1. The Wild West? 1865-1900

2. Themes Peopling American Identity Work Exchange Technology

3. Cowboys Longhorn cattle makes the Long Drive possible 1300 mile journey from southern Texas, along trails like the Chisholm, to the rail heads in towns like Abilene and Dodge City, KS. From there they were shipped to Chicago, the meat-packing capital of the nation. Many cowboys were Mexican or African-American The Long Drive consisted of about 24 cowboys & took 3 months. System ended when RRs built North to South. Beef replaces pork as the “national meat”

5. Chicago Meat-Packing Industry

6. Miners& Homesteaders The Comstock Lode in Nevada was a silver bonanza. The largest silver mine in the U.S. Homesteaders “Exodusters” Treeless plains, soddies & dugouts, buffalo chips Prairie fires & locust plagues Hardest on women Barn-raisings & quilting bees

7. Silver Mine Homesteaders

8. Outlaws & Lawmen

9. Native-Americans: The Indian Wars The building of the TCRR, continued western migration and the discovery of gold in the Black Hills further encroached upon Indian territory. The American government broke earlier treaties with the Native-Americans and hunters killed the buffalo on which the Plains Indians depended. Some tribes accepted the inevitable and moved to reservations. Others fought for their lifestyles & the land they believed was rightfully theirs.

10. Sand Creek Massacre

11. Battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand, 1876 in Montana Fight over gold in the Black Hills. George Armstrong Custer Sioux Chiefs Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse (next page)

12. Crazy Horse Monument in S. Dakota

13. The B.I.A. & Helen Hunt Jackson Bureau of Indian Affairs: Indian Ring Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor

14. Dawes Act, 1887 Tribal system broken up. Heads of Indian families given land but most cheated out of it. No tools or education about farming. Assimilation policy: Carlisle Indian School, assimil

15. Land Rushes

16. Battle of Wounded Knee, 1890, S Dakota The last battle of the Indian Wars over gold & the Ghost Dance

17. Why was the West so violent? Prevalence of guns & alcohol Lack of women, families Lack of law, lots of space to run to Treatment of N-A “End of the “road”-Misfits

18. What did the Federal Government do for the West? Land & loans for railroads Land & loans for dams & irrigation projects National Parks