ESSENTIAL QUESTION: WHY WOULD PEOPLE TAKE ON THE CHALLENGES OF LIFE IN THE WEST?

Demand for minerals rose when the U.S. changed from a farming (agrarian) nation to an industrial nation.

News of a mineral strike would cause boomtowns to pop-up almost overnight

If enough people moved to an area for mining, they could apply for statehood.

Ranchers moved to Texas to herd the Longhorn which can flourish on scarce water and tough prairie grass.

Vaqueros (Hispanic Cowboys) taught the white ranchers many of their riding, cattle techniques, and fashion.

Beef prices soared in the East, so ranchers would walk their cattle along the trails from Texas to Kansas. They would put them on a trains and send them to hungry Easterners.

Eventually, people moved on to the open range and put up barbed wire fences (invented by Joseph Glidden) which put an end to the cattle drives.

In many areas of the Southwest, the Hispanic majority quickly became the minority and were relegated to lower paying and less desirable jobs

Many Hispanics lost their land to new settlers coming on to their land and claiming it.

Cause and Effect: 1) Copy the chart below in your notebook. 2) Using your notes and conferring with a partner, fill in the effects mining and ranching had on the settlement of the West. Draw a symbol that represents each effect. CauseEffectsSymbol Demand for Minerals Rises Ranchers Move to Texas

The Great Plains is a vast region of prairie roughly west of the Mississippi and east of the Rocky Mountains.

Without trees to use as timber, settlers used sod (grass/mud) to build their homes called “soddies”.

In 1862, The government encouraged settlement on the Great Plains by passing the Homestead Act. It gave 160 acres of land free to any homesteader willing to live on the land for five years.

Farmers took advantage of new methods such as dry farming and machines to successfully grow crops on the dry, windy plains.

The farmers faced hardships over the years with drought, and overproduction, which lowered the price of their crops and many lost their farms to the banks.

 Acronym “Great Plains” G oing West R E A T P L A I N S

The Story Matters... After the Civil War, Americans continued migrating to the western frontier. Their lives were filled with hardships. But this movement west created more hardships for the Native Americans, which dramatically altered their way of life. Sitting Bull, a leader of the Sioux, steadfastly defended his people against forces trying to strip them of their homes, their culture, and their very existence.

To stop the violence to the settlers, the U.S. govt. strongly encouraged the Native Americans to go on reservations in exchange for annuities (yearly payments). Many times they were never paid.

If the Native Americans left the reservation, the U.S. Army rounded them up and brought them back. If the Native Americans resisted, they would be killed

If the settlers or miners or ranchers desired the reservation land, the government would renegotiate with the Native Americans to take back some of the land.

Many Americans thought the only way the Native Americans would survive was through assimilation. Children would be forced to go to school, wear regular clothing, cut their hair and take a Christian name.

The government eventually passes the Dawes Act, 1) divided the reservation land into pieces of land-160 acres each 2) given to each head of household to live and farm. 3) All the leftover land would be sold and put in a trust for Native Americans

In 1934, the Indian Reorganization act reversed the Dawes Act. It restored some reservation lands and permitted them to elect their own governments.