Transcript No Slide Title

Growth in the West,
1860–1900
Miners, ranchers,
cowhands, and
farmers help settle
the West and conflict
with Native
Americans.
The Bolter (1904), Charles M.
Russell.
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Growth in the West,
1860–1900
SECTION 1
Miners, Ranchers, and Cowhands
SECTION 2
Native Americans Fight to Survive
SECTION 3
Life in the West
SECTION 4
Farming and Populism
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Section 1
Miners, Ranchers, and
Cowhands
Miners, ranchers, and cowhands settle in the
West seeking economic opportunities.
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SECTION
1
Miners, Ranchers, and Cowhands
Geography and Population of the West
• Frontier—unsettled, sparsely settled area, Native
Americans occupy
• Great Plains—region from Missouri River to the
Rockies
• Few whites settle in Great Plains, follow miners into
California
• Despite Native American occupants, U.S. claims
ownership, Great Plains
• Trains carry natural resources of the West to the
East
• Bring white settlers to West, helps end Native
American way of life
Map
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SECTION
1
Mining in the West
• Miners rush to gold, silver strikes in Colorado,
Nevada, South Dakota
• Boomtowns—towns that have fast economic
population growth
• Strikes draw people from Eastern, Western U.S.,
other parts of world
• Mining companies use equipment to dig deep, strip
land
• Mining work dangerous, causes deadly cave-ins,
lung problems
• Mining boom over by 1890s, many boomtowns
become ghost towns
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1
The Rise of the Cattle Industry
• Before 1860, small cattle herds in West, ranchers
sell cattle locally
• Railroads make transport of cattle to Eastern cities
possible
• Ranchers, livestock dealers make large profits
• Cowhands take cattle drives—long drives—to cow
towns along railways
• Follow specific trails, first is Chisholm Trail—San
Antonio to Abilene
Map
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1
Vaqueros and Cowhands
• First cowhands, or vaqueros (Spanish word), come
from Mexico
• Help Spanish, Mexican ranchers, teach American
cowhands to rope, ride
• Many cowhands are former soldiers, Mexicans,
African Americans
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The “Wild West”
• Cow towns have no local government, law officers
• Have gambling, “con men” are common
• Some Union, Confederate veterans bitter about
war, become outlaws
• Some women become outlaws, Belle Starr, horse
thief
• Vigilantes—people who take law into their own
hands
• Try to protect citizens, catch criminals, punish them
without trial
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SECTION
1
End of the Long Drives
• Cattle industry booms for about 20 years
• By 1886, several developments bring boom to an
end:
- price of beef drops sharply
- farmers, sheep herders use barbed wire, end
open range
- many cattle die in harsh winter of 1886–1887
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Section 2
Native Americans Fight
to Survive
The Native Americans of the Great Plains
fight to maintain their way of life as
settlers pour onto their lands.
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SECTION
2
Native Americans Fight to
Survive
Native American Life on the Plains
• Before Europeans arrive, Plains tribes live in
villages along rivers
• Learn to ride horses brought by Spanish (early
1540s)
• Hunters ride far from their village seeking buffalo
• Plains tribes use buffalo for food, use skins for
shelter, clothing
Image
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SECTION
2
A Clash of Cultures
• U.S. government promises huge area in West for
Native Americans
• White settlers pressure U.S. government for more
land in West
• First Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851):
- many but not all Plains tribes sign
- allow U.S. government to buy back some Native
American land
- sets boundaries for tribal lands
Interactive
Continued . . .
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SECTION
2
continued A
Clash of Cultures
• Some Cheyenne, Sioux resist treaty, fight settlers,
soldiers, miners
• U.S. troops kill Cheyenne men, women, children—
Sand Creek Massacre
• Plains tribes react, raid white settlements
• Second Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux (1868):
- Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho sign
- gives tribes land in Black Hills of South Dakota
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SECTION
2
Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Seeking gold, miners ignore Fort Laramie treaty,
rush onto Sioux land
• Tribal leaders reject government offer to buy back
land
• Many Sioux warriors flee reservation during winter
of 1875–1876
• Reservation—land set aside for Native Americans
• Unite under Sioux chiefs; Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse
Image
Continued . . .
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SECTION
2
continued Battle
of the Little Bighorn
• U.S. 7th cavalry sets out to return Sioux to
reservation
• Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer commands
cavalry
• Fights thousands of Sioux, Cheyenne at Battle of
Little Bighorn
• Custer, men wiped out, U.S. steps up military action
against tribes
• Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull’s followers surrender,
return to reservation
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SECTION
2
Resistance in the Northwest and Southwest
• U.S. government forces Nez Perce to sell land,
move to Idaho
• Chief Joseph refuses, leads followers toward
Canada, caught, surrenders
• In Southwest, Navajo, Apache fight against being
moved to reservations
• Navajo surrender to U.S. troops, take “Long Walk”
to reservation
• Apache forced to settle on Arizona reservation,
Geronimo refuses
• Leads Apaches on raids of settlers’ homes,
surrenders (1886), prison
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2
A Way of Life Ends
• Plains tribes depend on dwindling buffalo for
survival
• Hired hunters kill millions of buffalo for sport,
railroads, factories
• Some Plains tribes turn to Paiute prophet, Wovoka,
for hope
• Preaches whites will be removed, tribes will freely
hunt buffalo
• Wovoka’s vision quickly spreads among Plains
peoples
Continued . . .
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SECTION
2
continued A
Way of Life Ends
• Wovoka’s followers flee reservations, U.S. troops
track them down
• Wovoka’s followers start to surrender to troops,
someone fires a shot
• U.S. troops massacre 300 Native Americans—
Wounded Knee Massacre
• Ends Native American armed resistance in the
West
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2
The Dawes Act Fails
• White reformers call for better treatment of Native
Americans:
- feel assimilation is only way for Native
Americans to survive
• Dawes Act (1887):
- encourages Native Americans to reject traditions,
become farmers
- divides reservations into plots of land
- sends Native American children to schools, learn
white culture
• Dawes Act does little to help Native Americans
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Section 3
Life in the West
Diverse groups of people help to shape both
the reality and the myth of the West.
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3
Life in the West
Women in the West
• Homestead—piece of land and the house on it
• On a homestead, women rarely see neighbors, do
cooking, first aid
• Women often work as teachers, servants, do
sewing, laundry
• Some women run dance halls, boarding houses
• In most Western territories, women own property,
control own money
• Wyoming Territory gives women the vote (1869)
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3
The Rise of Western Cities
• Gold, silver strikes cause cities to grow rapidly in
the West
• Denver quickly becomes capital of Colorado
Territory (1867)
• Railroad brings rapid growth to Denver, Omaha,
Portland, other cities
Chart
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3
Mexicanos in the Southwest
• For centuries, Southwest is home to Mexicanos
• Mexicanos—southwesterners of Spanish descent
who come from Mexico
• Railroads spur increase of white settlers in
Southwest (1880s, 1890s)
• Mexicanos lose economic, political power, land to
white settlers
• Hispanic society survives only in New Mexico
Territory
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3
The Myth of the Old West
• “Dime novels” portray West as heroic place filled
with adventures
• Sometimes hero was a real person, plots are
fictitious, exaggerated
• Western myth continues with novels, plays, movies:
- often show whites as heroes
- usually show Native Americans as villains
- ignore African Americans
• William “Buffalo Bill” Cody brings Wild West
show to the world
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3
The Real West
• First cowhands are Mexican vaqueros
• Native Americans, African Americans help with
cattle ranching
• African Americans serve in U.S. Army, known as
“buffalo soldiers”
• Chinese immigrants help greatly in building
railroads
• Native American attacks often caused by broken
treaties
• U.S. government contributes greatly to white
settlement
Image
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Section 4
Farming and Populism
A wave of farmers move to the Plains in the
1800s and face many economic
problems.
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SECTION
4
Farming and Populism
U.S. Government Encourages Settlement
• U.S. government passes Homestead Act (1862):
- offers free land to anyone who will live on,
improve it for 5 years
• Reconstruction ends, African Americans face
discrimination in South
• Many migrate to Kansas, call themselves
Exodusters
• Many Europeans immigrate to the West
• U.S. sells land to railroads, railroads resell much
land to settlers
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4
Life on the Farming Frontier
• Farmers on the plains build homes out of blocks of
sod
• Farmers are called sodbusters, dig deep wells,
face harsh weather
• Inventions like steel plow, reaper help farmers face
challenges
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4
The Problems of Farmers
• As farmers grow more food, prices for crops drop
(1870s)
• Farmers have to pay more for machinery, railroad
rates
• Farmers form Grange—group meets social needs
of farm families
• Form cooperatives—organizations owned, run by
members:
- buy grain elevators
- sell crops directly to merchants
- allow farmers to keep more profits
• U.S. states regulate freight rates, storage charges
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4
The Rise of Populism
• Farm groups form Populist Party, or People’s
Party (1890)
• Want U.S. to adopt free silver policy to increase
inflation
• Inflation would increase crop prices, help farmers
pay back loans
• Opponents want U.S. to keep gold standard to keep
prices down
• Gold standard—U.S. backs every dollar with
certain amount of gold
• Populist presidential candidate loses but has a
good showing (1892)
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4
The Election of 1896
• Nation suffers through depression, the Panic of
1893
• Money issues matter more to voters
• Populists back Democrat William Jennings Bryan
for president
• Farmers in South, West vote overwhelmingly for
Bryan
• Industrialists, bankers, business leaders vote for
William McKinley
• McKinley wins presidential election by half million
votes
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SECTION
4
The Closing of the Frontier
• Indian Territory, last remaining open land
• Oklahoma land rush, settlers claim land that Native
Americans once had
• Indian Territory becomes Oklahoma Territory
(1890), frontier ends
• Frederick Jackson Turner writes that end of frontier
marks end of era
• Today many historians disagree, think U.S. remains
land of opportunity
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