The Frontier in United
States History
Anthony Fitzpatrick
Vice-President for Professional Development Services
Important
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Timeline of the Frontier

1848-1849 - California Gold Rush begins.

1861 - Kansas admitted to Union

1878 - California Workingmen’s Party
founded and attacks Chinese Immigration

1882 - Congress passes the Chinese
Exclusion Act

1864 - Nevada admitted to Union

1865-1867 - Sioux Wars

1885 - Mark Twain writes Huckleberry
Finn

1866 - “Long drives” launch western cattle
bonanza

1887 - Dawes Act passed

1867 - Nebraska admitted to Union

1889 - Oklahoma opened to white
settlement

1869 - Union Pacific, first transcontinental
railroad, completed

1890 - Battle of Wounded Knee

1876 - Battle of Little Bighorn

1893 - Frederick Jackson Turner
proposes the “frontier thesis”

1876 - Colorado admitted to Union


1877 - Desert Land Act passes
1902 – Congress makes the Chinese
Exclusion Act permanent

1906 – Congress passes the Burke Act to
speed the assimilation of tribes
Expansion of the West
The Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad was a major catalyst in
transforming and developing the Frontier.
Transcontinental Railroad:
Make a . . .
S
• White Settler and Native American Interaction
• White Settler and Chinese Immigrant Int.
P
• New States were admitted to the Union
• Local political structures needed to be established
E
• Agrarian economy took a different path that that on the East
• Immigrant labor became a chief economic issue
E
• The environment proved harsh on settlers
• The lawless nature of the west allowed for little environmental
stewardship
C
• Mark Twain became an iconic writer of the era
• The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show solidified the West in American
Myth and memory.
H
• The West remains a cornerstone to the American identity
• New study highlights the contributions of others to the
development of the West.
Social: Interaction of Many
Peoples.
Fort Laramie Treaty
Gold Rush Miners
Political: New States Join the Union
 Kansas, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Utah are
admitted to the Union.
Economic:
Chinese Immigration
 After the California Gold Rush began, Chinese immigration
increased dramatically.
 Large numbers worked in the gold mines, but those
opportunities were disappearing due, in part, to legislative
measures such as a foreign miners tax.
 The Chinese then found work completing the
transcontinental railroad. Upon its completion, the
population began to urbanize.
 In the cities, the Chinese found occupations in jobs on the
lower economic levels.
 By the 1890s, the Chinese constituted 2/3 of all laundry
workers. It required very little startup capital and very little
knowledge of English.
Restrictions on Chinese
Immigration
 The Democratic Party and the Workingman’s Party of
California began to engage in acts against the Chinese:
 Chinese workers were first barred from employment
opportunities. Justification for this opinion was made on
cultural and racial grounds:
 Some thought the Chinese barbaric and products of a
civilization that had failed to progress.
 It was also said that they were unable to assimilate with
traditional American values and practice.
 Congress would pass the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882
White Out! Immigration
 "Unless the stream
of these people can
be turned away from
their country to other
countries, they will
soon outnumber us
so that we will not be
able to save our
language or our
government."
 Henry Bowers, founder of the
Protective Association (1894)
 Henry Wilson, Member of the
Know-Nothing Party and
former Vice President.
(1854)
 Benjamin Franklin, Founding
Father (1751)
 Denis Kearney, Founder of
the Workingman’s Party of
California (1878)
REVEALED
The ENVIRONMENT of the
Frontier
 Frontier life was harsh and challenging
 Farmers had to clear the land and deal with Native
American tribes.
 Squatters often occupied land without legal claim
 The environment contributed to the reputation of
lawlessness and a need to hold true to American values
and the notion of the Protestant work ethic to be
successful under such harsh conditions.
Cultural Hallmarks of the
Frontier
 Mark Twain
 Buffalo Bill
 Annie Oakley
Mark Twain and Huckleberry
Finn
 Few authors depicted the vision and
spirit of the frontier West as Mark
Twain.
 His novels The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer, and Huckleberry
Finn are classics and part of the
American canon of literature.
“History doesn’t repeat itself; but it does rhyme.”
Mark Twain
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
Romanticizing the West
 The Wild West show and its imitators featured dramatic
reenactments of battles on the frontier, martial arts, and
sharp shooting. All of these elements confirmed
Americans’ love affair with the West.
 This show kept the American myth and memory of the
romantic and glamorous West alive for generations to
come.
 The show featured iconic cultural elements and figures
such as Custer’s Last Stand, the Pony Express and Annie
Oakley.
What do we see here?
The Peerless Lady Wing Shot
Importance of the West in United States
History




Frederick Jackson Turner
Opposing Views
Turner asserts that “the existence of
an area of free land, its continuous
recession and the advance of
American settlement westward” – was
the central story of American history.
 With the advent of social
history as mainstream study,
historians have revisited
Turner’s thesis.
 History now emphasizes the
He believed that our power to
transform a desolate and uncivilized
savage land had a Lazarus-type power
over our ideas of democracy and
individualism.

He believed that it shaped our entire
nation and affirmed the notions of our
potential and greatness.

His thesis influenced historians for
generations and solidified the Frontier
as a concept of wonderment in the
American character.
highly diverse nature of the
west.
Some historians disagree with
the notion of independence –
but rather focus on the West’s
dependence on the East and
their conformity to strict values.
Others assert that the West
wasn’t settled, but rather
conquered.
Which One? You Decide.
Turner
Opposition
Looking Forward and
Back with the West:
The Pony Express
Mr. Anthony Fitzpatrick
Frontier Timeline # 1
 1850 California admitted to the
Union. Territory of Utah established.
 1860-1861 The Pony Express runs
between St. Joseph, Missouri, and
Sacramento, California.
 1861 Telegraph connection from
coast to coast makes Pony Express
obsolete.
 1862 Homestead Act and
Transcontinental Railroad Act are
passed by Congress.
 1863 Construction begins on the
Central Pacific and Union Pacific
railroads.
 1869 May 10 The Golden Spike joins
the Union Pacific and Central Pacific
railroads at Promontory Point, Utah.
Information Superhighway
 “Neither snow nor
rain nor heat nor
gloom of night stays
these couriers from
the swift completion
of their appointed
rounds.”
 Look familiar . . .
Maybe not what you
think
California Dreaming
 In today’s world of cell
phones, faxes, and
texting, it’s difficult to
image how cut off the
West, particularly
California was from the
rest of the nation.
Spurred by the Gold
Rush of 1848 and
California’s subsequent
admission to statehood,
more than a half million
people migrated there by
1860.
Reach out and Touch
 The population explosion in
the West coupled with growing
political tensions in the East
(that would eventually result in
the Civil War) illustrated the
need for rapid communication.
At the time, the railroads and
telegraph lines extended no
further west than St. Joseph,
Missouri and mail traveled
west by stagecoach and
wagons, a trip that could take
weeks, if it arrived at all.
Capitalism to the Rescue
 In 1860 three enterprising
Missouri businessmen, William
H. Russell, Alexander Majors
and William B. Waddell
operated a successful freight
and passenger service
company between Missouri
and Salt Lake City, Utah.
offered a solution. In the hopes
of winning a lucrative
government contract to provide
mail service to the West,
Russell proposed that the trio
create the Pony Express, a
rapid delivery service.
Old Fashion American
Ingenuity
 Starting at St. Joseph, which at
the time was the western most
point for rail and telegraph
service, Russell devised a
relay system in which a series
of riders and horses would
travel 1,900 miles to
Sacramento. Pony Express
stations were set up about
every 10 miles, which was the
distance a horse could cover
at full gallop before reaching
exhaustion. Riders were
changed every 60 to 100
miles.
Relative Technology ©
 The Pony Express
proved successful at
reducing mail delivery
from 24 days to about 10
days. However, as a
business it was a failure.
The service had gross
revenues of about
$90,000. By the time the
business ceased offering
services however it was
in the the red to the tune
of $200,000.
The Conduct of a Gentleman
 Riders were paid $100 to $125 per
week. The prevailing wage for at
the time for unskilled labor was
about $1 per day. The work, as
this flier suggests was very
dangerous. However, before they
would be hired, they were required
to make this oath to owner and
religious man, Alexander Majors:
"While I am the employ of A.
Majors, I agree not use profane
language, not to get drunk, not to
gamble, not to treat animals
cruelly and not to do anything else
that is incompatible with the
conduct of a gentleman. And I
agree, if I violate any of the above
conditions, to accept my discharge
without any pay for my services."
Decline and ultimate failure
 The reasons for its failure were
manifold. Let’s consider them
using ESP. First and foremost,
competition from other
companies vying for government
contracts hurt the business.
Second safety concerns including
conflicts between Native
Americans and settlers cut into
the company’s revenues. In
addition, Russell, Majors &
Waddell were near bankruptcy
when they began the Pony
Express. The completion of the
Transcontinental Telegraph line
on Oct. 24, 1861 proved to be its
final undoing. Two days later the
Pony Express closed.
Cultural Significance
 Despite being in operation for only 19
months, the Pony Express has become
as much a part of the legend of the
American West as Billy the Kid and the
O.K Corral.
 Things to consider . . .
 The fastest Pony Express trip was 7
days and 17 hours. The trip delivered
President Lincoln’s inaugural address
from St. Joseph to Sacramento.
 Early Western legends Buffalo Bill and
Wild Bill Hickok were Pony Express
riders.
 About 400 horses were used during for
the Pony Express. Among the breeds
were Morgans, pintos and mustangs.
Wait a minute
Fun Cultural Connections
 "While I am the employ of
A. Majors, I agree not use
profane language, not to
get drunk, not to gamble,
not to treat animals
cruelly and not to do
anything else that is
incompatible with the
conduct of a gentleman.
And I agree, if I violate
any of the above
conditions, to accept my
discharge without any
pay for my services."
Questions, Comments?
Thank You
afitzpatrick@aihe.info