18.2: The Internal Empire

Empire-Building in Perspective Settlers found themselves subjects of an “internal empire” controlled from the East.

MAP 18.3 Railroad Routes, Cattle Trails, Gold and Silvers Rushes, 1860–1900 By the end of the nineteenth century, the vast region of the West was crosscut by hundreds of lines of transportation and communication. The trade in precious metals and in cattle helped build a population almost constantly on the move, following the rushes for gold or the herds of cattle. SOURCE:Encyclopedia of American Social History.

A. Mining Towns 1.Mining fostered western expansion. 2.Gold discoveries brought thousands of fortune seekers. 3.Most fortunes went to corporations that bought out the smaller claims. 4.Although some mine communities eventually became permanent settlements, most were short-lived boomtowns.

In 1890, Nicholas Creede discovered a rich vein of high-grade silver on a tributary of the Rio Grande River in Colorado. His small camp quickly grew into a boom town of more than 10,000. This photograph, taken during the years of the silver rush, shows crowds flocking to the saloons, shops, and dance halls that lined Main Street. “It’s day all day in the day time,” the editor of the local newspaper commented, “And there is no night in Creede.” SOURCE:Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

B. Western Labor 1.The western labor movement emerged in this rough and often violent climate. 2.Unions refused membership to Chinese, Mexican, and Indian workers. 3.Unions were unable to stop owners from closing down mines when the ore ran out, leaving ghost towns and environmental blight.

C. Mormon Settlements 1.Mormons migrated to the Great Basin in Utah beginning in They shared land and water as they built agricultural communities. 3.The federal government assumed control of the Utah territory. 4.Mormon society soon resembled the individualist East the original settlers had sought to escape.

MAP 18.4 Mormon Cultural Diffusion, ca Mormon settlements permeated many sparsely populated sections of Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Built with church backing and the strong commitment of community members, they survived and even prospered in adverse climates.

D. Mexican Borderland Communities 1.The Southwest saw a series of clashes between Anglos and Mexicanos over control of the land. 2.Some Mexicano elites continued to maintain wealth and power. 3.The majority of Mexicans found themselves trapped in poverty and turned to migratory work or moved to urban areas to work for wages. 4.Mexicanos maintained key elements of their traditional culture.

Mexican Americans in San Antonio continued to conduct their traditional market bazaar well after the incorparation of this region into the United States. Forced off the land and excluded from the better-paying jobs in the emerging regional economy, many Mexicanos, and especially women, sought to sell the products of their own handiwork for cash or for bartered food and clothing. SOURCE:Thomas Allen,Market Plaza, 1878 –1879.Oil on canvas,Witte Museum, San Antonio,Texas (36-65/8P).