America’s Last Frontier The Great Plains and the Far West

‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ Factors Push – Factors that encourage someone to LEAVE an area War, drought, poverty, religious persecution, ethnic prejudice Pull – Factors that attract people to an area Economic opportunity, safety, religious freedom Migration – movement of people from one place to another

Transcontinental Railroad Made it easier for settlers to move west Allowed farmers/ranchers to ship goods back east Railroad companies sold land to settlers Railroad advertising encouraged expansion westward

(Un)Intended Consequences? Buffalo Population Destroyed Railroad expansion US Army Hunting Loss of habitat Farms/Barbed Wire

Relocation and War Native populations continuously moved (By request or by force) Indian Wars of 1865-1890 Land hungry miners, ranchers, and farmers encroached on Native lands Sand Creek Massacre 100+ Native women and children killed Natives were no match for battle hardened Civil War veterans Winchester rifle, revolver Destruction of buffalo forced nomadic tribes to submit to US authority

The Battle of Little Bighorn Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota Sioux are asked to move in 1876 Sitting Bull inspires resistance Crazy Horse leads warriors Surrounds General George Custer at Little Bighorn Custer and 276 of 700 are killed Fearing another rebellion, US troops massacre 200+ men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

“The Death of Custer”

Reservation System Once tribes submitted to US authority, they were settled on reservations Reservation – land set aside by the Federal Government for Native American relocation (Oklahoma) Available land from relocation led to Homestead Act (1862/1889) 1889 – Government sells 2 million acres in Oklahoma (caving to public pressure) again displacing Native Americans.

Far and Away Movie Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFrVoG-edFc

Mining and Cattle Boom Towns – “Pull” factors – gold rush After minerals wore out, became ghost towns Cattle Boom Cowboys Long Drive – Cattle drives through the Open Range (public, unfenced lands)

Farming Obstacles and Solutions Far from markets  Railroads Lack of supplies for construction  Built “sod-houses” (dirt) Lack of wood for fences  Barbed Wire Lack of rainfall  Deep wells Tough, dry soil  Steel plows Lack of fuel  Burned ‘buffalo chips’ (dried buffalo manure) Lack of manpower (labor)  machinery

The Dawes Act and “Americanization” Dawes Act (1887) – divided reservation lands into plots for individual Natives Private property would replace communal tribal lands Went against Indian culture Reservation lands were not good for farming Schools were poor Government never provided the help it had promised Natives suffered from poor health conditions White settlers convinced Natives to sell their land cheaply Natives in cities faced discrimination and poverty