Conquering the west
1877-1900
The Societies of the Far West
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The Societies of the Far West
The Western Tribes
Some dislocated eastern tribes in “Indian Territory”, others western tribes such as
Pueblos had permanent settlements/farms + interaction w/ Spanish & Mexicanscaste system over other Indian tribes (genizaros=Ind w/o tribes)
Plains Indians- some nomadic, some farmers. Many (including Sioux) hunted
buffalo as main source of food + materials
Warriors unable to defeat white settlers b/c disunited, internal conflict, disease
Hispanic New Mexico
American capitalist integration led Spanish-speaking to erosion of communal
society + economies, land aristocracy from Santa Fe + Span/Mex peasants
Territorial govt in 1850, in 1870s govt dominated by “territorial ring” where
business ppl took advantage of impending statehood, used fed money for profit
Arrival of RRs in in SW during 1880s/1890s brought new ranching, farming, mining
brought new Mexican migrants
Hispanic California and Texas
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Hispanic California and Texas
Most Spanish missions that employed Indians as near slaves until 1830s. White
settlers expelled Hispanic californios from the land. Market for cattle allowed some
rancheros to continue to own land, but most Mexs became working class
In Texas Mexs also unable to compete with enormous Anglo-American ranching
kingdoms- most relegated to unskilled farm + industrial labor
The Chinese Migration
After 1848 gold rush, Chinese migration dramatically increased, settling mostly in
CA. White sentiment soon turned negative b/c Chinese industrious and successful
Chinese excluded from gold mining by CA 1852 “foreign miner tax”, other laws
1850s discouraged immigration—Chinese began to work on transcontinental
Central Pacific RR
After RR completion 1869 many Chinese moved to cities- formed “Chinatowns” w/
benevolent societies, “tongs”-secret criminal societies
Many Chinese occupied lower jobs- unskilled laborers. Many started laundries
Anti-Chinese Sentiment
• Anti-Chinese Sentiment
• “Anti-coolie” clubs in 1860s/1870s sought ban on
employing Chinese, formed b/c some whites felt
Chinese laborers accepted low wages + undercut
unions
• In CA, Democratic Party + Denis Kearney’s
Workingmen’s Party attacked Chinese interest- based
on economic tension, cultural + racial- “inassimilable”
• 1882 Congress responded to pressure, passed Chinese
Exclusion Act- halted Chinese migration, barred
naturalization- aimed to help “American” labor
Migration from the East
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Migration from the East
Extremely great postwar migration to empty and settled areas alike. Most white AngloAmericans, others foreign-born Euro immigrants—attracted by metal deposits, lands for
farming and ranching
Fed land policies encouraged settlement: Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160 acres of land for
small fee, in return would improve land, create new markets mechanization + rising farm
costs forced some small farmers off this land
In response Congress passed Timber Culture Act (1863), Desert Land Act (1877), Timber and
Stone Act (1878) to allow ppl to buy/develop more cheap land
1860s saw development of territorial govt, statehood soon followed for most
The Changing Western Economy
Labor in the West
Labor shortage led to higher wages than in East, but job instability (after harvest or RR
completion, etc.) led to communities of jobless in cities. Workers mostly mobile, single men
Working class highly multiracial, but whites generally occupied higher job levels
(management + skilled labor) than nonwhites in unskilled labor. Dual labor system reinforced
by racial assumptions that held nonwhites more suited for worse conditions + harder laborallowed whites greater social mobility
The Arrival of the Miners
• The Arrival of the Miners
• First Western economic boom came from mining strikes in
1860s-1890s. During Pike’s Peak strike 1858 mining camps
blossomed into “cities”, later Comstock Lode silver found in
Nevada, 1874 Black Hill strike in Dakota Terr.
• After surface wealth used up, eastern capitalists often
bought claims of pioneer prospectors, began retrieving
from deeper veins w/ corporate mines
• In boom towns vigilantism used to combat outlaws. Men
outnumbered women, prostitution very common. After
boom most remained in town as wage laborer in corporate
mine
The Cattle Kingdom
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The Cattle Kingdom
Economy also affected by the open range- provided cattle raisers w/ free lands to
graze, RRs gave access to markets. Largest herds found in Texas
After success of the long drive proven, easier routes to access rest of country
sought- market facility grew up at Abilene, KS as railhead of cattle kingdom.
Agricultural development in 1870s in W. Kansas led other routes to grow
As settlement of plans increased new forms of competition emerged- sheep
breeders used range to feed flock, farmers from the East fenced in their lands—
“range wars” developed between ranchers and farmers
Large profits in cattle business led cattle economy to become more corporate. This
expansion onto already shrunken ranges from RRs and farmers became
overstocked, and combined with bad winters from 1885-1887, thousands of cattle
died—open-range industry never recovered, but ranches survived + grew
Although cattle industry mostly male, large number of women led them to have
important political presence- women won vote earlier in West than rest of nation
(some states to swell population for statehood, bring “morals” to politics)
The Romance of the West
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The Romance of the West
The Western Landscape
Painters of the “Rocky Mountain School
“ celebrated the West in grandiose paintings that attracted great crowds- emphasized ruggedness and variety of
region, awe toward land that had been previously expressed by Hudson River valley painters
The Cowboy Culture
Cowboy life romanticized in contrast to stable, orderly world of the East. Owen Wister’s The Virginian (1902)
showed freedom from social constraints, only one example of magazine articles, novels, ect. about Western life
The Idea of the Frontier
Many Americans considered the West the last frontier. Mark Twain wrote about (mostly early) frontier life is
Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Painter/sculptor Frederic Turner captured romance of West in his works comparing it to the East
Theodore Roosevelt wrote history of West- The Winning of the West (1890s)
Frederick Jackson Turner
The historian Turner contended that by 1890s no single frontier line existed and the end of an era had come.
Expansion has stimulated individualism, nationalism, democracy, American uniqueness. Mirrored sentiments of US
Turner inaccurate and premature- ppl had always lived in “empty, uncivilized” lands and had been displaced, also
in coming years much land still available
The Loss of Utopia
With nation feeling that there had been a “passing of the frontier”, ppl felt opportunities closing and with it ability
to control own destiny
“Myth of the garden” (West as Garden of Eden)
The Dispersal of the Tribes
• The Dispersal of the Tribes
• White Tribal Policies
• Traditional policy was to regard tribes as nations and wards of the
president, therefore negotiate treaties w/ them ratified by Senate.
As white settlers demanded more lands during 1850s led ppl to
abandon idea of one large Indian Territory to policy of
“concentration”- each tribe given negotiated reservation
• In 1867 after bloody conflicts Congress created Indian peace
Commission to make permanent Indian policy- move all Plains
Indians into Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and Dakotas. Failed b/c of
poor administration by Bureau of Indian Affairs & killing of buffalo
herds by whites + reduced Indian ability to resist white advance -led
to violence
A Harvest of Blood: Native Peoples
Dispossessed
• Strategies of Survival
• Syncretism – Effort to maintain native customs and traditions, while
assimilating; a blend of the old and the new; Ghost Dance
movement (late 1880s and early 1890s) was an effort to resurrect
the bison and create a giant storm to force whites back across the
Atlantic; spread from reservation to reservation.
• Wounded Knee – Lakota Sioux Ghost Dancers left their South
Dakota reservation and were pursued by the U.S. Army, who feared
that further spread of the religion would provoke war. On
December 29, 1890, battle at Wounded Knee Creek left at least 150
Lakota dead, but perhaps as many as 300. Like other massacres, this
one could have been avoided; the deaths at Wounded Knee stand
as a final indictment of decades of relentless U.S. expansion, white
ignorance and greed, chaotic and conflicting policies, and bloody
mistakes.
The Indian Wars
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The Indian Wars
1850s-1880s showed nearly constant fighting as Indians struggled against threats to their
civilizations- during Civil War conflict w/ Indians in Old Northwest and the Southwest
Not only military that threatened tribes; white vigilantes participated in “Indian hunting” killed
tribes for sport or bounties, wanted retaliation after raids
Treaties made in 1867 saw temporary lull, but influx of settlers in 1870s penetrated Dakota
Territory + change in govt policy to not recognize tribes as independent nations led to violence in
1875
Sioux rose up under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in the Black Hills- at Battle of Little Bighorn 1876
Indians killed Colonel George Custer and regiment, Indians became disunited after and forced to
return to reservation
Nez Perce Indians under Chief Joseph 1877 attempted to flee Idaho for Canada but caught by
soldiers, forced to travel for years afterward to drift areas
Last organized resistance came from Apaches under Chiefs Mangas Colorados, Cochise, and finally
Geronimo- unwilling to bow to white pressures Geronimo conducted raids on white outposts
(“Apache Wars”), surrendered 1886
Atrocities against Indians had prompted much fighting- in 1890 Sioux religious revival under the
prophet Wovoka led to “Ghost Dance” that celebrated vision of whites leaving + buffalo return- in
Dec troops tried to round up some Indians at Wounded Knee, SD which turned into an Indian
massacre
The Dawes Act
• The Dawes Act
• Efforts taken to destroy reservation + communal land
ownership in order to force Indians to become farmers,
landowners - abandon culture for white civilians.
• Dawes Act of 1887 eliminated tribal ownership and gave
land to individual owners. Bureau of Indian Affairs
promoted assimilation, sometimes by removing children
and sending them to white boarding schools, build
churches
• Indians unprepared for capitalist individualism + corrupt
administration led to abandonment of program, later Burke
Act of 1906 also failed to divide lands
The Rise and Decline of the Western
Farmer
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The Rise and Decline of the Western Farmer
Farming on the Plains
Before Civil War lands accessible only by wagon, transcontinental RR completed
1869 and subsidiary lines built afterward w/ land grants and loans
Easier access to Great Plains spurred agriculture- RRs offered cheap land and
credit, rainfall allowed farming
Farmers faced problems: enclosing land expensive, but 1873 Joseph Glidden and
IL Ellwood invited barbwire; arid land needed irrigation, especially after 1887
when series of dry spells followed- during 1880s booms credit easy, but arid
weather of late 1880smany farmers unable to pay debt and forced to abandon
farms
Commercial Agriculture
Commercial farmers specialized in cash crops sold on national/international
markets. Relied on town stores for supplies and food, dependent on bankers’
interest rates, railroad freight rates, and US/Euro markets
During late 19th century agriculture became an international business- US
commercial farmers relied on risky world market to absorb surpluses
Overproduction in 1880s led to price drops, economic crisis for small farmers
The Farmers’ Grievances
• The Farmers’ Grievances
• Farmers resented railroads and their higher freight rates for farm
goods, credit institutions for their high interest rates and payments
that had to be made in years when currency scarce, and prices that
they had to pay for goods and the money they received- believed
manufactures keeping farm good prices low
• The Agrarian Malaise
• Farmers isolated, lacked education for children, proper medical
facilities, and community- this sense of obsolescence lead to
growing malaise among farmers that created great political
movement in 1890sSturdy yeoman farmers had viewed themselves
as the backbone of American life, now they were becoming aware
that their position was declining in relation to the rising urbanindustrial society in the East
The Republican Vision
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The Republican Vision
Integrating the National Economy
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Tariffs and Economic Growth – Republican-supported tariffs helped build industries such as textile,
steel manufacturing, and sheep ranching; provided largest share of revenue for U.S. Treasury; huge
debt from Civil War ($2.8 billion) was erased by tariffs in two decades; caused much debate in
Congress; Republicans argued they created jobs, blocked low-wage foreign competition for U.S.
products, and safeguarded American from the kind of industrial poverty that had arisen in Europe;
Democrats claimed that they over-taxed the consumers; historians contend that the tariffs helped
the U.S. to become a world economic power in the postwar years; did not prevent poverty in U.S.;
tariffs also helped foster trusts, large corporations that dominated sectors of the economy and
wielded near-monopoly power.
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The Role of Courts – States passed regulatory laws; Munn v. Illinois (1877): states had the right to
regulate businesses that served public purposes (ex: railroads) but could not block integration of
the national marketplace; land claims in southwest impacted by federal court decisions; between
1891 and 1904, most traditional land claims by Mexicans were invalidated; Mexican Americans lost
64 percent of the contested lands.
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Silver and Gold – Attempt to create an international system of standard measurements and
currency; agreement that money should be based on gold (known as the gold standard); in 1873,
Congress chose to use gold as the standard for U.S. currency value and end the use of greenbacks
(paper dollars); this decision limited the nation’s money supply.
Incorporating the West
• Incorporating the West
Mining Empires
• Nevada’s Comstock Lode – Discovered in 1859, silver spurs
the boomtown of Virginia City, which soon had fancy
hotels, theaters, saloons, and brothels.
• Corporate mining – General Mining Act of 1872 allowed
those who discovered minerals on federal property to work
the claim and keep the proceeds; the law, still in force
today, benefitted consortiums of powerful investors who
funded engineers and advanced equipment; mines created
many dangerous low-wage jobs; mining towns became a
market for timber from the Pacific Northwest.
Homesteaders
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Homesteaders
Women in the West – Homesteaders went West as families, aiming to find economic opportunity;
success of a farm depended on the work of wives and children; notion of “domesticity”: a man’s
devotion to family made him a good worker; it was believed that women could provide moral
guidance to men, including Christian charity, commitment to home, motherhood; conflicts arose
with Mormons’ acceptance of polygamy and women’s suffrage in Utah; Wyoming Territory granted
women suffrage in 1869; life on the Great Plains was extremely hard for young mothers who
struggled with isolation.
Environmental Challenges – Faced a host of challenges, including grasshoppers, prairie fires,
hailstorms, tornados, blizzards, lack of water, wood, lumber, fencing; western grasslands had
insufficient water for growing; 160-acre homesteads were too much for most farmers to handle;
successes proved unsustainable; John Wesley Powell wrote Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions
of the United States (1879); told Congress that 160-acre tracts would not work in dry regions and
instead encouraged smaller, irrigated farms; proposed that the government work to develop water
resources in the West, building dams and canals; Congress plan rejected Powell’s plan; later
historians consider his report a good critique of the problems that existed with development of the
Great Plains.
Western Myths and Realities
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Western Myths and Realities
Buffalo Bill Cody – Famous Wild West show was offered as an authentic
representation of frontier experience; provided employment
opportunities for Plains Indians who demonstrated their riding skills; Black
Elk, a Sioux man who joined Cody’s operation, observed that the Wild
West of the 1880s was at its heart a celebration of U.S. military conquest.
• Frederick Jackson Turner – A 1890s young historian who wrote that there
had been a clear, westward-moving line that existed between “civilization
and savagery”; the frontier experience shaped Americans’ national
character, leaving them a heritage of “coarseness and strength, combined
with acuteness and inquisitiveness” as well as “restless, nervous energy”;
historians now reject his views.
• Sherman’s death – In the winter of 1891, Sherman died in New York;
celebrations of his life marked the critical moments in which the native
population had been destroyed by military conquest; throughout
Sherman’s military career, the nation had grown spread westward and
become an international economic power.