Unit 7 Powerpoint

Part II

ProspectingProspecting

Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (MT)

Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (MT)

Mining (Boom) Towns--Now Ghost Towns

Mining (Boom) Towns--Now Ghost Towns

Calico, CACalico, CA

Other boom towns of the day:•Deadwood, SD•Leadville, CO•Silver City, ID•Virginia City, NV(near the Comstock

Lode)

The

Cattle

Trails

The

Cattle

Trails

Land Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880s

New AgriculturalTechnology

New AgriculturalTechnology

“Prairie Fan”Water Pump

Steel Plow [“Sod Buster”]

Barbed WireBarbed Wire

Joseph GliddenJoseph Glidden

Joseph McCoy

• Made deal with railways to encourage ranchers to send cattle back east

• Set up a stockyard in Abilene, KS, to hold steers while waiting to be shipped

• Surveyed and shortened Chisholm Trail to make the trip easier for cattle and cowboys

• Organized cowboys to do western shows in Chicago and St. Louis for advertisement

The Range WarsThe Range Wars

SheepHerders

CattleRanchers

CattleRanchers

Farmers

End of the Cattle Bonanza• Cattle peaked between 1880-1885• Lower prices due to overproduction• Overgrazing left less grazing space each year• Overexpansion led to cattle ranchers debt• Bad weather two years in a row killed huge

percentages of herds• Railroad expansion allowed cattle closer to rail

centers, eliminating the need for large cattle drives

Homestead Act, 1862• Passed with the idea that the poor could

support themselves with land of their own• Gave 160 acres to anyone who would pay a

$10 registration fee and occupy/improve the land for five years

• Open to immigrants as well as citizens• Eventually more land was allowed because of

arid, non-fertile nature of western soil• Abused by land agents—only 1/9th went to

homesteaders

Rain Follows the Plow!This was a climatology theory proposing that

farming would bring more rain.

Frontier Settlements: 1870-1890

Frontier Settlements: 1870-1890

Homesteads From Public LandsHomesteads From Public Lands

Frontier Line—the place where the population was less than 2 people/square mile

1887Land

PromotionPosterfor theDakota

Territories

1887Land

PromotionPosterfor theDakota

Territories

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Maps/Figs/Tables, 17–18

Map 17.6: The Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889–1906

Thousands of people rushed to Oklahoma on April 22, 1889 to stake out homesteads.

What is the Message of this Picture?

What is the Message of this Picture?

The Realty--A Pioneer Sod House, SD

The Realty--A Pioneer Sod House, SD

Regional Population Distribution

by Race: 1900

Regional Population Distribution

by Race: 1900

Regional Population Distribution

by Race: 1900

Regional Population Distribution

by Race: 1900

Black“Exoduster”Homestead

ers

Blacks Moving West

The Chinese Question”The Chinese Question”

Exclusion Act (1882) - Oriental Exclusion Act - Chinese Exclusion Act

The West of Life and

Legend

Frederick Jackson Turner, Historian• Argued that the American

West, not the East, was the real creator of the American spirit of individualism

• His theories are largely responsible for the legendary status of the American West

• Called the closing of the American frontier the ending of the first chapter of American history

• Later historians criticized his lack of consideration of various races and genders, but many of his assertions have held up

Delivered 1893 lecture “The

Significance of the Frontier in

American History”

--Men can recreate themselves--Only the fittest survive--Good vs. Evil: noble cowboy or sheriff vs. cattle rustlers, bank robbers, Indians, or train robbers.--Myth continued on in film and later television--Fits in with the American idea of the self-made man

American Romanticization of the WestWestern Frontiersman—a New Ideal of Manhood

Contributions to the image

of the American West

Theodore Roosevelt—Author of The Winning of the West (four volumes, written 1889-1896)Frederick Remington—Painter of cowboys and western scenesOwen Wister—Author of The Virginian (1902), a popular book and later movie and TV series

The Bronc BusterBy Frederick Remington

Real People of the Old West

• Christopher “Kit” Carson—(1809-1868)John C. Fremont’s guide in California in the 1840s, later served in the U.S. military to help deal with the Indians. Considered an honorable official, refusing cruel orders of his superior.

• James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok (1837-1876)-- town marshal of Abilene KS in 1871, kept order in the town. Legends are much bigger than reality, but he was murdered

at a saloon in Deadwood, South

Dakota. Dead Man’s Hand

Real People of the Old West• William E. “Buffalo Bill”

Cody—real life person on whom a fictionalized book was based. Guide, scout, Indian fighter, killed 4300 buffalo in two years to feed railroad workers, organized “Wild West” shows for profit, romanticizing the image of the Old West.

One of the“Wild West” show starswas female sharpshooter, Annie Oakley.

Real People of the Old West

Jesse James, 1847-1882

Outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, murderer. Killed by associate Bob Ford to claim reward money.

Real People of the Old West

• William H. Bonney, “Billy the Kid,” cattle thief operating along the trails. Accused of murdering eleven men before being killed by a sheriff in 1881 at age 21.

Real People of the Old West

• Wyatt Earp—Miner, gambler and marshal of several towns, including Wichita, Dodge City, and Tombstone (AZ). Run-ins with several cowboy gangs in Arizona led to the shoot out at the OK Corral. His loyal friend, dentist and gambler Doc Holliday, was charged with Earp in the killings of their rivals but was acquitted.

Beginning a Conservation Movement

• John Wesley Powell charted Colorado River through Grand Canyon in 1869. Warned public of lack of water and need for control of watersheds and lands.

• Gen. Henry Washburn viewed Yellowstone area and petitioned Congress to protect it.

Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park

First national park established in 1872.

National ParksNational Parks

Conservation MovementConservation Movement

John Muir—helped establish Yosemite National Park and

founded Sierra Club

With President Theodore Roosevelt

Sierra ClubSierra Club

Founded in 1892