His 112Chapter 17

The West

Movement West Before Civil War, many had ventured west California was a popular destination

because of the Gold Rush in the late 1840s Thousands of newcomers had flocked to

California After Civil War many more moved

westward: farmers, land speculators, railroad men, and laborers

Obstacle for settlers: Native Americans Americans’ quest for personal property

proved disastrous for the Indians Picture, p.499 Americans

Stripped the land of trees Slaughtered buffalo for hides, burrowed into

mountains looking for minerals, and dug up the soil in the Plains to build sod houses

They did so with the help of the military, railroad builders, and land laws

Native Americans’ traditional way of life was doomed

By 1890s, almost every Indian nation of the Great Plains had been relocated to often inferior, inadequate lands

Map, p. 494

Native Indian Culture 2 Cultural Groups

Nomadic or semi-nomadic -- depended on hunting and gathering; hunted buffalo for food, hides, & sinew for bows; Shoshone, Apache, Cheyenne, Dakota,& Crow

Settled -- depended on farming and gardening; Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, & Pawnee

Almost all had a highly formalized culture and religions that regarded their relationship with nature as sacred

We have this quote from Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe in Washington Territory, 1854 “This we know. The earth does not belong to

man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself

There was usually the sexual division of labor Men hunted, fished, fought in wars, and held

powerful positions

Women raised children and crops; oftentimes family descent was traced through the mother – matrilineal descent

Women could also play important roles in the political, religious, social, & economic affairs of the tribe

Americans made treaties with Native Americans but often broke them

Indians were pushed onto smaller and smaller reservations as more Americans got possession of their land

Between 1850 and 1877, a policy of concentrating Indians on reservations accelerated

Map, p. 494

Indians found their hunting grounds gone and the buffalo herds destroyed

They then were forced to become more dependent on the federal government for the basics of life

However, they didn’t go quietly; they tried to defend their lands that often ended in massacre for them

P. 494,495

Examples: August, 1864 – Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux

attacked settlements in Kansas. The army, in turn, raided a sleeping Cheyenne village killing 100+ warriors, 800 horses, and capturing 53 women and children

This was an effort by the U.S. army to convince the Indians to confine themselves to the reservations

1870a - Kiowa, Comanche, & Cheyenne raided Adobe Walls, a trading post in Texas, setting off the Red River War; they were put down fiercely by the army

Most were massacres for the Indians with one exception: Battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand in June, 1876 Custer and 200 men faced 1500 – 5000 Indians

led by Sitting Bull Custer and his entire force were wiped out

There were some Americans who felt massacres were not the answer

1879 – Richard H. Pratt founded the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania It attempted to teach Indians white American

ways, so they could succeed in American society

In doing that, they destroyed the Indians culture and traditions

Picture, p. 498

Helen Hunt Jackson wrote in her book, A Century of Dishonor (1881), about the U.S. government’s record of broken treaties

She helped arouse the support of those looking for another answer to the “Indian Problem”, as it was called

Humanitarians helped change the Indian policy with the passage of The Dawes-Severalty Act, 1887

Dawes-Severalty Act Severalty means to treat Indians as

individuals, not as members of a tribe or nation

This Act: Reversed the reservation policy Dissolved community-owned tribal lands Granted land allotments to individual families Government would retain ownership of land for

25 years to keep Indians from selling land to speculators

Granted citizenship to all who accepted land

U.S. Indian Policy 3 Main Features

Indians would become “more civilized” by learning how to manage their own property

Indians would lose their “barbaric” habits more quickly if their children were sent away to boarding schools

Bureau of Indian Affairs tried to suppress traditional Indian religious ceremonies and funded white church groups to set up religious schools to help Indians become good Christians

These policies were for the Native Americans, but they had no say in the policy

The policy was ineffective Land allotments were rarely carried out Most native children in boarding schools ran

away Whites continued to use violence against

Native Americans Example: Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee In 1880s Sioux were experiencing more

government restrictions Meat rations were reduced Cattle were dying

Sioux turned to the popular prophet, Wovoka, who promised to restore them to their original dominance on the plains if they did the Ghost Dance

They did and it helped reaffirm their own culture

1890 the Ghost Dance reached the Dakota Territory

Sioux who practiced it gathered at Chief Sitting Bull’s cabin

This movement Ghost Dance Movement scared the white policemen who tried to arrest Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull’s bodyguard shot a policeman who ,in turn, shot Sitting Bull

This led to an outbreak of violence at Wounded Knee: 200 Native Americans including 7 babies and

many women were killed within minute

As a result, Indians had to once again abandon their traditions

They lived in poverty where alcoholism and unemployment were growing problems

The West was won at the expense of the Native Americans 1900 - 250,000 Native Americans in U.S.

1800 - 600,000 Native Americans in the U.S.

1492 - 5 million+ lived in the area that became the U.S.

Settlement of the West 1870 -1900 - Whites, Africans,

Hispanics, and Asians settled 430 million acres west of the Mississippi

They went for adventure, religious freedom (Mormons), opportunities in farming, mining, ranching, and other jobs

Individuals, whole families, and sometimes an entire town would pick up and move west

Beginning in 1849 many wished to go to California or Oregon for the gold

1849 – 1880, a half a million made their way west

They walked, rode a horse, or were part of a wagon train Wagon trains left the Missouri River area in the

spring hoping to reach their destinations before snow fell

It was a hard journey, and many died along the way

You could find your way along the Oregon Trail by following the grave markers

As railroads pushed further west, they began to replace wagon trains 10 May 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad from

the west connected with the Union Pacific Railroad from the east to form the nation’s 1st transcontinental railroad

The 2 systems met at Promontory Point in Utah and a golden spike was hammered into the ground

Many moved west to get government land 1862 – 1890, the government tried to attract

settlers to the midwest and west with the passage of the Homestead Act

The government gave away 48 million acres under this act

Government sold 100 million acres to private citizens and corporations

It granted 128 million acres to the railroads

Homestead Act 160 acres were given to anyone who:

Paid the $10 registration fee Promised to live on the land for 5 years Promised to cultivate and improve the land

Europeans from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Czechoslovakia came to America looking for land

Americans in nearby states also claimed land under the Homestead Act

By 1900, 600,000 families claimed land under this act

However, only 1 acre in 9 went to settlers The rest went to land speculators Not all settlers stayed because life proved

too difficult for them

Timber Culture Act of 1873 – allowed settlers to claim an additional 160 acres if they planted trees on a quarter of it

Timber and Stone Act of 1878 – applied to lands unfit for cultivation; valuable only for its timber and stone

Anyone in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington could buy 160 acres for $2.50 per acre

Speculators always found loopholes, so they could get more land for less money

Water could be hard to come by; however, using irrigation, dams, and canals often solved the problem

Railroads benefited the most from government land policies, and they became the largest landholders

To attract settlers to land near railroads, railroad companies Offered long-term loans and free transportation

to new territories Advertised in the U.S. and in foreign countries Millions of Americans and 2.2 million

immigrants moved westward Picture, p. 503

Life on the Plains Scarcities of essentials Little lumber for housing and for fuel Water was scarce Climate was unpredictable Insects were plentiful Social isolation New farm equipment helped increase crop

yields: grain binders, threshers, seeders, combines, mowers, and rotary plows

As per railroad advice, farmers grew a cash crop and then shipped it to market on the train Farmers could make lots of money if demand

was high They could also lose if there was a glut of a

certain crop

1889 – 1906: Oklahoma land , not already settled, was sold in lotteries or auctions

Reservation land was being broken up by the Dawes Act

This was known as the Oklahoma Land Rush

The Cowboy It was a tough, dirty, lonely, and boring life Some only did it for 2 years and moved on

to something else They were of different races and

nationalities: 1/5 were black or Mexican who found freedom on the trail Nat Love was the son of Tennessee slaves who

became a chief branderCowboys were also glorified in Buffalo Bill Cody’s

Wild West Show

Ranching Frontier Indian removal and railroad construction

cleared the way for Cattle Ranching They practiced open-range ranching

Ranchers would buy a few acres bordering a water source

Then they would turn their herds loose on adjacent public lands that no one wanted to own because of lack of water

Ranchers could then control thousands of acres while only owning a hundred or so

Demand for beef grew so herds grew Ranchers felt prairie grasses would run out

if fencing did not occur This closed off the open range Farmers began using barbed wire fences

to keep cattle away from their crops; this started range wars

Farmers won

Grover Cleveland in 1885 tried to observe the law by removing cattle from the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation

This pushed 200,000 more cattle on already overgrazed land

Bad winters and drought killed almost 90% of the cattle in some areas

Mining Many went west for the California Gold

Rush of 1849 There were hopes of getting rich quick in

gold, silver, or quartz Others went west to provide services:

food, clothing, laundry Mining towns were established and labor

was unionized Foreign miners were not welcome in

California

A foreign miners’ tax was passed; they had to pay a $20 licensing fee

There were riots against Chinese laborers in different places in the west Some felt the Chinese were taking jobs away

from white Americans during recession times Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in

1882 that closed off Chinese immigration for 10 years

The mining boom was over by the 1890s It was miners that helped populate

Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, and Oregon and bring them into the Union

These miners also poured billions of dollars into the American economy

The Frontier was declared closed by 1900