1. Changes on the Western Frontier
Migration and Industrialization Unit

2. Settling the Great Plains
Land Grants for Railroads
Homestead Act
Helped to expand railroads out West
Race between Union Pacific (Eastward) and Central Pacific (Westward) Railroad companies
Workers – Civil War veterans, Irish and Chinese immigrants, African and Mexican Americans – hard, dangerous labor
Sold land to settlers, both American and European – many immigrants out West
Gov’t policy – granted 160 acres of land to any citizen/would-be citizen – would need to cultivate it for 5 years
Much of land taken by privateers –cattle ranches, railroads, miners, woodcutters etc. not farmers
More laws made Act stronger; encouraged more settlers, esp. in Kansas and Oklahoma
Frontier gone by Census

3. Settling the Great Plains
Daily Life on Farms
Morrill & Hatch Acts
Dugout and Soddy Homes – homes built in sides of hills or from sod (blocks of grasses and dirt)
steel plow (John Deere), reaping machines, harrows, grain drills, barb wire, etc – made farming easier and faster – still hard work
Women worked along side men; also did canning, doctoring, and teaching
Morrill Acts – 1862 & 1890 – gave land to states for education on agriculture
Hatch Act – 1887 – created stations for experiments on agriculture –create new developments and inform farmers
Developed better grain and farming techniques for use in dry land
Eastern Plains “Breadbasket of the Nation”

5. Settling the Great Plains
Hardships Faced by Farmers
More Hardships for Farmers
Disease and Plagues (locus and grasshoppers)
Bad weather (flood, drought, blizzard)
Fire
Raids by Natives or outlaws
Financial problems (debts, bankruptcy, shipping costs, etc)
Obtaining good land for farming
Living in dugouts/soddies – cold, leaks, pests, etc
Making almost everything by hand – self sufficient
Physical hardships and labor

6. Rise of Cattle Ranchers
Cattle raised prior to Civil War multiplied with limited supervision
Joseph McCoy
livestock trader from Chicago; used this as a moneymaking opportunity
Worked with railroads to ship cattle and promised a good price
Between shipped 2 million+ cattle
The “Real McCoy” – someone reliable
Continued increase in technology helped rise of cattle ranches
Refrigerated rail carriages – meat could be shipped easier
Breeding experiments
Barbed wire
Wind pump

7. Downfall of Free Range Cattle
Removal of native tribes meant more land – more competition
Led to fighting/conflict over land
Moving west – cattle not used to the climate – many died out
Barb wire – lack of free range land for cattle – downfall of cowboys’ way of life
Drought of 1883 – limited grass life for cattle
Drop in beef pricing during depression
Severe winters during 1885 and – many cowboys and cattle froze to death

8. Farmers and the Populist Movement
Unprofitable Farming
Grange & the Farmers’ Alliance
Failing crop prices, unable to make payments on mortgages; higher shipping
Less good farming land available
Increase in currency – “greenbacks” taken away (could not be exchanged for other currency); thus loans cost more to pay back
Cycle of credit and loans hard to break out of
Organizations of farmers
Promote social connections and education; helped to come together to fight railway and appeal to state gov’t
Led to other farming organizations in different areas
Developed into Populist Party