Settling the Western Frontier
1862-1890
Ch. 18—p. 349
Sect 1: The Great Plains
• A vast stretch between the Missouri River and
the Rocky Mountains
• Americans traveled west by stagecoach
• St. Louis, MO was the western end
of the railroad at this time
• Americans were afraid of American Indians
• Wagon Trains-brought shipments of supplies
(large number of wagons traveling together)
• Telegraph- improved communication
• Transcontinental Railroad- extended the railroad
across the continent
• Central Pacific Railroad- Started west (Sacramento
CA) and was built east
• Union Pacific Railroad-was started in Omaha NE
and built west
• Chinese immigrants and Irish war veterans were
hired to build the railroad
• It was dangerous—many killed
• Tunnels had to be blasted through mountains
• In May of 1869, the two railroads met at
Promontory Point, Utah
• Central Pacific- more than 700
miles of track
• Union Pacific- more than 1,000
miles of track
• The Great Plains could be settled
easier with the use of the railroad
Ch.18-Sect.2- Frontier Life-p.352
• Miners, farmers, and cowhands settled
the west
Cowhand- people who tended to cattle
They searched for gold, built cattle
ranches, and claimed land for family farms
• Gold was discovered near Pikes Peak,
Colorado just before the Civil War
• Prospector-a person who searches for
gold, silver, and other minerals
• Prospectors traveled many miles to the
west to find gold
• During the 1860s gold was discovered in
Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming
• Most miners never became
rich
• Many who traveled west in
search for gold settled down
and became farmers,
ranchers, or loggers
• There was a lack of law and order in the
west
• Many formed city governments
• They elected sheriffs
Cattle Country
• Longhorn cattle were running wild in
Texas
• Texans rounded up the cattle and raised
it for beef, hides, and other goods
• Cattle was easy to raise in the Great
Plains
• Ranchers wanted to bring their cattle to
Chicago
• They lacked transportation until the
railroad was built
• Cowhands guided cattle and branded
them with the mark of their owner
• The Chisholm Trail was a widely used cattle trail
• A cattle drive took more than two months
• Cowhands spent about 18 hrs. a day in the saddle
• Cowtowns were where cowhands stopped to
rest
• They had many saloons and gambling houses
• United States Marshalls provided law in
cowtowns
• Marshalls like Wild Bill Hickok
• The Homestead Act- 1862-made it easy for
pioneers to own land
• Settlers were given 160 acres if they agreed to
live on it for 5 years
• Homesteader- a pioneer who owned
land under the Homestead Act
• Theses farmers found the ground hard
to plow and there was little rain
• Trees for building and fuel were only
found on riverbanks
• Farmers began to make houses out of
sod
• Sod- grass and roots that is thickly
matted
Sod House
Joseph Glidden-Barbed Wire
• Barbed wire kept cattle from roaming or
wandering off
Windmill-powered by the wind to
pump water from a well
The Plains Indians – Sect 3-p. 356
• Cheyenne, Comanche, Blackfeet
and 7 tribes of the Sioux lived on
the Plains
• They were hunters and nomads
• Nomad- walks from place to
place in search of food; following
buffalo herds
Buffalo
• Indians ate the meat, used the hides for clothing,
shelter and used the bones to make tools
Buffalo hide
Buffalo hide for Shelter
Buffalo bones for tools
Killing of the Buffalo
• The Army thought if they killed the
buffalo they would force the Indians to
settle in one place
• Farmers and ranchers wanted the
buffalo out of their way
• Others killed buffalo to sell their hides
Wild Bill Cody
• Killed more than 4,000 buffalo in 18
months
• Got the name “Buffalo” Bill
• By 1889, only 541 buffalo survived in the
US
• Indians were moved to reservations
• Reservation-land set aside by the
government for the American
Indians
• Some Indians chose to fight
• Reservations were in New Mexico,
Arizona, Dakotas and Wyoming
Gold Discovered in South Dakota
• This land was holy to the Sioux Indians
• They believed the “Great Spirit” lived in its hills
• The US government promised the Black Hills
would belong to the Sioux forever
• Prospectors invaded the Black Hills for gold
• Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse gathered
more than 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors
to defend their lands
Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
gathered more than 2,000 Sioux and
Cheyenne warriors to defend their lands
• General George Armstrong Custer and
the Seventh Cavalry met the Indians at
Little Big Horn
• Custer and 210 members of his troops
were killed
Indians are Starving after Victory
• Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce as
they fled and traveled 1,500 miles in
75 days
• Many Indians starved or froze to
death
• Chief Joseph urged his people to
surrender
-------“I will fight no more forever”
Chief Joseph
American Indian Reservations-1890
Chief Red Cloud
• Went to Washington D.C. to inform the government
of the Sioux’s problems
• He said they were dishonest, broke treaties, and
instilled fear
• Called the President, “Great White Father” to bring
peace
Congress Aids American Indians-Sect. 4p.360
• A book about how the Indians were
mistreated was written by Helen Hunt
Jackson—A Century of Dishonor
• The Dawes Act-1887- A law that would turn
American Indians into independent farmers
• Attempted to protect the Indians from
being cheated
The Battle of Wounded Knee
• Indians believed in performing a
Ghost Dance
• This dance would protect them from
bullets, remove white settlers, and
bring back the buffalo
• The Ghost Dance frightened settlers
• An army was sent to prevent
violence
Wounded Knee Massacre
• 290 Indian men, women and children were
killed
• 25 soldiers were killed
Western States Admitted to the Union
1864-1912
1864 – Nevada
1867- Nebraska
1876- Colorado
1889- North Dakota
1889- South Dakota
1889- Montana
1889-Washington
1890- Idaho
1890- Wyoming
1896- Utah
1907- Oklahoma
1912- New Mexico
1912- Arizona