Western Myths and Legacies  Myths  Good vs. Evil  Rugged Individualism  Cowboys and Gunslingers  Taming the Wilderness  Legacies  Racial Conflict  Federal Involvement  Boom and Bust  Conflict over Natural Resources  Environmental Destruction

Taming the Wilderness  Homestead Act, 1862  “Rain follows the plow”  Irrigation projects  Often leads to misuse of land, soil erosion, and economic disaster

Obstacles for Farmers  Environment  Railroads  Oversupply  1860 wheat sells for $1.60 per bushel  1890 wheat sells for $0.49 per bushel  Mechanized farming  McCormick reaper, John Deere tractors and plows, combine harvesters, etc.  Debt and Foreclosures  % of American farmers own their own land  % of American farmers own their own land

Racial Conflict  American Indians  Chicanos  US-Mexico War and Aftermath  Zoot Suit Riots during WWII  Asians  Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882  Japanese Internment during World War II

Federal Involvement vs. Rugged Individualism  Anglo-Indian Wars  Transcontinental railroads  Union-Pacific finished in 1869  Financed through federal land grants

Railroad Land Grants

Railroads  RR’s bring 2.2 million settlers by 1900  Ads attract both Americans and Europeans  RR’s also often control state governments

Federal Involvement  Mining  1872 Mining Law offers federal land at only $5.00 per acre  Comstock Load yields $60,000,000 per acre  Federal lands are also used for virtually free grazing and timber cutting

Boom and Bust Economics  Mining industry  Virginia City, Nevada founded in 1859  population swells to 20,000 by 1873 (131 saloons)  Population less than 4,000 by 1900  Leaves great environmental damage  Cattle industry  Profits run 25% to 50% in the 1870s  4.5 million head of cattle by 1885  1886 blizzards drop temperatures to –68F and create snow drifts as deep as 30 feet  Kills up to 90% of herds  Oil, mining, waste disposal, & timber industries are similar today