Chapter 13 Changes on the Western Frontier

Following the Civil War, the US continued to expand and become more and more industrialized. Railroads played a major role in this industrial growth and expansion. RR made life out west possible by allowing farmers, ranchers, and other settlers access to eastern markets and resources. They also made it easier for people to move west and populate territories at a rapid rate.

In 1862, Congress decided to build a transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific (an eastern rail company) and the Central Pacific (a western rail company) joined tracks in Promontory, Utah in The completion of the transcontinental RR could not have been possible without the contribution of thousands of Irish and Chinese immigrants.

These immigrants often worked in very dangerous conditions with very little pay. In addition, Chinese workers were often the victim of racism and abuse because of their Asian features, cultural differences, distinct dress, and language.

RR helped to unify the country, create the 4 time zones, and influence which industries succeeded. Growth of RRs also led to new towns and markets, and more opportunities for many Americans.

As settlers moved further west, Native Americans continued to feel the impact. One of the worst effects of white settlement was the destruction of the buffalo. Tourists and fur traders killed them for sport and their habitat was destroyed by the growing RR. In 1800 there were 15m buffalo and by 1886 there were fewer than 600 remaining!

The last notable armed conflict b/t US troops and Native Americans occurred in 1890 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, after a Sioux holy man named Wovoka developed a religious ritual called the Ghost Dance. The Sioux believed that this dance would bring back the buffalo, return the tribes to their land, and banish the white man from the Earth.

Believing that the Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, was using the Ghost Dance to start a Native American uprising, the gov’t sent in the US Army. When soldiers tried to arrest Sitting Bull, a gunfight killed 14 people, including Sitting Bull. Soldiers then pursued the Sioux to Wounded Knee Creek, where over 150 men, women, and children (mostly unarmed) were killed. All of these events brought the Indian wars, and the era, to an end.

As the buffalo disappeared and the Native Americans were forced to live on reservations, cattle ranching was becoming a big business from Texas to Kansas. American settlers learned about ranching from their Mexican neighbors and used many of the same techniques. The idea of the cowboy came from the Spanish vaquero.

After the Civil War the demand for workers and the desire for beef led many Americans to move westward to ranch. Cowboys and ranchers would take their herds from Texas, along the Chisholm Trail, to Kansas. From there the cattle would be shipped via RR to the East. Overgrazing, periods of bad weather, and the invention of barbed wire caused the downfall of the wide-open cattle industry of the West.