The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West 1860-1900 Chapter 17 The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West 1860-1900

Introduction What roles did the army and the railroads play in the settlement of the West? How did whites justify western settlement and the displacement of Native Americans and how did native Americans react to attempts to confine them to reservations? How did the Wild West image of cowboys and Indians originate and why is it still popular? Why did some Americans wish to conserve the natural resources and beauty of the West and how did this lead to the opening of National parks?

The Plains Indians Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow and other tribes roamed the Northern Great plains Five civilized tribes along Comanches, Kiowas, Pawnees lived in Southern Plains Lakota Sioux, Crow and Cheyenne hunted and relied upon the buffalo herds. Indians ate the meat and used hides for shelter and clothing. 1860’s the demand for buffalo hides grew in Eastern Markets to the point that white hunters became profession buffalo killers Buffalo Bill Cody 1867-1868 was credited with killing over 4000 buffalos himself Buffalo was also used to feed the workers building the transcontinental Railroad By 1880 the herds were reduced to the point that they could no longer sustain the lives of the Indians on the plains

The Destruction of the Nomadic Indian Life By 1860’s the government was pressuring Plains Tribes to give up their hunting grounds and settle as farmers on reservations Pueblos and Crows accepted the change peaceably 1860’s-1890’s tribes such as Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche engage in almost constant warfare over possession of the Great plains and the Southwest Colonel John Chivington’s Sand Creek Massacre 1867-1868 the government signed treaties with many tribes and assigned them to reservations in Oklahoma (Indian Territory) and South Dakota Many Indians rejected the farming lifestyle and left the reservations Those Indians that left the reservations became a threat to pioneers settling and moving across the Great Plains The army retaliated by attacking Indian groups not located on reservations

Custer’s Last Stand 1876 Sioux refused to sell the Black Hills portion of their reservation in South Dakota Gold had been found in the Black hills The army made war against the Sioux Sioux annihilate General Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. Subsequent attacks against the Sioux eventually forced them to give up their claims to the Black Hills Late 1870’s Nez Perce Indians led by Chief Joseph surrender and Chief Dull Knife’s Cheyenne surrender to the US Army

“Saving” the Indians 1881 Helen Hunt Jackson wrote A Century of Dishonor, which called attention to the way that the US government had mistreated the Indians Reformers thought that the best way to deal with the Indians was assimilation 1887 Dawes Severalty Acts divided reservations in 160acre tracts assigned to the head of each Indian family At the end of 25 years the Indians were to receive full title to their land and full US citizenship The government also tried to suppress tribal languages and culture by opening schools to assimilate Indian children into American culture.

The Ghost Dance and the End of Indian Resistance 1890 Sioux and other tribes turn to the Ghost Dance Army decided to put down the movement which led to the last battles between the Indians and whites 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre killed over 300 Sioux

The First Transcontinental Railroad Union Pacific and Central pacific Railroads meet at Promontory Point Utah in 1869 Construction was authorized by the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and construction continued in spite of the Civil War Chinese Immigrants performed much of the labor for the Central Pacific Railroad Company and Irish Immigrants performed much of the labor for the Union Pacific Railroad Company Mexican-Americans and African-Americans assisted in the work as well. Government granted land grants to the companies that built the railroad so the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies emerged from the period as the biggest landlords in the West By the beginning of the 1900’s nine major railroads linked the country making travel and shipping safer, easier and faster

Settlers and the Railroad Railroad companies were eager to attract future customers for the Railroads so they set up land bureaus throughout the west to sell the land grants. They offered easy credit and free transportation to potential buyers 1870-1900 Railroads recruited whole families, single women and 2 million European immigrants to the West The pressure for farmers to repay their debts quickly led to a one/cash crop system that became susceptible to environmental and economic factors

Homesteading on the Great Plains Provided settlers with 160 acres to anyone that would live on the land for a period of 5 years Offer was especially attractive to European Immigrants 400,000 families registered for the Homestead Act between 1862-1900. Most valuable land typically ended up in the hands of railroad companies, land speculators, lumber companies and big ranchers Small farmers had to scope with isolation, hard work, extreme weather and living in soddies because of the lack of trees Those that lasted more than 5 years typically saw their lives improve

New Farms, New markets Railroads provided a way to move improve farm machinery to the West and provided transport for increasing demand for food in the East Agricultural production soared between 1870-1900. New Farms were very risky Debt for horses, farm equipment, seed Debt was to railroads and banks To meet demand for repayment farmers grew cash crops which made them vulnerable to environment and economic situations

Building a Society and Achieving Statehood Churches, Schools, Lyceums, Libraries and Social Clubs began to emerge Kansas, Nevada, Nebraska and Colorado entered the Union in the 1860’s and 1870’s Most of the northern portions of the Great Plains achieved statehood in the 1880’s and 1890’s Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico entered the Union in the early 20th centuries By 1910 Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado led the Eastern states by granting voting rights to women

The Southwestern Frontier American ranchers took over the land and forced most Spanish speaking inhabitants off of the land The Mexican minority tended to be low paid day laborers who faced discrimination and sometimes violent attacks The large number of Mexicans in the area gave the Southwest a strong Spanish culture

The Mining Frontier California Gold Rush 1849 1850’s Gold Rushes in Sierra Nevada and British Columbia Gold and Silver strikes in Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska Each strike brought eager prospectors with the hope of get-rich-quick. Boomtowns such as Virginia City and Ghost Towns were common in the West Most did not find fortune but many did make a living. Hardware stores, saloons, prostitutes etc drained most of the prospected gold and silver Real profits went to Large Mining Companies US economic growth of millions of ounces of gold and silver Large Mining Companies ravaged the environment

Cowboys and the Cattle Frontier New stockyards and the Railroad led to a boom in cattle ranching Herds had to be driven to the stockyards Open range farms promised huge profits Cowboys were typically young, underpaid, 1/5 were Mexican or African American. 1880-1885 Industry declined after 1885 because of overgrazing, enclosure movement and freezing winters of 1885 and 1886. Cattle Ranching continued but changed

Bonanza Farms Land Speculators in the 1870’s and 1880’s invested heavily in the latest equipment and established 10,000 acre farms in the belief of huge profits Overproduction, bad weather and falling wheat prices sent most into bankruptcy in the 1890’s. Large scale farms in California under the “Sunkist” label did the best.

The Oklahoma Land Rush 1889 Oklahoma was set aside as a reservation for Native American tribes Pressure from land hungry farmers mounted and in 1889 Congress decided to open 2 million acres to settlement 6,000 homestead claims were filed within weeks Under the Dawes Act more Oklahoma land passed to the hands of white settlers

The American Adam and the Dime Novel Hero 1860’s and 1870’s Eastern writers created the Western novel Frontiersmen heroes fought savage Indians and rescued maidens Ned Buntline made Buffalo Bill so famous that Wild Bill Cody cashed in on the fame by creating a traveling Wild West Show.

Revitalizing the Frontier Legend Theodore Roosevelt, Frederic Remington and Owen Wister visited the West and made it the subjects of their history, art and novels. They fostered the frontier legend as the home of the cowboy and the idea of manly virtue

Beginning a Conservation Movement John Wesley Powell, Henry D. Washburn, John Muir and George Perkins Marsh created the first national parks (Yellowstone and Yosemite) and John Muir created the National Organization dedicated to conservation called the Sierra Club