Unit 5: Lesson 17

• At the end of the Civil War, frontier settlement extended just west of the Mississippi River, marked by forts, trading posts, and small homesteads.
• Beyond this line lay the Great Plains, a vast, fertile, and mineral-rich area primarily inhabited by Indians who depended on buffalo herds.
• Government policies and fertile land led to a massive population shift, with over 2 million people, including farmers, immigrants, freed slaves, and Hispanics, moving west.
• The "West" encompassed diverse regions like the Great Plains, High Plains, and the Great Basin.

The Homestead Act of 1862

• In 1862, the Homestead Act encouraged westward migration by granting 160 acres of land to any citizen or immigrant for a small fee.
• Settlers could obtain free land by living on and cultivating it for five years or could purchase it after six months for $1.25 per acre.
• Republicans aimed to establish independent family farms, reducing reliance on industrialism and slavery.
• The Act was considered a great democratic achievement, but it was exploited by speculators who acquired large tracts of land.
• Homesteading was expensive, and 160 acres became insufficient for grazing livestock or large-scale irrigation.
• Congress passed further legislation like the Timber Culture Act (1873), Desert Land Act (1877), and Timber and Stone Act (1878) that often favored land speculators.
• Despite challenges, over 430,000 settlers filed claims in Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas by 1895.

Government Control in the West

• The federal government had more direct authority over the new territories compared to previously organized areas.
• Congress and the President controlled territories, with the President appointing governors and judges.
• A territory could apply for statehood once it had 60,000 white, male, voting residents over age 21 who signed a petition.
• Congress would then establish boundaries, authorize elections for a state constitutional convention, and, upon ratification, consider the application for statehood.

The Railroads and the West

• Railroad companies played a role in attracting settlers to towns along rail routes for freight business.
• The government provided railroads with substantial land grants (134 million acres) and bonds to encourage westward rail line development.
• These government incentives led to a significant transfer of public lands to private corporations.
• The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 authorized the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to build a transcontinental railroad.
• The Union Pacific, controlled by Sidney Dillon and Thomas Durant, built westward from Omaha, Nebraska.
• Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, known as the Big Four, built their Central Pacific Railroad eastward from California.
• The lines met at Promontory Point, Utah, in May 1869, connecting Omaha and Sacramento.
• Union Pacific hired Irish immigrants, while Central Pacific employed Chinese immigrants.
• This transcontinental railroad reduced travel time from six to eight weeks to just one week.
• Railroad land departments promoted settlement by offering free tickets to journalists, attracting European immigrants, and providing affordable land and credit.
• Kansas's population increased more than five times in less than 20 years due to these promotions.

The Northern Great Plains

• A farming empire in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas emerged, with a diverse population including Americans, blacks from the South, and European immigrants.
• North Dakota became as multicultural as New York City, with the population increasing dramatically.
• Family farms were more common than bonanza farms, orienting themselves to a market economy with specialized crops.
• The railroad lines enabled this national and international market scheme, facilitating trade.
• Farmers depended on loans for machinery and factory-made products, resulting in vulnerabilities to market fluctuations and economic depressions.
• Declining prices due to global glut of agricultural products and economic depression led many farmers to join the Populist Party.
• Farming in the West became dominated by agribusinesses relying on irrigation, chemicals, engineering, and heavy machinery.
• Small family farms disappeared, and large-scale fruit and vegetable farms in California became common.
• Migrant workers from Mexico, China, the Philippines, and Japan provided labor for these farms.

The Southern Plains and the Southwest

• A Cattle Kingdom emerged on the southern plains, with Texas cattle barons like Charles Goodnight gaining mythical status.
• Cowboys, often Mexicans, blacks, and whites, became symbols of freedom, although their work was dirty and hazardous.
• For two decades after the Civil War, wild cattle roamed the Southern Plains, taking over the ecological niche left by disappearing buffalo and mustang.
• Rising meat demand and refrigerated train cars allowed ranchers to ship beef to eastern cities.
• Cowboys drove cattle to towns along rail lines, such as Abilene and Wichita, Kansas.
• Long-distance cattle drives ended in the mid-1880s due to barbed wire fences, railroad expansion, and the devastating winter of 1886.
• Ranchers created enclosed ranches close to rail connections, but the industry never fully recovered, and sheep raising replaced cattle in some areas.

Mining in the West

• After gold was discovered in California in 1848, hundreds of thousands of emigrants headed west.
• Miners initially panned for gold in streams, sometimes finding significant amounts.
• Gold and silver strikes occurred throughout the West, leading to a shift from individual placer mining to company-organized extractive industry.
• Hydraulic mining was used to extract gold and silver, requiring heavy equipment and workers.
• Prospectors became wage-workers facing dangerous conditions, heat exhaustion, and lung diseases.
• Thousands died or were maimed while digging for minerals.
• The Yukon gold rush exemplified the consequences of mining, leaving ruined lands, rivers, and polluted environments.
• Hydraulic mining devastated river valleys and stripped them of soil and water.

Native Americans and the West

• Migrants to the West disregarded the Native peoples, believing them to be inferior and justifying their suppression and removal.
• Indians struggled to preserve their communities and food sources in the face of mass migration.
• By 1900, native cultures were diminished, and settlers dominated the West.
• The Great Plains supported tribes like the Comanche, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, and Sioux.
• Government relocation increased the Indian population in the West, including tribes moved during the Trail of Tears.
• Indian tribes had diverse languages, lifestyles, and governance structures.

Indian Life on the Plains

• The introduction of horses by the Spanish transformed Indian life, enhancing hunting and warfare.
• Tribes became more reliant on hunting buffalo, which provided food, shelter, and clothing.
• By the mid-1800s, buffalo herds were dwindling due to overhunting and disease.
• The conflict between Natives and settlers on the Plains was fueled by the near extinction of buffalo.

The Indian Wars

• The Federal government broke treaties and settlers migrated west onto lands promised to the Indians.
• Farmers, ranchers, and miners moving west led to increasing conflicts with Natives.
• The Sioux and Apache were known as fearsome warriors that resisted Anglo migration.
• Clashes between white settlers and Native Americans were often due to differing views on land ownership and the environment.
• Indians held land communally, finding spiritual meaning in the plants and animals while settlers believed the land was created for humans to use and own, and they settled as masters of the environment.
• In 1851, the reservation system was created to define boundaries for tribal lands.
• The government promised supplies and perpetual control of reservations, but these agreements were frequently broken by both sides.
• The Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 further escalated warfare on the Plains.
• Cheyenne and Apache warriors were attacked, resulting in the deaths and mutilation of many women and children.
• The Plains exploded in warfare, with various tribes attacking settlers and looting ranches.
• The Indian Peace Commission formed in 1867 attempted to end the wars through treaties that promised land, supplies, and schools in exchange for relocation.
• Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce resisted relocation, attempting to flee to Canada.
• White encroachment on Indian lands continued to be a primary source of conflict.
• The Sioux protested the invasion of the Black Hills after gold was discovered there.

Battle of Little Bighorn

• The government attempted to force the Sioux to move after they refused offers for the Black Hills.
• Sitting Bull prepared to fight the army, leading to the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876, where General Custer and his men were defeated.
• The army regained its offensive and forced the Sioux to give up their hunting grounds.
• Geronimo's capture in 1886 marked the end of much of the conflict in the southwest.

Ghost Dance

• In 1888, Wovoka introduced the Ghost Dance, which spread rapidly among tribes, causing alarm among army officers.
• The attempted arrest of Sitting Bull led to his death and the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
• The Wounded Knee Massacre resulted in the deaths of 200 Indians and 25 soldiers and marked the conclusion of the Indian Wars.
• Indian resistance collapsed due to the eradication of the buffalo and Anglo suppression.
• The army's technological superiority and long-standing antagonisms between tribes contributed to the Indians' fate.

Assimilation

• Whites sought to assimilate Indians into white culture through forced farming, education, and Christianity.
• The Bureau of Indian Affairs led the assimilation campaign, establishing boarding schools that displaced children from their parents.
• The children were forced to abandon their old ways and adopt white customs.
• Land reform through the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 aimed to break up tribal lands and allot individual plots to Indian households.
• The Dawes Act was considered a failure as grafters assigned arid lands to Indians and benefited white settlers.
• Indian land holdings significantly decreased as a result of these policies.

The End of the Frontier

• In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner presented his "frontier thesis," arguing that the American frontier strengthened democracy and shaped American society.
• Turner's thesis, celebrated nationalism, individualism, and democracy but neglected Mexicans, women, blacks, and American Indians.

Conservation and Preservation

• Growing population pressures and resource depletion led to a movement to conserve or preserve lands and minerals in the West.
• The government set aside 2 million acres to create Yellowstone National Park.
• John Muir advocated for land preservation and formed the Sierra Club.
• President Theodore Roosevelt supported conservation and appointed Gifford Pinchot head of the U.S. Forest Service.
• Gifford Pinchot envisioned the rational management of natural resources through efficient and planned use.
• The Reclamation Act of 1902 funded construction of dams and water projects in seventeen western states, harnessing nature for mankind's benefit.
• Roosevelt enlarged national forests, created wildlife refuges, and set aside national monuments.

Summary

• Myths and legends emerged in the early 1900s, portraying a distorted version of the West with lone cowboys fighting against evil.
• This image ignored race, class, and gender differences in favor of an American West of limitless opportunity and individualism.
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