THE WEST AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

Common Perception of the West  Unpopulated  Desolate  Cowboys leading the way to the coast  Great open spaces  Gold everywhere

Reality of the West  No typical Westerner  No “one west”  Cities, manufacturing, and industry developing  San Francisco  High immigrant population (just like the east)  Epitomized the social Darwinist

Immigration  Chinese  Supported increased immigration for RR work  Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 banned immigration  Blacks  Move west to escape oppression and discrimination  Germans  High plains east of the Rocky Mountains

Why Go West?  Mining  Gold and Silver Brought thousands to the west Supply seemed endless

Mining Towns  Absence of women  High crime rate  Creede Colorado  20,000 people  250 saloons  120 gambling halls  100 brothels  4 churches

Why Go West?  Rail Roads  Big RR companies are given land to build  Sell off land to buyers, make more money  Cheap labor (Chinese)  Monopoly on transportation People Goods

Why Go West?  Ranching  Demand for food in eastern cities  Price high in N. cities Development of cattle drives (birth of the American Cowboy)

Ranching Woes  Open Range Ranching  Competition for land and water  Land laws promoted fraud and violence  Barbed Wire  Protect land but restricted instincts of animals

Why Go West?  Farming  Homestead Act 1862 Cheap160 Acre plots of land for family farms  Problems  Expense of moving and start up too much  160 Acres not enough for commercial farming

Native Americans and the West  Increased tension with whites  Violence erupts  Sand Creek Massacre  Battle of Little Big Horn Crazy Horse  Wounded Knee  Legalized destruction  Dawes Act (1887)  Buffalo