LOOKING TO THE WEST (1860-1900)

The Indian Wars

The Life of the Plains Indians

Eastern settlers changed the lives of N. A. on the Great Plains

Indians & French traded buffalo hides for guns, making hunting easier

Horses made N. A. warfare much more intense and violent

Many N. A. became nomads b/c of the horse. Became more mobile to follow food sources

Warrior societies led to much more violence and instability

Indian Wars and Government Policy

N.A. lived on traditional lands W. of Mississippi N. A. viewed settlers as invaders, Settlers took land

from N. A. (Settlers vs. N.A. = invaders vs. owners)

Gov’t treaties forced N. A. onto reservations Settlers ignored treaties Acts of violence led to cycles of revenge. Both

sides guilty.

Brutality, Unfulfilled Promises, and Butchery

Treaties: Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)

Most Indians angered by the treaties By 1868, war parties were raiding cities in

Kansas and Colorado In response, army troops killed any Indians

who refused to stay on reservations

Key Events in the Indian Wars, 1861-1890

Native AmericanNations/Homelands

Key Players Description/Outcome

Apache and Navajo Wars (1861-1886)

Apache in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado territories; Navajo in New Mexico, Colorado territories

• Geronimo• Col.

Christopher “Kit” Carson

Carson kills or relocates many Apache to reservations in 1862. Clashes drag on until Geronmino’s surrender in 1886. Navajo told to surrender in 1863, but before they can, Carson attacks, killing hundreds, destroying homelands. Navajos moved to New Mexico reservation in 1865.

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Southern Cheyeene, Arapaho, in central plains

• Black Kettle• Col. John

Chivington

Cheyenne massacres prompt Chivington to kill up to 500 surrendered Cheyenne and Arapaho led by Black Kettle.

Red River War (1874-1875)

Comanche and southern branches of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho, in southern plains

• Comanche war parties

• Gen. William T. Sherman

• Lt. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan

Southern plains Indians relocated to Oklahoma Indian Territory under 1867 Treaty of Medicin Lodge. After buffalo hunters destroy the Indians food supply, Comanche warriors race to buffalo grazing areas in Texas panhandle to kill hunters. Sherman and Sheridan defeat warriors and open panhandle to cattle ranching.

Wars/Battles

Key Events in the Indian Wars, 1861-1890

Wars/Battles Native AmericanNations/Homelands

Key Players Description/Outcome

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

Northern plains Sioux in Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana territorries

• Sitting Bull• Crazy Horse• Red Cloud• Lt. Col. George A. Custer

U.S. tries to buy gold-rich Black Hills from Sioux. Talks fail. Custer’s 7th Cavalry is sent to round up Sioux, but meets huge enemy force. Custer and some 200 men perish in “Custer’s Last Stand.”

Nez Perce War (1877)

Largest branch of Nez Perce, in Wallowa Valley of Idaho and Washington territories and Oregon

• Chief Joseph• Gen. Oliver O.

Howard• Col. Nelson

Miles

Howard orders Nez Perce to Idaho reservation; violence erupts. Joseph leads some 700 men, women, and children on 1,400-mile flight. His 200 warriors hold off Miles’s 2,000 soldiers until halted 40 miles short of Canada. Sent to Indian Territory, many die of disease. In 1885, survivors moved to reservation in Washington Territory.

Battle of Wounded Knee (1890)

Sioux at Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

• Sitting Bull• U.S. 7th Cavalry

Ghost Dance raises fears of Sioux uprising; Sitting Bull killed in attempted arrest. His followers surrender and camp at Wounded Knee. Shots are fired; some 200 Sioux die.

page787.jpg

Warring Sioux

Several Sioux tribes fought to stay on their land and protect their hunting grounds Raided settlements and harassed miners Sitting Bull

Leader of non-treaty Sioux Strong fighting expertise

Rising Tensions in the West

Sand Creek Massacre Cheyenne and Arapaho Camps attacked by

Local Militia…natives retaliate Governor urges settlers to kill hostile

natives Brings in Colonel John M. Chivington

“remember the murdered women and children” Nov. 29: Chivington massacred natives at Sand

Creek (including women and children)

Sand Creek (1864)

•US army massacredCheyenne, ArapahoeOlder men, women, And children.•Eastern Colorado

William Tecumseh Sherman

“War is hell…” March through

Georgia in Civil War Commanding

General of U.S. Army after 1869

Colonel who sent Custer on his expedition into the Black Hills

General George Armstrong Custer

General in the Civil War Infamous Indian fighter

during the Sioux Wars Wanted to find gold in

Black Hills Defeated in the Battle

at Little Bighorn (1876)

Sitting Bull

Lakota Sioux Chief

Little Bighorn

Army moved to assault roaming Sioux in 1876

600 troops marched on Little Bighorn River Custer separated his

men and sent half of his forces straight into battle

This group and the rest were wiped out by Cheyenne and Sioux

Defeat angered the army who became even more ruthless

Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand)

The Little Bighorn today

19_19.jpg

Wounded Knee Creek

The Ghost Dance In honor of Wovoka

December 29, 1890 Seventh cavalry was sent to round up a

group of Indians at Wounded Knee when an ‘excited’ Indian fired a shot

The soldiers then open fired More than 300 Indians killed in minutes

Wounded Knee, SD (1890)

19_38.jpg

19_9.jpg

“Saving” the Indians

More and more Americans disagreed with Government Indian policies The Women’s National Indian Rights Association Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson

They thought breaking up the reservations and assimilating the Indians into society was the best thing Dawes Severalty Act

Gave individuals acreages of land and made them citizens of the U.S.

Attempts to Change Native American Culture

Many people believed that Native Americans needed to give up their traditions and culture, learn English, become Christians, adopt white dress and customs, and support themselves by farming and trades.

This policy is called assimilation, the process by which one society becomes a part of another, more dominant society by adopting its culture.

In 1887 the Dawes Act divided reservation land into individual plots. Each family headed by a man received 160 acres.

Many Native Americans did not believe in the concept of individual property, nor did they want to farm the land. For some, the practices of farming went against their notion of ecology. Some had no experience in agriculture.

Between 1887 and 1932, some two thirds of this land became white owned.

Assimilation and the Indian Schools

Carlisle, PA, other sites around the U.S.

Genoa, Nebraska Attempted to ‘save the

Indian’ by making them assimilate into American culture, manners and customs

Formed by people who empathized with the plight of the Indians and wanted a “humanitarian” solution

“Kill the Indian and save the man”

—Richard Pratt, founder of Carlisle

Genoa, NE Indian School

Before and After

Dawes Act

Indian Homestead Act - 1887

Another attempt to assimilate Indians

The Opening of Indian Territory Fifty five Indian nations were forced into Indian Territory, the

largest unsettled farmland in the United States. During the 1880s, squatters overran the land, and Congress

agreed to buy out the Indian claims to the region. On April 22, 1889, tens of thousands of homesteaders lined up

at the territory’s borders to stake claims on the land. By sundown, settlers called boomers had staked claims on

almost 2 million acres. Many boomers discovered that some of the best lands had

been grabbed by sooners, people who had sneaked past the government officials earlier to mark their claims.

Under continued pressure from settlers, Congress created Oklahoma Territory in 1890. In the following years, the remainder of Indian Territory was open to settlement.

Oklahoma Land Rush (1889)

Oklahoma was “Indian Territory” given to the five civilized tribes

They sided with the Confederacy, the government took land as punishment

2 million acres free for settlement Free land was considered instant

prosperity, but droughts would make many farms fail

By 1900

Most Indians had been driven onto reservations

Reduced from 1/4 million to 1 hundred thousand

The culture still survives

Land Lost:

Reservations Today:

Broken Promises

End of the Buffalo

Wounded KneeSioux Wars

Clashes

Reforms

Attempts at Peace

Buffalo threatened by the RailroadHunted for Sport

Hides popular as blankets

Gold found on Lakota reservation

Battle of Little Bighorn—Sitting Bull vs. General Custer

Nat. Amer. Win Battle of Little Bighorn

Attempt to teach Nat. Amer. White farming

Established reservation

Dawes Act: attempt to “Americanize” Nat. Amer

Govt. went back on treaties

Native Americans attempted to protect culture and land

Started by death of Sitting Bull

300 Native Americans killed

Native Americans surrender End of Sioux Wars

LOOKING TO THE WEST (1860-1900)

◊Moving West

The West

Push Factors Crowding back

East Displaced farmers Former slaves Eastern farmland

expensive Ethnic and

religious repression in Europe

Haven for outlaws

Pull Factors Government

incentives Pacific Railway Act Morrill Land-Grant

Act Homestead Act

Private Property Miners Ranchers Farmers

The Lure of the West

“Push” Factors The Civil War had displaced

thousands of farmers, former slaves, and other workers.

Eastern farmland was too costly. Failed entrepreneurs sought a

second chance in a new locations. Ethnic and religious repression

caused people to seek the freedom of the west.

Outlaws sought refuge.

“Pull” Factors The Pacific Railway Acts of

1862 and 1864 Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 Land speculators Homestead Act, 1862 Legally enforceable property

rights

When geographers study reasons for major migrations, they look at what they call push-pull factors-events and conditions that either force (push) people to move elsewhere or strongly attract (pull) them to do so. Here are some push-pull factors for moving west.

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN!

The Myth of the Frontier

“Manifest Destiny”

Civil War over

Adventure Resources Wealth

(Gold, Cattle, Land)

Settlers From Far and Wide

German-speaking immigrants arrived seeking farmland. They brought the Lutheran religion with its emphasis on hard work and education.

Lutherans from Scandinavia settled the northern plains from Iowa to Minnesota to the Dakotas, many pursuing dairy farming.

Irish, Italians, European Jews, and Chinese settled in concentrated communities on the West coast. They took jobs in mining and railroad construction that brought them to the American interior.

After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans rode or walked westward, often fleeing violence and exploitation.

Benjamin “Pap” Singleton led groups of southern blacks on a mass “Exodus,” a trek inspired by the biblical account of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt to a prophesied homeland. Hence, the settlers called themselves Exodusters. Some 50,000 or more Exodusters migrated west.

Pacific Railway Acts

1862, 1864 Large land grants

to Union Pacific RR and Central Pacific RR

175 million acres

Morrill Land Grant Act 1862 State governments

received millions of acres of land to: Sell Create land grant colleges

for agricultural and mechanical artsVirginia Agricultural and

Mechanical College, 1872

Homestead Act

1862 Small fee, settlers

received 160 acres if: 21 yrs old Citizens or immigrants

filing for citizenship Minimum sized house Lived on claim 6 months

out of the year Farm the land for 5

years in a row 372,000 farms 80 million acres

Exodusters Free blacks looking for new start after the Civil War Most headed to Kansas (“pulled” by the Homestead Act and free

land. Exodusters based on the biblical “Exodus” of the Hebrews from

Egypt - leaving bondage for freedom in the “Promised Land”

Exodusters - Nebraska Connection:

Homesteader Homes

Built with available materials (sod)

Small Functional as a

shelter

Homesteader lifestyle

Difficult Subsistence

farmers Some

livestock Grasshoppers Storms Distance Lack of

building materials

LOOKING TO THE WEST (1860-1900)

◊Miners, Ranchers, Farmers, Cowboys

Mining

Young, single men Desire to strike it rich Cherry Creek, CO

Other CO places in the mountains

Helena, MT Virginia City, NV Black Hills (South

Dakota)

CA (1849) started the gold rush, but strikes in Pikes Peak, CO & Carson River Valley, NV (1859) set off wild migrations to the West: Comstock Lode = $306

million John Mackay’s Big

Bonanza made him richest man in world

The Spread of Western Mining

Discoveries of gold & silver led to overnight mining towns: BOOM TOWNS

Created need for local gov’t, law enforcement, sanitation, businesses, prostitutes

¼ to ½ of the mining population was foreign born: Latin American miners

brought experience & new techniques

Chinese brought a tireless ethic

Led to hostility & riots: Foreign Miners’ Act in 1852

charged a monthly mining fee

Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 suspended Chinese immigration

The Mining Frontier

Some small prospectors made fortunes

Most money made by large mining corporations.

Mining towns had high populations of foreigners.

Environmental destruction due to blasting, chemicals, and water pollution.

Mining’s Economic Impacts

The added gold (and silver) Boosted U.S.

economy Increased foreign

investment Stimulated U.S.

involvement in global economy

19_11.jpg

19_25.jpg

19_27.jpg

19_28.jpg

19_29.jpg

19_30.jpg

Ranching

Fences Large

tracts of land

Huge herds of cattle

Rise of the Cattle Barons

The Cattle Trails

Texas Longhorn Cattle

Durable Tough Ornery Good sense of

smell - could locate sources of groundwater

The American Cowboy

Romanticized Mythologized Lonely, rugged

existence Necessary for

Cattle business “The Virginian” A cattle bought

for $4 in Texas sold for $40 in Kansas

The Cattle Drives Romanticized,

difficult Spurred growth of

RRs Food “on the hoof”

fed growing demand in Eastern Markets and for Miners

Depended on the Open Range

Farming as Business Improved farming

technologies: Mechanical Reaper

(Early Combine) Barbed wire Dry farming Steel Plow Windmills Hybridization Seed drills

Led to Bonanza farms: Specialized in a single

cash crop The rise of

‘agribusiness’.

New Technology Eases Farm Labor

Reduced labor force needed for harvest. Allows farmers to maintain larger farms.Mechanized Reaper

Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains.Barbed Wire

Allows cultivation of arid land by using drought-resistant crops and various techniques to minimize evaporation.Dry Farming

Allows farmers to cut through dense, root-choked sod.Steel Plow

Smoothes and levels ground for planting.Harrow

Powers irrigation systems and pumps up ground water.Steel Windmill

Cross-breeding of crop plants, which allows greater yields and uniformity.Hybridization

Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains.

Improved Communication

Array of multiple drills used to carve small trenches in the ground and feed seed into the soil.Grain Drill

Farms controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, raised massive quantities of a single cash crop.Bonanza Farm

http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/fimage/lincolnimages/38_advertisingposter.djvu

Farming Technologies and Innovations

Bonanza Farms

10,000 acre farms Wheat boom of the 1880s Population in Dakotas tripled Overproduction, high investment

costs, droughts, and reliance on one-crop agriculture brought an end to the boom

1890 prices fell, some lost everything

The Wild West

Gunfights Outlaws (Billy

the Kid) Marshals and

Sheriffs (Wyatt Earp)

Mythical Dodge City,

KS Tombstone,

AZ

Myth vs. Reality Myth

Cowboys were romantic, self-sufficient, and virtuous

All were white Ideal, garden of Eden Could make a

fortune in the west Western towns were

lawless

Reality Cowboys were young,

poorly paid, and did hard labor

20% were black or Mexican

Harmonious race relations on the trail

Harsh conditions Most made little, if any

money There were police forces

and order in the West

The Western Myth Some (Roosevelt) saw

social Darwinism in the west.

Perceived as the last chance to build a truly good society

Novels and accounts glossed over hard labor and ethnic strife.

Reality, western settlement depended more upon companies and railroads than individuals.

The Wild West: Some elements of the frontier myths were true. Yet, many wild towns of the West calmed down fairly quickly or disappeared.

By the 1880s, the frontier had many churches and a variety of social groups. Major theatrical productions toured growing western cities. The East had come West.

Taming the Frontier

By 1890, the United States Census Bureau announced the official end of the frontier. The population in the West had become dense, and the days of free western land had come to an end.

The End of the Frontier

In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner claimed that the frontier had played a key role in forming the American character. The Turner Thesis, as his view came to be called, stated that frontier life created Americans who were socially mobile, ready for adventure, bent on individual self-improvement, and committed to democracy.

Turner’s Frontier Thesis

The Wild West remains fixed in popular culture and continues to influence how Americans think about themselves. Many stereotypes–exaggerated or oversimplified descriptions of reality, and frontier myths persist today despite our deeper understanding of the history of the American West.

Myths in Literature, Shows, and Song

Frontier Myths

The Frontier Myth

Still lives in the American imagination

Depicted in movies

TV shows (Frontier House, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, etc.)

19_24.jpg