Chapter 16—The Conquest of the Far West
I.The Societies of the Far West
A. The Western Tribes—Who were the most important population in the Far West before the Anglo-American migration? Who
were some of the tribes that lived there, and where did they live?
1. Caste System—What was the caste system that developed in the Southwest?
2. Plains Indians—What were the social and political organization of the Plains Indians like? How did they make a living?
3. Economic Importance of the Buffalo—How did the buffalo affect the economic lives of Plains Indians? How did it affect
gender relations? What were some of the serious weaknesses faced by Plains Indians?
4. Indian Weaknesses—What were some additional weaknesses faced by the Plains Indians?
B. Hispanic New Mexico—What were Spanish-speaking communities like?
1. Taos Indian Rebellion—What happened during the Taos Indian rebellion? What happened when Anglo-Americans got
control of the New Mexico territorial government?
2. Hispanic Resistance—How did Hispanics attempt to resist Anglo incursions, and ultimately what happened to the power and
standing of the Hispanic community?
C. Hispanic California and Texas—How did Spanish settlement begin? How did Indians interact with the Spanish?
1. Decline of the Mission System—What happened to undermine the mission system? Who replaced them? Who were
californios and what happened to them? What happened to the status of Hispanics in California?
D. The Chinese Migration—Why did the Chinese come to America, and where else did they go? How many came to the U.S.?
1. Racism—Why did opinions turn against the Chinese? How did the California state government discriminate against the
Chinese (and Mexicans)?
2. Building the Transcontinental Railroad—How important were Chinese to the railroad building effort?
3. Establishment of “Chinatowns”—Where did many Chinese immigrants go, and what were they like?
E. Anti-Chinese Sentiments
1. Anti-Coolie Clubs—What did Anti-Coolie clubs do, and for what economic and cultural/racial arguments did they not like
the Chinese?
2. Chinese Exclusion Act—What was the Chinese Exclusion Act and how long did it last?
3. Chinese Resistance—How did Chinese react to the discrimination?
F. Migration from the East—What happened to migration to the West after the Civil War? Why were many groups attracted to
the West?
1. Homestead Act—What was the Homestead Act?
2. Government Assistance—What other acts were passed after the Homestead Act, and why were they passed? When did
Nebraska become a state?
II.
The Changing Western Economy
A. Labor in the West
B. The Arrival of the Miners (all subsections)—Where were some of the major mineral strikes after California?
C. The Cattle Kingdom
1. Mexican Origins
2. Chisholm Trail—How did many ranchers in Texas begin to get their cattle to market? What were they called? What
happened to destroy the open-range ranching industry?
3. Political Gains for Women—Why did women make political gains in the Far West?
III.
The Romance of the West
A. The Western Landscape
B. The Cowboy Culture
1. The Myth of the Cowboy—What myth about cowboys was promoted by the character in The Virginian?
C. The Idea of the Fronteir
1. Romantic Image of the West—How did many Americans consider the West, and why was it becoming more important?
How did Mark Twain highlight the ideals of the frontier?
2. Frederic Remington—How did Remington idealize the West?
D. Frederick Jackson Turner
1. Turner’s Frontier Thesis—Who was Turner and what did he believe about the frontier’s importance to America?
E. The Loss of Utopia
IV.
The Dispersal of the Tribes
A. White Tribal Policies—What had white policy towards Native Americans been prior to 1860?
1. “Concentration” Policy—What was the “concentration” policy? How was the “concentration” policy modified after 1867?
2. Poorly Administered Reservations—Why were the reservations administered poorly?
3. Decimation of the Buffalo—How did the killing of the buffalo hurt Native Americans? Why did whites kill them?
B. The Indian Wars
1. Indian Resistance—How did Indians react from the 1850s to 1880s?
2. Sand Creek Massacre
3. “Indian Hunting”—Where did “Indian hunting” occur and why?
4. Little Bighorn—What happened at Little Bighorn? What happened to the Sioux, to Crazy Horse and to Sitting Bull? Who
was Chief Joseph? Who was Geronimo and why was his surrender significant?
5.
6.
C.
1.
“Ghost Dance”—What was the “Ghost Dance” and where was it occurring?
Wounded Knee—What happened at Wounded Knee?
The Dawes Act—How did the Dawes Act change American policy towards the Indians?
Assimilation—What did the Dawes Act intend to do? What happened to Native American children?
The Rise and Decline of the Western Farmer—What happened to farming on the Plains after 1870? What happened in the
V.
1880s?
A. Farming on the Plains—What caused the surge of settlement? Where did the transcontinental railroad finally meet up?
1. Key Role of the Railroad—How and why did railroad companies encourage settlement of the west? How did the weather
encourage settlement during this time?
2. Barbed wire—What were two major challenges that faced western farmers, and how did they meet them?
3. Drought—What happened after 1887 to the weather?
4. Hard Times for Farmers—How had conditions (economy, weather, and otherwise) changed for farmers during the 1880s?
B. Commercial Agriculture—How were commercial farmers different from subsistence farmers? On whom were commercial
farmers dependent?
1. Consequences of Overproduction—What happened to production in the 1880s, and what happened to farmers’ incomes?
C. The Farmers’ Grievances—What was causing farmers’ problems, and what did they blame them on? What did farmers
blame railroads for?
1. Farmers’ Grievances—What were farmers’ issues with credit? What were farmers’ issues with prices (both for their goods,
and for the goods they had to buy)? Who did they blame for the problems with prices?
D. The Agrarian Malaise