Settling the West United States 1860-1900 Chapter 2 Settling the West United States 1860-1900

Settling the West Push Factors- -displaced due to the Civil War -costly farmland in East -ethnic and religious repression -shelter for outlaws

Pull Factors Pull Factors- Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 & 1864 -government gave grants of land to Union Pacific and Central Pacific -very important for railway expansion   Homestead Act -had to be 21, meet citizenship requirements, and farm land for 5 years -afterwards given deed (ownership) to the land -land was available in west and Midwest (160 acres each) Morrill Land-Grant Act 1862 -gave state governments millions of acres to sell -land speculators bought up the land to sell for profit

Miners and Ranchers Deposits of precious minerals such as gold, silver, and copper were discovered Frontier towns grew rapidly into small cities called boomtowns New mining technologies, such as hydraulic mining, made it possible to remove vast quantities of earth and process it, but it was harmful to the environment Large population growth resulted in new states; Colorado, N & S Dakota, Nevada, Arizona, and Montana

Miners and ranchers (cont) Texas longhorn cattle adapted and were able to survive on the Plains Barbed wire fenced in the open range and was one reason ranching became big business and the cattle drives ended Railroads provided an easy way to ship cattle to the East Settlers from the East clashed with Mexican Americans over land that often dated back to the Spanish land grants

White settlers flood the Great Plains In 1848 gold was discovered in the American River in California and by 1849 there was a great “pull” factor in the west as people rushed across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains to California. As fast as some mining camps (towns) sprang up they disappeared when the surface gold or silver was mined and the miners moved on. Some struck it rich others remained poor. By 1890 nearly $2 billion worth of gold and silver had been mined in the Rocky Mountain area of the U.S. Life in the “diggings” was difficult and lawless at first.   Many miners failed to “strike it rich” and moved on to ranching and farming. Others took jobs with mining, or lumber companies and some in stores as villages and cities began to grow.

Conflicts with Native Americans Many tribes lived west of the Mississippi river and as Americans spread west, these cultures came into conflict The buffalo provided everything for Native Americans from food, clothing, blankets, tepees, bridles, and bow strings. The white settlers killed the buffalo for sport. In 1800, over 60 million buffalo roamed the Great Plains, but 1889 only 1,000 were left.

Problems with the Reservation System -NA didn’t want to give up their hunting grounds -they resented being confined to restricted areas -white settlers seized their lands for farms -dishonest govt agents cheated the Native Americans Native Americans had a choice- move onto reservations or fight back

Battle of Little Bighorn -Sioux warriors surrounded and killed the 264 soldiers led by General Custer -known as “Custer’s Last Stand” -the Sioux won the battle but lost the war and surrendered in 1877

Battle of Wounded Knee (1890) -army believed Sitting Bull was using the ghost dance to start an uprising -when they went to arrest Sitting Bull, gunfight erupted -the US Army killed between 150-340 men, women, and children (mostly unarmed) -this massacre marked the end of battles between the army and Native Americans

Dawes Act (1887) -intended to mainstream Native Americans into society -granted 160 acres of land and citizenship to every NA family who gave up tribal ways of life and took up farming -the gov’t didn’t provide any tools or training to the NA to be successful farming -NA plunged deeper into poverty

Farming the Plains The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged settlers to move west New farming technologies, such as Deere’s steel tipped plow made it possible to farm on hard ground Bonanza farming enabled farmers to form companies and hire laborers to plant thousands of acres which then yielded large profits Railroads brought settlers, lumber, coal, and other supplies to the plains The Great Plains became the nation’s Wheat Belt