Chapter 11
Settling the West
Growth in the Mining Industry
 Mining played a key role in settling the
West.
 1848- Gold Rush in California
 Wave after wave of prospectors moved
west to –”strike it rich”= forty-niners
 Demand for minerals increased during &
after the Civil War= America was moving
from agricultural economy to industry
US Government Encouraged
Settlement of the West
 *1862- Morrill Land Grant Act – Congress
gave large tracts of land & $65 million in loans
to Railroads, sold public lands with minerals for
less than value.
 *1862 Homestead Act- $10 fee an individual
could apply for a “homestead” & claim up to 160
acres- live there 5 years & own it.
 *1862- Pacific Railway Act- Congress set aside
money to build the 1st transcontinental Railroad.
 Completed 1869- at *Promontory Point, Utah
Effects of Mining on the West
 Helped bring settlers west-mostly men
first; later women- worked as cooks etc.
 Caused conflict with Indian tribes
 Damaged the environment
 Lawlessness= Vigilance Committees
 “Boom Towns”
 “Ghost Towns” -by 1930’s Virginia City
Nevada had only 500 residents.
Mining Techniques
 “Placer mining”- panning for minerals
close to the surface (“panning”).
 Quartz Mining- used by big mining
companies to reach minerals deep in the
earth.
 Hydraulic Mining – used when minerals
near surface ran out.
The Comstock Lode
 1859- Henry Comstock staked a claim
near Virginia City, Nevada
 Had trouble finding gold= sold his claim
 Blue clay made it hard to get to rich
silver ore below (he did not know)
 Miners flooded into Nevada= 1864
Nevada became 36th state
 Comstock Lode = $230 million
 Helped finance the Civil War
New States Created because
of Mining
 Areas grew- Colorado, Arizona, the Dakotas, &
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Montana
1858- Gold discovered near Pike’s Peak,
Colorado
1870’s Leadville Strike (Colorado)- silver;
yielded $1 billion in silver & gold.
1870’s Black Hills, Dakota territory- gold
discovered= conflict with Indians
1889- new states- North & South Dakota, &
Montana
Environmental Effects of
Mining
 Hydraulic Mining- most devastating
 Tons of sand, silt, & gravel washed into
river beds= floods.
 1880’s Farmers sued mining companies
 1884- judge stopped hydraulic mining
 1893- Congress allowed hydraulic
mining if companies stored sediment
Ranching & Cattle Drives
 Americans began raising & herding
cattle 1860’s,1870’s,1880’s
Great Plains
 water scarce & grass was tough- cattle
from east could not survive.
 Texas Longhorn cattle-ideally suited =
1865, 5 million roamed the plains.
 Open Range (vast area of grassland on
the Great Plains)- ideal for cattle
Mexicans & Cowboys
 Mexican vaqueros 1st introduced cattle
ranching to West; used the Long Horn
 Most American cowboys- were former
Confederates, Hispanics, & AfricanAmerican
 Myth of the West- generated by “Dime
Novels”; featured stories about Wyatt
Earp , Doc Holiday etc.
The Great Plains
Territorial Growth 1860
The Long Cattle Drives Begin
 Civil War gave ranchers incentive to herd &
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raise cattle
Introduction of RR’s to the west= transport
cattle to the east (1860’s).
Rail lines- ended Abilene & Dodge City, Kansas
& Sedalia, Miss.
After the war= beef prices went up.
1866- 260,000 cattle were “driven” to Sedalia,
Miss- 1st “long drive.
1867-1871- Cowboys drove 1.5 million cattle
*Chisholm Trail- most popular trail (S. Texas to
Abilene, Kansas.)
Major Cattle drive Trails
The Range Wars
 Some people bought cattle to est. ranches in
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Wyoming, Montana, & other territories.
Sheepherders & farmers moved west also=
blocked cattle trails= “range wars”
Invention of “barbed wire” (Joseph Glidden)–
ended the long cattle drives & range wars.
1880’s- oversupply of cattle= less price
1886-1887- blizzards decimated cattle herds
Change- herds will be raised on fenced land
Farming & Settlement of the
Great Plains
 Manifest Destiny- idea that God had given the continent to us to
take.
 1862 Homestead Act- encouraged settlement- “rain follows the
plow”
 Railroad companies sold land along side of track cheap!
Challenges of life on the Great Plains
First Called the Great American Desert- early explorers
 less than 20 inches of rain per year
 few trees- only around water
 nomadic Indian tribes & buffalo
 swarms of locusts
 Heat, cold
 Prairie fires
Farming the Great Plains-The
Wheat Belt
 Few trees= farmers built home of sod “sod
houses”= “sodbusters”
 New farming methods- “dry farming” (plant
seeds deep in ground= more moisture)
 New Farm Technology- plows (steel plowJohn Deere), seed drills, steam tractors.
 McCormick Reaper- Cyrus McCormick
 Large land owners could afford technology
The Wheat Belt
 1880’s – farmers from Mid-West moved to
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Great Plains
Wheat Belt- ideal for growing wheat; eastern
edge of Great Plains & extended to Dakotas,
Kansas, Nebraska.
Some Wheat farms= 50,000 acres (Bonanza
Farms)
1880’s –US leading exporter of wheat
1880’s-1890’s- farmers had tough times:
drought, competition from Europe, oversupply
Farmers borrowed money based on value of
land to survive= “mortgaged land”
*The Oklahoma Land Rush &
The Closing of the Frontier
Oklahoma Land Rush (1889)
 April 22, 1889- US government opened one of
the last territories for settlement.
 In a few hours- 10,000 people raced across to
stake a claim.
 1890- Census Bureau stated that the frontier
was closed; no place left unsettled.
 Historian *Fredrick Jackson Turner- “Frontier
Thesis”; essay about how the frontier shaped
American character.
Oklahoma Land Rush Photo
Effects of Settlement on the
Great Plains (Environment)
 settlers brought rats, foreign
plants/weeds, pests
 Grizzly Bear & wolf populations
decimated
 1880’s only 5,000 buffalo remained; out
of millions years before.
 Conflicts with Native American tribes
Native Americans 1865- 1890
The Great Plains Tribes
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had lived on the Great Plains for centuries
 were nomadic- traveled distances & followed main food (buffalo).
Characteristics
 Indian nations- divided into Bands ( up to 500 people).
 Governing Council- headed each Band- most members helped
make decisions.
 Extended Family groups Believed in spirituality in nature
• White settlers caused trouble- broke treaties, took land, forced
Indians onto reservations.
• Violence between whites & Indians occurred
*Treaty of Fort Laramie
(1851)
 Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho & other
tribes make agreement with US
 US promised ownership of Great Plains
to Indians “as long as the river flows and
eagle flies”
 Indians allow US to build roads & RR on
their land & promise not to attack
Chisholm Trail.
The Dakota Sioux Uprising
1862-Minnesota
 1st major clash between US & Indian tribes- Minnesota
 Dakota Sioux had agreed to live on a reservation in
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exchange for yearly sum of money (annuities)
Payments were infrequent= Dakota Sioux lived in
poverty near starvation.
1862- Chief Little Crow asked white traders for food on
credit= Whites said no.
Dakota Sioux attacked & killed 100’s white settlers
307 Dakota sentenced to death- Lincoln pardoned all but
38.
Other Dakota fled the reservation- moved to area
(Dakotas)
The Sand Creek Massacre
(1864)
 1860’s tensions began between gold & silver miners &
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Cheyenne & Arapaho in Colorado.
1864- Indian attacks= frozen trade routes, homes burned,
200 settlers killed.
Territorial Governor- ordered Indians to surrender at Fort
Lyons.
Nov. 1864- Chief Black Kettle & 100’s of Cheyenne to
negotiate a peace
Colonel John Chivington & US troops attacked Cheyenne
camped along Sand Creek.
Red Cloud’s War 1866-1868
 Lakota Sioux lived in Dakota territory
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Land extended from Black Hills to Big Horn Mountains
Chiefs Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, & Sitting Bull were leaders
1866-1868- US was building forts along Bozeman Trail
Fetterman’s Massacre- Dec. 1866- Crazy Horse lured
Captain William Fetterman & 80 soldiers into a fight= all US
soldiers killed.
1868- US abandoned attempts to build posts on the
Bozeman Trail.
Plans for Peace
1867- Indian Peace Commission- proposed creating 2
large reservations on Great Plains.
 one for Sioux & one for other Plains Indians
 Bureau of Indian Affairs- federal government
agency; managed the reservations with agents.
 Reservations-encourage Indians to adopt white ways
(assimilation).
 Doomed to fail- could not ensure that chiefs would abide
by treaties, could not prevent settlers from violating
treaties, reservations= poverty, corruption, despair.
Treaty of Fort Laramie -1868
 Sioux Indians agreed to move to a reservation in the
Black Hills (Dakotas).
** 1870’s many Indians left reservations on Great Plains
** Preferred to hunt buffalo & nomadic life
The Destruction of the Buffalo
 Post Civil War– the buffalo were hunted for
tongues & hides or sport.
 Railroad companies hired professional-hunters
 US Army encouraged killing of buffalo- to keep
Indians on reservations.
Buffalo Skulls
Buffalo Hides-Dodge City
* The Battle of Little Big
Horn
 1876- gold prospectors flooded into the Black Hills
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(Dakotas) looking for gold.
Lakota Sioux- left the reservation to hunt near Big Horn
Mountains, Montana; led by Chief Sitting Bull.
US Government sent Lt. Colonel George A. Custer & 7th
Calvary to deal with the Lakota.
June 1876- Custer launched a 3 pronged attack against a
larger Indian force.
Custer & 210 men killed- “Custer’s Last Stand”
Lakota forced back onto reservation, Sitting Bull fled to
Canada.
Custer’s
Last Stand
*Chief Joseph and the Nez
Perce
 Nez Perce- led by Chief Joseph refused to move to a
reservation in Idaho in 1877.
 US Army chased them 1,300 miles
 Oct. 1877- Chief Joseph & followers surrendered & were
sent to Oklahoma reservation.
 Chief Joseph : “Our chiefs are killed…The little children are
freezing to death. My people…have no blankets, no
food…Hear me, my chiefs; I am tired; my heart is sick and
sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more
forever”.
*Battle of Wounded Knee
(Wounded Knee Massacre)-- 1890
 Sitting Bull had returned from Canada to the Lakota
 Lakota Sioux performed a ritual dance (the Ghost Dance)
 US Government banned the ritual dance- Lakota continued
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to practice the dance.
Police officers attempted to arrest Sitting Bull- fighting
occurred- Sitting Bull was Killed.
A group of Lakota “Ghost Dancers” fled the reservation
Dec. 29, 1890- US troops attacked the men, women, &
children camped along Wounded Knee Creek.
200 Lakota Killed; 25 US troops killed
Significance- it’s the end of armed Native American
resistance
Wounded Knee
Massacre
American attitudes and the Indians
 Some Americans opposed harsh treatment of Native
Americans.
 1881- *Helen Hunt Jackson wrote “A Century of
Dishonor”; told about the broken promises & poor
treatment of Native Americans.
 Some Americans encouraged assimilation of Native
Americans= reservations= make farmers out of them.
*The Dawes Act 1887
 Goal of this law was “Assimilation”
 Allotted each Indian head of household 160 acres of
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reservation land to farm, hunt, fish
single adults- 80 acres, children 40 acres
land left over= sold to white settlers
money left from sale of land to white= fund for Native
Americans to teach them English, est.. Schools.
1924 Congress made Native Americans US citizens
1934- Franklin Roosevelt ended forced assimilation=
restored Native American lands, gave Indians control.