Miners, Ranchers, Farmers, & Cowboys LESSON 1

SETTLING THE WEST

What is the West? Why is it important? Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893: In the US the West gave rise to inventiveness independence unique American customs It s the national safety valve the place to go to start over. Great Plains, Rockies, Pacific Coast

Helen Hunt Jackson a US poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native- Americans by the U.S. government. She detailed the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor (1881).

General George A. Custer Red Headed Flamboyant Cocky Confident Hot tempered Stubborn http://youtu.be/o0iwhlkvtrc

Battle at the Little Bighorn

BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN: 34:30

The Laramie Agreement In late 1875, Sioux and Cheyenne Indians were angered at the whites travelling into their sacred lands in the Black Hills. Gold had seen many miners entering the sacred land

Promises Broken The US Government had promised Red Cloud that white settlers would not be allowed to settle here. This was part of the Fort Laramie Treaty. The Sioux gathered with Sitting Bull to fight for their lands.

CUSTER To force the large Indian army back to the reservations, the Army sent Lt. Colonel George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Spotting the Sioux village about fifteen miles away along the Rosebud River on June 25, Custer also found a nearby group of about forty warriors.

Out Numbered Ignoring orders to wait, he decided to attack He did not realize that the number of warriors in the village numbered three times his strength and had advanced weaponry.

Crazy Horse Cheyenne and Hunkpapa Sioux together crossed the river and slammed into the advancing soldiers, forcing them back Meanwhile, another force, largely Oglala Sioux under Crazy Horse's command, surrounded Custer and his men in a pincer move. They began pouring in gunfire and arrows.

Last Stand As the Indians closed in, Custer ordered his men to shoot their horses and stack the carcasses to form a wall, but they provided little protection against bullets. In less than an hour, Custer and his men were killed in the worst American military disaster ever.

REVENGE Little Bighorn showed the Indians' power. They had achieved their greatest victory Outraged over the death of a popular Civil War leader the US Government fought back

1890 - The West is closed. US Census Bureau reported: The West is so thoroughly settled that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line. Still, huge tracts of land were available.

The Frontier Mining huge industry Ranchers cattle and sheep on public land Farmers fail--- bad weather, high cost of storing and transporting New inventions -- steel plow mechanical reapers and windmills make it possible barbed wire Farmers make own party Railroads connect the west Plains Indians are destroyed

The Mining Frontier Some small prospectors made fortunes Most money made by large mining corporations. Mining towns had high populations of foreigners. Environmental destruction due to blasting, chemicals, and water pollution.

Mining Industry Explodes West was rich in mineral resources: gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc. Individual miners used placer mining : Picks, shovels, and pans for shallow deposits. Later on, mining companies used quartz mining : Big machinery for digging deeper.

Mining Young, single men Desire to strike it rich Cherry Creek, CO Other CO places in the mountains Helena, MT Virginia City, NV Black Hills (South Dakota)

Mining s Economic Impacts The added gold (and silver) Boosted U.S. economy Increased foreign investment Stimulated U.S. involvement in global economy

Big Strike in Nevada: From Boom to Ghost Town 1859 Henry Comstock staked a claim in Six-Mile Canyon, Nevada for silver. Almost overnight, 30,000 miners appeared in Virginia City, NV New town had several newspapers, a six-story hotel, an opera house, and latest fashion from Europe. But in a few years, the silver was exhausted. The town collapsed and became a ghost town.

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The American Cowboy Romanticized Mythologized Lonely, rugged existence Necessary for Cattle business The Virginian

The Wild West Gunfights Outlaws (Billy the Kid) Marshals and Sheriffs (Wyatt Earp) Mythical Dodge City, KS Tombstone, AZ

Myth vs. Reality Myth Cowboys were romantic, self-sufficient, and virtuous All were white Ideal, garden of Eden Could make a fortune in the west Western towns were lawless Reality Cowboys were young, poorly paid, and did hard labor 20% were black or Mexican Harmonious race relations on the trail Harsh conditions Most made little, if any money There were police forces and order in the West

Ranching and Cattle Drives Cattle ranching became profitable during the Civil War. Demand from Union and Confed armies drove up the price. Railroads made bringing Western cattle to Eastern markets easy and practical. Longhorn cattle were now bred to withstand harsh conditions (little water; rough grass)

Texas Longhorn Cattle Durable Tough Ornery Good sense of smell - could locate sources of groundwater

Ranching and Cattle Drives Long Drives: Purpose: get the cattle to Eastern markets Spring roundup by cowboys from open range. Cowboys moved herds to railheads over hundreds of miles. First long cattle drive: 1866, ranchers drove 260,000 head to Western end of RR at Sedalia, MS.

Ranching: Big Business Farmers started using a new invention, barbed wire. Marks their field boundaries; keeps cattle out. Joseph Glidden William Edenborn J.P. Morgan Ranchers fought with farmers over open range. Violence broke out over cutting wire.

End of Ranching: Growth of Railroads As more and more railroads were built closer to cattle ranches, long drives became less and less necessary. Oversupply of cattle led to drop in prices. Blizzard of 1886-87 killed thousands of cattle and drove ranchers out of business. Cowboys became ranch hands.

Farming as Business Improved farming technologies: Mechanical Reaper (Early Combine) Barbed wire Dry farming Steel Plow Windmills Hybridization Seed drills Led to Bonanza farms: Specialized in a single cash crop The rise of agribusiness.

New Technology Eases Farm Labor Mechanized Reaper Barbed Wire Dry Farming Steel Plow Harrow Steel Windmill Hybridization Improved Communication Grain Drill Bonanza Farm Reduced labor force needed for harvest. Allows farmers to maintain larger farms. Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains. Allows cultivation of arid land by using drought-resistant crops and various techniques to minimize evaporation. Allows farmers to cut through dense, root-choked sod. Smoothes and levels ground for planting. Powers irrigation systems and pumps up ground water. Cross-breeding of crop plants, which allows greater yields and uniformity. Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains. Array of multiple drills used to carve small trenches in the ground and feed seed into the soil. Farms controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, raised massive quantities of a single cash crop.

Farming Technologies and Innovations

Bonanza Farms 10,000 acre farms Wheat boom of the 1880s Population in Dakotas tripled Overproduction, high investment costs, droughts, and reliance on one-crop agriculture brought an end to the boom 1890 prices fell, some lost everything

Vaquero

Farming the Plains LESSON 2

Wheat Belt

Major Railroads

Farming the Great Plains 1862 Congress passed the Homestead Act Offered 160 acres/cultivate for 5 years 1862-1900 between 400,000 and 600,000 families move west Several thousand settlers were known as the exodusters African Americans who moved from the South to Kansas in the great exodus

Free land was not the only lure 1869 the transcontinental railroad was finished. Made travel easier. It took about 10 days to travel from coast to coast. Provided transportation for good and supplies bargain fare from Omaha to Sacramento was about $40 (more than a month s pay for the average person)

Farming Technology John Deere s steel plow Seed Drill Cyrus McCormick mechanical reaper

Native-Americas LESSON 3

Westward Expansion & Culture Clashes on the Prairie Plains Indians Great Plains the vast grassland extending through the westcentral portion of the U.S. Highly developed ways of life existed. Planting of crops & settled villages Nomadic tribes produced and traded goods

The Plains Indians way of life was changed when they were introduced to horses (Spanish) Travel farther Hunting more efficient Farming was secondary to roaming the plains

Buffalo Destroyed by tourists and fur traders In just less than 100 years the number of buffalo in the U.S. went from approximately 15 million in 1800 to fewer than 600 in 1886. Indians used buffalo for food, clothing, shelter and fuel

Cultural Conflict American Character Rugged Individual out to tame the land These characteristics were found in the frontier and its opportunities Character is formed by interaction with the environment: use, settle, and improve land Image from 1900

The measure of a person is economic how much wealth is accumulated The white man is looking to better his place in society, so as to turn opportunity into prosperity

Owning land and a house, staking mining claims, or starting a business were some of the way white settlers improved their stations in society Prospectors, settlers and ranchers alike argued that the N.A.s had forfeited their rights to the land because they hadn t settled down to improve it. Since the plains were unsettled, it was an open invitation for settlers to move in!

Native Americans Success is based on character Character is created by bravery and loyalty Interaction with the land very spiritual / the land sustains them Chief Joseph

The Government Restricts Native Americans As more and more settlers and the railroads moved westward, the government s policies changed toward the N.A. s 1834 the federal gov. passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as a large reservation for N.A. tribes 1850s, more settlers meant policies changed again, less land for the N.A. tribes Chief Wolf Robe of the Southern Cheyenne, June 1909

Massacre at Sand Creek 1864 the Cheyenne, forced onto a barren area of the Colorado Territory known as Sand Creek Reserve, began raiding nearby trails and settlements for food and supplies Territorial governor, John Evans orders militia to attack the raiders. He also encouraged the Cheyenne who didn t want to fight to report the Fort Lyon near the reserve Most returned to their winter camps on the reserve 1999

General S.R. Curtis sent a telegram to militia Colonel John Chivington that read, I want no peace till the Indians suffer more. November 29, 1864 Chivington and 500 of his men attacked the Cheyenne at dawn, killing about 200 inhabitants, mostly women and children

The Battle of the Hundred Slain The Sioux were angry that whites were settling along the Bozeman Trail which was opened during the Civil War The Bozeman Trail ran right through the Sioux s favorite hunting ground in the Bighorn Mountains Sioux chief, Red Cloud appealed to the govern. to stop settlers from using the trail, but soldiers continued to build forts along it

When the attempts of negotiation proved futile, the Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne resorted to guerrilla warfare Dec. 21, 1866 Crazy Horse and many others lured Capt. Fetterman and his company into an ambush at Lodge Trail Ridge. N.A. s called it The Battle of the Hundred Slain Whites called it The Fetterman Massacre

After two more years of skirmishes, the gov. agreed to close the Bozeman Trail In return Oglala & Brulé Sioux signed Treaty of Fort Laramie(1868) Sioux agreed to move onto a reservation along the Missouri River Sitting Bull leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux never signed the treaty and expected to be able to continue using their traditional hunting grounds

War on the Southern Plains Late 1868 Kiowa and Comanche refuse to move onto a reservation in the Texas Panhandle 6 years of raiding followed The raiding led to the Red River War of 1874-75 U.S. Army dealt with the guerrilla tactics by rounding up all friendly tribes onto reservations U.S. Army opened fire on all others, crushing the resistance on the southern plains Gen. Sheridan s orders

Setting the Stage for the last Battle on the Plains 1872 miners began moving into the Black Hills in search for gold Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho protested The Army sent Civil War hero George Armstrong Custer to investigate the situation

1876 - Sitting Bull had a vision which he interpreted as a sign of victory for his people The Sioux win a small battle against Custer s 7 th Cavalry at Rosebud Creek (south central Montana) June 25, 1876 Custer rode out in search for glory He expected to send his disciplined regiment against 1,500 warriors. Custer s plan had some flaws

The Battle of Wounded Knee Sioux suffering continued Reduced rations, increased restrictions, and loss of cattle to disease Wovoka (a prophet) had a vision that the Native American lands were restored, the buffalo returned, & the whites disappeared He promised this would come true if the ritual called the Ghost Dance was performed

The Ghost Dance movement spread rapidly among the 25,000 Sioux on the Dakota reservation The dance s popularity alarmed the military and local reservation agent

40 Indian policemen were sent to arrest Sitting Bull Sitting Bull s bodyguard, Catchthe-Bear shot one of the policemen Police then returned fire, killing Sitting Bull

The army was not satisfied with the death of Sitting Bull On December 29, 1890 the 7 th Cavalry rounded up 350 starving and freezing Sioux and took them to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota The soldiers demanded that the Indians give up all of their firearms

One Indian resisted the order and fired his rifle Soldiers fired back Within minutes the 7 th Cavalry slaughtered 300 unarmed Native Americans (women and children included) The Battle of Wounded Knee brought the Indian wars - and an entire era - to a bitter end

Government Supports Assimilation Assimilation a plan under which Native Americans would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of the white culture Ended in 1934 under the NEW DEAL of FDR

1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act The plan was to Americanize the Indians by cultivating in them the desire to own property and farm Dawes Act broke up the reservations and distributed some of the land 160 acres for farming or 320 acres for grazing to each adult head of a Native American family

Citizenship Act 1924 Granted citizenship to all Native- Americans Arizona, Maine, and New Mexico did not grant citizenship until after WWII