The Transformation of the West

West vs. South: West –Linked to Industrial Future –Home to booming towns –Producing food and raw materials for industry by increasingly industrialized means South –Only industrializing a little –Still cotton dependent

Jackson Frederick Turner Frontier Thesis –Frontier conditions create and reinforce democracy –What happens when frontier closes in 1890?

Transcontinental Railroad Two Lines Become One: Union Pacific and Central Pacific July 1862-May 10, 1869 Government Funding is key –131 million acres - Feds –49 million acres from States

Transcontinental Railroad Route

At The Golden Spike

Rail Growth 1860: 30,000 miles of rail exist 1864: Northern Pacific Commissioned 1910: 240,000 miles of track National Market

Northern Pacific Line

Native Americans Great Basin Tribes--Shoshone, Paiutes –Stone Age Technology –Hunter/Gatherers –Family Organization Plains Indians –American Technology, Native Lifestyle –Skilled Warriors and Buffalo Hunters –Tribal Organization

Relations Reservations and Indian Territory Tensions due to settlers Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) Dakota War: 1862 Sand Creek Massacre: 1864

Indian Wars ( ) Plains War (1864-7) Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) Little Big Horn: 1876 Nez Pierce Destruction of the Buffalo Ghost Dance:

Indian Reform Assimilation Dawes Severality Act of 1887 Education

The Mining Frontier Colorado, 1859 and the Comstock Lode Deadwood (1874) Transitory Settlements Hope of Wealth Few Women Ethnically Diverse

Placerville, California, 1850

Deadwood, Dakota Territory, 1877 (Wall Street)

Violence Racism Poor Law Enforcement Violence Vigilante Justice

Prospector to Prospectus Precious Metals: Gold and Silver Practical Mining: Iron, Coal, Quartz, Copper Private to Corporate –Hydraulic Mining –Wage Labor –Pollution –Unions and Union Busting –1893: Western Federation of Miners

River Mining

Gold Dredging Damage

The Cattlemen: Glory Days The Chisholm Trail Cattle Drives Cowboys Cattle Towns

Hispanic-styled Ranch House

Industrialization of Cattle Northern Cattle Industrialization Sheep Specialized Farming Cherokee Strip

Settling the West: The Landscape Great Plains Great Basin Buffalo

Prairie in Washington State

Land Grants Homestead Act of 1862 Timber Culture Act of 1873 Desert Land Act of 1877 Speculators

Water Policy Prior Appropriation Doctrine Carey Act of 1894 Newlands Act of 1902

Going West 1840: 175,000 west of Mississippi 1880: 10 million (20% of US pop) Exodus Movement

Western Hispanics New Mexico, California, Texas Rights? Loss of Land Wage Labor Agriculture and Food Influence

Home on the Range Frontier Women Isolation –The Grange Churches