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Chapter 2 Settling the west. 1865-1890. Boomtowns & Mining Leads to Statehood. What was the Comstock Lode & what type of ore was found there? Why are they called boomtowns? Who enforced law & justice in boomtowns? What happened to boom towns when mine dried up?
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Chapter 2 Settling the west 1865-1890
Boomtowns & Mining Leads to Statehood • What was the Comstock Lode & what type of ore was found there? • Why are they called boomtowns? • Who enforced law & justice in boomtowns? • What happened to boom towns when mine dried up? • What is the correlation between mines & new states? • What town had deep deposits of lead & silver? • Name states that applied for statehood during time period. Use Abbreviations
Mining Technology • Name & describe 4 types of mining • What type of mining was ruled by a federal judge to a “public and private nuisance and why?
Ranching & Cattle Drives • What type of cow could survive on the tough grasses on the Great Plains? • What is the open range? • Who owned the open range? • What is a long drive and what two things made the long drive profitable? • What is the major route to Abilene, Kansas called? • What was used to fence off the open range?
Settling the Hispanic Southwest • What is a hacienda and who owned them? • What caused tensions between English speaking ranchers and Hispanics? • What state did the Hispanics have a majority in the population and state legislature? • How did barrios keep Spanish culture present in the community?
Silver Ore strike near VA. City,NA that brought many prospectors to the West • Quick growing towns around mines with quick economic growth • Vigilance committees- self-appointed volunteers who would track down & punish wrongdoers • Went bust because economy collapsed
Mines brought people to the West • Built railroads to mine towns • Enough people in territories to apply for statehood • CO, AZ, ND, SD, MT, NM
Placer mining- used simple tools like picks, shovels, and pans • Sluice mining- diverted the current of a river into trenches, screens separated the minerals • Hydraulic mining- sprayed high pressure water against hill or mountain washing away dirt, gravel, and rock exposing the minerals beneath the surface
Quartz mining- deep mine shafts are dug & miners go underground to extract the minerals • Hydraulic mining caused tons of silt, sand, and gravel to wash into local riverbeds causing floods that wrecked property and farmland.
Texas Longhorns • Vast area of grasslands that the federal government owned • Trains & price up beef went up • Chisholm Trail • Barbed wire
Landholding elite owned huge ranches that covered thousands of acres • Ownership of land caused tensions • Barrios had Spanish-speaking businesses and Spanish-language newspapers • Barrios kept cultural and religious traditions alive
SETTLING THE WEST 1865 - 1900 Chapter 8
Section 1 Miners and Ranchers Main Idea: Miners and ranchers settled large areas of the West. Growth of the mining industry: * Placermining - prospectors used picks, shovels, pans, etc; scooped up shallow deposits.
* Quartz mining - dug deep beneath surface. * Henry Comstock - discovered the “Comstock Lode” - huge silver vein near Virginia City, Nev. “Boomtown”“Ghost town” Wild mining towns led to vigilance committees (volunteers who enforced law in the West).
Boomtown to Ghost town
Ranching & Cattle Drives * Early 1800s - People thought that eastern cattle could not survive the Great Plains (water scarce, prairie grasses tough). * Texas longhorns were well-adapted to Plains. * Open range - vast area of gov’t-owned grassland.
* After Civil War - beef was rare & expensive; RRs could carry rounded-up longhorns to markets in the East. * Longdrive - cattle was “driven” (herded) long distances to railheads (RR stations) & shipped East.
* Chisholm Trail - Famous long drive route from Texas to Abilene, Kansas. * Range Wars broke out when sheep herds moved onto open range & also when farmers moved in. * Barbed wire - enabled huge areas to be fenced in cheaply. (Can you think of another advantage to using barbed wire on the Great Plains?)
Why did long drives end? * Fencing-in of the open range. * Brits & European investors poured $$$ into cattle business oversupply prices fell ranchers went bankrupt! * Blizzards in 1886-87; killed huge numbers of herds. Result……. Fenced-in ranches made long drives difficult.
Section 1 Settling the Hispanic Southwest(cont.) • In place of the mission system in California, landowners owned vast haciendas. • After the California gold rush, however, Hispanic Californians were vastly outnumbered. • As they had done with the Native Americans, settlers from the East clashed with the Mexican Americans over land.
Section 1 Settling the Hispanic Southwest(cont.) • As more railroads were built in the 1880s and 1890s, the population of the Southwest continued to swell with American, European, and Mexican immigrants. • In the growing cities of the Southwest, Hispanics settled in neighborhoods called barrios.
Southwestern Borderlands • After the Mexican War, American ranchers and settlers in the Southwest took over the territorial govts. • Forced most of the Spanish-speaking population off the land • The Mexican minority tended to become low-paid day laborers • Faced discrimination and periodic violent attacks
Southwestern Borderlands (cont.) • Mexican-Americans fought back by organizing groups such as Las Gorras Blancas (the White Caps) • They had little success • The Hispanic struggle for justice and equality would continue throughout the 20th century
Section 2 - Farming the Plains Main Idea: After 1865, settlers staked out homesteads and began farming the Great Plains - from the central Dakotas through Abilene, Texas. Stephen Long - explored the region in 1819 and called it the Great American Desert.
Why did settlement of the Great Plains begin? * RRs - ensured easy access -- Advertised sale of cheap land along RR lines. * Gov’t passed the Homestead Act (1862) - 160 acres free to settlers who would live on the land for five years and make improvements.
Challenges for Great Plains settlers: * Lack of trees and water. -- Had to build sod houses (“soddies”). -- Had to drill deep wells. * Heat & drought in summer. * Blizzards in winter. * Prairie fires!!! * Swarms of grasshoppers destroyed crops.
Wheat Belt - eastern edge of Great Plains. * New farming techniques. -- Dry farming - planted seeds deep for moisture. -- Steel plows (John Deere), seed drills, reapers, & threshers. -- Mechanical reapers - faster harvest. * Bonanza farms - huge wheat farms up to 50,000 acres; often owned by big corporations.
New farming techniques made farming possible in the Great Plains.
Problem: * Better farming techniques * Oversupply of crop * A drop in crop prices * Farmers had to mortgage the land * Often led to farm foreclosures by the banks because farmers could not pay off their mortgages.
Section 3 - Native Americans Main Idea: Settlement of the West dramatically changed the way of life of the Plains Indians. Most were nomads - wandered the Plains following the buffalo.
Native Americans and their Life Most Natives were lumped together in areas of the West • Despite their different language, beliefs, and ways of life • One thing in common: view themselves as part of nature and viewed nature as sacred • Food was grown according to their geography • Hunted buffalo • Homes were built out of mud or clay, and in high cliffs for protection (from aggressive neighbors)
Hunting grounds were disrupted by white settlers. Indians often attacked the settlers. * Dakota Sioux Uprising -- Gov’t delayed payment of promised annuities (pmts to Indians on reservations). -- Chief Little Crow asked traders for food on credit; was turned down. -- Sioux attacked, killing hundreds of white settlers. Little Crow
1864 - Sand Creek Massacre - Colorado militia attacked Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek - Indians thought they were under the protection of a nearby government outpost - Over 100 Indians were slaughtered (including women and children)
Indian Peace Commission (1867) proposed: * Two large reservations on the Great Plains. * Bureau of Indian Affairs would run them. * Forced Indians to sign treaty. * Bad living conditions for the Indians on reservations; they received what was seen as the least desirable land.
1866 - Chief Red Cloud (Sioux:) defeated Captain W.J. Fetterman and 80 U.S. army soldiers Led them into a trap and killed them Fighting begins
Fighting begins • Little Bighorn (most famous battle of the Indian wars) • The Black Hills of South Dakota had been set aside for the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne
1874 - U.S. Army exploring party found gold - Settlers went looking for gold - Gov. tried to buy the Black Hills (Sioux considered land sacred) - 1875 and 1876 - Sioux warriors left their reservations and united under the leadership of two Sioux chiefs (Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse)
Fighting begins • June 25, 1876 - George Armstrong Custer and several hundred army soldiers found a Sioux camp near the Little Bighorn River - Custer gained fame fighting in Civil War - Admirers considered him a daring brilliant officer
- Critics considered him a dangerous showoffCuster had orders to attack any Indians he came into contact withWhen he attacked he was actually stepping into a trapCuster and all of his men were killed - Became known as "Custer's Last Stand"
* Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) Lakota & Cheyenne vs. General George Armstrong Custer & 210 soldiers. Custer & all his men were killed. General George Armstrong Custer