US History Seefeld
News of a strike created a stampede of prospectors Towns would spring up around the new mine, sometimes in a matter of weeks Very rowdy mostly males Vigilante law= self-appointed law enforcement Not always fair When mines went bust, boomtowns turned into ghost towns
Video Sometimes minerals were difficult to extract panning wasn t the best method Big strikes encouraged people to remain and economic activity grew businesses, railroads and eventually statehood. Tombstone - October 26, 1881 It has come to symbolize the struggle between legal authority and banditry and rustling in frontier towns of the Old West, where law enforcement was often weak or nonexistent.
Placer mining = picks, shovels and pans Sluice mining = divert the water into trenches which made the water run through a box with riffle bars. The bars caused heavy minerals to settle at the bottom of the box where a screen held them
Hydraulic mining = spray water at high pressure, washing away the dirt, gravel and rock to expose the minerals
Hydraulic mining was very destructive to the environment. Washed sediment into the rivers Rivers rose and flooded land Left rocks and gravel on farmland Farmers sued mining companies and won Hydraulic mining was only allowed if the company made provision for a place to store the sediment.
By the 1880s mining companies were digging shafts and caverns into the mountains. (the kind of mining we are familiar with today) Assignment Mining portion of map work
Because water was scarce and the grasses were tough, many people believed cattle could not be raised on the Plains. Texas Longhorn descendents of Spanish cattle which had evolved over centuries. Lean and Heavy boned 1000 to 1500 pounds Dangerous weight and horns Graze on most ground cover 5-6 million roamed wild in Texas after the Civil War
Open range vast grasslands owned by US government, allowed longhorns to proliferate After the Civil War rounding up the longhorn and selling them became profitable. Markets & Prices Railroads Why do you think the longhorns were shipped on the hoof?
Long Drive = rounding up the cattle on the open range and moving them to the railroads for shipping. Many did not survive the trip Branding - only way to differentiate owners in the massive herds Cowboys - hired hands to round up, brand and drive the cattle.
Range Wars sheep farmers who used barbed wire and cattle ranchers. Why? Ranchers first fought barbed wire then began to use it themselves Cowboys often found themselves out of a job because the long-drive ended Over supply dropped prices and made ranching less profitable.
Winter of 1886-1887 so sever massive numbers of cattle froze or starved to death. Days of the open range ended. video
For centuries most of today s American Southwest belonged to the Spanish Empire. Becoming a part of the Republic of Mexico when they achieved independence from Spain. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo = the region s residents retained property rights when the US defeated Mexico in 1848 and took control of the region.
After the mission system collapsed, landowners in the region emerged as leaders. Hacienda = huge ranches, thousands of acres With the influx of miners the Hispanic elite became outnumbered. Many clashes over land American courts often ruled the old land grants unclear and ruled in favor of new Americans Outright fraud
Vaqueros = cowboys Had worked haciendas for centuries Lasso, lariat, stampede Taught many new Americans their techniques Los Gorras Blancos conflict in Las Vegas between Hispanic Americans and English-speakers Growing population included new immigrants from Mexico who worked agriculture and railroad jobs. Barrios = Hispanic neighborhoods in American cities Kept Hispanic cultural and religious traditions alive Explains culture in those areas today
The Great American Desert Stephen Long, explorer Almost wholly unfit for cultivation Lack of wood and water would be an insuperable obstacle in settling the country. Three things happened to change circumstances: Homestead Act Railroad construction Wet cycle
Sold lands along the rail lines at low prices Advertised heavily "Best Wheat Lands, Best Farming Lands, Best Grazing Lands in the world... FREE TO ALL. Offered discounts for large land purchases Offered installment payments
The Great Plains moves through wet and dry cycles. A Nebraskan coined the phrase Rain follows the plow The Plains states entered a wet cycle in the 1870s, seeming to prove this adage true
160 acres free if: Age 21 Citizenship or application papers filed Head of household Live and work the land, making improvements for 5 years Paid $10 and registered the land at the Land Office, $2 commission for land agent Sodbusters = nickname for homesteaders
Building a house Fuel Lack of water Extreme weather Indian attacks Staying healthy Isolation Pest and vermin Prairie Fires
Cut blocks of the dense soil to build houses Burn dried buffalo chips for fire Drill wells over 100 feet deep Used wind power windmills Dry farming Mechanical equipment video
Dry farming = plant seed deep, close to moisture Mechanized equipment plow, seed drills, threshing machines, reapers, steam tractors John Deere steel plow = strong enough to break the hard, dense ground Cyrus McCormick mechanical reaper = cut wheat at a pace that would have taken 5 men
Wheat was a crop well suited to the dry conditions of the Great Plains The wheat belt encompassed much of the Dakotas, and parts of Nebraska and Kansas Machines allowed a single family to bring harvest a large farm Bonanza Farms as large as 50,000 acres, farmers formed companies, invested in property and equipment, and hired labor as needed. US became the world s leading exporter of wheat
The problem with focusing on one crop is when conditions change and the crop fails, farmers lose profit 1880s a severe drought, crops failed Glut of wheat on the world market (other countries were producing more) caused prices to fall. Mortgages Foreclosure Tenant Farming
1889 the government opened one of the last large territories for settlement. More than 10,000 people raced to stake claims Boomers & Sooners In 1890 the US Census reported there was no longer a true frontier
Great Plains tribes many nations composed of hundreds of bands Communal Many chiefs Spiritual power of the natural world Nomadic large territory Depended on the buffalo
As miners, ranchers and farmers moved onto the Plains, conflict over land and ways of life emerged. Neither culture understood the other. Anglo Americans wanted Native Americans to assimilate, to become like them and farm or ranch. did not understand why there was not enough land for all. reservations Conflict was often violent.
Minnesota Lived on reservations in exchange for annuities (payments) from US government Money often did not come Extreme poverty Wanted credit from traders to get food When it was refused they took up arms to drive settlers out of the Minnesota River Valley Attacked hundreds of settlers in the area (400-800) The battles lasted for months but eventually the rebellion was stopped
Lakota Sioux Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull Trying to keep control of hunting grounds and sacred lands. Amy began building forts along the Bozeman Trail, encroaching on this territory. Crazy Horse tricked Captain Fetterman and 80 soldiers into pursuing a raiding party. Instead Fetterman and his soldiers were all killed in an ambush.
Colorado Tensions running high because of attacks, trade was halted Territorial Governor Evans ordered Native Americans to surrender and promised food and protection. Some surrendered Chief Black Kettle brought several hundred to negotiate peace. They made camp., flying an American flag.
Colonel Chivington was ordered to attack, which he did even after being told Black Kettle was there to make peace. Conflicting eyewitness accounts. About 150 Native Americans were killed, over 100 of them women and children. Bodies were mutilated, plundered and parts stolen for displays in local saloons.
Proposed creating 2 large reservations Run by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Treaty signed at Medicine Lodge Creek, under pressure Nothing to ensure compliance Those who moved to the reservation faced severe consequences Loss of culture Poverty Humiliation
Intention: Encourage Native Americans to adopt white culture Language Learn to be farmers and ranchers Segregate them from white settlers Hope to avoid physical confrontations Reality: Extreme poverty Broken Treaties Broken promises Result: Many left the reservation in an attempt to return to their cultural ways Big issue loss of buffalo = loss of culture
Treaty of Fort Laramie Prospector s overran the Lakota Sioux Reservation to mine gold in the Black Hills The Lakota saw no reason to keep their part of the treaty after that. Native Americans from several tribes began gathering near the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers, nearly 4000 men women and children, including about 1700 warriors led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull Lakota Cheyenne Arapahoe
The US government sent five companies in a coordinated attack. Lt. Colonel George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry (650 men) Captain Frederick Benteen Major Marcus Reno
Reno and Benteen had difficulty carrying out their orders and were unable to protect Custer and his men when they charged. All under Custer were killed and so were many in the other two columns. Newspaper accounts of the battle romanticized Custer describing the soldiers who died as victims rather than aggressors. Significance of this battle? Even though Native Americans won, it was really their last stand as the US government and most citizens made a renewed effort to subdue or destroy all tribes. video
Chief Joseph Refused to relocate When attacked by US troops they fled, attempting to reach Canada Just short of the border Chief Joseph surrendered and were forced into exile in Oklahoma. Eloquent speaker Quote on page 174
Ghost Dance the promise of a return to greatness Frightened US soldiers and settlers. The dance was banned. Reading.
Provide for the granting of landholdings (allotments, usually 160 acres to farm or 365 for grazing) to individual (head of household) Native Americans, replacing communal tribal holdings. Aim of the act was to absorb tribe members into the larger national society as farmers/ranchers After a statutory period (25 years: Allotments could be sold Granted citizenship surplus land not allotted was opened to settlers Within decades following the passage of the act the vast majority of what had been tribal land in the West was in white hands. The act also established a trust fund to collect and distribute proceeds from oil, mineral, timber, and grazing leases on Native American lands. The failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to manage this trust fund properly led to legislation and lawsuits in the 1990s and early 2000s to force the government to properly account for the revenues collected.