1. Settling the Great Plains, Clashes with Natives

2. Agenda
1. Bell Ringer:
2. Notes: Cultures Clash, Settling the Prairies (25)
3. Timeline Activity, Settling the West. (15)
4. Custer’s Last Stand Analysis (15)
5. Cause and Effect Chart, Settling the Great Plains (15)
6. The Myth of the West, True Grit Clips (15)
7. Review Guide (5)
HW: Work on Review Guide, Test on 1/26/18 

3. Culture between Natives and Settlers
Natives were primarily Nomadic, and were relocated to the region in with the Indian Removal Act.
Buffalo was central to life in the plains region, and the Natives would relocated to be closer to it.
The Homestead Act would send Settlers west, and their claim of taking “unimproved” land would start conflicts.

4. Government Restrictions lead to Conflict
After movement to reservations, many Natives thought they had protection.
1864, Sand Creek Massacre would kill 150 natives, mostly women and children.
Treaty of Fort Laramie passed after Fetterman Massacre on the Bozeman Trail.
George Custer and the 7th Calvary enter the Black Hills looking for Gold
Within an hour, natives had outflanked the troops and killed the entire regiment.
The Sioux would eventually lose the war.

5. Assimilation and Wounded Knee
The Dawes Act is passed to “Assimilate” the Native tribes
All are given individual tracts of land of 160 acres, schools are opened.
Whites took 2/3 of the land from the natives, and killed many of the buffalo for sport.
million
Battle at Wounded Knee
After the death of Sitting Bull, this was the massacre of over 300 with remnants of the 7th Calvary.

6. Cattle Ranches and Cowboys
The origin of the “Cowboy” is actually from Spanish Ranchers.
Cattle runs from Texas to Kansas were common.
Chisholm trail opened to allow the easy movement of Cattle towards the Chicago meat markets.
The trip would take three months
Cattle herding would end with the invention of barbed wire and sectioning the land.
Romanticism of the West would lead to “wild west” shows that traveled the country.

7. Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was passed in to populate the west.
160 acres given to any family, as long as they could settle the land in five years.
The Transcontinental railroad, opened in 1869 would aid in the population of the region as well.
The American Frontier would gradually disappear as the government would take control of certain lands, as well as land speculators.

8. Adaptation to a New Life
Commonly lived in “soddy” homes
Homesteaders had to be self- sufficient.
New technology would aid in tilling the soil.
Cyrus McCormick’s Reaper
John Deere’s steel plow
Barbed wire
Agricultural education was promoted through the Morrill Land Grant Act.
These new research institutions would lead to new farming techniques.