1. America’s Last Frontier
The need to “Go West” and the forced removal of the Native Americans in our way

2. Ask students: What are those lines on the map
Ask students: What are those lines on the map? How would increasing the rail network lead to problems for Native Americans?

3. The Transcontinental Railroad
The Civil War was still raging when Congress put aside land for the first transcontinental railroad
The Union Pacific line, built by mostly Irish immigrants, started from Omaha, Nebraska and went west
The Central Pacific line, with mostly Chinese workers, started in San Francisco, California and went east

4. The Transcontinental Railroad
The two sides met in Utah in May 1869

5. How did the railroad change America?
Made it easier for settlers to move westward and to receive supplies from the East
They made it possible for farmers and ranchers to ship their grain and cattle to Northeastern urban markets for sale
Telegraph wires were installed right next to rail tracks; increase in communication network
Ask students the question and write down their answers on the board. See if any match.

6. The Relocation of the American Indians
Tensions rose with the inhabitants of the Great Plains region such as the Sioux and the Cheyenne
A series of “Indian Wars” breaks out for about 25 years
Federal troops stationed in forts are there to protect the settlers
Some of those were African American troops known as “Buffalo Soldiers”

7. Buffalo Soldiers

8. Dawes Act, 1887 Passed to “Americanize” the Native Americans
Each male Indian was permitted to claim 160 acres of reservation land as his own private property – he had to farm it
Threatened the survival of Indian culture
Most of the land was infertile

9. Reading with Questions from Ordinary Americans book
Activity

10. The Reservation System
Land the federal government “reserved” for particular tribes
Government promised to provide food, blankets, and seed, but most Indian agents ignored their duties or cheated the Indians
Most reservations located in infertile and undesirable areas
Teachers sent to Christianize

11. Native Americans picking hops on a reservation
Mass Grave after Wounded Knee Massacre

12. Cheap Land
With the slaughter of buffalo and removal of Indians, there was new land available for settlement
Immigrants from Europe and farmers from the East and Midwest of the U.S. wanted in

13. Cheap Land
Homestead Act of 1862 – 160 acres of land for $1.65/acre after six months, or for free if farmed for five years
In 1889, government sold 2 million acres of former “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma; “Land Run”

15. The Mining Boom
In many parts of the West, miners were the first to arrive
Gold and silver discovered in California, the Rocky Mountains, and the Black Hills
Once a discovery was made, thousands of prospectors and adventurers came
“Boom” towns sprang up overnight

16. Mining

17. Boom Towns

18. Cattle Drives Cattle drives took about 3 months
Cattle were driven northward from Texas to Kansas
Cowboys were those who had special riding, roping, and branding skills

20. Farming on the Frontier
Problem:
Remoteness of markets
Solution:
Railroads allowed farmers to ship their produce eastwards

21. Farming on the Frontier
Problem:
Lack of wood, clay, or rock for homes
Solution:
“Sod-houses” made from thick clumps of grass and soil cut into bricks

22. Farming on the Frontier
Problem:
Lack of wood for fencing
Solution:
Barbed wire, first invented in 1874

23. Farming on the Frontier
Problem:
Lack of rainfall
Solution:
Dug wells hundreds of feet deep in order to tap into the groundwater

24. Farming on the Frontier
Tough, dry soil
Lack of fuel
Lack of manpower
Used steel or iron plows
Burnt “buffalo chips” for fuel
Used machinery to farm more acres with fewer workers

25. ACTIVITY – CHOOSE ONE (get rubric from teacher)
Pretend you are working for a railroad company in Design a poster to attract farming families to the Great Plains.
Imagine you are a settler on the Great Plains. Write a letter to your relatives back home, describing the conditions around you.

26. Checkpoint What was the main purpose of the reservation system?
To make the new transcontinental railroad safer to operate
To clear federal lands for settlement by railroads, ranchers, and farmers
To provide employment for Union troops and veterans after the Civil War
To make it easier for Indians to assimilate into mainstream American culture

27. Checkpoint What was the main purpose of the reservation system?
To make the new transcontinental railroad safer to operate
To clear federal lands for settlement by railroads, ranchers, and farmers
To provide employment for Union troops and veterans after the Civil War
To make it easier for Indians to assimilate into mainstream American culture

28. Checkpoint
How did completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 encourage settlement of the American West?
The railroad led to new discoveries of precious minerals
The railroad required immense quantities of iron and coal to build
The railroad frightened Indian tribes, who retreated to reservations
The railroad made it easier for ranchers and farmers to ship goods back east

29. Checkpoint
How did completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 encourage settlement of the American West?
The railroad led to new discoveries of precious minerals
The railroad required immense quantities of iron and coal to build
The railroad frightened Indian tribes, who retreated to reservations
The railroad made it easier for ranchers and farmers to ship goods back east

30. Checkpoint
What did the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act demonstrate about the federal government?
It was committed to settling the western territories
It was concerned about conserving natural resources
It was unwilling to move American Indian tribes to reservations
It was determined to break up business trusts harmful to free enterprise

31. Checkpoint
What did the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act demonstrate about the federal government?
It was committed to settling the western territories
It was concerned about conserving natural resources
It was unwilling to move American Indian tribes to reservations
It was determined to break up business trusts harmful to free enterprise

32. Checkpoint
What was a negative aspect of the “Americanization” policy of the late 1880s for American Indians?
Indians attended reservation schools and learned a trade
Indians could own and farm 160 acres of their own land
Indians learned English and could gain the right to vote
Indians saw the survival of their traditional cultures threatened

33. Checkpoint
What was a negative aspect of the “Americanization” policy of the late 1880s for American Indians?
Indians attended reservation schools and learned a trade
Indians could own and farm 160 acres of their own land
Indians learned English and could gain the right to vote
Indians saw the survival of their traditional cultures threatened