1. Settling the West
Chapter 2

2. Miners & Ranchers
Lesson 1

3. Mining Mining played a major role in settling the west
News of a mineral strike would bring many new settlers to the west
Boomtowns
Quickly growing towns
Once mines were used up, the town would go “bust” and turn into ghost towns in most cases

4. Colorado Gold was discovered near Pikes Peak in Colorado in 1858
Mining in Colorado led to railroads being built throughout the Rocky Mountains
This made Denver the second largest city in the West
Next to #1 San Francisco

5. Tombstone Vigilance committees
Self appointed volunteers who would track down and punish wrongdoers
Silver was found in Tombstone, Arizona in 1877
Boom lasted about 30 years
Was known for its lawlessness
Marshal Wyatt Earp and his brothers gained reputation during famous O.K. Corral gunfight

6. Hydraulic Mining
Water is sprayed at high pressure to remove dirt and gravel to reveal minerals
Although this was effective, it also caused silt, sand, and gravel to wash into rivers resulting in flooding and ruining farmland
Farmers sued the mining companies and won
Congress passed a law in 1893 allowing hydraulic mining as long as they properly disposed of the sediment

7. Quarter Mining
Although Congress was now allowing hydraulic mining, quarter mining had already started to develop
Mine shafts are dug and miners go underground to extract minerals

8. Ranching & Cattle Drives
Longhorns were well adapted to the Texas region
Open Range
Grassland owned by the government and ranchers could graze cattle free of charge
Ranchers realized they could move their cattle close to the railroads to sell, therefore cattle trails began
Cattle trails ended when farmers came in and put barbed wire fences around their land blocking the trail
was a harsh winter and killed many cattle—prices plunged and many cowboys became ranch hands

9. Changes
Spanish mission system collapsed and landholding elite created haciendas
Ranches covering thousands of acres
The gold rush resulted in the California population demographics changing
Hispanic Californian’ status diminished and they were given less desirable jobs—their land was also taken by new settlers in many instances

10. Barrios: Spanish speaking neighborhoods in a town or city
Many Hispanic cowboys (vaqueros) were angered when English speaking cowboys started fencing in land they had used for grazing
Led to raids
Barrios: Spanish speaking neighborhoods in a town or city

11. Farming the Plains
Lesson 2

12. Great Plains
The Great Plains is the area west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains
The weather in this area made it difficult to settle
For a small fee, one could file for a homestead and claim up to 160 acres
Piece of land acquired by living on it and cultivating it

13. Plains Vocabulary Dry Farming Sodbusters Bonanza Farms
Farming dry land by planting seed deep in the ground where the moisture is
Sodbusters
People who plowed the plains
Bonanza Farms
Huge wheat farms (up to 65,000 acres)

14. Farms
Dry farming became possible by use of steel plows, threshing machines, seed drills, and reapers
Land would become overused
Wheat could withstand the dry conditions
By the 1880s, the U.S. became the world’s leading exporter of wheat
A huge drought destroyed many wheat farms

15. Farming Problems
Many farmers borrowed money from banks to try and keep their farms
If land was lost many became tenant farmers
Rent land from new owners
Oklahoma Land Rush
Thousands of people raced to stake their claim
1890: it was said there was no longer a true frontier left in America—end of an era
This was a time that ordinary people went through great struggle to build communities

16. Native Americans
Lesson 3

17. Nomads Roamed the land for food Their main source of food was buffalo
Settlers coming in deprived the Natives of their food and promised land

18. Dakota Sioux Uprising
They agreed to live on a reservation in exchange for annuities that sometimes never reached them
This led to an uprising when they were starving and weren’t given food on credit
The military sentenced 300+ to death
President Lincoln reduced this to 38
Many fled to “Dakota Territory” following this

19. Red Cloud’s War AKA: Fetterman’s Massacre
Another group of Sioux were called Lakota
Chiefs: Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull
Crazy Horse tricked Fetterman into sending 80 soldiers to a raiding party where warriors waited to wipe them out

20. Sand Creek Massacre Cheyenne and Arapaho
Settlers started moving into Colorado and Natives began raiding them killing about 200
Many Natives ended up surrendering
The ones who didn’t made camp at Sand Creek to negotiate
Colonel John Chivington attacked them
Despite knowing they were there to make an agreement
Nobody knows the truth of what happened at Sand Creek

21. Trying to Make Negotiations
Congress formed the Indian Peace Commission
This proposed 2 reservations for Natives
The problem was there was no way to enforce this

22. Battle of Little Bighorn
Settlers broke their treaty by mining in the Black Hills
Since settlers were breaking the rules, the Natives saw no reason to abide by them
They went to hunt in Montana and the government retaliated by sending troops led by Colonel Custer
Custer and his 200 men were slaughtered
Sitting Bull and his followers fled to Canada and many were forced to give up the Black Hills

23. Ghost Dance
Native Americans still hoped settlers would disappear giving them their land back
The Ghost Dance was a ritual that celebrated their hopes
Federal authorities banned the Ghost Dance and ended up killing Sitting Bull along with others

24. Differing Opinions
Many Americans thought the treatment of the natives was unjust
Others thought they should assimilate and become American citizens
Schools were set up for Natives where they had to come up with American names, speak English, and dress like them

25. Dawes Act
It was encouraged that Natives become landowners and the reservations were split into allotments
Each head of household was given an allotment of 80 acres and each child 40 acres
Any land remaining was sold to settlers and the money was put into a trust for Natives
Citizenship was given by staying on allotment for 25 years
Few stayed long enough for citizenship

26. Giving In Citizenship Act Indian Reorganization Act 1924
Granted all Natives citizenship despite the failure of allotment
Indian Reorganization Act
1934
Reversed Dawes Act giving reservations back and permitted them to elect their own government