1. Technology and the West

2. The Essentials:
AH2.H.3 - Understand the factors that led to exploration, settlement, movement, and expansion and their impact on United States development over time.
Class objectives: Students should be able to understand…
How and why the birth of the cattle industry led to the era of the American cowboy and new patterns of migration and settlement in the southwestern United States.
How and why aridity, availability of land and new land laws influenced the westward migration and settlement of various groups, such as homesteaders and “sodbusters”.

3. Homestead Act
1862
$10 fee laid claim to 160 acres of public land; occupant received title after living there for 5 years
Anyone could file a claim, except former Confederates!
1.6 million homesteads were awarded

4. Morrill Land-Grant Act
1862
States were awarded 30,000 acres of federal land for each member of the state’s Congressional delegation
States could use or sell that land to fund the creation of colleges which would teach agricultural and military skills
Colleges started under the Morrill Act include Auburn, UConn, Florida, Georgia, Purdue, Iowa St., Kansas St., Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, MIT, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio St., Penn St., Clemson, Tennessee, Va. Tech, & NCSU

5. Oklahoma Land Rush
As available land in the west began to disappear, pressure built to open the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to settlers
1889: Congress agreed to open the Territory to white settlers
April 22, 1889: Thousands gathered on the border to race to claim a share of 2 million acres; some (called “Sooners”) snuck into the territory early to claim the best lands
"Far & Away"

6. Ranching
Spanish had introduced cattle to the region in the 1600s; herds had been left to roam free and had evolved into the tough, lean Texas Longhorns
Most cattle ranching took place in New Mexico & Texas
Early ranchers took advantage of the Open Range , the vast open grasslands of the Great Plains owned by the government
During the Civil War, beef prices soared due to a kill off of Eastern cattle to feed troops
Railroads built in 1860s allowed western cattle to be moved east to meet beef demands
Cattle were driven north out of Texas to railheads in Abilene & Dodge City, KS and Sedalia, MO using routes such as the Chisholm Trail
Cowboys were a mix of former Confederate soldiers, Hispanics, and freed slaves

7. Need for a Transcontinental Railroad
To connect East Coast to Oregon and California
Would reduce travel time from months to days
Would lead to growth along the rail line
But where should it be built?
Southerners wanted a route out of New Orleans, which required purchase of land from Mexico (Gadsden Purchase) arranged by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis
Northerners wanted a route out of Chicago, but Southerners blocked their efforts in hopes that they could barter the route for an expansion of slavery

8. Pacific Railway Act
1862
Provided for construction of a transcontinental railroad as a joint effort between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads
Both companies were given land along the right-of-way to encourage competition and rapid construction

9. The Union Pacific
Led by Grenville Dodge, former union general known for his organizational and managerial skills
Started rail line heading west out of Omaha Nebraska in 1865

10. Union Pacific Workers Civil War vets Irish immigrants
Bankrupt miners and farmers
10,000 men living in camps along the tracks and in rolling dorms
Lots of rough living – gambling, drinking, fighting

11. The Central Pacific
Organized in California under 4 investors, including Leland Stanford, future governor of California and founder of Stanford University
Hired 10,000 Chinese laborers
Had drawback of having to have all equipment for railroad and for construction brought by ship

12. Promontory, Utah 1869

13. Time Zones Introduced
Time had been measured purely by the sun’s position, so what time it was determined locally
1883: American Railway Association divided nation into 4 time zones to ease railroad scheduling and improve safety by eliminating wrecks caused by discrepancies in how time was measured

14. Standardization of Trains
Hundreds of railroads consolidated into just 7 major companies, increasing efficiency, lowering shipping and travel costs, and allowing the development of improved technologies which further increased efficiency
Railroads tied America’s regions together after the war, helping end sectionalism

15. The Land Grant System
Federal government gave land to railroad companies alongside their rail lines to encourage development
Railroads sold this land to settlers to raise the capital needed to build the railroad
Over 120 million acres of public lands were given to rail companies in mid-1800s

16. Plow Technology Jethro Wood patented an iron-bladed plow in 1819
John Deere patented a steel-bladed plow in 1837 that could cut through tough sod of the Great Plains
Steel plows were the only way for “sodbusters” to farm the prairie, but also led to the breakdown of prairie soils and loss of topsoil to wind & water erosion

17. Mechanical Reaper Developed by Cyrus McCormick in 1834
Machine pulled by a horse could harvest far more grain than a man swinging a scythe, led to farmers planting more acreage and an increase in grain production

18. Dry-farming
Plant seeds deep in the ground where there is enough moisture to allow them to germinate
Doesn’t require surface watering or depend as heavily on regular rainfall
Mainly used for wheat and corn farming in the Great Plains

19. The Wheat Belt

20. Range Wars
As farmers moved onto the plains, they needed to define and enclose their fields
As sheep ranchers moved in, they needed access to water and pastures
Both groups were in conflict with the cattle ranchers who depended on the open range to graze and move their herds
Brief but violent range wars became common

21. Barbed Wire Ends the Open Range Era
Invented by Joseph Glidden in 1874
Allowed huge areas of land to be fenced off cheaply and easily
Allowed farmers and sheep ranchers to fence in the prairie and shut down routes (like the Chisholm Trail) for driving cattle
Forced cattle ranchers to change their practices, organize defined, enclosed ranches

22. Farmers Fall on Hard Times
In 1880s, a serious drought struck
In 1890s, excessive wheat production caused prices to drop
Farmers mortgaged their land to banks to survive, but often lost their land when they couldn’t meet their mortgage payments

23. Commercial Farming Practiced mechanized farming Usually 50,000+ acres
Called “bonanza farms”
Massive investment was required in land and equipment
Required hired laborers (most regular farms were family worked)

24. Women in the West Outnumbered by men, so they had more opportunities
Could own property & businesses, became influential community leaders
Most were farmwives
Some worked as cooks or laundresses
Some worked at “hurdy-gurdy” houses
A few were adventurers, such as Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane Burke

25. Squirrel Tooth Alice
Born as Libby Thompson in 1855 in Belton, Texas, Squirrel Tooth Alice received her name due to a gap between her front teeth and her penchant for keeping prairie dogs as pets. She was kidnapped as a young girl by the Comanche tribe. Kept for three years, she was shunned by society as a "marked" woman upon her release.
At the age of 14 years old, she ran away to Abilene, Kansas, and became a dance hall girl and prostitute. After marrying Billy Thompson in 1873, she moved from Kansas to Texas to Colorado.
In Sweetwater, she and her husband bought a ranch, and she opened a dance hall and successful brothel. She bore nine children (three of which were said to be her husband's), and retired successfully in 1921 at the age of 66.

26. Immigrants in the West
Thousands of Irish immigrants flooded the Midwest in the 1840s through 1870s
Thousands of Chinese immigrants arrived in California to seek job opportunities
Both groups would play a key role in building the West’s railroads

27. African-Americans in the West
Played a major role in the development of the West
Worked on the railroads
Worked as cowboys
Settled in as farmers
Served as soldiers in the Indian Wars

28. “Buffalo soldiers”
4 all-black regiments of the US Army created in 1866
Nicknamed “buffalo soldiers” by the Native Americans they fought against for their dark, curly hair and fierce fighting ability, both of which reminded Indians of the buffalo

29. The Exodusters:
Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who fled the Southern United States for Kansas in 1879 and 1880.
After the end of Reconstruction, racial oppression and rumors of the reinstitution of slavery led many freedmen to seek a new place to live.
Many migrated to, and then settled, primarily in Kansas because of its fame as the land of the abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859).
The state was reputed to be more progressive and tolerant than most others. Separatist leaders such as Benjamin "Pap" Singleton had promoted it among black Americans.