The Trans-Mississippi West Chapter 18

On the Eve of Conquest Gold Rush Homestead Act Completion of Trans-Continental Railroad 1867 – Purchase of Alaska – Seward’s Folly, Seward’s Icebox

Railroad Construction

Native Americans West had been proclaimed a permanent Indian territory Whites desire for the land pushed them onto increasingly restricted tracts of land Policy develops of starving the Indians to force them to rely on the Indian agents at the reservation for survival

Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1851) Promised to the Sioux – “as long as the grass shall grow” Colorado Gold Rush (1859)

Destruction of the Buffalo Herds The near extinction of the buffalo. Traders used all parts of buffalo except the meat.

The Buffalo Soldiers on the Great Plains

Colonel John Chivington Kill and scalp all, big and little! “Nits make lice” Sandy Creek, CO Massacre November 29, 1864

Capt. William J. Fetterman 80 soldiers massacred December 21, 1866

Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek (1867) – Red River Wars ended when Indians were denied food 2 nd Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868) Reservation Policy

The Battle of Little Big Horn 1876 Chief Sitting Bull Gen. George Armstrong Custer

The Battle of Little Big Horn 1876 Chief Sitting Bull Gen. George Armstrong Custer

The Nez Perce Tried to cooperate with whites and live together peacefully Prospectors and mining companies put pressure on the government for the land Chief Joseph – 1,400 miles from Wallowa Valley to northern Montana Died in Oklahoma – “broken heart”

Chief Joseph I will fight no more forever! Nez Percé tribal retreat (1877)

Reservation Life Corrupt Agents – Indians did not get promised supplies or got substandard supplies Speak English Convert to Christianity Urged to get an education Become farmers

Geronimo, Apache Chief: Hopeless Cause Guerilla Warfare

Mining, Ranching, Farming Frontiers Mining and cattle towns violent –Liquor was plentiful –Gambling and prostitution were common –Most residents were young, single men –Handguns, though often illegal, were easy to obtain

Colt.45 Revolver God didn’t make men equal. Colonel Colt did!

Mining Towns Young single men competing for scarce resources in a harsh environment “Helldorados” – town center was the saloon Vigilante justice Mining Unions –Compensation of injuries –Shorter hours –Better pay –Better working conditions –Prejudice against minorities

The “Chinese Question”  Exclusion Act (1882) - Oriental Exclusion Act - Chinese Exclusion Act

Mining Centers: 1900

Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (MT) Mining Companies or those selling supplies made the most money

Mining (“Boom”) Towns-- Now Ghost Towns Calico, CA

Mormon Settlements Polygamy = persecution Deaths of Joseph & Hiram Smith Brigham Young – Salt Lake City – Deseret Mountain Meadows Massacre Polygamy banned by U.S. Supreme Court –Difference between freedom of belief and freedom to practice

Borderland Communities Southwest – clashes between Anglos and Mexicans –Decline of Mexican culture –Mexican elites: a few maintained wealth & power –Most Mexicans trapped in poverty Became migrant workers or moved to urban areas to work for wages

Cowboys Seasonal work – low pay Diverse group – White, Black, Hispanic Not at all like romantic image in books and movies Dirty, hard work Most did not own a horse

TheCattleTrailsTheCattleTrails Goodnight-Loving Trail

Prostitutes years old, white Noseless Lou, Squirrel-tooth Alice

Open Range Ranching Open Range ranching – ends when –Grass is depleted –Invention of barbed wire –Harsh winters and dry summers –Overstocking of herds Vigilante justice: crimes punishable by death –horse theft and cattle rustling

The Range Wars Sheep Herders Cattle Ranchers

Barbed Wire Joseph Glidden

The Homestead Act Germans 160 acres, 5 yrs., make improvements Abused by corporations – have individual file claim on land that had value to them – water source, mining resources, timber Most bought land though because they wanted to be close to transportation and markets Railroads were biggest reason people decided to move west

New Agricultural Technology “Prairie Fan” Water Pump Steel Plow [“Sod Buster”] Morrill Act – Land-Grant Colleges - Inspire technological advances in agriculture

The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, SD The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, SD

Black “Exoduster” Homesteader s

Blacks Moving West

Work, Dawn to Dusk Hard life Isolated – lonely Extreme weather – tornadoes, blizzards, droughts Plagues – grasshoppers, worms

California Agribusiness Large scale fruit and vegetable growers Refrigerated railroad cars Create new markets – can sell across country

Toll on the Land Replace buffalo with cattle & sheep – ate grasses down to root – drought & dust storms Irrigation – depleted water supplies

Nature’s Majesty Forest Service established – safeguard watersheds New national parks – starting in 1871 Writers describe beauty in great detail Landscape painters

Conservation Movement John Muir With President Theodore Roosevelt

A Romantic View

Yellowstone National Park First national park established in 1872.

Sierra Club Founded in 1892

The “American Primitive” Dime novels – “Calamity Jane” & “Deadwood Dick” –Brought adventure & excitement of the West to those who would never experience it

Legendary Gunslingers & Train Robbers Jesse James Billy the Kid

Dodge City Peace Commission, 1890

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Show

“Buffalo Bill” Cody & Sitting Bull

Legendary Female Western Characters Calamity Jane Annie Oakley

Reform Policies and Politics Indian policy switched to assimilation Dawes Severalty Act Indian Right Association & National Women’s Indian Association –goal convert Indians to Christianity and “American way of life”

Dawes Severalty Act (1887): Assimilation Policy Carlisle Indian School, PA

1889 – Oklahoma Land Rush “Sooners” Native Americans lost 80% of their land

Arapahoe “Ghost Dance”, 1890

The Ghost Dance Wovoka – Paiute Prophet Ghost Dance – painted (bulletproof) shirts Supposed to bring the destruction of the whites Fear among whites Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull both die on reservations – shot – unusual circumstances Wounded Knee Massacre -

Chief Big Foot’s Lifeless Body Wounded Knee, SD, 1890

Crazy Horse Monument: Black Hills, SD Lakota Chief

Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor (1881)

Regional Population Distribution by Race: 1900

Frederick Jackson Turner The Significance of the Frontier in American Society (1893)

Frontier Settlements: