CHAPTER 26: THE GREAT WEST & THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

1. CHAPTER 26: THE GREAT WEST & THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

2. CULTURES ON THE PLAINS • Still untamed after Civil War (few Mormons & Mexicans) • As whites emerged: Indians fought with each other, died of white man diseases, hunted the few remaining buffalo left • Indians had become great; riders, hunters, fighters • The Fed. Government tried to pacify the Indians t/h treaties: • FT. Laramie 1851 • FT. Atkinson 1853 • In the 1860’s U.S. Gov. tried to further its efforts by herding Indians into smaller reservations (Dakota Territory) • Indians were treated horrible, lied to, pawned off sometimes by their own, given poor aid by Fed. Gov.

3. In frustration many tribes fought back this period which is know as the (Indian Wars (1864-1890) After Civil War white soldiers needed a job = went cleared Indians out of the west to make room for white people Indians proved very resourceful b/c arrows could fire more rapidly than a gun BUT . . . The colt .45 revolver (6 shooter) & Winchester changed this Generals Sherman, Sheridan, & Custer Battled Indians

4. NATIVE POPULATION DECLINES • Violence Reigned Supreme in Indian White Relations • Sand Creek, CO 1864 – Colonel J.M. Chivington’s militia massacred 400 Indians cold blood (Idiot) • 1866 – Sioux war party ambushed Captain William J. Fetterman’s command of 81 left no survivors • One of few Native victories • Custer finds Gold in Black Hills Mts.(sacred Sioux Land) = Lots of people come and the Sioux retaliate by crushing Custer in the Battle of Little Big Horn • Reinforcements arrive and hunt down all the natives, but Sitting Bull escapes • Most difficult of Natives to subdue were the Apache tribes of Arizona & New Mexico led by Geronimo = were pushed to Mexico and became successful farmers

5. INDIANS WERE CONQUERED THROUGH The railroad White man’s diseases Extermination of the buffalo Wars Loss of their land to white settlement

6. BISON At the start tens of millions existed After Civil War still 15 million existed Railroad is what really started killing them off Men killed them for their skin, meat, tongues, most WHITE man would just take one part and leave the rest to rot By 1885 fewer than 1,000 buffalo remained Mainly left in Yellowstone National Park

7. END OF THE TRAIL 1880’s sympathy for Indians emerged w/ help from Helen Hunt Jackson’s book A Century of Dishonor, & novel Ramona Humanitarians wanted to help them, but no one cared about helping them keep their culture of heritage Missionaries often forced Indians to convert 1884 urged the Govt. to outlaw the sacred Sun Dance Battle of Wounded Knee the “Ghost Dance” white soldiers brutally murdered and killed women & children to stop this dance That battle marked the end to the Indian Wars By this time most Indians were on reservations or DEAD

8. Dawes legal Severalty Act of 1887 • dissolved the legal entities of all tribes • Became farmers on reservations • Full U.S. citizenship in 25 yrs (full citizenship was reached in 1924) = Foreigners could become citizens much faster (?) • Reservation land not allotted for Indians sold to railroads • 1879 Carlisle Indian School – Opened in PA, helped children become white by COMPLETELY erasing their culture • By 1900 Indians had lost half the land they had held on to for the last 20 yrs • 1934 Indian Reorganization Act – helped Indian population grow again

9. LONG BEEF DRIVES • As Eastern Cities boomed = need for food increased • Cattle could be shipped to the stockyards by trains “Beef Barons” Examples; Swifts & Amours • Meat packing Industry sprang up • DODGE CITY = Wyatt Earp Maintained Order • ABILENE = Marshal James Hickok • Railroads made cattle herding prosper • Barbed Wire invented = Samuel Gilden • Legends of the cowboys were made here at this time

10. FARMERS FRONTIER • Homestead Act 1862 = Families received up to 160 acres of land in return for • living on it for 5 yrs, improving it, paying a fee of $30.00 • Led ½ a million families to settle out west BUT . . . . Most families had to give up that land before the 5 yrs was up do to: • Droughts • Bad land • Lack of necessities • Fraud also happened (land grabbing promoters)

11. Northern Pacific railroad helped dev. the agricultural west Due to higher wheat prices (due to crop failure) abound the world more people pushed further West Past the 100th meridian (20inch per yr rainfall line) made it hard to grow crops So, to counteract the lack of water (& 6yr drought in the 1880’s) = Dry Farming which means using shallow cultivation methods to plant & farm BUT sadly this method is going to contribute to the “DUST Bowl” several decades later A Russian species of wheat was brought in Huge financed irrigation projects caused the American Dessert to bloom and the Damning of the Columbia & Missouri Rivers helped water the land as well

12. WEST COMES OF AGE • New states; Colorado, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming were admitted • Utah 1896 = b/c they had to get rid of polygamy (Bummer) • By the 20th century only OK, NM, AZ were (territories) • U.S. Gov made land available in Ok & many “Sooners” jumped illegally over the border & had to be removed • 1889 Ok legally opened up and 18 yrs later in 1907 becomes the Sooner State • Fredrick Jackson Turner was inspired to write his Thesis about the closing of the frontier which stated (America needed a Frontier) • Concern arose that land was not infinite and inspired • Yellowstone 1872 • Yosemite & Sequoia 1890

13. DEFLATION In the 1880’s world markets rebounded, produced more crops, & forced prices down = American Farmers were the ones that suffered Paying back debt was difficult (not enough money to go around) Less money in circulation was called “Contraction” Farmers operated yr after yr on losses but many of homesteads fell to mortgages & foreclosures Farmers fall in the 1880’s was similar to the South 7 its “King Cotton” during the Civil War Also during this time droughts, grasshopper plagues, and heat waves made working farmers miserable City, State, & Fed. Gov. ripped them off by making them pay painful taxes (which they could not afford)

14. The Railroads (by fixing freight prices) the middlemen (by taking huge cuts in profits) various harvesters, barbed wire, & fertilizer trusts all harassed farmers By 1890 ½ of the U.S. population consisted of farmers but were unorganized

15. FARMERS FIGHT BACK • National Grange – formed in 1867 by Oliver Kelley • Wanted to help improve: • Social • Educational • Fraternal Activities - Most successful in upper MS Valley & got Congress to pass Grange Laws

16. POPULISM • Farmers Alliance – Founded in 1870’s formed to overthrow chains from Banks & Railroads • BUT . . . Didn’t work so well for some WHY. . . . . • Only people who owned their own land • Ignored Tenant farmers • Excluded blacks Its: goals were to: • Nationalization of railroads • Abolition of national banks • Graduated income tax • New federal sub treasury for farmers

17. Populist Party The populists were led by: Ignatius Donnelly from Minnesota & Mary Elizabeth Lease helped fight against banks / railroads The coming decade these individuals along with their followers would help form a political party called the ………………………..

18. PULLMAN STRIKE • Panic 1893 – Fueled the Populists party many fled to WA D.C. to protest change • They wanted: • Relieving Unemployment • 500 million dollars in legal tender notes *** Well this didn’t work out so well and they were arrested for walking on the grass …………… really!! Pullman strike – Location Chicago / led by Eugene Debs • Organized strike a/g Pullman Palace Car Company • Due to depression they had cut wages by 1/3 (very unhappy workers • U.S. Attorney general broke up the strike (interfered with U.S. mail and (Debs spent 6 months in jail) Debs turned into the leading Socialist in America

19. MCKINLEY • 1896 McKinley was leading Republic candidate, former Civil War Major • Platform was for the Gold/silver standard he personally was not for it • William Jennings Bryan – Democrat nominee :Cross of Gold Speech” Favored free silver • Platform called for: unlimited coinage of silver with the ratio of 16 silver ounces worth 1 ounce of GOLD • This caused the democrats to split so who won …………… MCKINLEY by a good amount of votes • This election pitted the privilege a/g the underprivileged & resulted in a victory for big business and big cities • SO 1896 elections can basically be called the Gold vs Silver election America was clearly going with GOLD