3. The Great West Beckons Land west of the Mississippi River Inhabited by: –Native Americans (360,000) –Buffalo, wild horses, coyotes By 1890, the “frontier” was closed –Carved into states or territories Clashes between the Americans and Natives resulted over the land

4. Reservation System Indian Appropriations Act (1851): authorized the establishment of reservations Reservation treaties signed with tribes –Promised food, clothing, supplies, & that they would be left alone Boundaries were established for each tribe –Mainly in the Dakota territory & Oklahoma Movement did not go well

5. Resistance Known collectively as the “Indian Wars” Sand Creek (1864): 400 Native Americans massacred under a flag of peace Little Big Horn [Custer’s Last Stand] (1876): Sioux wiped out Custer’s army Nez Perce resisted from Oregon Apache led by Geronimo (AZ & NM) Wounded Knee (1890): Sioux Ghost Dancers massacred by the army Hurt more by the destruction of the buffalo

8. American Sympathy Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor (1881) –Chronicled the government’s record of dealing with the Indians –Awoke some sympathy Dawes Severalty Act (1887): ended reservation system in favor of individual plots of land –Each family head given 160 acres –Had to become like the whites to fully own –Tried to undo the idea of the “tribe” that was sacred to N.A. culture Reversed by Indian Reorganization Act (1934)

11. Prospecting Mineral rich areas first to be settled Discovery of a mineral deposit spurred migration Began after CA Gold Rush Prospectors: people searching for minerals –Zinc, tin, silver, lead, copper

12. Mining Centers Corporate Mining became the norm Needed large amounts of capital to get beyond the surface Explosives, Compressed Air, or Diamond headed rotary drills Anaconda Copper Mining Company the largest –Telegraph Wires –Telephone Wires –Electric Wires

14. Boom to Ghost Towns Towns would grow overnight around a mineral deposit Would disappear overnight when the mine went dry Mining did not create permanent settlements in the West Calico, CA St. Elmo, CO

16. The Open Range Slaughter of the buffalo made way for the cattle industry Over 5 million longhorns at the end of the Civil War Potential plentiful beef supply for the east Spread of the RR (& refrigerated car) made this possible Late 1860’s cattle became big money Texas Longhorn

17. The Cattle Trails Long Drive: –Driving herds through the Plains to a railroad terminal Cowboys –The Drivers (1/300-500 cattle) –Lifestyle was romanticized –Paid low wages, harsh conditions –Very diverse group

18. Cow Towns Cow towns were where the long drives ended Full of gambling halls, saloons, dance halls, and brothels Prostitution & drinking were common Discouraged stable communities Crime was high –Wild Bill Hickok & Wyatt Earp famous sheriffs –Most serious was horse theft & cattle rustling

19. Challenges to the Long Drive Range Wars –1870’s fight between sheepherders & cattlemen over the land Barbed wire –Invented by Joseph Glidden in 1874 –Farmers used to enclose land Droughts & Blizzards –1885-1887 combo killed 90% of herds

20. The Results End of the long drive by the 1890’s Relatively short lived phenomenon Corporate ranching developed –Ranchers enclosed land to control the herds and keep them healthy

22. Homestead Act (1862) Settlers given 160 acres of land –Live there for 5 years & improve it and it is free –Pay $1.25/acre after 6 months Only 10% of all farmers got their land this way Most bought their land to be close to transportation & markets

23. Settlement Increased migration during 1870’s & 1880’s Not just Americans, but also Europeans Will rapidly settle the “Great American Desert” –From the Great Plains to the CA deserts By 1890, only 4 territories left

24. Railroad Construction Key to opening the West –Promoted Settlement –Brought people to new homes –Carried crops to the East

25. Railroad Construction

26. Frontier Settlements 1870-1890

27. Land Rushes Open land was opened for homesteading in the late 1880’s and early 1890’s Bought a claim from the government and then lined up and rushed to claim their land

28. The Dream Promoted with descriptions like “carpeted with soft grass – a sylvan paradise”

29. The Reality Harsh climate and arid soil Isolated farms Nearly half of all homesteaders failed and left

30. The Grange Movement Fraternal organization that encouraged families to work together began to form in 1867 Organized in the Midwest, the south, and Texas Set up cooperative associations with social and educational components Succeeded in lobbying for “Granger Laws” –Regulate prices of the RRs –Munn v. Illinois (1877) SC gave states the power to regulate privately owned business (grain elevators)

32. Farm Machinery Agricultural productivity and the survival of the farmers on the Plains depended on new technology –(remember the 2 nd IR is occurring in the East) Harvester Thresher

33. New Agricultural Technology “Prairie Fan” Water Pump Steel Plow [“Sod Buster”] Barbed Wire

34. Results of Machinery 1875: 1 farmer could grow a max of 8 acres of wheat 1890: 1 farmer could grow 135 acres of wheat Wheat61 hours3 hours$3.55$0.66 Corn39 hours15 hours3.621.51 Oats66 hours7 hours3.731.07 Hay21 hours4 hours1.750.42 CropMachineHandMachineHand Time WorkedLabor Cost

35. Global Farming Farmers from 1870’s on farming to trade on a global market On the Plains, production of wheat prospered –became the “World’s Breadbasket” Not all were prosperous –Start up costs very high –Crop yields not guaranteed –Many remained in debt for decades Small farms gave way to corporate farms by turn of the century

36. Price Indexes for Consumer & Farm Products: 1865-1913

38. End of the Frontier By 1890, the Census Bureau declared the end of the frontier line Homesteads from Public Lands

39. Toll on the Land Inland water sources became hotly contested Destroyed the natural flora –Forests depleted –Natural grasslands that held the soil down disappeared Major problem in the 1930’s!!! Destroyed animal life –Buffalo hunted to extinction –Grizzly Bears vastly reduced in number –Wolves reduced to near extinction

41. Conservation Movement Those that wanted to preserve nature Will push for the creation of national parks to protect land from businesses/industrialists John Muir was a leading conservationist Muir with President Theodore Roosevelt

42. National Parks A reserve of land owned by the national government 1 st park established at Yellowstone in 1872