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Chapter 17

Chapter 17. The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West 1860-1900. Introduction. How and why did Native Americans life on the Great Plains change between 1850 ’ s and 1900? What roles did the army and the railroads play in the settlement of the West?

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Chapter 17

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  1. Chapter 17 The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West 1860-1900

  2. Introduction • How and why did Native Americans life on the Great Plains change between 1850’s and 1900? • What roles did the army and the railroads play in the settlement of the West? • How did Anglo-Americans displace Spanish-speaking people in the Southwest? • How did the Wild West image of cowboys and Indians originate? • Why did some Americans wish to conserve the natural resources and beauty of the West, and how did this lead to creating the national parks?

  3. Native Americans and the Trans-Mississippi West • The Plains Indians (mid-1800s) • Northern Great Plains • the Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, and other Native American tribes roamed • In the central and southern Plains • The Five Civilized Tribes, Comanches, Kiowas, Pawnees, and others lived • Plains Indians • Lakota Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne • Hunted and migrated buffalo herds • They ate the meat and used the hides for tepees and clothing

  4. The Plains Indians (mid-1800’s) • In the 1860’s, the demand for buffalo hides in the eastern markets grew so great that white hunters, sometimes aided by the Indians, became professional buffalo killers • “Buffalo Bill” Cody • 1867-1868 • Killed over 4,000 animals to feed the crews building the first transcontinental railroad • By the 1880s, hunting had reduced the once huge herds to only a few thousand animals and doomed the nomadic, buffalo-centered way of life of the Plains tribes

  5. The Assault on Nomadic Indian Life • By the time of the Civil War, the govt. was pressuring Plains tribes to surrender their vast hunting grounds • Settle as farmers on restricted reservations • Some tribes accepted the change peacefully • Pueblos, Crows

  6. The Assault on Nomadic Indian Life • From 1860’s and 1890 there was almost constant warfare • 100,000 Native Americans • Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche • Over the possession of the Great Plains and the Southwest • Many atrocities occurred • Chivington Sand Creek massacre • Nov. 29, 1864 • In CO • About 200 Cheyennes were murdered

  7. The Assault on Nomadic Indian Life • In 1867-1868 the govt. signed peace treaties with many of these tribes • Assigned most of them to 2 large reservations • One in present-day OK (then known as the Indian Territory) • The other in present-day South Dakota (the Great Sioux Reserve)

  8. The Assault on Nomadic Indian Life • Many of the tribes rejected a sedentary farming way of life • Left the reservations • The army retaliated by attacking any bands off their reservations • Even if those groups did not happen to be the ones that had committed hostile acts

  9. The Assault on Nomadic Indian Life • After the Red River war in the 1870s, the southern Plain tribes gave up • By 1886, when Geronimo surrendered, the southwestern tribes also surrendered

  10. Custer’s Last Stand, 1876 • The Sioux refused to report to the govt.-run agencies on their reservations • They also refused to sell the Black Hills part of their reserve • the army made war against them • The most famous casualties in that campaign were Colonel George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry • The Sioux annihilated at the battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 • Custer's Last Stand summary

  11. Custer’s Last Stand, 1876 • Despite their brief triumph, the Sioux were subsequently forced to settle near the govt. agencies and to surrender the Black Hills • In the late 1870’s, the army crushed brief resistance by Chief Joseph’s Nez Perce and Chief Dull Knife’s northern Cheyennes

  12. “Saving” the Indians • Humanitarian reformers in the East began to cry out against govt. mistreatment of the Indians • A Century of Dishonor • 1881 • Helen Hunt Jackson • Called attention to the sorry record of the govt. • A Century of Dishonor

  13. “Saving” the Indians • These reformers thought the best way to end the injustice was to assimilate Indians quickly into mainstream white society • Dawes Severalty Act • 1887 • Ended collective tribal ownership of land • Split the reservation into 160-acre farms • Assigned to the head of each Indian family • Any remaining reservation land was sold to whites • At the end of 25 years, the Indians were to receive full title to their farms and U.S. citizenship

  14. “Saving” the Indians • Dawes Act • Was supported by well-intentioned reformers and whites that only wanted the Indian land • The govt. also attempted to suppress tribal languages and culture • The new policies proved disastrous for most Indians • By 1934, the total acreage owned by Indians had fallen by 65% • What was left was too dry or infertile to be farmed

  15. The Ghost Dance and the End of Indian Resistance on the Great Plains, 1890 • Desperate because of their plight, the Sioux and other tribes turned to the Ghost Dance movement • Ghost Dance songs • The army’s decision to stop the Ghost Dance movement led: • to the death of Sitting Bull • The last battles between whites and Indians • The 1890 Wounded Knee massacre of 300 Sioux

  16. The Ghost Dance and the End of Indian Resistance on the Great Plains, 1890 • By 1900, most of the remaining 100,000 Plains Indians lived in poverty on their reservations • Dependent on govt. support to survive • The Navajo of the Southwest adjusted more readily to reservation life • By 1900 had increased their land and livestock holding

  17. Settling the West • The First Transcontinental Railroad • May 1869 • Promontory Point, UT • The meeting of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific • Construction had been authorized by the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 • Much of the labor was performed by Chinese and Irish immigrants along with Mexican-Americans and African-Americans • Summary of transcontinental railroad

  18. Settling the West • The railroads emerged as the biggest landlords in the West • Because the govt. granted land to the companies for every mile of track laid • By the end of the 1800’s, 9 major railroads linked the country • Made westward travel and shipping much faster and easier

  19. Settlers and the Railroad • To encourage railroad companies to lay track across the country, state and federal govts. granted them millions of acres of land • Eager both to sell these lands and create future customers for rail service • The companies made all-out efforts to attract settlers • They opened land bureaus • Sent agents to the East Coast and Europe • Offered easy credit • Offered free transportation out west to potential purchasers

  20. Settlers and the Railroad • 1870-1900 • Railroads helped to recruit whole families, single women, over 2 million European immigrants to farm the Trans-Mississippi West • The railroads wielded great economic and social influence over western development

  21. Settlers and the Railroad • Their pressure for quick payment from land buyers pushed western farmers into concentrating on producing a single cash crop • Wheat or corn • Made them very vulnerable to price fluctuations on the world market

  22. Homesteading on the Great Plains • Homestead Act • 1862 • Helped to drawn settlers to the Great Plains • Provided free 160-acre farm to anyone who would live on and improve it over a 5-year period • Especially attractive to immigrants from western and northern Europe • Distributed 80 million acres of land to 400,000 families by 1900

  23. Homesteading on the Great Plains (cont.) • The most valuable western land ended up in the hands of railroads, land speculators, lumber companies, and big ranchers • Homesteading pioneers on the Great Plains had to cope with major trials: • Isolation • Backbreaking work • Extreme weather conditions • Living in sod houses due to the lack of trees for lumber

  24. Homesteading on the Great Plains • Many gave up and left their farms • Those who persisted for 10 years or more, generally lived comfortable lives

  25. New Farms, New Markets • Railroads, improved farm machinery, and mounting eastern demand for food, all led to the development of millions of new farms • Also there was a soaring American agricultural production between 1870-1900 • Starting a new farm on the Great Plains was a risky business • Most settlers had to go into debt to acquire horses, machinery, and seed

  26. New Farms, New Markets • To meet debt payments to railroads and banks, farmers specialized in growing cash crops • Made them vulnerable to world market conditions • Also dependent on the railroads to reach the markets • Uncertain rainfall and severe weather conditions added to the farmers’problems

  27. Building a Society and Achieving Statehood • Out of crude frontier settlements, “civilized” communities began to develop • Churches and Sunday schools were usually the earliest institutions to emerge • Residents drew up state constitutions • In 1860’s and 1870’s the following states entered the Union: • KS, NV, NE, CO • Most of the northern portions of the Great Plains achieved statehood in the late 1880’s and 1890’s

  28. Building a Society and Achieving Statehood • Early 20th-century OK, AZ, and NM entered the Union • The trans-Mississippi West completed its transition from frontier territories to states • Most western govts. were conservative • But they did grant women’s suffrage • By 1910, ID, WY, UT, and CO had given women full voting rights

  29. The Spread of Mormonism • Persecuted in the East, the Mormons migrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley • Led by Brigham Young • Began in 1847 • They declared their territory the independent country of Deseret • Attracted many converts from the East and Europe • Created church-directed govt. • Practice polygyny

  30. The Spread of Mormonism • In the 1860’s, the federal govt. began outlawing their practices • In the 1870’s, the federal govt. won backing for repressive and coercive measures from the federal courts • Under pressure, in 1890, the Mormons renounced polygyny and church involvement in govt. • Applied for statehood • UT as admitted to the Union in 1896

  31. 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

  32. Southwestern Borderlands • 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

  33. Exploiting the Western Landscape • The Mining Frontier • Mining booms in the West • 1849=CA Gold Rush • Gold Rush summary • 1850’s=Sierra, NV and British Columbia • New gold and silver strikes followed in NV, CO, ID, MT, WY, SD, AK

  34. The Mining Frontier (cont.)

  35. The Mining Frontier • Each new discovery brought a rush of eager prospectors who believed in the get-rich-quick myth of the West • Infamous boomtowns such as Virginia City, NV sprang up • Virginia City, NV pictures • Most quickly declined into ghost towns when the mines were depleted • Legends of American--Ghost towns

  36. The Mining Frontier • A few individual prospectors with picks, shovels, and strainers made a fortune • Most barely earned a living though • The real profits went to large mining companies backed by European and eastern capital • Had the expensive equipment necessary to mine the gold and silver deposits deep underground

  37. The Mining Frontier (cont.) • These mining companies did stimulate the U.S. economy • They also ravaged the landscape and filled the surrounding area with smoke and chemicals

  38. Cowboys and the Cattle Frontier • Open range cattle industry was successful: • Confinement of the Plains Indians on reservations • Extension of the railroad into KS • Construction of new stockyards at railheads • Abilene, KS • Railroad promoters enticed thousands of people to enter the business by predicting great profits • For a time open-range ranchers did make fortunes • Ordinary cowboys did not make a profit • Tended the cattle on the long drives to the railheads

  39. Cowboys and the Cattle Frontier • Most cowboys were poorly paid young men • About 1/5 were black or Mexican • Peak between 1880-1885 • The industry declined rapidly • Overgrazing • Fencing of the open range by farmers • Freezing winters of 1885 and 1886 • Killed 90% of the steers in some regions

  40. Cowboys and the Cattle Frontier • The open range and great cattle drives disappeared • Cattle ranching still continues today

  41. The Cattle Towns and Prostitutes • The open-range cattle industry produced legendary cattle towns • Abilene, KS • Dodge City, KS • Cozad, NE • These towns were generally less lawless and violent than they have been portrayed in novels, films, and TV • Did have many saloons and prostitutes • Prostitutes came from many different class and ethnic backgrounds

  42. Bonanza Farms • Speculators Believed that enormous profits could be made in large-scale wheat growing • the late 1870’s and the 1880’s • established ten-thousand-acre farms • invested heavily in the latest equipment

  43. Bonanza Farm in ND

  44. Bonanza Farms • For a while these bonanza farms did reap handsome profits • In 1890 many enterprises went into bankruptcy: • Overproduction • Poor weather conditions • Falling wheat prices • Large-scale farming did best in CA • Big growers irrigated their land • Cooperatively marketed their citrus fruit under the “Sunkist” trademark

  45. The Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889 • The federal govt. initially set aside OK as a reservation for various Native American tribes • Pressure form land-hungry farmers mounted • The govt. reconsidered • In 1889, Congress opened some 2 million acres in the hear of the Indian Territory to white settlers • Within weeks, OK pioneers filed 6,000 homestead claims

  46. The Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889 • In the following years, under the provisions of the Dawes Act, more and more OK land passed into the hands of whites • Curtis Act • Congress passed in 1889 • Proclaimed the end of the Indian Territory • Curtis Act--OK Historical Society

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