The West
Exploiting an Empire
1850-1900
many settlers headed across the Mississippi River to seek their fortunes
they didn't care about what they did to the American Indians
they ignored the contributions to the country of other races like the Mexicans or Chinese
the West's raw materials were sent east helping to fuel the factories
western economies depended on federal assistance to subsidize the railroads, distribute their land and support the military and Indians
BEYOND THE FRONTIER
Prairie Plains--eastern part west of the Missouri--had rich soil and good rainfall
-----Wisconsin, Minnesota, Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma & Texas
High Plain--to the west--rough, semiarid, foothills of the Rocky Mountains
-----Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico & Arizona
Rockies---ran from Alaska to central New Mexico--natural barrier--beaver and gold
Great Basin--harsh environment, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range held back the rainfall---Idaho & Utah
Pacific Coast--lands without extreme weather conditions
THE PLAINS
----------the few rivers that ran through trickled in the summer and raged in the winter
---------less than 15 inches of rain a year (not enough to support a lot of agriculture)
---------not a lot of timber
---------familiar tools were useless on the tough treeless land
---------hot winds in the summer and blizzards in the winter
+++ millions of buffalo lived on the land
CRUSHING THE NATIVE AMERICANS
at the end of the Civil War Native Americans inhabited almost half of the country
by 1870's most tribes had been destroyed of beaten into submission
by 1880 the Native Americans were no longer independent and they lived on smaller reservations
by 1890 their culture was nearly destroyed
Eastern Indians were forced west (Winnebago, Menominee, Cherokee, Chippewa)
Pueblos groups
in Southwest (western New Mexico & eastern Arizona)
lived the Pueblo groups (Hopi, Zuni, Rio Grande Pueblos)
---peaceful farmers (corn) and herders who lived in communities
because they were bothered by other tribes they built their homes on high mesas or in the cracks in the cliffs
Nomadic groups
Camp Dwellers, Jicarilla Apache and Navajo
roamed eastern New Mexico & western Texas
lived in tepees or mud huts
grew corn to supplement their hunting
---Navajo herded sheep and made ornamental silver, baskets and blankets
---Apache were fierce fighters and great horsemen--feared by the whites and fellow Indians alike
1865-1873 confined to reservations
Small bands
Pacific Northwest--Klamath,Chinook, Yurok and Shasta tribes lived in small bands
survived on fish, grubs, berries, acorns, and small game
plank houses and canoes
complex social and political organization
a large number of California Indians died from diseases brought by the whites during the Gold Rush of 1849 or had their villages burned by miners
Life of the Plains Indians
Sioux-Minnesota & Dakotas
Blackfoot-Idaho & Montana
Cheyenne, Crow & Arapaho-central plains
Pawnee-western Nebraska
Kiowa, Apache & Comanche-Texas & New Mexico
----nomads, migratory & warlike
dependent on the buffalo & horse
by 1700's they gave up farming and hunted buffalo
superior warriors and horsemen--best cavalry in the world
large tribes (thousands) -- lived in smaller bands (300-500)
Comanche 7000 in 13 tribes
governed by a chief and council of elder men
==different tribes could communicate with highly developed sign language
tasks/chores were divided among men and women
women played a role in politics, economics and religion
Kiowa and Comanche were forced out of the land they were given "forever" around1862
"As Long as Waters Run": Searching for an Indian Policy
before the Civil War---land west of the Mississippi-->one big reservation-->"Indian Country"
eastern Indians were moved and held here by treaties
1834---"Indian Intercourse Act"--prohibited any white person from entering 'Indian Country' without a license
1851 'one big reservation' was abandoned because of the push west by the railroads and gold rushes
specific boundaries were given to individual tribes for "as long as waters run and the grass shall grow"
--->lasted only a few years because they refused to stay in their assigned areas and the whites moved in
Indians were pushed out of Kansas and Nebraska in the 1850's
1859 gold miners setting off a war with the Cheyenne and Arapaho
Cheyenne and Arapaho wanted peace--Chief Black Kettle brought his 700 followers to Sand Creek in SE Colorado where they were attacked and killed by Colonel Chivington's militia even after the Chief raised the American and white flag
the Comanche and Arapaho had to surrender their Sand Creek reservation for other land
Great Sioux war 1865-1867
Gold miners invaded Sioux hunting grounds setting off the war
government planned to connect mining towns with the Bozeman Trail ---> right through Sioux hunting grounds in Montana
Red Cloud-Sioux chief -lured Captain William Fetterman and his men into the wilderness and killed them
1867 the Bozeman Trail construction was stopped & Congress created a 'Peace Commission to end the Sioux War and eliminate the causes of Indian Wars
----"small reservations"-isolate the Indians, teaching them to farm and civilizing them was their solution
------54,000 northern Plains Indians would be moved north of the Black Hills in Dakota
------86,000 southern Plains Indians would be moved Oklahoma***both areas were difficult to farm
---they were to be in specific reservations supervised by the government
1867-Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho agreed
1868-Sioux agreed
the Ute (Utah), Shoshone, Bannock, Navajo and Apache also accepted small reservations
One army commander said "all who cling to their old hunting grounds are hostile and will remain so till killed off"
Final Battles on the Plains
few Native Americans settled peacefully on the reservations
changed their old customs
lived in poverty and isolation
1868 wars broke out again
Red River War (1874-1875) Kiowa & Comanche went on a rampage through Texas until they were stopped by the US Army -- buffalo soldiers (black soldiers)
Northern Plains 1875-the Sioux tried to stop prospectors during the Black Hills Gold Rush from tramping through their hunting grounds---->led by chief Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull the main band of Sioux were surrounded in their village (at Little Bighorn River in Montana) when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer attacked
-------all soldiers were dead and the papers called it "Custer's Last Stand"-->resulting in a quest for revenge
----------October 1876 the Sioux were surrounded, beaten and finally surrender--->this ended major Indian warfare
----------1877-Nez Perce tribe in Oregon under Chief Joseph tried to rebel and escape to Canada but they were hunted down and defeated ending up in a barren reservation in Oklahoma--most of whom died of disease
----------1890-the starving Teton Sioux (SD) turned to native Ghost Dances (dances & rites that were said to bring back the Indian lands, cause the whites to disappear, the lands would renew and the buffalo would return)---the army intervened killing Sitting Bull and most of Big Foots band at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota
The End of Tribal Life
"assimilationists" wanted to use education, land policy and federal law to wipe out tribal life
1871-Congress stop making treaties with the Native Americans
1882-Congress created a 'Court of Indian Offenses' to try Native Americans that broke government rules
1879-50 Pawnee,Kiowa & Cheyenne youths were the first in the "Carlisle Indian School" in Carlisle, PA---the school taught them machinery, they cut their hair, made them speak English and they weren't allowed to wear Indian clothing
the founder - Richard Pratt - said "Kill the Indian and save the man"
Dawes Severalty Act-1887-Congress passed giving each Native American family head 160 acres, a single adult 80 acres, and a child 40 acres of tribal land
-----------the remaining was sold to whites with the profits going to Indian schools
-----------American citizenship was given to Native Americans who accepted the land, lived apart from the tribes and became 'civilized'
47 million acres were given to Native Americans--90 million acres of the most fertile land was sold to whites
the final blow was the mass killings of buffalo--Buffalo Bill Cody killed millions of buffalo for their hides
-----1872-1874 some 3 million buffalo a year were killed -- very little of the animal was used(unlike the Indians)
1883 the buffalo was almost extinct
1492----5 million Indians
1800---600,000 Indians
1900---250,000 Indians
only example of mass government-enforced migration in America
SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST
1870-1900--->took over more land (430 million acres) than was occupied in the years before 1870
moved for many reasons--some for health, some because of religious persecution (Mormons-Utah)
Men and Women on the Overland Trail
move towards California and Oregon began during the 1849 California Gold Rush
men then families walked, rode horses or traveled in caravans
left point west of the Missouri in the spring
-----1st leg--->300 miles along the Platte River to Fort Kearney in central Nebraska Territory--arriving in late May
--------------the travel was flat with plenty of grass, wood and water
there was also a great deal of trash thrown along the wagon trails
-----2nd leg--->300 miles up the Platte River to Fort Laramie at the edge of Wyoming--arriving mid July
-----3rd leg---> 280 miles to the South Pass - best way through the Rockies--------------the grass was dry, there was no wood, the land was barren and the mountain nights were cold
-----next leg was either 340 miles north to Fort Hall, Idaho on the Snake River --or--south to the Great Salt Lake
------next 800 miles was along the Humboldt River in the heat of a Nevada summer
------last legs--->55 miles of desert--->70 miles up the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada--->100 miles down the western slopes
arriving in California's Central Valley in October
the trip took at least 6 months--16hr/day
everyone worked from sunrise to sunset
it was very difficult
Land for the Taking
US owned ~ 1 billion acres of land in 1860 mostly mountain/desert
--->1862-Homestead Act gave away 48 million acres
--->sold ~100 million to citizens and businesses
--->granted 128 million to railroad companies
--->sold large pieces to states
**Homestead Act
---1862
---160 acres to anyone would could: pay $10 fee and pledge to live on it and cultivate it for 5 yrs
---1862-1900 600,000 families claimed free homesteads
---didn't work as well as hoped
---it costs a lot of money to move to the frontier, buy equipment
---the land wasn't ideal for planting
**Timber Culture Act
1873
allowed homesteaders to claim another 160 acres if they planted trees on a quarter of the land within 4 yrs
successful: gave out 10 million acres
increased forestation
expanded farms to workable sizes
**Desert Land Act
1877
wanted by the cattle ranchers
allowed people to buy up to 640 acres in dry states for $1.25 an acre provided they irrigate part of it within 3 yrs
ranchers purchased much land fraudulently
2.6 million acres were sold
**Timber and Stone Act
1878
lands unfit for cultivation
lands valuable for timber or stone
160 acres: anyone in CA, NV, OR & WA could buy up to 160 acres for $2.50 an acre
ranchers and lumber companies purchased land fraudulently
3.6 million acres were sold
**National Reclamation Act (Newlands Act)
1902
proceeds from public land sales in 16 western states was used to finance irrigation projects in the drier states
dam, canals, irrigation systems created successful cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix
Railroad grants
the railroad companies were the west's largest landowners
the railroad companies set up land departments that sold the land they owned along the railways, arranged credit and even taught immigrants how to farm
------------------2/3 of all homestead claims failed
Territorial Government
Northwest Ordinance 1787:
established the rules for territories to become states
the president appointed the governor and judges in each territory
Congress gave them their duties, set budgets, and oversaw all activities
***Territories depended on the federal government for everything
The Spanish-Speaking Southwest
1800's most Spanish speaking people in the country lived in CA, AZ, NM, TX, CO
southwest frontier was more Spanish-American than Anglo-American
Spanish and Mexican created ways of distributing land and water
----------land grants to communities for grazing, people as rewards for service, and Native American pueblos
Southern California descendants of the original colonizers lost their land to drought and mortgages--->a lot became bandidos-criminals
1880 1/4 of Los Angeles were Spanish speaking
until--->1940s majority of NM was Spanish speaking
1888--Las Gorras Blancs (white caps) a secret Spanish American group tried to stop white from coming into Las Vegas
Spanish Mexican heritage---men headed the family, women had economic rights, Roman Catholic
THE BONANZA WEST
mining, cattle and land bonanzas shaped the west
Instant cities rose up quickly around gold strikes, railroads and the like (San Francisco, Salt Lake City & Denver for example)
looking to get rich quick
The Mining Bonanza
-Half of the new mining settlers planned on providing the other half (the miners) with goods and services
-the builders of the Central Pacific RR (Stanford & Huntington)-originally had a general store in Sacramento selling shovels to miners
-Stephen Field a justice of the Supreme Court originally set up a law practice in CA
-The California God Rush of 1842 began the mining boom
-individual miners mined until they could mine no more------>large corporations moved in with large equipment and mined some more
-1859 gold -- Pikes Peak (CO) Carson River Valley (NV) on Davidson Mt-Virginia City arose 1872
-Comstock Lode (NV) 1859-1879 $306 million in gold and silver
-1873 Big Bonanza
-Black Hills gold rush (1874) Sioux hunting grounds, military tried to keep them out, Custer confirmed the find --- -Deadwood=lawless mining camp
-Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok
-Town such as Deadwood became rural urbanized towns requiring a government, sanitation and law enforcement
-solitary and competitive miners set up mining "districts", & made rules-size and boundaries of claims,settling disputes and dealing with crime
-1/4-1/2 of the population of mining camps were foreign-1860's 1/3 were Chinese
the Chinese worked mines other had deserted finding gold
-1850 California passed a Foreign Miners' Tax charging them a $20 monthly license fee
-1882-Congress pass the Chinese Exclusion Act suspending immigration of Chinese for 10 yrs
-1890's the mining rush was over---it helped pay for the Civil War & provided money for industrialization
-NV,ID,Montana became state early because of mining
Gold from the Roots Up:The Cattle Bonanza
Cattle ranching dominated the open range from 1865-1885
Mexican cowboys- vaqueros-developed way of branding, roundups and roping
Joseph McCoy (IL) began shipping longhorn cattle from Kansas east on the railroads
association were formed by ranchers to enforce rules for owning, branding, roundups and drives
1880 - 6 million cattle had been driven north
barbed wire was invented and used to separate land
1885-president ordered cattle ranchers out of Indian Territory in OK into the crowded northern ranges
the winters 1885-1887 were very hard-many cattle died
1905-the last northern roundup
--->the southwest and plains began raising sheep
Sodbusters on the Plains: The Farming Bonanza
millions of farmers moved into the west after 1870--1st in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and South Dakota
1870-1900--more land than every was cultivated
the Indians were pushed out of OK
1900-west had nearly 30% of the countries population
1870-1900 Plains'(Dakotas, western Nebraska, Kansas & eastern Colorado) population tripled
1879--6 thousand blacks-"Exodusters" settled 20,000 acres of land
problems--->little water, and lumber for houses and fences
winters were very cold with bad storms
summers were very hot +100 and severe rainstorm destroyed crops--as did locust (grasshoppers)
New Farming Methods
1874-Joseph Glidden (IL)-barbed wire--a cheap and effective fencing
dry farming--furrow 12-14 inches deep & filled with a dust mulch slowed evaporation
wheat that could take the weather on the Plains was imported form Europe and planted
Farm technology improved farming:
1877--chilled iron plow
1869-- spring tooth harro
1874--grain drill
1880--lister
1866--baling press
1876--hay loader
1878--harvester with cord binder
1890--more than 900 corporations made farm equipment
1868-Samuel Johnson (Yale) published "How Crops Grow
1870-"How Crops Feed was published
1887--the Hatch Act--supported agricultural experiment station to share discoveries
late 1870s--large bonanza farms
1885-1890--severe droughts crippled the large farms
Discontent on the Farm
1867--National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry-"Grange"-provided social, cultural and educational activities
--->set up co-ops, grain elevators, warehouses,insurance companies and farm equipment factories
Granges failed but led the way for the Farmers' Alliance
1887 farming boom ends
by 1890 American farmers were growing more than they could consume
--->exported large amounts of wheat and other crops
The Final Fling
March 1889--Congress forced the Creek & Seminole tribe out of their land
April 22, 1889---President Harrison opened the Oklahoma District to settlement
20,000 homesteads were claimed
1.92 million acres of Oklahoma were settle
'The west was settled by a set of waves-Anglo, Mexican American, African American, Asian American and others moving in many directions, crossing paths and interacting with each other and Native Americans'