1. Chapter 17 THE WEST: EXPLOITING AN EMPIRE
America Past and Present

2. Beyond the Frontier 1840: Settlement to Missouri timber country
Eastern Plains have rich soil, good rainfall
For first 2/3 of 19th century, Americans believed the land west of the Mississippi River to be uninhabitable ~ “Great American Desert”
High Plains, Rockies semi-arid
Most pre-Civil War settlers head directly for Pacific Coast p

3. Physiographic Map of the U.S.

4. Crushing the Native Americans
1865: Nearly 250k Indians in western US
Displaced Eastern Indians
Native Plains Indians
By the 1880s
Most Indians on reservations
California Indians decimated by disease carried by whites during 1849 Gold Rush
By the 1890s Indian cultures crumble
p.483

5. Life of the Plains Indians: Political Organization
Plains Indians nomadic, hunt buffalo
Skilled horsemen (brought by Spanish during the 1500s) ~ Changed their lives ~ After the buffalo, the horse was most important
Tribes develop warrior class
Wars limited to skirmishes, "counting coups"
Tribal bands governed by chief & council
Different tribes communicated through the use of a highly developed sign language p

6. Life of the Plains Indians: Social Organization
Sexual division of labor
Men hunt, trade, supervise ceremonial activities, clear ground for planting
Women responsible for child rearing, art, camp work, gardening, food preparation
Equal gender status common
Among Sioux, there was little difference in status. Each respected for his/her skills p

7. “As Long as Waters Run”: Searching for an Indian Policy
Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 excludes any white from Indian country without a license
Land regarded as Indian preserve
1851 ~ Assigned definite boundaries to each tribe
Sioux ~ Dakota country north of Platte River
Crow ~ Area near Powder River
Many Native Americans refused to stay in their assigned lands & settlers poured into Indian lands
p.485

8. Native Americans in the West: Major Battles & Reservations
p.485

9. “As Long as Waters Run”: Searching for an Indian Policy
Cheyenne & Arapaho battled w/ gold miners in Colorado. Tired of fighting, they asked for peace & were moved to Sand Creek
COL John Chivington leading a group of CO militia massacred sleeping men, women, & children ~ The Sand Creek Massacre
Gave orders to “kill & scalp all, big & little”
Many protested & Congress appointed an investigating committee, but Indians were, nonetheless, moved elsewhere p

10. “As Long as Waters Run”: Searching for an Indian Policy
Sioux War of 1865–1867 ~ Sioux revolted, again over gold miners.
Govt announced it planned to connect the gold camps with the Bozeman Trail
Chief Red Cloud, was determined to stop the trail
Dec 1866 ~ When pursed by an army column under CPT Wm Fetterman, Red Cloud lured the group into an ambush & killed all 82 soldiers.
Debate over Indian policy
Humanitarians want to “civilize” Indians
Others want firm control and swift reprisal
Humanitarians win with "small reservation" policy
Dakota & Oklahoma Territories p

11. Final Battles on the Plains
Small reservation policy fails
Young warriors refuse restraint
White settlers encroach on Indian lands
Final series of wars suppress Indians
Nov 1869 ~ Battle of the Washita, Roger Mills County, OK ~ NW of Elk City near Cheyenne
Indians had been raiding settlers in KS, CO, TX
Chief Black Kettle killed
1876 ~ Little Big Horn, Montana: LTC Geo A. Custer & his 265 men killed by 2,500 Sioux warriors (largest Indian force ever assembled) ~ Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull
Custer’s Last Stand ~ Greatest NA victory over the US Army p

12. The End of Tribal Life
Sioux War ended major Indian warfare in the West
1887: Dawes Severalty Act
Destroys communal ownership of Indian land
Gives small farms to each head of a family
Indians who leave tribes become U.S. citizens
Extermination of buffalo deals devastating blow to Plains Indians
1900 = 250k Native Americans
1492 = 5M
Once possessors of the entire continent, they had been pushed into smaller & smaller areas & their way of life destroyed p

13. Settlement of the West Unprecedented settlement 1870–1900
430M acres settled
Most move west in an attempt to improve their lot
Things were good in the West
Rising population drives demand for Western goods
Migration was heaviest during economic prosperity
p.492

14. Men & Women on the Overland Trail
First great movement west was aimed at California & Oregon
Gold Rush of 1849
Overland Trail ~ Usually a family migration
Started from various points along the Missouri River in the early spring & hoped to get through Rockies before the first snowfall ~ Donner Party
Under the best of conditions, the trip took 6 months (16 hrs/day)
Common sight was piles of trash, abandoned wagons, furniture, clothing, etc. p

15. Land for the Taking: Federal Incentives
1860–1900: Federal Land Grants
48 million acres granted under Homestead Act
100 million acres sold to private individuals, corporations
128 million acres granted to railroad companies
Congress offered incentives to development
Timber Culture Act of 1873 ~ Claim 160 acres if you will plant trees on ¼ of it in 4 yrs ~ Fairly successful
Desert Land Act of 1877 ~ 640 acres at $1.25/acre if irrigated within 3 yrs ~ Hired hands bought for ranchers (fraud)
Timber & Stone Act of 1878 ~ Land “unfit for cultivation” offered for $2.5/acre ~ Lumber company fraud p

16. Land for the Taking: Speculators & Railroads
Most land acquired by wealthy investors
Speculators send agents to stake out best land for high prices
River bottoms, irrigable areas, control water
As beneficiaries of govt’s policy of land grants, railroads were largest landowners
Recruited buyers from the East & Europe
Arranged transportation, credit, farming lessons
p.494

17. Land for the Taking: Water & Development
Water scarcity limits Western growth
Much of the West receives less than 20 inches of rainfall annually
People speculate in water as in gold
1902 ~ Newlands Act: Set aside proceeds from the sale of public lands in 16 western states to finance irrigation in arid (dry) states
Canals, dams, irrigation systems developed p

18. Territorial Government
New areas were organized into territories under Congress & President
Pres appointed governors & judges, Cong detailed their duties & set budgets ~ These were very powerful positions
Good source of jobs for deserving politicians
Territorial experience produces unique Western political culture
p.495

19. The Spanish-Speaking Southwest
Pushing north from Mexico, the Spanish gradually established the present day economic structure of the Southwest
Cattle raising, mining, irrigated farming
1880s ~ ¼ of LA County was Spanish speaking & Spanish remained the majority ethnic group in NM until 1940
Strong Roman Catholic influence p

20. Chapter 17 THE WEST: EXPLOITING AN EMPIRE
America Past and Present
2/3 Point

21. The Bonanza West Quest to “get rich quick” produces Uneven growth
Boom-and-bust economic cycles
Wasted resources
”Instant cities" like San Francisco, Salt Lake City, & Denver most spectacular examples
Took Boston 200 yrs to get 1M people, SF did it in 20.
p.496

22. The Mining Bonanza Mining first attraction to the west
Mining frontier moves from west to east
Individual prospectors remove surface gold
Big corporations move in with the heavy, expensive mining equipment
VA City, Nevada ~ Comstock Lode
Produced $306M
1874–1876: Black Hills rush overruns Sioux hunting grounds p

23. Mining Regions of the West
p.498

24. Mining Bonanza: Camp Life
Camps sprout up with each strike
Camps governed by simple democracy
Men outnumber women two to one
Most men, some women work claims
Most women earn wages as cooks, housekeepers, & seamstresses
p.498

25. Mining Bonanza: Ethnic Hostility
25–50% of camp citizens were foreign-born
French, Latin Americans, Chinese hated
1850: California Foreign Miner's Tax drives foreigners out
$20/month license fee
1882: Federal Chinese Exclusion Act suspends Chinese immigration for 10 years
p.498

26. Mining Bonanza: Effects of the Mining Boom
Contributed millions to economy
Helped finance Civil War, industrialization
Relative value of silver & gold change
Early statehood for Nevada, Idaho, Montana
Left scars
Invaded Indian reservations
Pitted hills
Ghost towns p

27. Gold from the Roots Up: The Cattle Bonanza
The far was West ideal for cattle grazing
Cattle drives take herds from Texas to rail heads in Kansas ~ “Trail Drive”
Conceived by Joseph G. McCoy “The Real”
Trains take herds to Chicago for processing ~ Longhorns hardy breed
Profits enormous for large ranchers
Cowboys work long hours for little pay
Approx 50% were Af Ams & Mexican p

28. Cattle Trails
p.501

29. Gold from the Roots Up: The Cattle Bonanza
By 1880 wheat farmers begin fencing range
Mechanical improvements in slaughtering, refrigerated transportation,& cold storage modernize the industry
1886 ~ Thousands of cattle die in harsh winter trapped by barbed wire
Some ranchers switched to sheep p

30. Sodbusters on the Plains: The Farming Bonanza
1870–1890 farm population triples on plains
African American “Exoduster” farmers migrate from the South to escape racism
Experienced prejudice, but not as bad
Water, building materials scarce & expensive
Sod houses common first dwelling p

31. New Farming Methods Barbed wire allows fencing without wood
Invented by Joseph F. Glidden, an Illinois farmer ~ 1883: produced 600 mi/day
Dry farming: Deeper tilling, use of mulch
New strains of wheat resistant to frost
1885–1890: Droughts ruin farms
Farm technology improved production
Smooth surface plow (1877), spring tooth harrow (1869), grain drill (1874)
Small-scale farming adopted p

32. Farm Discontent Sources of discontent
Weather problems (droughts)
Declining crop prices
Rising rail rates
Heavy mortgages
The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was founded as a social, cultural & educational organization
Although banned, evolved into a quasi-political organization ~ Other organizations followed
Trans-Mississippi farmers become more commercial, scientific, productive p

33. Agricultural Land Use ~ 1880s
p.505

34. The Final Fling
22 April 1889: Oklahoma opened for final settlement on the frontier
Nearly 100k people lined up
One day ~ 12k homesteads, 1.92M acres
OKC ~ 10k
Guthrie ~ 15k
p.506

35. The Meaning of the West
Historians differ in their interpretation of the American frontier experience
Frederick Jackson Turner ~ U of Wisconsin historian (1893) wrote that westward movement shaped customs & character; gave rise to independence, self confidence & individualism.
Later historians have added that family & community loomed as large as individualism on the frontier
A multicultural event p

36. Chapter 17 THE WEST: EXPLOITING AN EMPIRE
America Past and Present
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