The West - Rosholt School District
THE WEST
A.P. U.S. History
Mr. Krueger
Settling the West
Horace Greeley, editor of New York Times – “If you head west and make yourself a farm in Uncle Sam’s domain, you will crowd nobody, starve nobody and neither you or your children will beg for something to do.”
Post Civil War – destiny to expand reemerges – Crushed the culture of the Native Americans and ignored the contributions of Mexicans and Chinese
New States created further west
Western raw Materials were sent to eastern industries
Western economies depended on the federal government to:
Subsidize the railroads
Distribute the land
Spend millions for the upkeep of soldiers and Native Americans
The less favorable side of settlement was seen in the ghost towns, abandoned farms, and devastated environment left by miners. The west was a place of conquest, exploitation, and a land of cowboys and quick fortunes.
Discussion
What was the geography of the west like? What did the settlers see/experience?
What brought people to the West?
What Native Americans were there?
What types of wildlife populated the region?
Native Americans
1865 – Native Americans inhabited nearly ½ of the U.S. – by 1880 they lived on reservations that were not independent
¼ of a million Native Americans lived in the west – Winnebago, Cherokee,
Menominee, Chippewa – resettled after being forced out
SW Region – Pueblo groups – Hopi, Zuni – Adobe dwelling and peaceful farming
Navajo and Apache were nomadic. Navajo herded sheep, Apache had fierce horsemen
Plains Indians – Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Apache, and
Comanche
Nomads that depended on buffalo and horses – horses arrived with the
Spanish – changed lifestyle – they became warriors and hunters
Comanche rode 300 yards and shot 20 arrows before a U.S. soldier could reload. This led to the advancement in warfare technology
Buffalo provided everything – food, shelter, clothing – all was used
Conflict occurred with stealing horses or counting coups
Language and gender roles differed – sign language was used to communicate
Crushing the Natives
Pre Civil War – Land west of Mississippi was called Indian Country – one big reservation
1834 – Indian Intercourse Act – prohibited whites in the Indian Country
1850’s – Wagons head west
One big reservation idea changes – boundaries created for each tribe – Nomadic tribes challenge the centration policy
Warfare begins for the Arapaho and the Cheyenne
1865 – they ask for peace. Chief Black Kettle led 700 followers to Sand Creek.
Colorado Militia kills and scalps all of them. Labeled the Chivington Massacre after the commanding Colonel John Chivington
Government Condemns massacre but forces the Cheyenne to leave
1865-1867 – Great Sioux War
Gold miners want to connect mining towns through Sioux Hunting Grounds – Bozeman
Trail
Red Cloud (Sioux Chief) was determined to stop them. He lured the Captain, William
Fetterman, into battle and massacred 80 troops.
Government debates the Indian Policy – some want to “civilize” them, others just want to punish Natives. Peace Advocates win and convince the Native Americans to move to reservations – the Black Hills and Oklahoma
Discussion
With 54,000 Native Americans moved to the Black
Hills and 86,000 moved to Oklahoma – how would this affect their lifestyle and cultural identity?
Why would the government have agents supervising the reservations?
What was taught in the reservation schools – how does this systematically destroy native culture?
Final Battles on the Plains
Reservation Policy changed age old customs and brought poverty and isolation – leads to warfare for a decade – 1868
Kiowa and Comanche campaigned in Texas until defeated in the Red River War
Northern Plains Indians fight to repel gold miners in the Black Hills.
1875 – Sioux (Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Rain in the Face) gather to stop the Gold
Rush and oppose Colonel George Custer
Custer divides his troops at the Little Big Horn and is defeated by superior forces.
Custer’s Last Stand.
Government seeks revenge and the Sioux are beaten into submission. Sitting Bull fled to Canada, but surrenders in 1881.
1890 – the Teton Sioux revived the “Ghost Dance” – ritual to make the winters disappear and return the buffalo to the prairies
Army intervened and killed Sitting Bull at reservation. Native Americans fled to allies at Wounded Knee Creek – army pursues and slaughters all men, women, elderly, and children they could find. (200 Killed)
The End of Tribal Life
Final step of the Indian Policy 1870-1880’s
Some reformers favored assimilation over reservations
Education, land policy, and federal law would end tribal society
1882 – Congress created a Court of Indian Officers – Native
Americans now beholden to regular courts
Educators created schools for assimilation
Carlisle Indian School – Pennsylvania
Haskell Institute – Kansas
Schools taught English, Farm Work, Machinery repairs
Their hair was cut and all tribal symbols banned
Dawes Severalty Act
Divided Tribal Land into small plots for distribution to the tribe
Surplus land was sold to white settlers, profits went to schools
Discussion
“Kill the Indian, save the man.”
“Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.”
Terms/Concepts
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
Reservation Life
Movement West – new roles, clothing, etc.
Homestead Act – 160 acres for $10 and 5 yrs. of work
Timber Culture Act
Desert Land Act
Timber and Stone Act
Southwest Culture – farming and clothing
Bonanza West
Consequences
Uneven growth
Boom-bust economic cycles
Wasted resources
Instant cities were created: San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver
Mining Bonanza
Attracted people who wanted to strike it rich as well as businesses and corporations to find a good claim.
Combstock Lode – $3,876/ton silver = $306 million
John W. Mackey hit 54 ft. wide vein – made $25 a minute
Deadwood and Tombstone were famous mining towns
Men mined and women worked claims, as prostitutes, as cooks, and as housekeepers
Immigrants flocked to mines, especially Chinese out west. Riots broke out and the Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – suspended immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years.
Cattle Drives
Cattle ranching dominated the open range
American cowboys and Mexican vaqueros developed branding, round ups, and roping
Abilene was a railroad junction city for cattle purchase
1870 – 300,000 cattle reached Abilene
1871 – 700,000 cattle reached Abilene
Texas steers $4/head, sold for $30-40/head
Chisholm Trail – famous cattle trail
Farming
1870 – 1900 farmers cultivated more land than ever
By 1900 the west had 30% of the nation’s population
Problems
Little surface water
Wells were expensive – 50-500ft (drillers $2/foot)
Little lumber – imported from WI
Grasshoppers
New Methods
Joe Glidden = Barbed Wire – ended cattle ranching
Dry Farming and Furrows with mulch
Tough Wheat strains (Russia)
James Oliver – chilled iron plow
Additional farming machinery – bailing press, grain drill, springs tooth harrow. Over 900 corporations manufactured farm machinery
Books created to help educate farmers on new methods
The National Grange
1860’s – Oliver Kelly founded the National Grange of Patrons (The
Grange)
Provided social, cultural, and educational activities for its members
Members should not be involved in politics, but often ignored rules and supported railroad regulations
1875 – 800,000 members
They created coop stores, grain elevators, warehouses, insurance companies
Leads to the farmers alliance
Farming boom ends in 1887
Drought was the key
The people of the west transformed American Agriculture
California – wine – fruit
Texas – beef
Wheat fields of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana
