Native Americans and Western Expansion

• Post-Civil War western expansion disrupted Native American societies through displacement, violence, and forced assimilation

Loss of Land and Resources

• The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 symbolized the seizure of Indigenous territories
• Land guaranteed to tribes forcibly relocated in the 1830s was opened to white settlers
• This led to the filing of 6,000 homestead claims
• This symbolized U.S. policy of displacing Native communities to reservations
• Reservations were often on marginal lands unsuited for agriculture or hunting
• The slaughter of the buffalo was critical to Plains Indians' survival and was systematic
• Railroads facilitated white hunters' access, while commercial hunting decimated herds from millions to near extinction by the 1880s
• This destroyed the economic and cultural foundation of nomadic tribes like the Sioux and Cheyenne

Military Suppression and Broken Treaties

• The Indian Wars from the 1860s to 1890s marked violent resistance to encroachment
• The Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 saw Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho alliances defeat Custer's forces
• Retaliatory campaigns like the Red River War from 1874 to 1875 crushed resistance
• Apache leader Geronimo's guerilla warfare ended with his surrender in 1886
• The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 granted the Black Hills to the Sioux but was violated when gold discoveries prompted invasion
• Tribes like the Nez Perce, who cooperated with whites, were betrayed and relocated to disease-ridden Kansas reservations

Assimilation Policies

• The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 dismantled tribal sovereignty by allotting individual plots to Native Americans
• This forced them to adopt Euro-American farming practices
• This led to the loss of 90 million acres of communal land by 1900
• Cultural erasure was enforced through bans on Indigenous religions, sacred ceremonies, and myths
• Indian boarding schools, such as those run by Richard Henry Pratt, mandated English, Christianity, and Western dress, severing ties to traditional practices

Cultural Resistance and Trauma

• The Ghost Dance movement, led by Paiute prophet Wovoka, promised spiritual renewal and the return of buffalo
• Fearing rebellion, the U.S. Army massacred over 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee in 1890, marking the end of armed resistance
• Only isolated tribes retained autonomy or those on undesirable land
• Most tribes faced population decline, loss of sovereignty, and generational trauma

Open Range, Cowboys, Ranchers, and Miners

• The post-1860s West saw transient economies of cattle drives, mining booms, and corporate exploitation, reshaping the region's social and environmental landscape

Cattle Industry and Cowboys

• The open range emerged after buffalo eradication, with cattle replacing bison
• Long drives transported herds from Texas to railheads in Kansas
• Cowboys earned $30/month and endured grueling conditions: 18-hour workdays, harsh weather, and dangerous river crossings
• Diverse labor force: 20–33% of cowboys were Black, Mexican, or Native American
• Women were scarce and were often relegated to prostitution or domestic roles

Mining Boom and Bust

• Gold and silver rushes drew thousands to boomtowns like Leadville, Colorado
• Most prospectors failed, as corporations monopolized claims using industrial machinery
• Mining towns, plagued by violence and vice, often collapsed when ore depleted, leaving environmental scars like poisoned rivers
• Unions like the Western Federation of Miners excluded Chinese and Mexican workers, who faced discriminatory laws
• Mine closures left workers destitute, fueling westward migration cycles

Conflict and Decline

• Range wars erupted between cattle ranchers, sheepherders, and homesteaders competing for land
• Violence peaked in the 1880s, exemplified by the Johnson County War in 1892, where Wyoming ranchers hired mercenaries to kill small farmers
• The cattle industry collapsed by 1887 due to overgrazing, harsh winters, and falling prices
• Ranchers shifted to fenced, irrigated land, ending the open range era

Corporate Control and Agribusiness

• Railroads enabled market access, transporting crops and livestock east
• They recruited settlers via European agents, creating diverse farming communities
• California agribusiness pioneered large-scale, capitalist farming
• Growers used migrant labor to cultivate fruits/vegetables, manipulating consumer markets
• By 1900, California's “farm factories” relied on exploitative tenant systems, contrasting with the idealized family homestead

Environmental Toll

• Overstocking and monoculture farming depleted grasslands, causing soil erosion
• Irrigation projects drained rivers, while mining polluted waterways
• The Forest Service in 1905 and national parks emerged to mitigate environmental degradation, prioritizing tourism over Indigenous land rights
• The West's mythic allure was romanticized which masked the exploitation and displacement underpinning its development

Mnemonics & Acronyms

• Native Americans: "LAND CRISIS"

  • Land Rush (Oklahoma, 1889)
  • Assimilation (Dawes Act, boarding schools)
  • Navajo/Hopi survival (geographic isolation)
  • Destruction of buffalo
  • Conflict (Indian Wars: Little Bighorn, Red River War)
  • Resistance (Ghost Dance, Wounded Knee)
  • Indigenous sovereignty dismantled (treaties violated)
  • Slaughter (massacres, e.g., Wounded Knee)
  • Industrial exploitation (railroads, mining)

• Open Range: "C.R.O.W.D.E.D"

  • Cattle drives (Chisholm Trail, $30/month cowboys)
  • Range wars (Johnson County War, sheep vs. cattle)
  • Overgrazing (Great Die-Up of 1885–1887)
  • Workforce diversity (Black, Mexican, Native cowboys)
  • Dime novels & myths (Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley)
  • Environmental toll (dust storms, polluted rivers)
  • Decline (mining busts, corporate takeovers)

Native Americans

• 1830s: Forced relocation (Trail of Tears)
• 1860s-1870s: Indian Wars (Red River War, Little Bighorn)
• 1887: Dawes Act breaks tribal lands
• 1889: Oklahoma Land Rush
• 1890: Wounded Knee Massacre

Open Range

• 1860s: Cattle drives begin (post-Civil War)
• 1870s: Range wars peak
• 1880s: Overgrazing leads to collapse
• 1893: Silver Act repeal devastates mining towns

Thematic Grouping

• Native Americans: Land Dispossession, Cultural Erasure, and Violence
• Open Range: Economic Booms/Busts, Labor Exploitation, and Environmental Impact

Storytelling & Analogies

• Native Americans: Imagine a buffalo herd shrinking to a single animal to symbolize resource destruction
• Picture Chief Red Cloud negotiating treaties that later dissolve like sand
• Open Range: Visualize cowboys on a dusty trail turning into ghost towns when mines close
• The Great Die-Up can be compared to a "cattle apocalypse" caused by greed

Key Points - Native Americans & Open Range

• Both topics involve displacement
• Both face environmental exploitation

Key Differences - Native Americans & Open Range

• Native resistance was cultural/spiritual (Ghost Dance)
• Open-range conflicts were economic (range wars)