1. Mining, Ranching and Farming– 1860-1900 AP United States History

2. What Prompts Americans To Move West? ► Push Factors 1) The Civil War displaced thousands of former slaves, farmers, and workers. 1) The Civil War displaced thousands of former slaves, farmers, and workers. 2) Eastern farmland was increasingly costly, particularly for African Americans or impoverished immigrants. 2) Eastern farmland was increasingly costly, particularly for African Americans or impoverished immigrants. 3) Ethnic and religious repression caused Americans and Europeans to seek freedom in the West. 3) Ethnic and religious repression caused Americans and Europeans to seek freedom in the West.

3. What Prompts Americans To Move West? ► Before the Civil War, disagreements between the North and South over the extension of slavery in the West delayed settlement in this region. ► Pull Factors 1) Federal government promoted western migration by giving away public land OR selling it at rock bottom prices. 1) Federal government promoted western migration by giving away public land OR selling it at rock bottom prices. 2) A key incentive to western settlement was the availability of legally enforceable, transferable property rights. 2) A key incentive to western settlement was the availability of legally enforceable, transferable property rights. ► Pacific Railway Act 1862, 1864- the government gave large land grants to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific RRs. From 1850- 1871, the RRs received more than 175 million acres of land. ► Morrill Land Grant Act 1862- It gave state governments millions of acres west, which states could sell to raise money to build land-grant colleges. ► Homestead Act 1862- Under the act for a small fee, a settler could have 160 acres of land, if they met certain conditions a. 21 years old b. Americans citizens or filing for citizenship c. Built a house and lived on it for 6 mts. d. Had to farm the land for 5 years.

4. Wasn’t There Already Someone on the Land?

5. Mining ► After the Gold Rush of 1848/49, there was a surge of fortune hunters that moved west. Little did they know that in the area that they moved across was full of valuable minerals. ► Nevada’s Comstock Lode held one of the biggest gold strike’s ever. ► Almost at the same time, gold was found west of Denver; this strike threw open the gates to the American interior. ► The largest strike was the Homestake Mines in the Black Hills of the Dakota territory in 1877.

6. The Cattle Boom ► Mexicans taught Americans cattle ranching in the early 1800s. ► Several changes helped encourage the boom of the cattle industry * American cookbooks began to snub the traditional American meat- pork. As a result, beef became the meat to eat * Breeders began to import better quality cattle. * Refrigerated RR cars allowed cattle to be slaughtered, then shipped. This reduced transportation prices.

7. Buffalos ► As settlers moved west, they began to destroy the buffalo. ► The buffalo had been the center of Native Americans world. ► From 1840 to 1890, approximately 20-25 million buffalo were killed. ► As the buffalo were killed off, Native Americans were forced to grow their own food and make room for settlers.

8. “Cow Towns” ► At first, Texas herds were driven north to the nearest railroad. Then other “cow towns” began to pop up along the rails. ► “Cow towns” like Abilene, Kansas, Cheyenne, WY, and Dodge City, KS. ► These cow tows had the potential to get out of control. But over time, they were made into respectable law abiding towns. ► The cattle industry had two decades of great prosperity, over 8 million Texas cattle were rounded up and shipped east.

9. Life on the Trail: Chisholm Trail ► The cattle drives that herded thousands of cattle to different railway points were called long drives. ► The Chisholm Trail- which went from San Antonio, TX to the north was an area where long drives were frequent. ► The men of the Chisholm trail were a tough and diverse lot. ► They survived on physical endurance, a need for little sleep, and a sense of humor. A touch of eccentricity also helped. ► The cowboy became the national hero.

10. Life on the Trail cont. ► The job was mostly bone-tiring drudgery; it was also boring but at the same time tense. ► Men were up at 3:30am in the saddle by 4am. ► Cow hands were separated most of the day from others they worked with because they were spread across tens of miles. ► They could spend up to 18 hours a day in the saddle and must always be on constant alert. ► The cow hands would sing to the cattle to calm them down. ► They struggled with illness, the elements, stampedes, gun fights, but worst for many was loneliness.

11. Cattle Barons ► As cattle business grew, a new breed of wealthy ranchers created huge cattle operations. ► By 1885, about three dozen reigned over more than 20 million acres of rangeland. ► One of the most famous bonanza ranchers was Charles Goodnight. ► By the end of the 1880s, the cattle bonanza had died out.

12. Life and Farming on the Great Plains ► Life farming the Plains has been sensationalized. But in reality life for homesteaders was rugged and could be brutal. ► Once on the Homestead land, one would have to build a home. Most people lived in soddies or dugouts. Soddies were cheap to build but insulated from the elements. ► Families who had moved west found that each members role generally stayed the same as it had in the east. But in a pinch, women and men could step outside of their sphere. ► Women could file their own claim of land. ► Child Labor was crucial.

13. Soddies and Dugouts

14. Farming the Great Plains ► Once the sod home was up, it was time to go sod busting- plowing the field for planting. ► At times the back breaking labor of sod busting paid off, but other times the weather and environment could ruin the hard work. ► There were floods, prairie fires, dust storms, bugs, droughts, etc. ► If those issues were not enough to worry about, finances were always on the Plains farmers minds. ► At times, when conditions got bad, like in the 1880s, people moved back east.

15. Technology Aids in Farming Success ► Realizing that doing battle with the environment would be a difficult fight farmers adapted. Instead of trying to plant crops that don’t need a great deal of water- dry farming. ► They also welcomed machines that would save time and effort ( i.e.- harrows, steel plows, steel windmill, barbed wire, mechanical reaper). ► The USDA, created in 1862, provide farmers with information to farmers. The information varied from market reports, how crop rotation works, to different plant diseases. ► This led to more output by farmers. As a result businessmen took advantage of the opportunity and created bonanza farms. ► Bonanza farm were managed by professions and produced mass quantities of cash crops.

16. Frontier Myths ► The “ Wild West” was everything people thought it was– lively, hard-living, shoot em’up, tough talkin’ part of America. ► But the wild towns were tamed fairly quickly or disappeared. ► There were numerous social clubs, churches, and occupational clubs that brought culture and civilization to the west. ► By 1890, the days of free western land was over– it was the end of the frontier.

17. Frontier Myths cont. ► Fredrick Jackson Turner claimed that the frontier had played a key role in forming the American character. ► Frontier life, Turner stated, had created Americans who were socially mobile, ready for adventure, bent on self-improvement, and committed to democracy. ► It played down some of the reality involved in moving west. ► Lastly, the myths of the west and stereotypes of the cowboy were promoted by dime store novels and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows