The Western Frontier

VISIONS OF THE WEST Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long call what they see ( HOW PEOPLE SAW THE WEST DURING THE 19TH CENTURY) Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long call what they see on their explorations the “Great American Desert” *This initially discouraged settlement…

Native Americans saw the west as a bountiful natural world - and their home

White settlers - saw the west as a land of opportunities (OR & CA first, then the Rockies, and lastly the plains) (*Painting of, and actual settlers on, the Oregon Trail)

Horace Greeley Manifest Destiny – the mindset of many Americans as the 19th century progresses to expand westward and control North America from “sea to shining sea” * Regardless of any other claims to the land (Indians, Spanish, Brits, etc.) Horace Greeley Eastern newspaper editor credited with saying “Go west young man”, encouraging western settlement

MINING Sutter’s Mill 1849- Sutter’s Mill on the American River in CA 1850’s & 1860’s: NEV- Comstock Lode (Gold as well, but a huge Silver find) COL- Pike’s Peak, Denver MT- Bannock (Grasshopper Creek), Virginia City (Alder Gulch), Helena (Last Chance Gulch) *And so many, many more…

Placer Mining Mining on or near the surface – above the bedrock. Exs. Panning, sluice box, rocker box or cradle, hydraulic. *Often boom towns to ghost towns.

Hard Rock Mining Underground, requiring heavy equipment & investment. *lent itself to more permanent cities.

Life in a Mining Camp Bars, gambling, prostitution, etc. General store, assay office. Later: schools, churches, “society”, etc.

General Store Assay Office

“Road Agents” - Highwaymen or robbers Vigilantes – men who took the law into their own hands to end robberies, murders, etc. Miners courts – dealt primarily with claim disputes “Road Agents” - Highwaymen or robbers

Territorial courts – eventually bringing a legal justice system and replacing vigilantism

Mining’s legacy: Pro – settlement & economic development Mining’s legacy: Con – environmental controversies & loss of land for Native Americans

TRANSPORTATION WAGONS REGISTER ROCK CHIMNEY ROCK Conestoga - too big & heavy for cross-continental travel vs Prairie Schooner – this style was used much more often REGISTER ROCK CHIMNEY ROCK

STAGECOACH Companies or stage coach lines included Wells Fargo, Butterfield, etc. Missouri to California in approximately 20 days

Pony Express (1860-62) St Louis to San Fran in 10 days (2,000 miles!) Cost of mail – as high as $10 an ounce

Steamboats Rivers were the nations early highways Eastern rivers – ran deep & wide vs Western rivers - shallower Hazards - Negatives or limitations -

Railroads Land grant RR’s where the gov’t offered financing incentives to encourage building in the vast west 1860’s Transcontinental race: > Central Pacific from Sacramento CA eastward >Union Pacific from Omaha NE westward