows! Role of Mining in Subduing the Frontier

22. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show Wild West vaudeville shows traveled worldwide

23. “Buffalo Bill” Cody & Sitting Bull Calamity Jane Annie Oakley

24. “There’s gold from the grass roots down, but there’s more gold from the grass roots up.” • Open range ranching began in Spanish Texas • Spanish gave us techniques of roping, herding, etc. as well as style of dress & equipment • Between 1836 & 1860 mavericks multiplied on the open range to 3-4 million (along with the 12-15 million buffalo) • Distinguished only by branding – owners didn’t have to own much land • RR & refrigerated cars solve problem of getting meat to markets in NE • So, to get cattle to the railroad centers….

25. …THE LONG DRIVE WAS ESTABLISHED BY ’66 where herds were driven to rail centers in Kansas and Missouri.

26. The Cattle Trails Routes were known as “trails.” The most famous was the Chisholm Trail (San Antonio to Abilene).

27. 8 to 10 cowboys could work 2,500 steer Several thousand were black, also many Mexican Dime novels (“tall tales”) were created about such legends as Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc. Nat Love

28. MANY DIFFICULTIES ONTHE LONG DRIVE: • Overgrazing • Disease • Floods • Droughts • Stampedes • Rustlers • Homesteaders • Cold Winters/Blizzards

29. Closed range ranching takes over Cow hands became ranch hands Required actual ownership of land so ranching also becomes “big business.” The Fall of the CowboyFrederick Remington

30. The Homestead Act • 160 acres for $10 to head of household • must improve it & cultivate it for 5 years • Did NOT work out as planned: • 160 acres not enough on Great Plains • Factory workers can’t farm • Fraud by speculators • RAILROADS!! • Selling “better” land cheap

31. Black“Exoduster”Homesteaders

32. PROBLEMS OF PLAINS FARMERS • NATURAL DISASTERS: • DROUGHT • SEVERE CLIMATE • PRAIRIE FIRES • GRASSHOPPER PLAGUES

33. Changes inAmericanfarming: • High crop prices for wheat/corn encouraged cash crop farming • Large scale farming becomes a business • Need mega $ to buy new combines, etc. • Emergence of “bonanza” farms • Pushes small farmers off the land • Hired hands (Mexicans, Chinese) to work the farms • ¼ of American farms operated by tenants How did 1800s Plains farming techniques help lead to the Dust Bowl in the 1930s?

34. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FOR PLAINS FARMERS: • CASH CROPS made farmers dependent on high prices • Foreign competition drove it down • DEFLATION – farmers caught in debt cycle • have to produce more to pay back fixed debts • Overproduction drives prices down • MORTGAGES – high interest; foreclosures • DEPENDENT ON RR for shipping – high rates

35. Government and Business Policies also hurt Farmers • Gov’t favored industrial classes & urban areas • Local property taxes high & Westerners can’t hide land like Easterners could hide stocks & bonds • Protective tariffs for industry; nothing for farmers • Farmers were at mercy of corporations, trusts, agents: • Machinery, fertilizer, barbed wire all controlled by major trusts • Middlemen take cut of sales & kept prices high • Storage rates for grain in warehouse & elevators high; RR freight rates also high

36. RAILROADS Single greatest factor in settling the West. • Sold land from land grants cheaply • Bureaus of Immigration in East & Europe to encourage settlement in the West • Advertised myths to encourage settlement: • Climate would cure all diseases • Women would find husbands; men get rich quick • “Rain follows the plow”

37. The Reality: PLAINS WOMEN: • “Born and scrubbed; suffered and died.” • Morrill Act – Federal $ to help states establish universities (land grant colleges) which were open to women • Western women will ultimately get the vote first

38. The “Chinese Question” • Exclusion Act (1882) - Oriental Exclusion Act - Chinese Exclusion Act

39. LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THE WESTWARD EXPERIENCE? Destruction of the Buffalo Herds The near extinction of the buffalo.

40. Yellowstone National Park First national park established in 1872.