1. Cowboys and Indians

2. Major Indian Battles Sand Creek, CO – 1864
US Army massacres Cheyenne, incites Plains Indians to retaliate against settlers
Col. John Chivington

3. Ranald Mackenzie vs. the Comanches
Major Indian Battles
Ranald Mackenzie vs. the Comanches
Palo Duro Canyon
1874

4. Little Big Horn
Caused by gold hunters entering Black Hills of South Dakota, violating Indian treaties.
Combined Indian army, led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, left reservation and began attacks

5. Little Big Horn US Army sent to force Indian return
led by George Custer
Sitting Bull

6. Little Big Horn
June 25th, 1876 – Little Big Horn River, MT Custer and entire command wiped out
Shocked the country; renewed push to eliminate Indian threat in the West

7. Last Defeat of the Indian
Geronimo and the Apaches, 1882
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, 1883

8. Wounded Knee, 1890 Last Indian Battle
The “Ghost Dance” – religious ritual performed by Sioux Indians; would bring back spirits of dead Indians to reclaim the land and defeat the whites

9. Wounded Knee, December 1890
Sioux leave the reservation when forced to give up ritual
US Army massacres over 300 Sioux, force the rest to return

10. The End of the Indian Culture
Causes:
Technology advances

11. The End of the Indian Culture
Causes:
Reservation system, run by corrupt US Dept. of the Interior

12. The End of the Indian Culture
Causes:
the near extermination of the buffalo

13. Attempts to Assimilate the Indians
Educational efforts

14. Attempts to Assimilate the Indians
1887 – the Dawes Act: 160 acres given to every head of Indian household, with equipment for farming
Failed policy; most land stolen from or sold by Indians by 1895

15. The Settling of the West
First large-scale white settlements: mining camps
Boomtowns and mining corporations followed

16. The Settling of the West
Next wave: cattle ranchers
Large scale cattle operations made possible by trains, refrigerated cars

17. The Mythical West
JESSE JAMES
WYATT EARP
DODGE CITY, KS
OK CORRAL

18. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
Rodeo and western circus

19. The Closing of the West
Frederick Jackson Turner and “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893): there is no longer a frontier in the West, thus American expansion has filled up the continent
The “safety valve theory”: the West offered a second chance to millions, thus relieving social and political pressures in the cities
"The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development."

20. The Closing of the West Impact of the “closing” of the West”:
land more expensive; more immigrants stay in cities, ex-farmers move to cities
expansion moves overseas (i.e. American “imperialism”)
1889 – Oklahoma Land Rush

21. The Farmers
1862 Homestead Act – 160 acres of free land given to farmers
Thousands move west; new agricultural techniques allow for more production

22. The Farmers Problems of the farmer:
Jay
Gould
Problems of the farmer:
#1 enemy – the railroads and “pools”; higher rates than for other customers
Real problem: overproduction, leading to lower prices
Also higher prices caused by the tariff and the trusts

23. The Issue Over Money
“Hard” money (specie) vs. “Soft” money (issued by the government) – farmers wanted to increase money supply to cause inflation
Higher prices makes it easier to pay debts

24. The Issue Over Money
Inflation causes farm prices to rise; deflation causes a fall; money supply based on amount of gold in economy
More money in the economy causes inflation
Proposed solution: add silver to the economy to increase money supply
First proposed by William “Coin” Harvey

25. -- 1874 Declaration of Purposes of the National Grange
The Farmers Unite
Formation of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry
Oliver Kelley
Original purpose: social and educational events; soon began political activity, focusing on the money supply and the railroads
"We propose meeting together, talking together, working together, buying together, selling together, and, in general, acting together for our mutual protection and advancement, as occasion may require."
Declaration of Purposes of the National Grange

26. The Farmers Unite The Grange emerges as political force in the Midwest
The Greenback-Labor Party: first party that represented labor in elections
Candidate James B. Weaver

27. “Granger Laws”
The “Granger States” – farmers take over state governments in the Midwest in the 1880s
i.e. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota
Targeted railroads for rate controls
Thrown out by Supreme Court in Wabash v. Illinois

28. The Beginning of the People’s (Populist) Party
Wabash case destroys the Grange, replaced by the Farmers’ Alliances
Foundation of the People’s Party, called by most the Populist Party