U. S. History Since 1877
Chapter 13 Settling the West
Settling the West
13.1 Miners and Ranchers
 13.2 Farming
 13.3 Plains Indians
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13.1 Settling the West
Mining Industry
 Railroads
 Ranching
 Farming
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Chapter 13 Objectives
 AHSGE:
◦ 5.1 Identify and evaluate the events
that led to the settlement of the
West.
 ACOS:
◦ 1.) Explain the transition of the
United States from an agrarian
society to an industrial nation prior
to World War I.
Mining Industry
Prospectors traveled west to find gold and silver.
 At first, they used a process called placer mining.
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◦ This required tools like picks, shovels, and pans.
◦ They searched for mineral deposits near the surface.
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Mining Industry
Many settlers were
unsuccessful because
they did not search
deep enough.
 Next, they began
quartz mining, which
mined deep below the
surface.
 Frontier towns would
quickly boom.
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Mining Industry
Henry Comstock discovered
the Comstock Lode, a rich
deposit of silver.
 Virginia City, Nevada
instantly became a
boomtown when people
heard about the Comstock
Lode.
 Settlers would leave when
the gold and silver ran out,
creating a boom and bust
cycle for frontier towns.
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Ghost Town
Railroads
Railroads were soon extended
to the West to connect the
boom towns.
 Farmers and ranchers settled
the West after railroads were
built.
 In 1889, North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Montana became
states as a result of the
population increase.
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Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies
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Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be
cowboys.
Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old
trucks.
Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be
cowboys.
'Cos they'll never stay home and they're always
alone.
Even with someone they love.
Ranching
Eastern cattle could not
survive on the sparse prairie
land in the West.
 The Texas longhorn was a
breed of cattle that descended
from Mexican cattle.
 Longhorns had adapted to the
area.
 They roamed free on the
open range.
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Ranching
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The Civil War and the
expansion of the railroad
system contributed to the
growth of the ranching
industry.
Ranchers rounded up cattle
and herded them to the
railroads in a journey called
the long drive.
Most cowboys were former
Confederates escaping
Reconstruction in the South.
Circa 1890
Ranching
Some cowboys were
Hispanic or African
American.
 Nat Love was a
black cowboy.

◦ He was born a slave in
Tennessee.
◦ He was freed at the
end of the Civil War
and traveled west.
Ranching
Cowboys lived
dangerous lives but
often exaggerated
their tales.
 These stories became
“dime novels” and
created the “Wild
West.”
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Farming
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Farmers and ranchers often
fought over territory.
Farms blocked the routes of
cattle drives.
Barbed wire helped settle the
disputes.
The range was mostly fenced
off.
Barbed wire helped “tame”
the “Wild West.”
Herds were then kept on
fenced-in ranches.
13.2 Farming
The Great Plains
 The Wheat Belt
 The Frontier
 Turner Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner
Chapter 13 Objectives
 AHSGE:
◦ 5.1 Identify and evaluate the events
that led to the settlement of the
West.
 ACOS:
◦ 1.) Explain the transition of the
United States from an agrarian
society to an industrial nation prior
to World War I.
The Great Plains
This area consists mostly of sparse
grasslands.
 Railroads opened the Great Plains up for
settlement.
 Railroad companies sold land along the
railroads at low prices.
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The Great Plains
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In 1862, the government tried to encourage
settlement by passing the Homestead Act.
◦ After paying a $10 registration fee, an individual could
apply for a homestead.
◦ A homestead was a tract of public land available for
settlement.
◦ After living on the land for three to five years, a
homesteader would own the land.
◦ Homesteaders could claim up to 160 acres of land.
◦ This law provided a legal framework for settling the
land with clear property deeds.
The Wheat Belt
Wheat became as
important to the
Great Plains as
cottons was to the
South.
 It could survive
drought better than
other crops.
 New methods and
tools helped cultivate
the area.
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The Wheat Belt
 Dry
farming is a
way of planting
seeds deep into the
ground where there
is moisture.
 Loose soil was
easily blown away in
the area.
The Wheat Belt
People who farmed the plains became known as
sodbusters.
 Commercial farms used new machinery to cover
thousands of acres.
 These farms became known as bonanza farms
because of the huge profits they made.
 The increased production of wheat in the Great
Plains earned the area a new nickname: the Wheat
Belt.
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The Frontier
In 1889, the government opened the Oklahoma
area for settlement.
 Within hours, over 10,000 people rushed to
Oklahoma to settle the area.
 This created the Oklahoma Land Rush and
closed the frontier.
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Turner Thesis
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Frederick Jackson Turner, an
American historian, published a
thesis claiming the frontier had
helped develop the character of
America.
Frontier life presented
opportunities for social
advancement, the spread of
democracy, and adventure.
The Turner thesis emphasized
individual effort in the American
success story.
Discussion Question:
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Why did some people feel that the closing the
frontier was the end of an era?
13.3 Plains Indians
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Culture
Encroachment
Dakota Sioux
Lakota Sioux
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Sand Creek Massacre
Battle of Little Big Horn
Battle of Wounded Knee
Assimilation
General Custer
Chapter 13 Objectives
 AHSGE:
◦ 5.1 Identify and evaluate the events
that led to the settlement of the
West.
 ACOS:
◦ 1.) Explain the transition of the
United States from an agrarian
society to an industrial nation prior
to World War I.
Culture
Numerous tribes of
Native Americans lived in
the Plains.
 They depended largely on
the buffalo population for
food.
 Thus, they were nomads
roaming the Plains in
search for buffalos.
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Culture
 The
army
encouraged white
hunters to kill
buffalo.
 This would force
the Native
Americans onto
the reservations.
Culture
Gender determined
daily tasks for
individuals.
 Men hunted for food,
traded goods, and
fought against their
enemies.
 Women cared for
children, cooked, and
prepared hides.
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Dakota Sioux
Encroachment
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As railroads brought
settlers, Native
Americans began
competing with the
settlers for land.
Indians were deprived of
hunting grounds.
The U.S. Army often
forced various Indian
tribes to sign treaties
forfeiting their claims to
the land.
Encroachment
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These treaties also often
required the tribes to
relocate to Indian
reservations.
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Some Native American
tribes resisted with
violence.
Dakota Sioux
The Dakota Sioux
were mistreated by
Congress and the army.
 Chief Little Crow
tried to intervene for
his people.
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◦ Congress failed to pay
annuities on time as
agreed.
◦ Little Crow asked
traders to provide food
on credit.
Dakota Sioux
Dakota Sioux
◦ Andrew Myrick said, “If
they are hungry, let them
eat grass or their own
dung.”
◦ The Dakota Sioux soon
rebelled.
◦ Myrick was found shot
to death with grass
stuffed in his mouth.
Red
Cloud
Crazy
Horse
Sitting
Bull
Lakota Sioux
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The army sent troops to prevent more
trouble among settlers and the Indians.
It actually created more resistance.
Chiefs Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and
Sitting Bull led successful attacks
against the U.S. army.
Crazy Horse lured Captain William
Fetterman and his troops into an
ambush.
They destroyed the American regiment
in Fetterman’s Massacre in
Wyoming.
Sand Creek Massacre
The Cheyenne and
Arapaho met conflict with
miners at Sand Creek.
 Chief Black Kettle tried
to negotiate peace with
the settlers.
 Several hundred Cheyenne
Indians were attacked
while waiting to negotiate
a peace treaty at Camp
Lyon.
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Sand Creek Massacre
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Most of the details remain a
mystery.
◦ 14 soldiers died.
◦ 69-600 Indians could have died
in the battle.
Congress responded by
forming the Indian Peace
Commission to create two
reservations.
 It was a failed attempt at
peace.
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Battle of Little Big Horn
Americans settlers
continued to move into
the reservations.
 Many of the Lakota
decided to abandon the
reservation to hunt near
the Bighorn Mountains.
 Lieutenant Colonel
George A. Custer led
the Seventh Cavalry.
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Battle of Little Big Horn
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They attacked the Lakota Sioux
and Cheyenne Indians on June
25, 1876 by the Little Bighorn
River.
About 2,500 Indian warriors
repelled Custer’s charge.
Custer and his men were all
killed in “Custer’s Last
Stand.”
Newspapers reported the event
as a vicious Indian massacre.
This intensified Indian
persecution.
Battle of Wounded Knee
Lakota Sioux Indians who
remained on the reservations
continued to perform a
forbidden Ghost Dance.
 The government blamed Sitting
Bull for the resistance.
 Sitting Bull was killed in an
exchange of gunfire.
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Battle of Wounded Knee
Other Ghost Dance
participants fled the
reservation.
 The army pursued the Indians
to Wounded Knee Creek where
a battle erupted.
 25 soldiers were killed and
about 200 Lakota men, women,
and children were killed.
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Assimilation
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Some Americans protested the
mistreatment of the Native
Americans.
They hoped the Indians would
assimilate into American culture.
The Dawes Act divided the
reservations into individual
allotments.
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Families received 160 acres.
Single adults received 80 acres.
Children received 40 acres.
Excess land was sold at low prices.
Proceeds were supposed to help the
Indians.
Assimilation
The Indians received no
training or tools to cultivate
the land.
 They soon plunged further
into poverty.
 This attempt at assimilation
ultimately failed.
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Chapter 13 Test Tomorrow!