Great West and
Agricultural Revolution
Chapter 26
Indians of the Great Plains
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360,000 North American Indians
– Indians on Plains Relied on Buffalo
– Were nomadic
– Various tribes would fight between themselves
• Those with access to horses had advantage
White settlers began moving across Plains to get to
Pacific
– Some settled; brought small pox
– Intentionally killed buffalo
• Caused even more Indian wars over disappearing
resources
– Railroads played major role in ending Indian way of
life
Fort Laramie (1851) and Fort Atkinson (1853) Treaties
– Established Indian territories separate from white
settlement – beginning of reservation system
– White treaties did not understand Indian culture, so
were ineffective
– In 1860s Indians pushed onto smaller territories
(Dakota Territory, Indian (Oklahoma) Territory)
Indians gave up land in exchange for security; but were
taken advantage of
The Cheyennes will have to be soundly whipped
before they will be quiet. If any of them are
caught in your vicinity kill them, as that is the
only way.
Colonel John Chivington, United States Army
Indian Wars
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Sand Creek Massacre
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Series of massacres by both US troops and Indians
– Buffalo Soldiers – African American soldiers
American policy became to either kill Indians or make
them submit
Sand Creek Massacre 1864
– Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians had a peace treaty
with the US.
– US Army attacked, killed and mutilated over 400
people
Fetterman Massacre 1866
– Sioux Indians ambushed and killed US soldiers
Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)
– Gold discovered on Sioux reservation leading to
white settlement
– Custer’s Last Stand
– Sioux led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated US
Army
Chief Joseph (1877)
– Led Nez Perce’s resistance
Wounded Knee
– US Soldiers killed unarmed Sioux when US military
fought members of “Ghost Dance”
Dawes Severalty Act
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Dawes Act 1887
• Attempt to Americanize and
“civilize” the Indians
• Aim to end Indian culture
• Dissolved tribes and took
away their land
• Forced Indians to live on farms
• Many Indians were scammed out
of their land
Carlisle Indian School (PA)
• Created to convert Indians
Gold Mining
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1849 – Gold in CA; “Fifty Niners” went for gold in
Colorado and Nevada
Pan mining (placer mining)
– Take a tin, sift sand and gravel through and look
for gold specks
• Done mostly by individuals
Hydraulic mining
– High pressure water blasted into mountain to
find gold
Comstock Lode
– was one of richest mines in world
– Used Quartz Mining
• Dynamite used to blast ore out of mountains
Boom Towns
– Virginia City
– Develop overnight to provide food, supplies,
entertainment, alcohol for miners
– Frequently lawless, dominated by men
– When gold runs out, everyone leaves and town
becomes a ghost town
Life on Range
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Cattle roamed plains led by Cowboys
– Cowboys learned skills from Mexican vaqueros
– Needed open range for herds
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Cattle Drives “Long Drive”
– Ranchers paid cowboys to drive cattle from grazing
areas to railroads from Texas to Wyoming (more money
in east)
– Needed to keep herd moving at consistent pace
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Cow Towns (Abilene, Wichita, Dodge City KS)
– Emerged at end of cattle drives
– Frequently along railroad routes
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End of Open Range
– Too many ranchers reduced grasslands of Plains
– Farmers began claiming lands in open range
Put up barbed wire fences to keep cattle out
Government helped protect land claims
– Ranchers had to buy grazing land instead of open range
Cattle raising became a more structured business
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Farmers’ Frontier
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Railroad Land
– Railroad companies were given land to sell in exchange
for building railroads
– Railroads encouraged settlement of west
Homestead Act (1862)
– Government gave 160 acres of land as long as work land
for 5 years, improved it and paid $30
– Designed to encourage settlement, not raise money
A lot of corruption in land sales
Difficulties Farming
– Prairie grasses were to break; required lots of labor
– West of 100th meridian, water was difficult to find;
weather extreme; insects
– Barbed wire was invented to keep cattle off of farmland
Dry Farming developed
– Water wells were not enough for irrigation
– “Dry farming” was developed
• Used moisture in soil
• Required steel plows and heavy machinery
• Created conditions that led to “Dust Bowl”
Federal irrigation projects brought water to area via dams
West Grows
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Great Plains grew rapidly
– Helped with Homestead Act and railroads
– CO, ND, SD, MT, WA, ID, WY, UT admitted between 18891896
Closing of the Frontier
– 1889 Oklahoma was settled – ended the frontier
– April 22, 1889 at noon the last Indian territory was
settled by white settlers.
• 9 hours – 2 million acres claimed
– Best land taken by “Sooners”
• People who entered the territory than the
government allowed
Frederick Jackson Turner (Turner’s Thesis)
– American exceptionalism tied to frontier
– Possibility of fresh start in west
• West established new identity
– Influenced by Hispanic, Asian, and Native American
cultures
– Environment played a bigger role