Download 1. Settlement of the West

Chapter 8
Settling the West
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1. Settlement of the West
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Reasons for settling the west:
1. Inexpensive / abundant land
2. Hopes of finding gold or silver
3. Escape persecution / fresh start (ex: former
slaves, Mormons, etc.)
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2. Ranching and Cattle Drives
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Cattle industry grew because of the open range
Texas Longhorns
Mexican cowhands developed the tools and techniques for rounding up and
driving cattle
Two things changed cattle industry:
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Civil War (growing cities)
Railroads
The Long Drive:
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Began in the spring with roundup
Stock from different owners made up the herd
Brand showed who they belonged to (mavericks)
Cowboys in the early days were former Confederate soldiers
Myth of the “Wild West” was spread by the cowboy’s stories
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Vaqueros & Cowboys
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Guns and Indians
Cowboy life stemmed from Spanish ranchers in Mexico.
Early cowboys were Mexican. Vaqueros influenced cowboy clothes, food, and
vocabulary.
25% of cowboys were black. Because they were judged on ability, not skin color.
Farming and barbed wire helped start the “Range wars”
The Open range ended with the invention of barbed wire, investors who cause a
surplus in the market, blizzards, railroads and new breeds
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3. End of the Open Range
• Overgrazing the land, bad weather, and
invention of barbed wire helped to end the
cattle / cowboy era.
• Winters of 1885-1886 & 1886-1887 were
brutal. Cold temperatures caused cattle to
freeze to death. Summer droughts led to grass
shortage. By 1887, 80%-90% of cattle dead.
• Barbed wire turned open plains into a series of
fenced in ranches.
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4. Farming the Plains
• Rain fall around 20 inches a year
• Stephen Long called it the “Great American Desert”
• Railroad companies brought settlers in by selling land
along the railroads
• Homestead Act-Live on land for 5 years before getting
the deed
• Many homesteads were lost because of drought, wind
erosion and overuse of land
• Rapid settlement of the west helped close the frontier
• Railroads brought in new building material to the west
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5. Farming Inventions
• Settlers used inventions to meet the challenges
of farming the West’s harsh terrain.
• Steel Plow (1837) – Invented by John Deere.
Could slice through heavy soil, made planting
more efficient.
• Reaper (1847) – Invented by Cyrus McCormick.
Sped up harvesting crops & saved crops from
bad weather.
• Barbed Wire (1874) – Prevented animals from
wandering off or trampling crops.
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6. Railroads & Western
Settlement
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U.S. Government wanted West settled (manifest destiny).
Offered railroad companies free land as incentive to build a transcontinental
line (connect east coast to west coast). Each mile of track = 20sq. miles of
land.
Transcontinental Line (1862 -1869):Two major railroad companies
competed to lay the most track and receive more government land
– Union Pacific R.R. :began laying tracks in Nebraska and moved West. Employed
Irish-Americans & Civil War veterans. Flat country allowed work to go quickly.
– Central Pacific R.R.: began laying tracks in Sacramento, California and moved
East. Employed mostly Chinese – paid less than white workers & endured
dangerous conditions blasting through Sierra Nevada mountains.
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Crews raced past each other without meeting. May 10th, 1869 Congress
forced Union Pacific & Central Pacific to join together at Promontory Point,
Utah.
Railroads resulted in growth and new settlement of the West, making travel
& transportation easier.
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7. Native Americans
• Native Americans saw land as belonging to no
one
• Viewed white customs of farming & mining as
disturbing the harmony between the natural &
spirit world
• Buffalo was vital to survival of Plains Indians
(food, clothing, shelter).
• Ranchers, farmers and miners forced the Native
Americans to relocate to new territory
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8. Clash Between Settlers &
Indians
• Settlers felt they had a right to land
because Indians hadn’t “improved” it
(farming / building).
• U.S. government changed its Indian
policies
• Many Indians ignored government .
treaties and hunted on old lands anyway,
often clashing w/ settlers.
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9. The Last Native American
Wars
• Ranchers, farmers and miners forced the Native
Americans to relocate to new territory
• Indian Peace Commission- two reservations-failure
• Native Americans were leaving the reservation to hunt
buffalo but the buffalo were starting to disappear
because others were killing off the buffalos
• Tourists & fur traders shot buffalo for sport. Buffalo
population of 65 million in 1800 dropped to only a few
hundred by 1900.
• Native American
-buffalo
End of N.A. lifestyle
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10. Sand Creek Massacre 1864
• Cheyenne Indians peacefully camped at
Sand Creek for winter.
• Govt. leaders wanted to see Indians suffer
– ordered U.S. soldiers to attack
– killed over 150 Cheyenne women &
children.
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11. Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Sioux and Cheyenne Indians protested as
whites searched Black Hills for gold - wanted to
protect hunting grounds.
• June 1876, General George Custer & his troops
met by the Sioux at Little Bighorn in Montana.
Within an hour, Indians won battle. Custer & all
of his men were dead.
• Bloody conflicts between whites & Native
Americans led to greater disdain
(hostility/disgust) toward Indian culture
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12. Tragedy at Wounded Knee
• Native Americans turned to a prophet, who
promised that if Indians performed the Ghost
Dance, their lands & way of life would be
restored.
• Ghost Dance movement spread. Alarmed U.S.
Calvary opened fire on over 300 unarmed Native
Americans camped at Wounded Knee, South
Dakota.
• Battle of Wounded Knee brought Indian Wars –
and an entire era – to and end.
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13. Assimilation
• Government hoped teaching “white”
culture would lead to peace between
Native Americans & settlers in the West.
• Goal to “Americanize” Indians.
• Dawes Act allotted 160 acres of
reservation land for farming; nearly
destroyed the Native American culture
• Failed
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14. Crushing the Native American
Life
• Assimilation
• Dawes Act
– Broke up reservations and gave land to
individual Native Americans
• Destruction of Buffalo
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