1. US History: Chapter 7 Notes
Into the West:
US History:
Chapter 7 Notes

2. Plains Indians: Plains Tribes: Nomadic – Hunter/Gatherers
Omaha, Osage, Sioux, Comanche, Blackfeet
Nomadic – Hunter/Gatherers
Followed the Food Source – Buffalo
Introduction of the Horse:
Spain – 1500’s
Changes Native’s way of life

3. Railroads: 1st Transcontinental Railroad:
Union Pacific – Build west from Omaha
Central Pacific – Build east from Sacramento
Granted large loans from the US
$16,000 - $48,000 per mile
Granted land:
640 acres per mile

4. Transcontinental Railroad:
May 10th,1869 – Promontory Point, Utah
East and West lines meet
Drive the “Golden Spike”
Connects the Continental US

5. Other Railroads: Great Northern Railway James Hill
Connect Minnesota with Washington State
Southern Pacific – Connect the South Western states
Encourage settlement was rail lines are built

6. Railroads and the Buffalo:
Railroads develop a program to kill off the buffalo
Danger to trains
Get rid of local Native American tribes
Encourage white settlement
Buffalo Bill Cody – Hired by the railroads to kill Buffalo
1886 – Hundred buffalo left in Canada

7. Plains Wars:
Conflict: White settlers and investors want land inhabited by Native American tribes
Native American Tribes fight back
Government militia massacre tribes
Government Plan:
Department of the Interior – Give gifts, and set up reservations
Department of War – Fight all that resist

8. Black Hills Gold: Gold discovered in the Black Hills
Sacred territory for Sioux
Battle of Little Big Horn:
General Custer and the 1st Cavalry
Surrounded by Chief Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse – All are killed
Battle of Wounded Knee:
1890 – US Army attacks and kills last Souix tribe not on the reservation (190 people)

9. Nez Perce: Chief Joseph Leads his people on 1500 mile march to Canada
Try to keep from being captured and forced onto a reservation
Army captures Chief Joseph within sight of Canada

10. Dawes Act: 1887 - Broke up remaining Native American tribes
Gave Native Americans 160 acres of land to farm
25 year probation period – become a US citizen
Native Americans did not understand farming and lost most of this land
Children sent to Indian Schools

11. Ranching: Open Range Cattle Ranching:
Cattle Drives – Bring in Cattle for market
Long Drive – From Texas to Missouri or Kansas (Rail lines)
Cowboys: Misconceptions

12. Decline of Ranching: Drought, Floods, Blizzards
Texas Fever – Kill Herds
Overgrazing
Competition for land with settlers
Barbwire – Joseph Glidden
Fence in Cattle

13. Mining: 1849 – California Gold Strike Rush of settlers to Mining Towns
1859 – Colorado Gold and Silver Strikes
Pikes Peak area
Black Hills Gold
Comstock Load – Nevada Silver

14. Mining Communities: Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds
Built towns and states “overnight”
Mining companies take over many small claims
Did not value human life – Exploited Needy
Need for “law and order”
Vigilance Committees – Self appointed volunteers

15. The “Wild West” Created for the imagination of Americans in the East
Vaudeville – Live variety shows (traveling)
Annie Oakley, Billy the Kid,
Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show
Dime Store novels
Westerns – Movies, Novels, Television
Did not show the true stories of the West

16. Farming in the West Technology: Overcome the dry environment
Lack of trees
Iron encased wells
Joseph Glidden – Barb wire
The reaper, binder, and thresher – Mechanical farming

17. Farming and Railroads:
Railroads controlled a lot of land
Settlers buy land from railroads
Tried to persuade settlers to farm and use the railroads
Wheat and Dairy shipped east on the Railroads

18. Life on the Plains: Sod Houses – Houses made of dirt
Weather – Extreme Temps (cold and hot)
Drought – Lack of rain

19. Economics:
Specialization – Focus on one crop (no longer self sufficient)
Prices of necessities unpredictable
Dependency of the Railroad
Required large amount of investments
Need to borrow money – Depend on the banks
Drop in value of Commodities – Goods

20. Women on the Plains: Solitude and drudgery Cimarron – Edna Ferber
My Antonia – Willa Cather
Novels about life how difficult life was on the Plains

21. End of the Frontier:
1890 – Federal Census showed no “clear Frontier line”
Fredrick Jackson Turner – Frontier Historian
Frontier Thesis - spirit and success of the United States is directly tied to the country's westward expansion
Frontier expansion was over!