An Industrial Nation Chapter 5

The American West Section 1

A. Conflicts With Native Americans 1. The Ghost Dance –1890s Native American culture dying out –Many N.A.’s turned to their religion for help A) Wovoka –Native American Shaman –Said God had given him the Ghost Dance –Supposed to bring the buffalo back and get rid of Whites

2. Government Policy –1890s, white settlers flooding west –Whites killing the buffalo, which was central to life of the Plains Indians –Gov’t forces N.A.’s onto reservations to free up land for settlement

3. The Indian Wars –Tensions btwn Plains Indians, settlers, and U.S. Army –Settlers often broke treaties –Many military leaders begin to believe N.A.’s should simply be wiped out

a) The Sand Creek Massacre (1864) –U.S. army persuaded a group of Cheyenne to stop raiding farms –On the way back to their reservation, the Army attacked them and killed 150 people –The gov’t condemned the action, but the commander was not punished

b) Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) –Gov’t ordered all Sioux to leave their territory to whites –Sitting Bull gathers thousands of N.A.’s at the Little Bighorn River –U.S. Army led by General George Custer attack Sitting Bull, but were defeated

c) Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) –Some of Sitting Bull’s men were captured and taken to camp –Next morning, Indians doing the Ghost Dance w/ weapons –Military demand they give up weapons –Indians refused and were killed w/ machine guns –Women and children tried to run, but army chased them down and killed them as well

4. Reservation Life –Indian resistance ceases after Wounded Knee –Many are force onto reservations –a) To clear land for white settlement –b) To Americanize Natives –American schools set up –Natives taught to speak and dress American –c) The Dawes Act Broke up reservations into plots of land Natives were to own and work land like whites

B. Mining and Ranching California gold rush inspired more rushes west 1) Comstock Lode (1859) –$500 million worth of silver discovered in Nevada 2) Klondike River (1896) –Last major gold strike –Alaska These rushes brought more population west

3) Mining Communities –Most prospectors were men –Mining camps were a group of tents or shacks –Some camps turned into towns, or cities (Denver, Co.) 4) Mining as a Business –At first, miners panned or used hand tools –Later, machinery had to be used –Gave rise to big businesses mining –Miners then went to work for companies –Dangerous work –Some miners tried to organize into unions

5) Ranching on the Plains –Spanish brought cattle in the 1500s –Interbred cattle to create the Longhorn 6) Cattle Drives –1866, Cattle worth $4 in Texas, but in the east, worth $40 –Ranchers hired cowboys to drive the cattle to RR towns –Shipped to Chicago meat-packing plants –Chisholm Trail Cattle trail from San Antonio, to Kansas

7) Big-Business Ranching –Barbed Wire Allowed cattle-owners to fence off their land Created cattle corporations Led to conflicts between cowboys and ranchers

C. Farmers on the Great Plains Great plains considered “Unfit for settlement” 3 Acts encouraged Americans to settle 1. Homestead Act –160 acres of land, if you build a home, make improvements, and work land for 5 years 2. Pacific Railway Act –Gov’t gave millions of acres of land to RR companies –RR’s used some of the land, but sold the rest to settlers 3. Morrill Land Grant Act –Gov’t gave land to states to build agricultural colleges

1) Oklahoma Land Rush –1879, land in Oklahoma opened for settlement –Land Run –Towns sprang up overnight –Some cheated and left early (Sooners) 2) The New Settlers –a) Whites Middle Class, could afford supplies and transportation –b) African Americans Left the south because of persecution 15,000 migrated to Kansas, called the Exodusters

c) European Settlers –Land-poor Europeans looking for cheap land –Scandinavians, Germans, Irish –Russian Mennonites d) Chinese –Found jobs on RR’s –Established California’s fruit industry –Not allowed to own land, worked on farms

3) Challenges and Solutions –Farming on the Great Plains presented challenges –Harsh weather –Very little wood, so people built homes out of sod –Ground was hard and difficult to farm –Machines were invented that could cut through the tough ground –By 1893, the Great Plains had been settled