Settling the West

1860-1900
.
The culture of the Plains Indians declines as
white settlers transform the Great Plains.
Meanwhile, farmers form the Populist
movement to address their economic
concerns
 Section 1
Cultures Clash
on the Prairie

The cattle industry booms in the late

1800s,
as the culture of the Plains Indians
declines
 Geography of the West
► Area between the
Mississippi Valley and the
Pacific Mountains
► Areas where settlers and
Indians lived
► By 1900 Indians had been
forced off their lands
- Transcontinental
Railroad opened up the
west for settlement a.
carried materials and
people
 Miners in the West
► 1859 - Gold found in the
Rocky Mountains (Clear
Creek near Pikes Peak)
- 1st found by George
Jackson
► 1959 - Gold found in
Nevada
- Lode produced 100s of
millions of dollars worth of
gold and silver
- Lode - a deposit of a
valuable mineral buried
between layers of rock
 Mining Life
► Boom towns sprang
up
- They were rough
towns
► Women worked in the
mining towns
- Cooked
- Laundry
- Dance halls
- Boarding towns
 The Business of Mining
► Few prospectors
became rich
► Lack of technology
prevented most people
from becoming rich
- Most were placer
mining - where
people wash the sand
and gravel from a
stream
 The Business of Mining
► More efficient methods
developed in the 1870' s
- Water cannons were used to
strip the dirt off the hillside
- Exposed gold
- Very harmful to the
environment
► Only companies had the money
to use water cannons
► Working conditions were brutal
- 100 degrees fairenhight in
some caves
- Workers wore thick boots to
protect against hot water
- Accidents such as cave-ins
and dynamite explosions were
common
 Mining Boom Ends
► Most of the mining
towns became ghost
towns
► Gold rush changed the
geography of the
United States
 Mining Boom Ends
► The population grew so
much in some areas that
they were able to become
states
- 1864 - Nevada
- 1876 - Colorado
- 1889 - North Dakota,
South Dakota, and
Montana
-1890 - Idaho
 Lumber Industry
► Logging became a big
business in the west
► Pacific Northwest had
an abundance of trees
-Redwoods
- Douglas fur
► Settlers needed lumber
for homes and mine
timbers
 Alaska
► 1867 - William Seward
arranged for the purchase of
Alaska from Russia
► U.S. Senators didn't want to buy
it
- Called it "Seward's Folly"
► Gamble paid off
- Russia lost foothold in North
America
► Alaska was rich in natural
resources
- Gold
- Copper
- Oil
-Timber
 Government policy
► Early 1800's Plains Indians lived and hunted between the
Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains
- 1840' s - Whites begin to settle the west coast
- U.S. Gov. ask Indians to let settlers pass safely
- Asked the Indians to limit their hunting to certain are
- Indians had to move with buffalo
► Mid 1800's - U.S. Gov changes policy
- Established reservations - special areas used by a
specific group
- Indians agreed to live on reservations based on the
promise that the land would be theirs forever (signed
Treaties with the U.S. Gov.)
- They were also promised food, money and other help
 Clash of culture
► Indians and settlers looked at the world
differently
► Settlers felt that the resources were their to
be used
- Large scale hunting, mining, and farming
► Plains Indians used only the resources they
needed for their actual needs
- They saw the white settlers as being
greedy and destructive
 Fighting begins
► By 1860's - Treaties were being
broken by both sides
► Settlers continued to pass
through areas where they were
not allowed
► Groups of Indians raided white
settlements and wagon trains
► 1864 - Sand Creek Massacre
- Colorado militia attacked
Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand
Creek
- Indians thought they were
under the protection of a nearby
government outpost
- Over 100 Indians were
slaughtered (including women
and children)
 Fighting begins
► 1866 - Chief Red Cloud
(Sioux:) defeated
Captain W.J.
Fetterman and 80 U.S.
army soldiers
 Led them into a trap
and killed them
 Fighting begins
► Little Bighorn (most famous
battle of the Indian wars)
► The Black Hills of South Dakota
had been set aside for the Sioux
and Northern Cheyenne
► 1874 - U.S. Army exploring
party found gold
- Settlers went looking for gold
- Gov. tried to buy the Black
Hills (Sioux considered land
sacred)
- 1875 and 1876 - Sioux
warrior left their reservations
and united under the leadership
of two Sioux chiefs (Sitting
Bull and Crazy Horse)
 Fighting begins
► June 25, 1876 - George
Armstrong Custer and several
hundred army soldiers found a
Sioux camp near the Little Bighorn
River
- Custer gained fame fighting in
Civil War
- Admirers considered him a daring
brilliant officer
- Critics considered him a
dangerous showoff
► Custer had orders to attack any
Indians he came into contact with
► When he attacked he was actually
stepping into a trap
► Custer and all of his men were
killed
- Became known as "Custer's
Last Stand"
 Fighting begins
► People in the East were shocked by the news of the Battle
of Little Bighorn
- U.S. Gov. sent 1000's of troops to fight the Indians
► The Battle of Little Bighorn was the last Indian Victory in
the Indian Wars
- 1876 - U.S. Army defeated the Sioux
- Sitting Bull and his followers escaped to Canada
► Crazy Horse was arrested
- He was fatally stabbed as he was being arrested
- Not sure if guard or another Indian stabbed him
 Chief Joseph
► Led the Nez Perce people
► Nez Perce lived in northwest
(Oregon and Idaho)
- Fished for salmon, gathered
food, and hunted
► Chief Joseph refused to sell land
to government
► 1877 - Gov. ordered the Nez Perce
people to move to a reservation
- They fled and tried to evade
the army
► Captured about 40 miles south of
Canada
- Chief Joseph made speech
- Said that he would fight no
more
 Southwest Indians
► Navajo were forced to move to
reservations in the east
- March called "The Long Walk"
► Reservation was a failure
- Navajo allowed to return home
► Mid 1870's - Apache were forced
to move away from their traditional
territory
- Geronimo - led his people off
the reservation
- Evaded the army many times due
to their knowledge of southern
Arizona
- 1886 - Geronimo captured and
forced to live far away from his
people
Indians way of life destroyed
► Whites killed buffalo
► Indians depended on buffalo
► Indians were unable to survive
without the buffalo
► Many Indians turned to the Ghost
Dance Religion
- It taught that the spirits of the
dead Indians would return to help
the Indians reclaim their land
► Many whites were fearful of this
movement
- Asked the army for help
- Cavalry rounded up Sioux men on
the Pine Ridge Reservation
- Place called wounded knee
Indians way of life destroyed
► Wounded Knee
Massacre
- 300 men, women,
and children Sioux
were killed
- Considered to be
the last battle of the
Indian Wars
 Assimilation
► Conditionsgrew worse as more Indians
were forced on to reservations
► Reformers began calling for changes
► Many white though that only solution was to
make the Indians become more like the
whites
- Assimilation - to adopt the culture of the
people around you
 Assimilation
► Dawes Act (1887) - intended to make Indians give up their traditions and
accept White customs
- Reservation lands were divided up in farm plots for families and individuals
(40 to 160 acres)
- Any remaining land was sold to white settlers
- Profits used to pay for Indian schools
- Indians who accepted the plots of land could become citizens for the 1st
time
► Dawes Act failed
- Many western Indians didn't want to settle down as farmers
- Lacked tools and training
- Many sold their plots to white settlers cheap
► End 1800's - situation of the American Indians was tragic
- Lost land, people, and culture
- 20th century U.S. government finally realizes importance of Indian way of
life
 Cowboys
► 1/6 were Mexican
American
► Some were black
- Nat Love - born in a
slave cabin
- Moved west when he
was a teenager
- Became famous
performing in rodeos
 Birth of the Cattle Industry
► Cowboys' roots were in Texas
► Small herds - (only sold cattle
locally)
► Joseph McCoy organized 1st
cattle drive
- Drove cattle to Abilene Kansas
(Railroad)
- Cattle sold for $40 per head in
the east ($3 per head in Texas)
► Dodge city also becomes a
cattle town
 Long drives
► Cowboys herded cattle
over the open plains to
cattle towns
► 12 cowboys 3000 head
► Made sure that cattle had
plenty of grass to eat
along the way
► Drives were tough
- Had to keep cattle
together
- Watch for thieves
 Wild West
► Cowboys ended drives in cattle
towns
- Were dirty and nasty
- Weren't always law abiding
- Had money to spend
► Large spaces with little settlement
made it hard to catch outlaws
- Frank and Jesse James
became legendary bank robbers
- Belle Starr became famous
cattle thief
► Westerners formed vigilante
groups
- Groups that took the law into
their own hands
 The End of the Open Range
► Late 1800's -long drives
end
► Overgrazing, bad weather
from 1883 to 1887
destroyed whole herds
► Ranchers began keeping
smaller herds that yielded
more meat per animal
► Tick fever caused land
owners to cutoff land from
the long drives
► Fence land with barbed
wire & turn open range
into separate ranches
 Section 2

Settling on
the Great Plains
Settlers on the Great Plains transform
the land despite great hardships.
 Farming the Plain
► Gov. encouraged
western settlement
► (1862) Homestead
Act - Gov. offered 160
acres to head of family
over age 21 in return
for living on the land 5
years and improving it
- 1862 to 1900 –
6000,000 families
settled in the west
 Farming the Plain
► Exodusters - Southern
African-American settlers
in Kansas
► Gov. created Department
of agriculture
 Introduced new crops
(Russian wheat) that could
survive harsh winters
 Morrill Act of 1862, 1890
financed agricultural colleges
 Life on the farming frontier
► Lumber was scarce
► Many settlers dug homes into
sides of ravines or hills
► Made soddy or sod home by
stacking blocks of turf
- Snakes & bugs sometimes
crawled into cracks
- Burned cow chips for fuel
► Grew cash crops (wheat and
com)
► Had to fight year around battle
against weather (blizzards and
extreme heat)
 Life on the farming frontier
► Homesteaders were
virtually alone (Had to be
self-sufficient)
► Women did men’s work
(plowing, harvesting,
shearing sheep)
- Also did traditional work
(carding wool, making
soap, canning vegetables)
- Some worked for
communities (sponsor
schools, churches)
 Farmers in Debt
► Railroads, investors created bonanza farms
(huge, single-crop spreads)
► 1885 to1890 - droughts bankrupted single-
crop operations
► Rising cost of shipping grain pushed farmers
into debt
 Closing the Frontier
► 1872, Yellowstone National
Park created to protect some
wilderness
► 1890s - No frontier left
- miners, ranchers, and farmers
had swelled the population
► April 22, 1889 - Governemt
gave signal for settlers to settle
the Oklahoma territory
- It was laid out within the day
- 60,000 people lived there by
the end of the year
► Sooners - some people snuck
into Oklahoma before the Gov.
gave the signal
 Section 3

Farmers and the

Populist Movement
Farmers unite to address their economic
problems, giving rise to the Populist
movement.
 Unrest in Rural America
► The growth of urban America made possible
because farmers were so productive
► Farmers felt poor compared to city people
► Farm life seemed boring compared to the
exciting opportunities of the city
 Hard Times for Farmers
► 1867 - Oliver H. Kelley started the
Patrons of Husbandry (Grange)
- Hoped to fight the loneliness of
farm life and farming methods
- Open to both men and women
► Meetings were held at local schools
- Both social and educational
► Late 1800's - most farmers weren't
self sufficient
- Grew cash crops
► Most were in debt
- Western farmers owed banks
money for their land and equipment
- Southern farmers had taken on
debt to rebuild farms destroyed in
the Civil War
 Low Prices and High Cost
► Farmer's lives were hard
- droughts, floods, insects, and animal diseases
► 1870's - faced another problem
- Low prices for their crops
- Sank farther into debt
► Caused by overproduction
- More people became farmers
- Farming methods improved
► Became more expensive to operate a farm
- Tariffs on imported farm equipment
- Railroads raised prices
 The Granger Movement
► Turned their attention to economic and political issues
► Economic goal - avoid using middlemen
- People who made a living storing, transporting and selling product
- Cut into farmers’ profits and added to cost for buyer
► Grangers created cooperatives
- An organization owned and operated by those who use its services
- They shared crops in some places
- Allowed them to set their prices
► Politically - they elected legislatures that put limits on railroad and
storage prices
- Called Granger laws
 The Populist Party
► 1880's - Several political parties combined
► Populism - movement of the people
► Populist Party wants reforms
► Economic: increase money supply, graduated
income tax, & federal loans
► Political: Senate elected by popular vote, secret
ballot & 8-hour day
► 1892 - Populist candidates elected at different
levels of government
► Democratic Party eventually adopted platform
 Debate Over Money Policy
► Pitted debtors against creditors
► Debtors wanted more money to be put into circulation
► Wanted the government to coin more silver (bimetallism)
► Bimetallism - system using both silver and gold to back currency
► Silverites - would create more money, stimulate economy
► Creditors wanted to limit the amount of money
- Favored gold standard
► Gold standard - backing currency with gold only
► Paper money considered worthless if cannot be exchanged for metal
► Gold bugs - gold only would create more stable if expensive currency
 Election of 1892
► 1892 - Populist nominate
James B. Weaver for
president
► He had the following proposals
- Wanted Gov. to control and
operate railroads, telegraph and
telephone systems
- Wanted secret ballot in
elections
- Wanted graduated income tax
- Wanted U.S. senators to be
elected directly by the people
rather than state legislatures
- Demanded shorter working
hours for labor
► Grover Cleveland won 1892
election
 The Panic of 1893
► Railroads expanded faster
than markets
- Some went bankrupt
► Government’s gold supply
became depleted
- Led to rush on banks
- Businesses, banks
collapse
- Panic became depression
 Election of 1896
► Money was the central
issue
► Republicans nominated
William McKinley
- Supported big business
(gold standard)
► Democrats nominated
William Jennings Bryan
- Supported silver
► Populists endorsed Bryan
& chose own VP to
maintain party identity
 Election of 1896
► Candidates ran different campaigns
- McKinley didn't go out and campaign
- Considered undignified
- Accepted visitors at his home Bryan launched something
like a modem campaign
- Traveled by train made speeches
► Bryan carried the south and west (except California)
► McKinley carried northeast and California
- Won more electoral votes
► Urban America defeated rural America
 The End of Populism
► 1896 - McKinley
elected president
► Populism collapsed
► Left legacy:
- Showed the
powerless could
organize & have
political impact
- Agenda of reforms
enacted in 20th century