topic 14 conquest and survival: communities in the trans-mississippi west 1860-1900
TRANSCRIPT
Topic 14www.buschistory.net
Conquest and Survival: Communities in the Trans-Mississippi West
1860-1900
Homestead Act 1862
The Homestead Act of 1862• 160 acres of land to a family head if he paid a
registration fee and lived there for 5 years.• Encompassed 100 million acres of land for
settlement in the west.• Most successful in central and upper
Midwest.• Unsuccessful in western Oklahoma, central
Kansas, Nebraska and eastern Dakota due to poor soil conditions.
• Sparked expansion but failed in setting up farms throughout the west.
• More people bought land from land speculators instead of using the Homestead Act.
• Most of the land from the act was bought by land speculators and big businesses.
Railroads
Transcontinental Railroad• Government paid the Union Pacific and
Central Pacific companies to build a transcontinental railroad.
• Irish and African American laborers built from Omaha, Nebraska westward, Chinese laborers built across the Sierra Nevada.
• Completed on May 10, 1869, the two sides met at Promontory Point, Utah.
• Helped to establish the 4 time zones of the Continental US.
• Nine major national routes established by the 1880’s.
Western Settlement• Railroads encouraged western
settlement.• Railroad companies sold land to settlers
and land speculators.• National Land Company organized 16
colonies consisting of European immigrants.
• More comfortable than wagon trains.• Trains took 1 week, Overland Trail took 6-
8 weeks.
Mining Communities
Prospectors were the first group to go west after the fur traders.
1858- Henry Comstock discovers gold, causes rush that mostly failed.
Four fifths of Colorado prospectors did not strike it rich.
Railroads made supplying miners with supplies easier.
Miners had good unions and western states were first to pass laws compensating for injuries.
Miners were racist and only allowed white men to work in the mines.
Mormon Settlements
Fled to Utah and had 40,000 followers by 1860.
Attacked for their belief of Polygamy in United States v. George Reynolds (1878). Granted the freedom of belief but not the freedom of practice.
Mormons renounce polygamy in 1890.
Helped to organize settlements, especially in Utah.
The Southwest
White Texans treated Mexicans with disrespect.
White Americans called Anglos, Mexicans called Mexicanos.
Anglos became more powerful and suppressed Mexicanos
Few middle class Mexicanos, rest were poor.
Indian Removal
• About two thirds of all Indian people lived in the Great Plains region at the end of the Civil War.
• Most Plains Indians were nomadic hunters.• Cheyenne were nomadic horse traders who kept their identity after the arrival of white
settlers.• Sioux Indians were buffalo hunters that became violent toward white settlers.• Reservations were set up but they were too small for Indian tribes to survive on.• White settlers killed off the buffalo of the west, a major resource for many Indian tribes.• Great Sioux War occurred from 1865-1867, pushed US troops out of their forts in the area.• In Sand Creek, Cheyenne woman and children killed by white settlers in 1864.• General Sherman Led attacks to wipe out resisting Indian tribes.• Custer's Last Stand (July 25, 1876 aka Little Big Horn) gave people a reason to hate Indians
and fight them.• Geronimo led Apache’s against the U.S. for 10 years. Finally surrendered in September of
1886.
Change of Indian Society• The Board of Indian Commissioners created in 1869 to teach Indians the European way of
life.• The Women’s National Indian Association (WNIA) and the Indians Right Association sent
missionaries west into Indian reservations.• Dawes Severalty Act passed in 1887. Incorporated many demands from WNIA and
distributed land to individual Indians instead of tribes.• Essentially destroyed Indian culture.• The Ghost Dance would banish the white men, and bring about judgment day.• Government outlaws Ghost Dance and kills 300 Sioux ghost dancers at Wounded Knee Creek.• Navahos avoided assimilation by living in an unwanted areas.• Northwestern tribes were not bothered by the white settlers until the early 1900’s.
Cowboys, Cowgirls and Prostitutes• First cattle drive was in 1867 to Abilene.• Cattle industry led to massive commercial expansion.• Cowboys were seasonal migrant workers who drove cattle to be sold.• One of the first groups to organize against employers in the west.• Cowboys were ethnically diverse and often societal outcasts.• Poorly paid.• Not many Cowgirls, most women did not engage in the cattle industry directly.• Many women traveled to the west after first cattle drive to become prostitutes.• About 50,000 prostitutes west of the Mississippi in the second half of the 1800’s.• Paid depending on race.• Many prostitutes were alcoholics or addicted to drugs.• Often brought their daughters up to be prostitutes too.
Cowboy Community and LegendCommunity
Western towns were unruly and violent. Guns were outlawed but it was not
enforced. Violence was common, murder and
gunfights were not. Execution was common punishment for
crime. Horse theft was most common crime. “Range Wars” occurred between cow
ranchers and farmers. Cattle Industry died off during the hot
summer and cold winter of 1885.
Legend The “Wild West” became a major part of
popular culture. Many western novels about cowboys
were published. Buffalo Bill, the King of Border Men, by
Edward Zane Carroll Judson was published in 1869.
Cowboys began to dress in the style the books described.
Wild West shows toured the US showing cowboy skills.
William Cody evolved the Wild West show into the Rodeo. (Buffalo Bill)
Agricultural Technology
Time Worked Labor Cost
Crop Hand Machine
Hand Machine
Wheat 61 hours
3 hours $3.55 $0.66
Corn 39 hours
15 hours
$3.62 $1.51
Oats 66 hours
7 hours $3.73 $1.07
Loose Hay
21 hours
4 hours $1.75 $0.42
Baled Hay
35 hours
12 hours
$3.06 $1.29
Reaper replaced cutting of wheat by hand. (1830’s)
Harvester picked stalks for men to bundle. (1870’s)
Many Patents for agricultural equipment from the 1840’s on.
19th century improvements let a farmer harvest up to 10 times more.
Government informed farmers on how to grow more successfully.
Nature often defeated farmers.
As depicted on the Big Screen – each of these clips portrays events based on factual accounts. Of course, they have been Hollywoodized….
• Oklahoma Land Rush April 22, 1889 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxaJY8UZxn4Buffalo
• Extermination – Dances with Wolves • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkDqzpNsg6U• Transcontinental Railroad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=M3OM_UnnCNM• The Dawes Act – Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCVHDv5shag
Market production and California Farms Most farmers sold all of their crops to the market and bought what they needed by the last
third of the 19th century. New England farms switched to Dairy. Great Lakes region took over the cheese industry. New technologies and land conditions favored large farms over smaller ones. Large farms of over 1000 acres (Agri-Business) became common in California by 1900. California became a major wheat, fruit and vegetable grower. Sunkist Oranges and Sun Maid raisins were created during this time. Wine making became common. Californian wines were sold at lower prices.
Farming Communities of the Plains• The Great Plains became popular for settlement in the 1870’s.• Scientific advances and advertising made it into a large farming region.• Land agents lured over 2 million Europeans into the area.• Europeans formed ethnic communities.• Commercial centers sprang up along the railroads.• Most settlers were isolated from other farmers.• Isolation led to many societies and auxiliaries.• Men worked the fields and built while women performed household duties. They also
canned food, churned butter and cared for chickens.• Children also worked on the farm when not at school.• Farming families sought help from each other and traded services.• Smaller farms could not survive in the region.
The Western Landscape• The nature of the western lands captivated Americans.• Lincoln made Yosemite a nature preserve in 1864.• Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872 after a expedition came back describing
its beauty.• The Rocky Mountain School of painters, such as Alfred Bierstadt painted pictures of the
scenery throughout the country.• Settlers destroyed much of the land purposely and also by accident when they introduced
new species of weeds and rats.• Farmers destroyed lakes and aquatic wildlife with their irrigation.• The Land Revision Act of 1891 protected over 40 million acres of forest.• Many artists made imaginary paintings of the “Wild West” for people.• Frederic Remington was a tavern owner who became a illustrator for a Wild West magazine.• Many people began to study Indian culture and it became a popular hobby for Americans to
learn about Indian culture.