Changes on the Western Frontier

Changes on the Western Frontier Chapter 13 Page 408

Culture of the Plains Indians • Great Plains – the grassland extending through the west central portion of the U.S. • Distinctive and highly developed ways of life existed on the plains. • Examples: • Osage and Iowa – hunted and planted crops and lived in small villages • Sioux and Cheyenne – gathered wild foods and hunted buffalo

The Horse and Buffalo • Spanish horses changed ways of life for Native Americans. • Horses & guns allowed NA to hunt and travel more efficiently. • Increased mobility often led to wars when hunters passed on other tribes’ lands. • Warring tribes sometimes called a truce to trade goods, share news, or celebrate harvests.

The Horse and Buffalo • NA made tepees from buffalo hides as well as clothes, shoes, and blankets. • Buffalo meat was dried into jerky and was ultimately the center of life on the plains.

Family Life • Lived in small extended family groups. • Men were hunters or warriors while women completed domestic duties. • Women were allowed to sometime choose their on husbands. • Believed in powerful spirits that controlled life. • Tribes were ruled by counsels rather than by force, land was commonly used.

Settlers Push Westward • Settlers settled land in the west b/c NA had not “improved” the land. • Settlers concluded that the land was unsettled, thus migrants streamed westward along railroad and wagon trails to claim land. • Gold Rush also drew settlers west.

Government Restrictions • 1834 – Gov. designated the great plains as a large Native American Reservation • 1850s – Gov. withdrew the policy and established treaties with distinct boundaries. • NA continued to hunt on traditional lands causing great conflict

Massacre at Sand Creek • Cheyenne tribes returned to the Sand Creek Reserve for winter. • General Curtis sent a telegram saying, “I want no peace till the Indians suffer more.” • U.S. troops thus descended on the Cheyenne tribe and killed over 150 inhabitants, mostly women and children.

Bozeman Trail • Bozeman Trail ran through Sioux hunting grounds. • Numerous small battles occurred along the trial b/c of white settlers. • The gov. finally closed the trail and enacted the Treaty of Fort Laramie. • The Sioux agreed to live on a reservation along the Missouri River. • The treaty only provided a temporary halt to fighting.

Assimilation • Debates continued on the treatment of NA. • Helen Hunt Jackson wrote A Century of Dishonor, which exposed the gov.’s broken promises to NA. • Many supported assimilation – a plan under which NA would give up their beliefs and way of life to become part of white culture.

Dawes Act • 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act aiming to “Americanize” NA. • The act broke up the reservations and gave land to individuals. • 160 acres to each family • 80 acres to each single adult • Gov would sell remainder of land and split money b/w NA • Reality – NA received no land or money

Battle of Wounded Knee • Read information regarding this battle on pg 413.

Cattle becomes big business • Americans learned from the Mexican Spanish how to manage large herds. • Cattle known as Longhorns • Settlers raised the longhorns for food. • Cowboy’s life stemmed directly from the Mexican Spanish.

Cowboy Vocabulary • Chaparreras – chaps • Jerky – dried strips of meat • Bronco caballo – rough horse or bronc • Mestenos – mustangs • Mexican rancho – American ranch

Growing demand for beef • After Civil War, demand for beef grew b/c of the growth of cities. • Ranchers shipped cattle using railroads from the southwest to northern cities. • Chisholm Trail – became most widely used cattle trail and was surveyed by Joseph McCoy.

Day in a life of a Cowboy • Real-life cowboy was nonstop work. • Worked b/w 10-14 hours per day. • As young as 15 yrs old • Used his gun to protect the herd rather than hurt or chase outlaws. • Season for herding began in spring and ended when the herding ended. (usually 3 months, called Long Drive)

End of the Open Range • Overgrazing of the land • Extended bad weather • Alternating patterns of dry summers and harsh winters killed entire herds. • Invention of barbed wire • Helped keep track of the animals but created a land of fences and ranches rather than the open prairie. • All responsible for the end of the open range.

Section 2Settling on the Great Plains

Railroads open the west • Gov. offered land to railroad companies for laying tracks. • 10 acres for every mile of track in a state • 20 acres for every mile of track in a territory • Union and Pacific companies raced to lay railroad tracks. • Both companies reached Utah and the East and West were forever linked. • Civil War veterans, Irish, and Chinese immigrants completed most of the work.

Railroads open the west • Railroad companies sold the land to farmers for $2-$10 per acre. • Some companies went over seas to recruit buyers. • In 1880, 44% of settlers in Nebraska and 70% in Minnesota and Wisconsin were immigrants. How did the transcontinental railroad open up the West for settlement?

Government support for settlement • Homestead Act – offered 160 acres of land free to any citizen or intended citizen who was head of the household. • Exodusters (African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction South to Kansas) took advantage of the Homestead Act. • Oklahoma became known as the Sooner State b/c people claimed land before they were supposed to. How did the federal government encourage western settlement? What steps did the government take to preserve the nation’s dwindling open land space?

Closing of the Frontier • Explorers Henry Washburn and Nathaniel Langford asked Congress to keep part of the West closed to settlers b/c of its natural beauty. • Gov. created Yellowstone National Park

Challenges on the Plains • Dugouts and Soddies • Since there were few trees…settlers dug homes in the sides of hills. • Some created homes with stacks of sod, thus soddies were houses. • Women’s Work • Worked beside the men in the fields b/c there were few people available as day laborers. • They were • Planters • Doctors • Canners • Seamstresses • Teachers • Preachers

Challenges on the Plains • Technical Support for farmers • John Deere invented the steel plow • Cyrus McCormick mass produced the reaper • Spring-tooth harrow to prepare soil • Grain drill to plant seeds • Barbed wire to fence • Corn binder • Inventions created a bigger harvest for a wider market

Challenges on the Plains • Agricultural Education • Morrill Act gave federal land to states to help finance agricultural colleges. • Hatch Act established agricultural experiment stations to inform farmers of new developments. • Agricultural education gave new knowledge to farmers and enabled the dry eastern plains to become “the breadbasket of the nation”. What forms of shelter did the plains settlers develop? What technology did settlers rely on the help them tame the prairie? What hardships did farmers face in the late 1800s?

Farmers in debt • B/C of the expensive farm inventions, farmers accumulated mountains of debt. • Railroad companies created Bonanza Farms – enormous single-crop spreads of 15,000-50,000 acres. • Other sources of pressure… • High shipping costs • Over production • Weather

Farmers and the Populist Movement Section 3

Economic Distress • U.S. issued $500 million in greenbacks during the Civil War. • After the war, the gov. began taking the greenbacks out of circulation. • Caused increased value in the money left in circulation. • Farmers who had borrowed money were forced to pay back loans with dollars worth more than they borrowed. • Also receiving less money for crops.

Problems w/ railroads • Farmers paid very high prices to transport crops. • Lack of competition meant railroads could charge in price. • Railroads also made secret agreements w/merchants to control storage and store prices. • Farmers mortgaged farms to buy supplies on credit at high interest rates.

Farmers’ Alliance • Oliver Kelley started the Patrons of Husbandry, commonly called the Grange. • Original purpose: to provide a social outlet and educational forum for isolated farm families. • Spent most of their time fighting railroads. • Battle Plan: teach members to organize, set up farmers cooperatives, sponsor legislation to regulate railroads. • Gave rise to the Farmers’ Alliances. What economic problems did many farmers face during the late 1800s? Why did farmers favor “cheap money”? How did farmers try to address their problems and grievances?

Populism • Populism – the movement of the people • Demanded reforms to lift the burden of debt from farmers and other workers and to give the people a greater voice in gov.

Populist Party Platform • Increase in the money supply • Graduated income tax • Federal loan program • Election of U.S. senators by popular vote • Single term for Presidents and Vice Presidents • Secret ballot vote, to end voter fraud • 8 hour work day • Restrictions on immigration

Panic of 1893 • Farmers overextended w/ debts and loans • Railroad expansion grew faster than markets • Gov’s gold reserves small • People traded money for gold in panic • Stock market crashed • 15,000 businesses and 500 banks closed

Gold Bugs and Siverites

Presidential Candidates • Republican nominee – William McKinley • Democratic nominee – William Jennings Bryan • Populist Party compromised by endorsing Bryan and nominating their own candidate for vice-president. • The party remained intact • McKinley won the election causing the Populist Party to end. What reforms did the Populist Party promote? What were the causes and consequences of the Panic of 1893? Why did the Populist movement collapse?

Changes on the Western Frontier