Great Plains & Westward
Migration
Created by Mr. Wheat
Edited by Ms. Hillyer
GREAT PLAINS
• During the nineteenth
century (19th century)
or 1800s, people’s
perceptions & use of
the Great Plains
changed.
GREAT PLAINS
• Technological advances
allowed people to live
in more challenging
environments.
Physical Features/Climate of the Great
Plains
• Flatlands that rise
gradually from east to
west.
Physical Features/Climate of the Great
Plains
• Land eroded by wind &
water.
Physical Features/Climate of the Great
Plains
• Low rainfall
Physical Features/Climate of the Great
Plains
• Frequent Dust Storms
Physical Features/Climate of the Great
Plains
• Because of new
technologies, people
saw the Great Plains not
as a “treeless
wasteland” but as a vast
area to be settled.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Barbed wire – a type of
fencing wire designed
to keep animals in a
confined space or area.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Steel Plows – used in
farming to cultivate soil
in preparation for
sowing seed or
planting.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Dry farming –
technique for
cultivating land which
receives little rainfall.
This includes
safeguarding water &
conserving soil.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Sod houses – houses
built using sod. Many
people who lived on the
Great Plains did not
have wood or stone to
construct normal
homes.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Beef cattle raising –
cattle raised for meat
production.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Wheat farming – this
type of farming
required less water &
grew well in the dryer
soil of the Great Plains.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Windmills – used
throughout the Great
Plains to pump water
from the ground & to
provide power.
Inventions/Adaptations of the Great
Plains
• Railroads – linked the
Atlantic & Pacific coasts
& opened the vast
interior to people who
wanted to settle. The
railroad made trade
between different parts
of the country easier,
encouraging industrial
& economic growth.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• New opportunities &
technological
advances led to
westward migration
following the Civil
War.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• Reasons for
Westward Expansion
1) Opportunities for
land ownership.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• The Homestead Act of
1862 provided that any
adult citizen (or person
intending to become a
citizen) who headed a
family could qualify for
a grant of 160 acres of
public land by paying a
small registration fee &
living on the land
continuously for five
years.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
WESTWARD EXPANSION
2) Technological
advances, including
the Transcontinental
Railroad, was a
reason for more
Americans moving
from the east to the
west.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
3) Possibility of wealth
created by the
discovery of gold &
silver was another
reason why people
moved from the east
to the west.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• The California Gold
Rush of 1849 was
followed by new
discoveries of gold &
silver between 1857
& 1890. Prospectors
swarmed to the
mines where gold &
silver.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
4) Adventure was
another reason why
people moved from
the east to the west.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• Some people thought
that life in the West
was filled with
adventure. Young
men were drawn to
the cowboy life.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
5) A new beginning for
former enslaved
African Americans
was another reason
why people moved
from the east to the
west.
WESTWARD EXPANSION
• Few of the freed
slaves could afford to
own land & most
worked as
sharecroppers, work
not very different
from what they did as
slaves. Thousands of
black families took
advantage of the
opportunity to
become
IMPACT ON AMERICAN INDIANS
 American Indians
opposed (or were
against) other
Americans moving &
expanding westward.
The federal
government’s
handling of Native
American or Indian
policies led to war
between the
government & Native
INTERACTION & CONFLICT BETWEEN
DIFFERENT CULTURAL GROUPS
• When many
Americans moved
from the east to the
west, they came in
contact with Native
American tribes. In
response, the federal
government
established
reservations – or land
set aside for Indian
communities.
INTERACTION & CONFLICT BETWEEN
DIFFERENT CULTURAL GROUPS
• Some Native
Americans moved
voluntarily (or on
their own) to the
reservations, while
others continued to
fight for their land &
their way of life. Such
conflict led to warfare
like the Battle of Little
Big Horn.
BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN
• In 1876, the federal
government decided
to force the Sioux
Indian tribe, led by
Crazy Horse & Sitting
Bull, back on the
reservation. General
Custer of the U.S.
Army led his troops
against more than
2,000 Sioux Indians.
BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN
• General Custer & all
of his men died in
that attack, which
came to be known as
“Custer’s Last Stand.”
The Sioux were
inspired by their
victory, but within a
few months they
were forced to
surrender to the
federal government.
CHIEF JOSEPH
• In 1877, when the
federal government
sent troops in to force
the Nez Perce Indians
off their lands in the
Washington territory
& into a reservation.
CHIEF JOSEPH
• In late 1877, just a
few miles from the
Canadian border, U.S.
troops captured Chief
Joseph & his warriors,
the old people, the
women, the children,
& sent them off to
Indian territory.
CHIEF JOSEPH
• Chief Joseph led
400,000 of his people
(the Nez Perce
Indians) on a long trek
toward the Canadian
border to escape the
troops.
GERONIMO
• Geronimo was a
Native American
leader who fought
against Mexico & the
United States & their
expansion into
Apache tribal lands in
the Apache Wars
from 1858 to 1886.
Battle of Wounded Knee
• A battle fought in
1890 in Wounded
Knee, South Dakota
that was the last
major encounter
between the Native
Americans & the U.S.
Army.
Battle of Wounded Knee
• The U.S. Army opened
fire on the Lakota Sioux
Indian tribe, massacring
nearly all of Lakota
Sioux inhabitants. The
battle is remembered
at one of the great
injustices that occurred
by the government
against the Native
Americans.
Population Reduction
• As a result of the
Native Americans
losing battles to the
U.S. Army, the
population of
American Indians
decreased in the late
1800’s. Disease also
decreased the
population of the
Native Americans.
NATIVE AMERICAN CHANGES
• The U.S. government
attempted to get the
Native Americans to
assimilate & change
their lifestyle by
getting rid of the
buffalo population.
NATIVE AMERICAN CHANGES
• The Native Americans
relied on hunting
buffaloes as their main
source of food. So the
government tried to kill
off all the buffalo to
starve the American
Indians of their main
source of food, the
buffalo, & force them
onto reservations.
NATIVE AMERICAN CHANGES
• The government also
agreed to treaties with
American Indians to
settle land disputes.
Many of the treaties
were broken by the
government to get
more of the Native
Americans homeland so
more settlers could
move & expand
westward.