AMERICAN HISTORY CHAPTER 8 SETTLING OF THE WEST

AMERICAN HISTORY CHAPTER 8 SETTLING OF THE WEST

BOARD QUESTIONS 1) WHAT IS PLACER MINING? 2) WHAT IS QUARTZ MINING? 3) WHAT WAS THE COMSTOCK LODE? 4) WHAT COLORADO TOWN BECAME A LEGENDARY BOOMTOWN? 5) WHICH 3 TERRITORIES BECAME STATES IN 1889?

BOARD QUESTIONS 1) WHY WERE CATTLE DRIVES NEEDED? 2) LIST A FAMOUS CATTLE TRAIL. 3) WHAT IS FREE GRAZING? 4) WHAT IS IT CALLED WHEN TWO GROUPS WOULD COMPETE FOR OPEN RANGE TERRITORY? 5)WHAT INVENTION HELPED TO STOP FREE GRAZING?

BOARD QUESTIONS 1) HOMESTEAD ACT? 2) HOMESTEAD? 3) WHAT WERE SOME DIFFICULTIES LIVING ON THE GREAT PLAINS? 4)HOW DID RAILROADS PLAY A ROLE IN SETTLING THE GREAT PLAINS? 5)WHAT DOES RAIN FOLLOWS AFTER THE PLAOW MEAN?

BOARD QUESTIONS 1) LIST LEADERS OF THE LOKOTA. 2) WHERE WAS LOKOTA TERRITORY? 3) WHAT ARE ANNUITIES? 4) WHY DID THE DAKOTA KILL CIVILIANS? 5) WHO WON THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN?

MINING IN THE WEST THE WEST S RICH DEPOSITS OF GOLD, SILVER, AND COPPER SERVED THE NEEDS OF THE GROWING INDUSTRIES IN THE WEST. PROSPECTORS WOULD RUSH TO AREAS THOUGHT TO HAVE RICH MINERAL DEPOSITS.

MINING THE WEST PROSPECTORS WOULD USE PLACER MINING. PLACER MINING IS USING SIMPLE EQUIPMENT LIKE PICKS, SHOVELS, AND PANS. PLACER MINING ONLY WORKS WITH MINERALS ON THE SURFACE.

MINING THE WEST AFTER ALL THE MINERALS WERE REMOVED FROM THE SURFACE USING PLACER MINING. COOPERATIONS WOULD MOVE IN. COOPERATIONS WOULD USE QUARTZ MINING. QUARTZ MINING IS USING MACHINERY TO DIG DEEP UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE.

COMSTOCK LODE HENRY COMSTOCK IN 1859 STAKED A CLAIM IN 6 MILE CANYON, NEVADA. THE STICKY BLUE GREY MUD FOUND THERE WAS NEARLY PURE SILVER ORE. ALMOST OVER NIGHT VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA WENT FROM A MINER OUTPOST TO A CITY OF 30,000 PEOPLE.

BOOM TOWNS VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA WENT FROM 30,000 PEOPLE TO A GHOST TOWN IN A MATTER OF WEEKS. TOWNS LIKE THIS BECAME KNOWN AS BOOM TOWNS. WHEN THE MINES SHUTDOWN THE TOWN WAS FINISHED.

MINING THE WEST MINING BROUGHT PROSPECTORS TO COLORADO, THE DAKOTA TERRITORY, AND MONTANA. DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON PIKES PEAK IN 1858 BROUGHT MINERS IN A FRANIC DASH. COINING THE PHASE PIKES PEAK OR BUST.

LEADVILLE LEADVILLE, COLORADO WAS A SITE OF LARGE LEAD DEPOSITS THAT CONTAINED LARGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER. BY THE SUMMER OF 1879 A 1,000 NEWCOMERS A WEEK WERE POURING INTO LEADVILLE, CREATING ONE OF THE MOST LEGENDARY BOOMTOWNS DOTTING THE NINING FRONTIER.

LEADVILLE OVERALL, MINING IN COLORADO YIELDED MORE THAN $1BILLION WORTH OF SILVER AND GOLD. ( MANY BILLIONS IN TODAY S MONEY) THE BONAZA OF MINING HELP GET THE RAILROAD TO DENVER, COLORADO WHICH BECAME THE SUPPLE CENTER FOR MINING CAMPS. MAKING DENVER THE SECOND BIGGEST CITY IN THE WEST.

NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS THE FINDING OF GOLD IN THE BLACK HILLS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND COPPER IN MONTANA HELPED TO BRING MINERS FLOODING INTO THE REGION IN THE 1870 S. IN 1889 NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA AS WELL AS MONTANA BECAME STATES.

CATTLE DRIVES AFTER THE CIVL WAR BEEF WAS HARD TO COME BY IN THE EAST. TEXAS HAD BEEN CUT OFF FROM THE COUNTRY DUE TO THE CIVIL WAR. THERE WERE ALMOST 6 MILLON HEAD OF CATTLE IN TEXAS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

CATTLE DRIVES BEEF WAS NEEDED IN THE EAST, SO PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOR IT. ($40 A HEAD) BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY COWS IN TEXAS. CATTLE WAS ONLY GOING FOR $2 A HEAD. SO RANCHERS BEGAN TAKING CATTLE TO KANSAS RAILHEADS TO BE SHIPPED EAST.

LONG CATTLE DRIVES IN 1866 260,000 CATTLE WERE DRIVING FROM TEXAS TO SEDALIA, MISSOURI. ALTHOUGH ONLY A FRACTION OF THE CATTLE SURVIVED IT PROVED THAT CATTLE COULD BE DRIVING A LONG DISTANCE TO THE RAILROAD AND RANCHES COULD MAKE AT LEAST 1O TIMES THE MONEY THEY COULD IN TEXAS.

LONG DRIVES FROM 1867 TO 1871, COWBOYS DROVE NEARLY 1.5 MILLION CATTLE UP THE CHISHOLM TRAIL TO ABILENE. RANCHING CATTLE BECAME A BIG BUSINESS FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS IN TEXAS AND CATTLE DRIVES BECAME A SPRING AND SUMMER TIME EVENT.

COWBOYS AND RANCH LIFE COWBOYS WERE USUALLY EX- CONFEDERATES WHO WERE ESCAPING THE HARSH LIFE IN THE SOUTH DURING RECONSTRUCTION. THERE WERE ALSO HISPANIC AND AFRICAN AMERICAN COWBOYS WHO WORKED ON THE LONG CATTLE DRIVES TO KANSAS.

OPEN RANGE FREE GRAZING WAS THE IDEA OF THE LAND BELONGS TO EVERYONE AND CATTLE WOULD GAZE THE LAND AS THE COWBOYS MOVED THEM NORTH TO THE RAILROAD. RANGE WARS BEGAN TO HAPPEN ALONG THE TRAILS NORTH, BECAUSE OF THIS MANY LIVES WERE LOST.

BARBED WIRE WITH THE INVENTION OF BARBED WIRE IT BECAME MUCH EASIER TO FENCE OFF A PERSON PROPERTY. THIS TOOK AWAY THE OPENNESS OF TRAILS NORTHWARD AND ENDED THE OPEN RANGE. (FREE GRAZING)

GREAT PLAINS MAJOR STEPHEN LONG CALLED THE GREAT PLAINS THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. HE BELIEVE IT WOULD BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FARM THE REGION. HE PREDICTED THE LACK OF WOOD AND WATER WOULD MAKE IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SETTLE THE COUNTRY.

SETTLING THE GREAT PLAINS RAILROADS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE SETTLING OF THE GREAT PLAINS. THEY BUILT RAILROADS ACROSS THE PLAINS MAKING THEM ACCESSIBLE TO SETTLERS. ALSO PUTTING POSTER AND PAMPHLETS IN CROWDED EUROPEAN CITIES PROCLAIMING THAT BOOKING PASSAGE TO THE PLAINS WAS A TICKET TO PROSPERITY.

SETTLING THE GREAT PLAINS THE SLOGAN RAIN FOLLOWS THE PLOW, COINED BY A NEBRASKAN TO SELL THE IDEA THAT CULTIVATING THE PLAINS WOULD INCREASE RAINFALL, ENCOURAGED SETTLEMENT. IN THE 1870 S THE WEATHER COOPERATED, RAINFALL AVERAGES WERE WELL ABOVE AVERAGE. THE LUSH GREEN OF THE ENDLESS PRAIRIES CONTRADICTED THE BELIEF THAT THE

HOMESTEAD ACT HOMESTEAD ACT - IN 1862 ON THE GREAT PLAINS A PERSON COULD PAY A $10 REGISTRATION FEE AND FILE FOR A HOMESTEAD. HOMESTEAD - A TRACT OF PUBLIC LAND AVAILABLE FOR SETTLEMENT. A HOMESTEADER COULD CLAIM UP TO 160 ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND AND COUD RECEIVE TITLE TO THAT LAND AFTER LIVING THERE FOR 5 YEARS.

HOMESTEAD ACT THE HOMESTEAD ACT PROVIDED A LEGAL METHOD FOR SETTLERS TO ACQUIRE CLEAR TITLE TO PROPERTY IN THE WEST. THE LACK OF TREES AND WATER MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR HOMESTEADERS. MOST HAD TO MAKE HOMES FROM SOD CUT FROM THE GOUND.

HARSH LIFE OF GREAT PLAINS DURING THE SUMMER IT WAS VERY HOT AND DURING THE WINTER VERY COLD. SWARMS OF GRASSHOPPERS COULD DESTROY CROPS, AND PRAIRE FIRES WERE ALWAYS A MAJOR CONCERN DUE TO THE LACK OF RAIN. EVEN WITH ALL OF THESE CHALLENGES HOMESTEADS LEARNED TO SURVIVE ON THE GREAT PLAINS.

FARMING THE GREAT PLAINS DRY FARMING - PLANT SEEDS DEEP IN THE GROUND WHERE THERE WAS ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR THEM TO GROW. BY THE 1860 S, FARMERS ON THE PLAINS WERE EMPLOYING NEWLY DESIGNED STEEL PLOWS, SEED DRILLS, REAPERS, AND THRESHING MACHINES. THE NEW MACHINES MADE IT POSSIBLE TO DRY FARM.

FARMING THE GREAT PLAINS SODBUSTERS - PEOPLE WHO FARMED THE GREAT PLAINS. BECAUSE OF THE DROUGHTS, WIND EROSION, AND OVER USE OF THE LAND MANY HOMESTEADERS LOST THEIR LAND. WHEAT BECAME AS IMPORTANT TO THE GREAT PLAINS AS COTTON TO THE SOUTH.

FARMING THE GREAT PLAINS BONANZA FARMS - FARMS COVERING UP TO 50,000 ACRES. LIKE MINE OWNERS, BONANZA FARMERS FORMED COMPANIES, MADE LARGE INVESTMENTS IN PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, AND HIRED LABORERS AS NEEDED.

HARD TIMES IN WHEAT BELT IN THE 1880 S BECAUSE OF THE GREAT PLAINS THE U.S. BECAME THE LARGEST EXPORTER OF WHEAT IN THE WORLD. IN THE 1890S A GLUT OF WHEAT ON THE WORLD MARKET CAUSED PRICES TO DROP. GLUT - EXCESSIVE AMOUNT MANY FARMERS DURING THIS TIME MORTGAGED THEIR LAND.

OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH APRIL 22ND, 1889 THE GOVERNMENT OPENED ONE OF THE LAST LARGE TERRITORIES FOR SETTLEMENT. WITHIN HOURS, OVER 10,000 PEOPLE RACED TO STAKE CLAIMS IN THE EVENT KNOWN AS THE OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH.

PLAINS INDIANS MOST OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES IN THE GREAT PLAINS WERE HUNTERS OF BUFFALO. (NOMADS) AS RANCHES, MINERS, FARMERS MOVED ON TO THE GREAT PLAINS THEY DEPRIVED THE NATIVE AMERICAN S OF THEIR HUNTING GROUND AND OFTEN FORCED THEM TO MOVE TO NEW TERRITORY.

PLAINS INDIANS NATIVE AMERICANS WOULD RESIST BY ATTACKING WAGON TRAINS, STAGECOACHES, AND RANCHES. THE DAKOTA SIOUX UPRISING - THE SIOUX HAD AGREED TO LIVE ON A SMALL RESERVATION IN MINNESOTA. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ISSUED ANNUITIES - PAYMENTS TO PEOPLE LIVING IN THE RESERVATION.

PLAINS INDIANS THE ANNUITIES ONLY AMOUNTED TO 5 TO 30 CENTS AN ACRE AND MUCH OF THAT MONEY ENDED UP IN THE HAND OF AMERICAN TRADERS. THE TRADERS OFTEN MADE UP STORIES ABOUT DEBTS OWNED BY THE DAKOTA, AND THEY TOOK THE ANNUITIES AS PAYMENT.

PLAINS INDIANS IN 1862, THE GOVERNMENT WERE LATE ON THE ANNUITIES PAYMENT AND THE DAKOTA WERE STARVING. CHIEF LITTLE CROW ASK ANDREW MYRICK A TRADER TO FEED HIS STARVING PEOPLE ON CREDIT. MYRICK REPLIED LET THEM EAT GRASS OR THEIR OWN DUNG.

PLAINS INDIANS TWO WEEKS LATER MYRICK WAS FOUND DEAD WITH GRASS STUFFED IN HIS MOUTH. THE DOKOTA KILLED HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS IN THE AREA BEFORE SOLDIERS COULD GET THERE AND END THE UPRISING. MANY DOKOTA FLED THE REGION TO A TERRITORY THAT BORE THEIR NAME DAKOTA TERRITORY.

PLAINS INDIANS THE LAKOTA PEOPLE CONTROL THE LAND FROM THE BLACK HILLS TO THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. LAKOTA CHIEFS WERE - RED CLOUD, CRAZY HORSE, AND SITTING BULL. THE LAKOTA WON SEVERAL VICTORIES AGAINST THE U.S. SOLDIERS THE BIGGEST BEING LITTLE BIG HORN.