The American West
in the Late 1800s
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CHANGES IN THE WEST
• “Go West young man!”
• Who does this create problems for?
• By the 1840s most Native Americans lived west of
the Mississippi River on land that was not
desirable to whites
• The California gold rush, the building of the
Transcontinental RR, and the discovery of rich
farmland on the Great Plains led to more whites
moving west  more problems for Native
Americans
NATIVE AMERICANS FIGHT BACK
• From the 1850s to 1890, a series of wars were
fought by Native Americans who were being
forced onto reservations
• Why would Native Americans fight being told
to stay within certain boundaries?
• Why would federal troops eventually win
these wars?
• Superior technology and divisions among
tribes
THE SIOUX WARS
1865
Federal gov’t decides to build a road
through Sioux territory, Sioux warriors
resist violently leading to Red Cloud’s
War
1867
War ends, Sioux agree to live on
reservation in Dakota territory
1875
Federal gov’t allows miners to search for
gold on Sioux res. Second Sioux War
begins, Chief Sitting Bull leads many off
reservation
1876
Sitting Bull’s warriors destroy Custer’s
army at Battle of the Little Bighorn, more
troops sent, most Sioux move onto
reservations
1890
At the Massacre of Wounded Knee, Am.
Soldiers open fire on unarmed Sioux
killing almost 300
BrainPOP Wounded Knee Massacre.mht
America The Story of Us — The Last of the
Sioux — History.com Videos
DAWES ACT 1887
• Assimilation – plan for Native Americans to
give up their way of life and be part of white
culture, “Americanized”
• The Act broke up reservations to give to
individual Native Americans
• By 1932 whites had about 2/3 of this territory,
Natives had no land, and no money
Regents Questions
In the period from 1860 to 1890, which experience was shared by most
Native Americans living in western states?
1.
2.
3.
4.
They maintained control of their traditional lands.
They benefited economically from government policy.
They became farmers and small business owners.
They were forced to live on reservations.
In the late 1800’s, the goal of the Federal Government’s policy toward
Native American Indians was to
1. destroy tribal bonds and thus weaken their traditional cultural values
2. grant them full citizenship and due process
3. give their tribal groups authority over their own affairs
4. increase the land holdings of western tribes
The aim of the Dawes Act of 1887 was to
1.
2.
3.
4.
restore previously taken land to Native American Indian tribes
maintain traditional Native American Indian cultures
assimilate Native American Indians into American culture
end all governmental contact with Native American Indians
DESTRUCTION OF BUFFALO
• Tourists, fur traders, and buffalo hunters
destroyed the Plains Indians’ main source of
food, clothing, shelter, and fuel
• # of buffalo on Plains went from 65 million in
1800 to lest than 1000 by 1890!
America The Story of Us — American
Buffalo — History.com Videos
• Welcome to Discovery Education Player
• TREATMENT OF INDIANS
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
• The Union Pacific and Central Pacific RR companies,
with a lot of federal $, build a RR from the western
Plains to the Pacific Ocean
• Completed in 1869, it opens the west to settlers
• Congress gives the RR companies land grants to
build, and sells other land to ordinary Americans
• From 1865-1900, RR tracks increase from 35,000
miles to 260,000 miles
COWBOYS, GOLD MINERS,
AND PIONEERS
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Cattle become big business on the Great Plains
Cowboys learn from Mexican ranchers
Texas longhorns brought from Spain
Chaparreras (leather overalls) – chaps
Charqui – jerky
Bronco caballo (rough horse) – bronco
Mestenos (stray horses) – mustangs
Vaquero – buckaroo
Rancho, rodeo, corral
• 25% of cowboys were African American
• 12% were Mexican
• After the Civil War, demand for beef grew in growing
cities
• When railroads reached the Plains, cattle could be
shipped from cities like Abilene and Dodge City
Kansas to stock yards and meat packing centers like
Chicago
• Farmers sometimes angered ranchers, who preferred
grazing their cattle on the “open range.” by using
barbed wire to fence off their lands
• Gun battles broke out between different factions of
ranchers, farmers, vigilantes and outlaws 
The Wild West
PIONEERS
1862 Homestead Act• gave 160 acres of free land to any citizen head
of household
• 600,000 families move west between 18621900
• Several thousand were EXIDUSTER- freed
slaves who wanted to leave postReconstruction South
Regents Questions
The Homestead Act was important in the growth of the West
because it
1. set aside reservations for Native American Indians
2. created the Department of Agriculture to aid farmers
3. encouraged settlement of the Great Plains
4. provided land to build a canal system
The Homestead Act of 1862 helped the development of the
West by
1. providing free land to settlers
2. granting land for construction of transcontinental railroads
3. allowing slavery to spread to the territories
4. placing Native American Indians on reservations
SOONER STATE
• 1889 land giveaway led to thousands to grab 2
million acres in a massive land rush
• Some took land sooner than they were
supposed to
• Far and Away - Land Rush Scene – YouTube
• The frontier is gone by 1890
CHALLENGES ON THE PLAINS
• Droughts, floods, blizzards, fires, and locust
plagues, oh my!
• Settlers built dugout homes and soddies and
had to be very self-sufficient
• Donner Party America The Story of Us —
History.com Videos
NEW TECHNOLOGY
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1837 Steel plow – John Deere
1847 reaper – Cyrus McCormick
1874 barbed wire
1841 grain drill to plant seeds
1850s mowing, threshing and haying
machines
• 1880s giant harvester and thresher combine
FARMERS IN DEBT
• Farmland was free or very cheap, but machines,
tools, buildings, seeds, horses and transportation on
RRs to markets were not
• Farmers were forced to take out loans from banks
and credit from merchants
• Several years of bad weather, poor crops and low
prices left farmers unable to repay their debts
• Banks would take possession of their farms 
foreclosure
• FARMERS OF THE WEST, UNITE!