1. Industrialization Westward Movement

2. Setting: The Great Plains Grassland extending through west-central portion of the US In 1860s, the Great Plains was mostly inhabited by a variety of native tribes CONFLICTS!

3. Cattle becomes big business Railroads reached the Great Plains at the same time that demand for beef increased in eastern cities COWBOY- herder of cattle on the Great Plains who could round-up, rope, brand, and care for cattle during long cattle drives in the American West

4. Cowboys and Cattle Drives Long Drives- transporting of cattle over unfenced grazing lands between railroad centers on the Great Plains Texas cattlemen made the trip up the Chisholm Trail where they could ship their cattle from the first stockyards in Abilene, Kansas

5. American Cowboys Cowboys, many of whom were former Confederate soldiers, African Americans and Mexicans, received about a dollar a day for their dangerous work The cowboy’s relative isolation and work environment contributed to the development of a distinct cowboy culture, based on the frontier values of the American West: self-reliance and individualism with a healthy dose of the blues. Cowboy poetry and songs soothed the cattle on long drives, as well as provided entertainment for lonely cowboys on the road

6. Home on the Range

7. Stop and Think!! How did the ordinary cowboy’s life compare to the popular conception of it?

8. Settlers Move West Railroads become important to opening western lands for settlers and transporting crops east Transcontinental Railroad (1869)- linked eastern and western markets and lead to increased settlement from Mississippi River west to Pacific Ocean

9. Homestead Act 1862 Offered 160 acres of land in the West (FOR FREE) to anyone who would settle and farm the land for 5 years 600,000 families took advantage of this offer Many were southerners-both white and African-Americans Impact?

10. Boomer Sooners Oklahoma Land Rush- (1889)- land hungry settlers raced to claim lands in a massive land rush- people who left too early= Sooners

11. Challenges of the Plains Severe hardship of droughts, fires, blizzards, locust plagues, and native conflict all had to be faced by homesteaders Early homesteaders built their homes out of sod bricks or dug their home into the sides of ravines or small hills

12. Stop and Think! In what ways did government policies encourage settlement of the west? What hardships did farmers face in the late 1800s?

13. New technologies Wheat withstood drought better than any other crop Steel-tipped plow- invented by John Deere, helped farmers slice through heavy soil Mechanical reaper- Cyrus McCormick- increased speed of harvesting wheat Barbed wire- prevented animals from trampling crops or wandering off

14. Agricultural Education Morrill Act (1862)- federal government gave land to states to build agricultural schools (ex: Virginia Tech)

15. Impact on Native Americans 2/3 of Western tribal groups lived in the Great Plains including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot and Comanche Tribes developed lives that were distinctly tied to the open prairies of the Great Plains As the frontier was taken over by white settlers, their land and freedom to live according to their traditions would be lost.

16. Natives and the Buffalo With introduction of the horse in 1598, most native tribes abandoned farming villages and roam plains and hunt buffalo (nomadic) Buffalo provided tribes with most of its basic needs: shelter, clothing, food, tools, toys, etc. Buffalo also held spiritual significance

17. Political Agreements with Natives are Restricted 1834, the federal gov’t passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation set aside for Native American tribes With the increasing amounts of white settlers coming during Gold Rush and Homestead Act the gov’t attempted to create definitive boundaries for each tribe Native groups refused to sign these agreements Thousands of miners, cattlemen, and homesteaders began to settle on native land creating conflict and resulting in inevitable warfare

18. Stop and Think! How did the government attempt to deal with the growing conflict between Native Americans and white settlers?

19. Sioux Wars against US Government Conflict arises out of Sioux and other tribes refusal to lived restricted life on reservations We have been taught to hunt and live on game. You tell us that we must learn to farm, live in one house, and take on your ways. Suppose the people living beyond the great sea should come and tell you that you must stop farming, kill your cattle, and take your houses and lands, what would you do? Would you not fight them?

20. Custer’s Last Stand After gold is discovered, people start flooding Montana, angering natives Natives begin attacking military units in the area George Armstrong Custer is sent to investigate the situation and are promptly defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn Nation angered by loss, wants revenge and army is sent to lead continual raids on native villages until Sitting Bull is forced to surrender to prevent his people’s starvation

21. Debate over Native Treatment Some citizens were angered over treatment of Native Americans Helen Hunt Jackson writes a book in 1881, Century of Dishonor which exposes many of broken promises to Natives “Supporters” of Native Americans begin promoting assimilation, a process that would force natives to give up their culture and become part of white culture

22. Dawes Act Policy passed in 1887 with hopes of “civilizing” the Native Americans Plan broke up reservations in 160 acre plots or less US citizenship would be granted to those who stayed on land for 25 years and “adopted the habits of civilized life” 47 million acres were distributed to Native Americans 90 million acres that was often the best land was distributed to white settlers or businessmen

23. Failure of the Dawes Act After being “educated”, children returned to reservations where skills were useless Often caught in conflict between values of parents and values of teachers Became outsiders on reservations Still faced with discrimination in white world with “education” By the turn of the century, disease and poverty reduced population to 200,000