Cowboys and Indians (and miners too)

Cowboys and Indians (and miners too) Unit 6.1

The Cowboy Myth • What is your image of the cowboy? • What was the “real cowboy?” – many “Vaqueros” • Why the image? • William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show • Dime novels • Movies (Great Train Robbery – 1st )

Cow Trails and Cow Towns • Chisholm Trail – one of the most famous from Texas to Kansas. • What was the most dangerous thing for cowboys on the trail? • Boom towns such as Abilene (KS) were short-lived and had much of the “wild west” image as true. • (Wild) Bill Hickok

Why started and why ended? • Started due to increased wealth in northern cities from Civil War. • Other advancements: • Canning (steel) • Refrigerated railcars • What city emerged as a top place for slaughterhouses? Why? • The cow trails ended due to a variety of reasons: • Joseph Glidden’s invention of ________ • Rail routes to ranches

Mining out West • A series of gold and silver finds would cause boomtowns in the west as people rushed to get the minerals. • Comstock Lode (Nevada) • Black Hills • What was the effect of the Indians? • What was the effect on the backing of money? • Other side effects: • Vigilantes • Miner’s tax on foreign miners • Chinese Exclusion Act - 1882

The Florida “Cow Hunter” • In the mid and late 1800s the Florida Cow Hunter (or Cracker Cowboy), herded cattle let wild and drove them to ports to be shipped out. (Why called “crackers?”)

Nearby Boomtowns • Not because of gold or silver, but because of Phosphate. • Discovered in 1889 in Dunnellon, the phosphate industry along the Withlacoochee River thrived until the 1st World War. Dunnellon and Floral City were most populated cities in the area due to mine camps.

Great Plains Indians • Most Americans ignored them until after the Civil War. • Great American Desert was unconsidered unlivable and left alone, but then what changed that made it desirable? • Trains • Steel Plows • Cattle boom • Gold/Silver finds

Plains Indians, Buffalo, and Horses • Buffalo had been base of life for thousands of years. • After Spanish introduced horse, it became part of life too. • What happened to the buffalo in the 1860s and 70s? • Sioux – most powerful tribe • Other tribes: • Crow • Blackfeet • Pawnee • Cheyenne

Concentration Policy • The US made Reservations and forced the Native Americans to live in these concentrated areas. • Usually land considered undesirable. But what would happen if something desirable (like gold) was found on the reservation?

Conflict • Many “battles” were more of massacres to Indians. • Sand Creek Massacre (1864) • Washita River Massacre • Battle of Little Big Horn (1876) • Treaty was broken when gold discovered in Black Hills • American leader (7th Calvary) – George Custer • “Custer’s last stand” • Indian leaders – Sitting Bull (planner), Crazy Horse • What happened after this Indian victory?

Sad Ending • “Indian Hunting” in California • Chief Joseph and the Nez Pierce (1887) escape attempt • Last “battle” – Wounded Knee • 1890 • Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull (over 300 unarmed killed)

White help? • A Century of Dishonor written by Helen Hunt Jackson • Told of negative actions on Native Americans (1881) • Dawes (Severalty) Act (1887) • Idea was Assimilation (become part of American culture) • Stated purpose was to help Indians, but actually did opposite • Gave land to individuals, not tribes (actually took away land) – usually 160 acres per family (like Homestead Act) • Would be the official Indian policy until Indian New Deal in 1930s

Oklahoma Land Rush • Because the Dawes Act “helped” the Indians by giving land to individuals, there was leftover land. • It was surveyed and then there was a “race” to claim a section (160 acres). • Those who left early and got best land by cheating were known as Sooners.

Exodusters • After life in the post-Reconstruction South did not improve, many black Americans took advantage of the Homestead Act and moved to lands in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. They were known as Exodusters.

Frontier Thesis - 1893 • Historian Frederick Jackson Turner stated in his Frontier Thesis that the U.S. had become great because we always had land to expand and the “pioneer spirit” of rugged individualism. • 1890 Census declared the frontier basically settled. • What is going to happen now that the frontier was conquered?

Misc. Western Culture • Rocky Mountain School • Art Style – natural • Frederic Remington • How did this contribute to “American Spirit?” • Wild West Show • Toured in East and then Europe • William Cody / “Buffalo Bill • Sitting Bull • Annie Oakley

Reflection Questions • How did the image of the Cowboy become so much of the identity of an American? • How is the demand for beef tied to the urban and industrial advancements of the late 1800s? • What was the over attitude of the U.S. towards Native Americans during the late 1800s and how is it shown? • How would the demise of the Native Americans help other groups such as African Americans, Immigrants, and poor Americans?

Links • http://www.crackercountry.org/explorelearn/floridacrackers - Florida cowboys • http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/Ranching/ - Florida History – cattle • http://www.floridahistory.com/phosphate.html - Phosphate in Florida • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ycMhMM2UFs – Far and Away Land Rush • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU6a7S1YHLQ&feature=fvwrel – Ghost Dance • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qd4CfPtuhA&feature=relmfu – Review Video

Cowboys and Indians (and miners too)