Unit 9, Week 3

What are ways that the west began to be settled? After Lewis and Clark made their journeys the first settlers into the west were mountain men. Mountain men were mainly there to trap animals and sell their fur. Fur was very popular in the East and in Europe for fashion. Mountain men usually worked alone or would marry Native women. They took on a Native lifestyle wearing buckskin and learning to live off the land. They would have a meeting once a year to trade, buy supplies, and tell stories. Some men became very wealthy off of their fur trading business.

What are ways that the west began to be settled? A little later many people started to move into Oregon Country. At this time it was still claimed by both Canada (British) and The United States. The journey was called The Oregon Trail. People would take all their possessions in a small wagon and set of on the six month long journey. It was difficult but land was cheap. 1 in 10 people would die along the way. Most settlers went to the fertile Willamette Valley in present day Washington. By 1845 there were 5,000 settlers compared to British Canada’s 700. Other settlers were traveling to New Mexico via the Santa Fe Trail or California by ship due to the gold rush.

How important were America’s rivers and what was the struggle over water rights? The western United States receives half of the rainfall as the eastern side. There are also less rivers. Water rights became an important issue as many settlers started to come to the area to farm. The three major rivers on the West Coast are the Colorado River, Columbia River, and Sacramento/ San Joaquin Rivers. In the 1920’s the government began passing water rights laws called The Law of the River. This law divides water amongst states close by. A system of dams and aqueducts will carry the water where it needs to go. For example, most of Southern California’s water comes from Northern California via The California Aqueduct.

Where were the Mexican settlements throughout the West? Texas was originally owned by Spain and then became part of the Louisiana Purchase. When Spain protested The United States dropped its rights to Texas. Texas than became part of Mexico when Spain lost. Settlers there were called Tejanos. Wanting to promote growth Spain had offered land grants to American settlers. These settlers became known as empresarios. By 1830 there were more empresarios than Tejanos. The empresarios had not adopted Mexican customs so they decided to close Texas to all new American immigrants, and place a tax on American goods. This angered all Texans because they relied on trade with the US. New Mexico Territory included the land that is New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Colorado and Utah. Many people used the Santa Fe trail for trade only and then started to move there.

Where were the Mexican settlements throughout the West? California had been settled in small numbers by the Spanish for hundreds of years. They had built the missions there and then after missions were abolished established large ranchos for cattle raising. Many American saw California as an ideal place to add to the country because of its ample resources and large coastline.

What was Mexican and Spanish California culture? The Spanish first settled California by building missions. The main purpose of the missions was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity so that Spain could more easily colonize California. The missions did not always treat the Native Americans well. Some visitors commented that it seemed a lot like slavery. Farming and cattle raising was a large part of the colonization of California. Mexicanos brought much of the farming and cowboy culture to the settlements.