1. Ch. 16 Life in the West
What were the motives, hardships, and legacies of the groups that moved west in the 1800’s?

2. 16.1Introduction
The “West” stretched from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean
All the places we learned about last chapter
Very difficult terrain to cross
Stories of timber, gold, silver, and great land
People going there had “rugged individualism”
They would do whatever it took to survive there

3. 16.2 The Explorers
Many explorations of the West started in the early 1800s
Lewis and Clark were the most famous
Motivation of journey:
Explored Louisiana Territory
Find a water route across North America (Northwest Passage)
Make friends with the Indians
Meriwether Lewis

4. 16.2 Up the Missouri River May 1804: By Summer: Shoshone Indians help
45 people leave St. Louis with Lewis and Clark
By Summer:
Reached Indian country
Indians were fascinated by York, Clark’s slave
Indians had never seen an African American
They would rub his face to prove it was not paint on his skin
Shoshone Indians help
Sacajawea who would become an interpreter and guide

5. 16.2 To the Pacific and Back Key Events of Expedition:
Need horses to get through mountains before winter
Sacajawea meets some of her people (Shoshone) and gets the explorers horses
Her brother was the Shoshone chief
Once they cross the Rocky Mountains
Nez Perce save them from starvation
December 3, 1805-the group reaches the Pacific Ocean

6. 16.2 The Explorers Legacy
Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis after two years and four months
Accomplishments:
Traveled 8,000 miles total
Mapped route to Pacific
Established good relations with Native Americans
Brought back valuable information about the West and the people
Zebulon Pike
Explored the southern part of Louisiana Territory
Referred to the West as: “The Great American Desert”
Was not impressed with the landscape
John C. Fremont
Explored much land in the 1840’s
Referred to the same area as “Land of Plenty”
Attracted many settlers with this description

7. The California Missions
16.3 The Californios
The California Missions
Life on the Ranchos
Californios:
People who were born in California before 1848
Spoke Spanish
Were Catholic
Junipero Serra
A Spanish missionary,
Created a chain of missions that went from San Diego to San Francisco
Main Goal: Convert the California Indians to Christianity
Negative Impact:
Indian at the missions are being treated badly and were dying from European diseases
Mexico won it’s independence from Spain in 1821, and in 1833 Mexico closed the missions
Gave the land to soldiers and settler, each rancho was 50,000 acres
Hard work and fiesta
Self sufficient
Indian servants
Neighbors
Days away
Strangers welcomed with news of the outside world
Cattle Ranching became most important industry
Hides and tallow (beef fat)
California were corrupt
Officials would often take what they needed from settlers
Reason: too far from Mexico City and often forgot about

8. 16.3 The Californios’ Legacy
Many Spanish names for California cities
San Diego
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Many crops introduced by Californios
Grapes
Olives
Citrus Fruits
Opened the area for settlement

9. 16.4 The Mountain Men The fur trade was a very good way to get rich
Lewis and Clark gave a way for trappers to get out West
Manuel Lisa led many trappers west
The number of trappers increased each year
A beaver is like a giant rat that lives in water!

10. 16.4 The Trapper’s Life
Trapper’s Life
Mountain Men’s Legacy
Referred to as:
Mountain men
Hard living, usually died young
They mostly trapped beaver – would set traps in icy streams
Constant dangers of bears, wolves, thieves, and Indians
Rendezvous
Was an annual get-together
Trappers would traded fur and stories and competed in “manly” games
Died from disease and accidents
Not many people survived
The trails that the mountain men cleared became the trails settlers used going to California and Oregon
Trading posts became supply stations

11. 16.5 The Missionaries Missionaries Difficult Start
Their job is to teach Christianity to the Native Americans
Based on the request of the Nez Perce
Some were trained (priests and pastors) and some were just regular people
Two famous missionary families were the Whitmans and the Spaldings
Travelled to Oregon through the Oregon trial
Very treacherous
Spaldings worked with Nez Perce
Whitmans worked with Cayuse
Spaldings converted there first Christians after 3 years
Chief Joesph was one that was converted
Whitmans had difficulty
Cayuse were more interested in the white’s weapons and tools
Offended the Cayuse by not paying or offering gifts (Indian custom)
Not a single Cayuse converted

12. 16.5 A Pioneers Paradise Marcus Whitman admitted:
Cared more about the White settlement of Oregon than converting
Many people flooded the areas of the Oregon trial
In 1847 measles spreads through Whitman’s mission
Whites recovered
Indians died
Rumors the Whitmans were giving deadly pills to Indians
Cayuse attacked Whitmans mission and killed them both

13. 16.5 The Missionaries’ Legacy
Missionaries hoped that there would be large numbers of Indians converting to Christianity
Very few became Christian
Instead many Indians dies from diseases
However, missionaries were largely responsible for opening the West for settlement

14. 16.6 The Pioneer Women-On the Trail
Hazards
Started from Independence, Missouri
Travelled by cover wagons
Wagon trains
The journey
Four to six months
About 2,000 miles
Trail was littered with old possessions from past pioneers
Furniture, books, china, and other cherished objects
Women responsibilities:
Had to cook, wash clothes, and take care of the kids while traveling
The conditions were very bad
Death toll was high
Biggest killer: disease
Drowning
Indian attacks
Buffalo stampedes
Fire
Freezing
Starving
Dehydration
African American Women
Many escaped from slave states
Bounty hunters tracked down fugitives slaves
Biddy Mason: was taken from Cali to Texas
Sued for her freedom and won!!
Moved to L.A. and became a well known pioneer

15. 16.6 The Pioneer Women’s Legacy
Anne Bidwell
Women established:
Schools
Churches
Libraries
Reading groups
Charitable organizations
Women in the West had the right to vote earlier than in the rest of the country
Taught:
Sewing to local Indian women
Helped their children learn to read and write English. 
Active in movements to give women a right that had long been denied them in the East:
The right to vote. 
Wyoming Territory led the way by granting women the right to vote in
Greatest Legacy: Paving the way for equality to the rest of the United States

16. 16.7 The Mormons The Persecuted Group West to Utah
They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Founded by Joseph Smith
He claimed he received the Book of Mormon from an angel
They are Christians, but other Christians did not like them
Resented the practice of polygamy (having more than one wife)
Often persecuted b/c of this practice
Violence against Mormons eventually turned deadly
Joseph Smith was murdered in Illinois
Brigham Young led the Mormons to Utah
Brigham Young carefully planned the Mormons’ trip to Utah
They built shelters
Planted crops for the people who would come later
They established Salt Lake City, Utah
It was a very dry area
Created artificial irrigation
Digging irrigation ditches
Canals
Built Dams
Allowed mountain water to get to their crops
Salt Lake Temple

17. 16.7 The Mormon’s Legacy First Americans to settle the Great Basin
Helped settlers keep going west by resupplying them at Salt Lake City
Made Salt Lake City the religious center for Mormons
The Great Basin

18. 16.8 The Forty-Niners
The World Rushes In
1848-James Marshall was building a sawmill on a river in California
He saw something shiny in the river and picked up a piece of gold
The news got out and people rushed to California
1849-tens of thousands of people rush to California to find gold
Two-thirds of these forty- niners were Americans
Motive of fortune also brought settlers from Mexico, South America, Europe, Australia, and even China
Very few found any gold, and even fewer got rich
As always, the journey was rough
Almost all were men, and they lived in mining camps
Women were very scarce

19. 16.8 Life in the Mining Camps
Legacy
Anywhere the site of gold was:
Groups of tents would pop up, but they often ended-up as a small town
Merchants made a great living
Selling eggs/flour/etc…
No police or order
Food was very expensive
Boom towns became ghost towns when the gold ran out
1852-Gold rush was over
More Negative Effects:
More Native Americans were killed from disease and fighting
Californios lost their land to new settlers
However, there were now enough people in California for it to become a state

20. 16.9 The Chinese
The Myth
An Uncertain Welcome
In China people referred to California as “Gold Mountain”
The Chinese were promised that life would be great in California
In % of California’s population was Chinese
Early on, the Chinese were welcomed to California
Governor of California praised Chinese immigrants as “one of the most worthy classes of our newly adopted citizens.”
Once gold mining became more difficult, Chinese immigrants were treated poorly
Reason: gold was hard to find, and anyone not from the U.S. was taking their gold
Result: California made a law that required immigrants to pay a fee to be miners
Many foreigners left – too much money to pay

21. 16.9 The Chinese Stay Chinese Stay Legacy
Americans Feelings:
Mad that the Chinese were willing to pay the fee
Result: so the Americans abused the Chinese immigrants
Cutting off (queues), or braids, worn by Chinese men
Burning of shacks they lived in
Beatings
Discouraged from mining:
Chinese decided to open
Restaurants
San Francisco – Chinatown: oldest Chinese community in U.S.
Start their own farms
The Chinese were key in creating California’s agricultural heritage
Most Chinese immigrants planned on returning to China as rich men
However, most stayed in the United States and thrived as workers
Mines
Farms
Factories
Chinese immigrants brought with them the arts, tastes, scents, and sounds of one of the world’s oldest and richest cultures