1. Notes Ch 5: Changes on the Western Frontier

2. Chapter 5 Section 1: Cultures Clash on the Prairie (vocabulary card)
Great Plains: grasslands in middle of US
Treaty of Fort Laramie: 1868, Sioux agree to live on reservation
Sitting Bull: Leader of Hunkpapa Sioux
George Custer: Colonel of US Cavalry
Assimilation: make Native Americans part of white culture
Dawes Act: Law that broke up Native American reservations
Battle of Wounded Knee: US massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota
Longhorn: Cattle accustomed to grasslands
Chisolm Trail: Major cattle route from San Antonio, TX to Kansas
Long drive: 3 month overland transport of cattle

3. Notes Culture of Plains Indians, Settlers Push Westward
Native Americans lived on Great Plains
Life centered around buffalo
Lived in small extended family groups
After Civil War, white settlers move to Great Plains

4. Government Restricts Native Americans; Bloody Battles Continue
Clashes between Native Americans and settlers
Massacre at Sand Creek: Army attacked and killed 200 Cheyenne in retaliation to an attack on settlers
Battle of Little Big Horn: George Custer and troops defeated by Sioux Indians and their leader Sitting Bull

5. The Government Supports Assimilation; The Battle of Wounded Knee
Government expected Native Americans to give up their beliefs and become part of white culture
Dawes Act 1887 broke up reservations and gave land to Native American families for farming
White settlers killed nearly all buffalo
Sioux practices Ghost Dance to replenish buffalo
Nervous US army kill 300 unarmed Sioux at Battle of Wounded Knee

6. Cattle Becomes Big Business; A Day in the Life of a Cowboy; The End of the Open Range
Cattle ranchers drove cattle from San Antonio, TX to Kansas to be shipped to Chicago meat packing factories
Cowboys worked hour days, worked in mostly in spring and summer
Bad weather and new technology brought an end to the open range

7. Chapter 5 Section 2: Settling the Great Plains (vocabulary card)
Homestead Act: offered free land to western settlers
Exodusters: African-American settlers in West
Soddy: frontier home dug into side of hill or made of sod
Morrill Act: established agricultural colleges
Bonanza farm: Large, single crop farms

8. Notes Chapter 5 Section 2: Settling on the Great Plains

9. Settlers Move Westward to Farm
Transcontinental Railroad encouraged settlers to move west
US gov’t gave huge tracts of land to railroad companies
Central Pacific from Sacramento, California and Union Pacific from Omaha, Nebraska build railroad from east to west and meet at Promontory Point, Utah
Irish, Chinese, Germans, African-Americans, and Mexican Americans work on railroads
Railroad sold some of their land and recruited people from Europe to settle in west
Homestead Act offered 160 acres to anyone that would farm it for 5 years
1872: Yellowstone National Park was created

10. Settlers Meet the Challenges of the Plains
Endured hardships: harsh climates, Native American attacks, isolation
Lack of building materials led settlers to build unique homes
New technology like the steel plow, barbed wire, reaper, and windmills made farming easier
Colleges formed to study new farming techniques
Farmers risked losing their land by going into debt to get supplies

11. Chapter 5 Section 3: Farmers and the Populist Movement (vocabulary card)
Oliver Hudson Kelley: founded the Grange
Grange: Organization that fought for farmers’ rights
Populism: Political movement to help farmers and laborers
Bimetallism: backing money with gold and silver
Gold standard: back dollars with gold
William McKinley: Republican Pres. Nominee
William Jennings Bryan: 1896 Democratic/Populist presidential nominee

12. Notes: Ch 5 Section3: Farmers and the Populist Movement

13. Farmers Unite to Address Common Problems
Farmers facing financial problems after Civil War
Withdrawal of “greenbacks” meant farmers would have to pay back loans with money worth more than what they borrowed
Farmers wanted government to increase the money supply
Farmers paid high prices to transport crops
O. H. Kelley organized the Grange to discuss social and educational issues of farmers, but also fought railroads’ unfair pricing
Farmers’ Alliances worked with farmers to help them get lower interest rates and protest railroads

14. Rise and Fall of Populism
Populist Party/People’s Party formed to gain more political and economic power for common people
Made government more democratic: direct election of senators and secret ballot
Panic of 1893 led to the issue of backing paper money with gold, or gold and silver
Silverites favored bimetallism to increase money supply and raise prices
Gold bugs favored gold standard to keep prices low
Election of 1896: William McKinley wins and Populism ends