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The Closing of the Western Frontier 1859 - 1900

The Closing of the Western Frontier 1859 - 1900. EUGENIA LANGAN MATER ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA With thanks to tony miller and susan pojer. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: TODAY:

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The Closing of the Western Frontier 1859 - 1900

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  1. The Closing of the Western Frontier 1859 - 1900 EUGENIA LANGAN MATER ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA With thanks to tony miller and susanpojer

  2. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: • TODAY: • WHAT NATIONAL ISSUES EMERGED IN THE PROCESS OF THE (WHITE) U.S. CONQUEST OF THE WESTERN FRONTIER? • WHAT WERE THE EFFECTS OF THE CLOSING OF THE FRONTIER? • WHY DOES THE WEST HOLD SUCH AN IMPORTANT PLACE IN AMERICAN HISTORY/ MYTHOLOGY? • BROAD: • HOW DID THE U.S. BECOME A SUPER-POWER?

  3. U.S. PHYSIOGRAPHIC MAP

  4. (THE U.S. BOUGHT ALASKA IN 1867 AND CONTROLLED HAWAII FROM 1887 ON (ANNEXED 1898)

  5. The west – the Last Frontier • Land between Mississippi River & Pacific Coast known as the great American Desert • By 1895 virtually no more frontier left • Homesteads fenced with barbed wire • Crisscrossed railroads • New modern towns • Near extermination of buffalo • environmental damage • Decimation of Plains Indian Tribes

  6. Key Tensions Native Americans Farmers Buffalo HuntersRailroadsU. S. Government RAILROADS FARMERS Sheep Herders Cattlemen Ranchers Farmers

  7. Key Tensions EthnicMinorities Nativists Big Business Interests [mining, timber]Local Govt. OfficialsFarmersBuffalo Hunters Environmentalists Lawlessness of the Frontier “Civilizing” Forces PUT IT ALL TOGETHER = THE ROMANCE OF THE WEST

  8. THE MINING FRONTIER • STARTED WITH CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH, 1849 • N.B. – GOLD RUSH LED TO FIRST WAVE OF CHINESE IMMIGRANTS TO U.S. - 25,000 IN CALIFORNIA BY 1852 • SMALLER GOLD AND SILVER STRIKES (COL., NEV., AZ., S.D.) • COMSTOCK LODE DISCOVERED IN NEVADA, 1859: • $340 MILLION IN SILVER AND GOLD, 1859 – 1890

  9. FRONT OF POSTCARD SHOWING COMSTOCK MINERS. REAR SAID, "TO LABOR IS TO PRAY"

  10. EFFECTS OF MINING BOOM • MINING BOOM  EARLY STATEHOOD FOR CALIFORNIA (1850), NEVADA (1864), IDAHO (1890) AND MONTANA (1899) • SILVER BONANZA FUELED DISPUTES OVER BIMETALLISM = MAJOR FACTOR IN RISE OF POPULIST PARTY • INCREASING DISPLACEMENT OF INDIANS • MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE -- CERCLA SUPERFUND SITES

  11. U.S. MINING, 1900. NOTE THE COAL AND IRON!

  12. THE RAILROADS MAY 10, 1869 – FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD: GOLDEN SPIKE DRIVEN AT PROMONTORY POINT, UTAH, LINKING UNION PACIFIC AND CENTRAL PACIFIC

  13. AFTER THE GOLDEN SPIKE WAS DRIVEN

  14. MAJOR RAILROADS BY 1880

  15. Railroad mileage increase by groups of states. Source: Chauncey Depew (ed.), One Hundred Years of American Commerce 1795-1895.

  16. EFFECTS OF THE RAILROAD BOOM • MAIN WAY SETTLERS GOT WEST • MADE CATTLE AND OTHER WESTERN INDUSTRIES POSSIBLE, LINKED NATION • MOST HISTORIANS THINK IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO RISE OF U.S. AS MAJOR INDUSTRIAL POWER • CHINESE PEOPLE FIRST CAME TO U.S. DURING GOLD RUSH, BUT MANY MORE CHINESE PEOPLE CAME TO WORK BUILDING RAILROADS • 300,000 IN CALIFORNIA ALONE (1/10 OF POP.) BY 1882 WHEN CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT WAS PASSED

  17. CHINESE LABORERS WORKING ON RAILROAD – IN THE SNOW

  18. CHINESE LABORERS WERE ESSENTIAL TO BUILD THE RAILROADS (AND BUILDING LEVEES IN CALIFORNIA TO IRRIGATE LAND FOR FARMING). • ALL AROUND WESTERN WORLD, ONCE SLAVERY WAS ABOLISHED, CHINESE "COOLIE" LABOR WAS RECRUITED • IN U.S., ONCE THEIR LABOR WASN'T NEEDED, NATIVISTS TURNED AGAINST THE CHINESE  • PAGE ACT, 1875: NO "ASIAN" PROSTITUTES COULD IMMIGRATE TO U.S. (AND ALL CHINESE SECOND WIVES, CONCUBINES WERE DEEMED PROSTITUTES) • CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT, 1882: NO MORE CHINESE IMMIGRANTS  SPLIT CHINESE FAMILIES

  19. (EFFECTS OF RAILROAD BOOM, CONT'D) • DEBT TO BRITISH (AND OTHER FOREIGN) BANKS (WHY WE HAD TO GET INTO WWI) • BUT IT IS THE ONE INDUSTRY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED – MOSTLY THROUGH LAND GRANTS FOR RIGHTS-OF-WAY, ALSO SOME LOANS (E.G. PACIFIC RAILROAD ACTS, 1862 & 1863) • RIGHTS-OF-WAY = VALUABLE REAL ESTATE: TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH WIRES, FIBER OPTICS, AIR RIGHTS (PAN-AM (NOW METLIFE) BLDG. IN NYC, AIR RIGHTS CENTER IN BETHESDA, MD.)

  20. RAILROADS = ONE OF GILDED AGE INDUSTRIES  "TYCOONS" AKA "ROBBER BARONS" – FIRST VASTLY WEALTHY AMERICANS (BILLIONAIRES IN CURRENT $) LELAND STANFORD (UNION PACIFIC), MARK HOPKINS, (CENTRAL PACIFIC) CHARLES CROCKER (CENTRAL PACIFIC), COLLIS HUNTINGDON (CENTRAL PACIFIC AND CHESAPEAKE & OHIO), CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, R (NEW YORK RAILROADS, GRAND CENTRAL STATION)

  21. DISPUTES BETWEEN RAILROADS AND FARMERS (AND SOME INDUSTRIES, TOO) • RAILROADS – INHERENTLY MONOPOLISTIC ON THEIR LINES • NO GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF RATES  • DISCRIMINATORY RATES – HURT FARMERS, SMALL BUSINESSES • ALSO TICKED OFF SOME BIG BUSINESSES: NO ANTITRUST LAWS  RAILROAD TRUSTS, AGREED TO KEEP RATES HIGH • WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC RR. V. ILLINOIS (1886): SUPREME COURT HELD STATES CANNOT REGULATE RAILROAD RATES 

  22. INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT, 1887 – CREATED THE FIRST FEDERAL INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATIVE (REGULATORY AGENCY), THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION • THE ICC REGULATED RAILROAD RATES, MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS (AND SOME LABOR RELATIONS AFTER 1920) • CREATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES REFLECTS INCREASING ROLE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT – NEITHER CONGRESS NOR PRESIDENT AND CABINET COULD DO ALL THE WORK!

  23. OTHER TRANSPORTATION: THE STAGE COACH WAS FOR SHORT INTER-CITY TRIPS (MAIL AND PASSENGERS)

  24. The cattle frontier • CATTLE = MAJOR U.S. INDUSTRY (STILL! WE EXPORT ABOUT 2.5 BILLION POUNDS OF BEEF/YEAR) • GOT STARTED AFTER CIVIL WAR: • TEXAS HAD MILLIONS OF "WILD" LONGHORN COWS (FROM MEXICO) AND FREE GRASSLAND FOR GRAZING  "OPEN RANGE RANCHING" THE "TEXAS LONGHORN"

  25. BEEF WAS EXPENSIVE IN THE EAST – READY MARKET FOR WESTERN CATTLE • COMPLETION OF RAIL LINES TO KANSAS MADE INDUSTRY POSSIBLE • LONG CATTLE DRIVES FROM WEST  KANSAS CITY STOCKYARDS • BY RAIL TO CHICAGO, FROM CHICAGO BY RAIL TO EAST • 1860 – 1900 – OVER 5 MILLION COWS SHIPPED EAST • TRADITIONS AND TECHNIQUES OF CATTLE INDUSTRY BORROWED FROM MEXICO (AND LINGO: VAQUERO/ BUCKAROO, VAMOS/ VAMOOSE)

  26. A COWBOY, 1888. IN THE "GILDED AGE," OVER 30,000 PEOPLE WERE EMPLOYED IN THE WESTERN CATTLE INDUSTRY: COWBOYS, WRANGLERS, COOKS

  27. MANY COWBOYS WERE AFRICAN-AMERICAN (FREED SLAVES FROM TEXAS HAD SKILLS, WERE IN HIGH DEMAND, OPENED DOOR FOR OTHERS) WHY HAVE COWBOYS USUALLY BEEN DEPICTED AS ALL-WHITE?

  28. Branding Mavericks

  29. Cattle Trails

  30. CATTLE DRIVE

  31. WHY OPEN-RANGE RANCHING ENDED BY 1900 (END OF THE "CATTLE FRONTIER" AND "WILD WEST") • LOSS OF CATTLE DUE TO: • OVERGRAZING THE MAIN REASON • HARDSHIP OF LONG DRIVE • BLIZZARD OF 1885, HARSH WINTERS 1886, 1887, DROUGHTS IN LATE '80s and 90s. • FARMERS FENCED OFF LAND WITH BARBED WIRE INVENTED 1874 BY JOSEPH GLIDDEN

  32. MILLIONS OF SHEEP ALSO WERE DRIVEN AND RAILED EAST DURING "GILDED ERA" - WHY DO YOU THINK LEGENDS OF THE "OLD WEST" FOCUS ONLY ON CATTLE? • CATTLE BARONS, REALIZING OPEN-RANGE RANCHING WAS INEFFICIENT, TURNED TO PRIVATE RANCHES OR RANCHING ON FEDERAL LAND, FEEDING CATTLE WITH GRAIN, AND OTHER "SCIENTIFIC" TECHNIQUES (INCLUDING TODAY INJECTING THEM WITH ANTIBIOTICS AND GROWTH HORMONES) • EVEN TODAY – MUCH RANCHING TAKES PLACE ON FEDERAL LAND

  33. THE WILD WEST: LEGENDARY GUNSLINGERS AND TRAIN ROBBERS Jesse James WHY WAS THE WEST "WILD?" Billy the Kid THERE WERE ALSO RANGE WARS, VIOLENT FEUDS AND VENDETTAS .

  34. FRONTIER! NO "GOVERNMENT" IN THE "UNCIVILIZED" PARTS, MOSTLY AD HOC JUSTICE IN THE "CIVILIZED" PARTS DODGE CITY PEACE COMMISSION, 1890

  35. THE FARMING FRONTIER • HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862: 160 ACRES OF FREE LAND TO ANY FAMILY WHO: • SETTLED ON IT AND FILED DEED • LIVED ON IT FOR 5 YEARS • "IMPROVED" IT • WHY? • TO TAKE IT FROM INDIANS AND HOLD IT!

  36. SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST – MOST BY RAILROAD

  37. 1887 ADVERTISMENT FOR HOMESTEADS IN DAKOTAS WHAT'S THE MESSAGE?

  38. WHAT'S THE MESSAGE?

  39. THE REALITY – SOD HOUSE OR DUGOUT ON THE PRAIRIE – FEW TREES & WOOD SCARCE

  40. SODBUSTERS - THE GREAT PLAINS HAD BEEN GRASSLANDS FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS – TOUGH SOD! THE JOHN DEERE CAST IRON/ STEEL PLOW MADE IT POSSIBLE AND MADE DEERE A MILLIONAIRE! MADE

  41. Black“Exoduster”Homesteaders

  42. ABOUT 500,000 FAMILIES GOT FREE HOMESTEADS UNDER THE HOMESTEAD ACT • BUT MOST OF THE LAND ENDED UP IN THE HANDS OF LAND SPECULATORS AND RAILROADS  • ABOUT 2.5 MILLION SETTLER FARMERS HAD TO BUY LAND • INCLUDED MANY IMMIGRANTS, FROM AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, SCANDINAVIA, SOME FROM EASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA (BUT THOSE MOSTLY WENT TO CITIES) • ABOUT 2/3 OF HOMESTEAD FARMS FAILED

  43. PROBLEMS FOR FARMERS • SCARCE WATER – FARMERS HAD TO LEARN DRY-FARMING (MANY COULDN'T) • THOSE WHO COULD AFFORD IT USED “PRAIRIE FANS" – WINDMILL PUMPS TO GET DEEP GROUNDWATER • THERE WAS NO GUARANTEE • THAT A FARMER WHO BOUGHT • A WINDMILL AND DRILLED • WOULD FIND WATER – MANY • DIDN’T.

  44. EXTREME WEATHER: BRUTAL WINTERS, BLAZING SUMMERS, LITTLE RAIN, STORMS (BLIZZARDS, TORNADOES) • PLAGUES OF GRASSHOPPERS • 160 ACRES NOT ENOUGH FOR PLAINS FARMING • NO FEDERAL FUNDING FOR DAMS OR IRRIGATION UNTIL 1902 (NEWLANDS ACT)

  45. DEBT – FOR EQUIPMENT AND SEED (ALWAYS WANT SILVER STANDARD OR GREENBACKS) • AT THE MERCY OF RAILROADS AND GRAIN ELEVATORS TO GET CROPS TO MARKET • THESE ARE FACTORS IN TNE RISE OF POPULISM

  46. AGRICULTURE IN THE 1880s

  47. WESTERN DEMOGRAPHICS

  48. NATIVE WHITE POPULATION BY REGION, 1900

  49. INDIAN AND ASIAN POPULATION, BY REGION, 1900

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