Chapter 8

1. Chapter 8 Settling the West

2. 1. Settlement of the West • Reasons for settling the west: • Inexpensive / abundant land • Hopes of finding gold or silver • Escape persecution / fresh start (ex: former slaves, Mormons, etc.)

3. 2. Ranching and Cattle Drives • Cattle industry grew because of the open range • Texas Longhorns • Mexican cowhands developed the tools and techniques for rounding up and driving cattle • Two things changed cattle industry: • Civil War (growing cities) • Railroads • The Long Drive: • Began in the spring with roundup • Stock from different owners made up the herd • Brand showed who they belonged to (mavericks) • Cowboys in the early days were former Confederate soldiers • Myth of the “Wild West” was spread by the cowboy’s stories • Guns and Indians • Vaqueros & Cowboys • Cowboy life stemmed from Spanish ranchers in Mexico. • Early cowboys were Mexican. Vaqueros influenced cowboy clothes, food, and vocabulary. • 25% of cowboys were black. Because they were judged on ability, not skin color. • Farming and barbed wire helped start the “Range wars” • The Open range ended with the invention of barbed wire, investors who cause a surplus in the market, blizzards, railroads and new breeds

4. 3. End of the Open Range • Overgrazing the land, bad weather, and invention of barbed wire helped to end the cattle / cowboy era. • Winters of 1885-1886 & 1886-1887 were brutal. Cold temperatures caused cattle to freeze to death. Summer droughts led to grass shortage. By 1887, 80%-90% of cattle dead. • Barbed wire turned open plains into a series of fenced in ranches.

5. 4. Farming the Plains • Rain fall around 20 inches a year • Stephen Long called it the “Great American Desert” • Railroad companies brought settlers in by selling land along the railroads • Homestead Act-Live on land for 5 years before getting the deed • Many homesteads were lost because of drought, wind erosion and overuse of land • Rapid settlement of the west helped close the frontier • Railroads brought in new building material to the west

6. 5. Farming Inventions • Settlers used inventions to meet the challenges of farming the West’s harsh terrain. • Steel Plow (1837) – Invented by John Deere. Could slice through heavy soil, made planting more efficient. • Reaper (1847) – Invented by Cyrus McCormick. Sped up harvesting crops & saved crops from bad weather. • Barbed Wire (1874) – Prevented animals from wandering off or trampling crops.

7. 6. Railroads & Western Settlement • U.S. Government wanted West settled (manifest destiny). • Offered railroad companies free land as incentive to build a transcontinental line (connect east coast to west coast). Each mile of track = 20sq. miles of land. • Transcontinental Line (1862 -1869):Two major railroad companies competed to lay the most track and receive more government land • Union Pacific R.R. :began laying tracks in Nebraska and moved West. Employed Irish-Americans & Civil War veterans. Flat country allowed work to go quickly. • Central Pacific R.R.: began laying tracks in Sacramento, California and moved East. Employed mostly Chinese – paid less than white workers & endured dangerous conditions blasting through Sierra Nevada mountains. • Crews raced past each other without meeting. May 10th, 1869 Congress forced Union Pacific & Central Pacific to join together at Promontory Point, Utah. • Railroads resulted in growth and new settlement of the West, making travel & transportation easier.

8. 7. Native Americans • Native Americans saw land as belonging to no one • Viewed white customs of farming & mining as disturbing the harmony between the natural & spirit world • Buffalo was vital to survival of Plains Indians (food, clothing, shelter). • Ranchers, farmers and miners forced the Native Americans to relocate to new territory

9. 8. Clash Between Settlers & Indians • Settlers felt they had a right to land because Indians hadn’t “improved” it (farming / building). • U.S. government changed its Indian policies • Many Indians ignored government . treaties and hunted on old lands anyway, often clashing w/ settlers.

10. 9. The Last Native American Wars • Ranchers, farmers and miners forced the Native Americans to relocate to new territory • Indian Peace Commission- two reservations-failure • Native Americans were leaving the reservation to hunt buffalo but the buffalo were starting to disappear because others were killing off the buffalos • Tourists & fur traders shot buffalo for sport. Buffalo population of 65 million in 1800 dropped to only a few hundred by 1900. • Native American -buffalo End of N.A. lifestyle

11. 10. Sand Creek Massacre 1864 • Cheyenne Indians peacefully camped at Sand Creek for winter. • Govt. leaders wanted to see Indians suffer • ordered U.S. soldiers to attack • killed over 150 Cheyenne women & children.

12. 11. Battle of the Little Bighorn • Sioux and Cheyenne Indians protested as whites searched Black Hills for gold - wanted to protect hunting grounds. • June 1876, General George Custer & his troops met by the Sioux at Little Bighorn in Montana. Within an hour, Indians won battle. Custer & all of his men were dead. • Bloody conflicts between whites & Native Americans led to greater disdain (hostility/disgust) toward Indian culture

13. 12. Tragedy at Wounded Knee • Native Americans turned to a prophet, who promised that if Indians performed the Ghost Dance, their lands & way of life would be restored. • Ghost Dance movement spread. Alarmed U.S. Calvary opened fire on over 300 unarmed Native Americans camped at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. • Battle of Wounded Knee brought Indian Wars – and an entire era – to and end.

14. 13. Assimilation • Government hoped teaching “white” culture would lead to peace between Native Americans & settlers in the West. • Goal to “Americanize” Indians. • Dawes Act allotted 160 acres of reservation land for farming; nearly destroyed the Native American culture • Failed

15. 14. Crushing the Native American Life • Assimilation • Dawes Act • Broke up reservations and gave land to individual Native Americans • Destruction of Buffalo