Ch.16
The West
Western Migration

After Civil War—big migration from East

Horace Greeley— “Go West Young Man.”

Homestead Act (1862)—1st = 160 acres
for 5-years.
Western Tribes



Variety of tribes
Cherokee/Creek forced to go to “Indian
Territory” (Oklahoma).
Pueblos
Plains Indians

Diverse

Some farmed

Nomadic hunters

Buffalo

Strong opposition to whites at 1st.

Ultimately dominated—lack of unity, disease, &
technological inferiority.
Decline of the Buffalo



Demand for hides
Interfered with the
railroads.
1865-1875—15million to less than
1,000
Dispersal of Tribes

Reservation Policy

Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)

Oklahoma and Dakotas

Run by Bureau of Indian
Affairs
Gold in the Black Hills

Discovery of Gold leads to
whites going into
reservation territory of
Dakota Territory.

Natives begin to resist.

Govt. tries to buy land, but
Natives say “no.”

Govt. says they need to
move.

Says all not on new
reservation land by 1876
would be considered hostile.
Conflict with Indians




After the Civil War,
troops sent west.
William T. Sherman is
in charge.
Fighting is savage
Little Big Horn
(Montana, 1876)
“Custer’s Last Stand”
Scalping
Sitting Bull

Chief who led those who resisted
moving from Black Hills to new
reservations.

After Little big Horn, fled to Canada.

Eventually surrendered.

Participated in Wild West Shows.

Killed while being arrested to prevent
his support of the Ghost Dance.
Crazy Horse



Leader of Lakota Sioux
Led victorious Native
forces at Little big Horn.
Eventually Surrenders
and is killed while a
captive.
Buffalo Soldiers


1/5 of US military in
west were African
Americans.
Indians called them
“Buffalo Soldiers”
Ghost Dance
Promise of revival of
traditional culture and
revenge on whites.


Ghost Shirts
US army tries to stop
Indians from
performing.
Wounded Knee

1890—Infamous massacre .

Over 200 Native Americans are killed.

Effectively ended Native resistance until the 1960s.
Dawes Act

Dawes Act (1887) —eliminates tribal land
and provided individual land. Forced
Assimilation. Schools set up to make
Indians into “Americans”
Helen Hunt Jackson

A Century of Dishonor
(1881)
Hispanics


Most are marginalized
by the onslaught of
Anglos.
Many lose land and
become lower class
workers
Warm Up

Explain the significance of Plessey v.
Ferguson.


What were some of the reasons that
Reconstruction came to a n end?
What was the Dawes Act?
The Chinese

Big surge immigrated to Cal. During Gold Rush.

Tax on foreign miners + racism.

Work on railroad/laundries

Chinatowns

Anti-Coolie clubs

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
Western Economy

Mining

1st Gold and Silver


More long-lasting = aluminum, lead, tin, and
zinc.
1st individuals—corporations.
Comstock Lode


Silver in
Nevada
Boom Towns


Towns would spring
up almost overnight
where gold or silver
was discovered.
When supply is all
mined out,
everybody would
leave= “ghost
towns”
Cattle Ranching



Followed patterns
established by
Mexicans/Texans
Open Range
Branding, roundups,
long drives.
Chisholm Trial
Mining/Ranching Communities

Mostly men

Rowdy, lawlessness

Vigilantes
Women




Married women performed traditional
domestic duties.
Single women = cooks, waitresses,
tavern keepers, laundries, and
prostitutes.
Some even owned ranches.
Western women could generally
participate in politics.

More women in west could vote.

Why?
Turner’s “Frontier Thesis”




Frederick Jackson Turner
1893 census says that the frontier is
closed.
Argued that the frontier was the most
important aspect of American
development.
Fostered individualism and democracy.
Romance of the West


Glorification of West as East
became more industrialized and
urban.
“Rocky Mountain School”
Myth of the Cowboy


Romanticized as manly,
individualistic, free
from regular social
constraints and in
touch with nature.
Reality = low-paid,
tedious, grueling and
little chance for
advancement.
Wild West Shows

“Buffalo Bill” Cody

Annie Oakley
Frederic Remington
Western Farmers


Flourished in the 1870s-early
1880s
Mid 1880s =
overproduction(& drought) in
US farming and Agrarian
crisis.

Transcontinental Railroad
completed in 1869.

Allowed for more farmers in
West
Promontory Point, Utah (1869)
The Govt. and the RR’s

Govt (both state and federal) gave many
subsides to RR’s.

Free land (land grants)

Tax breaks
Farmers vs. Ranchers

Competition for space created tensions.

Range Wars

Eventually led to fencing and end of
“Open Range”
Cattle Drive Trails
Characteristics of Western Farming

Barbed Wire

Irrigation

Droughts in late
1880s ruin many
western farmers.
Commercial Agriculture


Increased Commercialization. After Civil
War, US agriculture became primarily an
international biz (focus is on cash crops)..
Prices went down, though, due to:


A. Overproduction
B. World Competition
Farmer’s Grievances

Blame others for their plight

Railroads




Eastern Bankers



A. Charged higher rates for farm goods.
B. Higher rates for South & West
C. “Long haul v. short haul”
High interest rates
Foreclosures
Middlemen
Decline In Status



American farmers had been mythologized
since the founding of the country.
Jefferson “Those that labor the earth are
the chosen people of God…”
By end of 19th century, Eastern
industrialists seem to dominate society
while farmers situation is on the wane.