3. 1865
Western Frontier
Stretched from Mississippi River to Pacific Ocean
Native Americans, Mexican settlers, & pioneers
migrating to California & Oregon
Value of the frontier was underestimated & was
often called the American Desert (prior to Civil War)
Railroad builders & miners were among the 1st to transform
the West & help make it a part of the Nation’s economy
4. Boom & Bust
Settlement came in a rush
Where gold & silver was found
Towns formed quickly, but did not last long
1849
Gold rush in California excited the nation
Miners spread from California to Nevada, across
the Rocky Mts. & to South Dakota
5. Comstock Lode
1859 (Before the Civil War)
Irish prospectors discovered gold, but Henry
Comstock claimed the gold was on his land;
became known as the Comstock Lode
Comstock Lode contained blue-tinted mud which
made mining the gold difficult
Mud was actually loaded with silver, more valuable than the
gold
Became richest silver mine in the world
Next 20 years: produced $300 million worth of silver
Nevada became center of mining
6. The Boom spreads
Valuable ores found in Montana, Idaho, &
Colorado
Along with gold strike in South Dakota
1890s gold found in Alaska
Strikes caused excitement, but few actually got
rich
Gold deep underground & difficult to extract
Comstock gave up mining & sold mining right for
$11,000 & two mules
1880s mining had become a big business
7. Boomtown Life
Tent Cities
Arose near diggings
Hotels, stores, & other wood buildings appeared
later
Mining towns grew into boomtowns
Merchants
Followed miners with tools, food, & clothing
Items were expensive
Women
Had various jobs: opened restaurants, washed
clothes, took in boarders, & baked pies
8. ½ of miners were foreign-born
Irish, Italian, German, Spanish, & Chinese
Often faced hostility
Chinese: not allowed to claim abandoned mines;
often driven out of towns by mobs
9. Frontier Justice
Law & Order hard to find
Vigilantes formed: self-appointed law keepers
Hunted bandits & imposed their own justice
Sheriffs, marshals, & judges replaced vigilantes
as boomtowns grew
1861
Colorado, Dakota, & Nevada organized into
territories
1863
Arizona organized into a territory
1864
Montana organized into a territory
10. The Railroad Boom
Race to lay line to boomtowns began
Federal Government
Offered subsidies to railroads (grants of land or
money)
For every mile of track, gov’t gave the railroad 10
sq. miles of land next to the track
180 million acres altogether
Also received federal funds
11. Spanning the Continent
Transcontinental railroad dream
Rail line that would span across the continent
1862
Leland Stanford: Central Pacific Railroad, won right to
build line eastward from Sacramento
Union Pacific Railroad would build west from Omaha
Thousands of workers hired
Native born whites, Mexican Americans, African
Americans, Chinese, & Irish
Work was hazardous & low paying
Daily progress often measured in inches
May 10, 1869
Two lines met at Promontory, Utah
12. Effects of the Railroads
New towns developed in the West
People & supplies poured in
Gold & silver poured out
Population growth lead to addition of new states
Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, & Wyoming
14. People of the Plains
360,000 Native Americans lived in the West after
the Civil War
Life in Transition:
Hunted, gathered, raised crops, & fished
Europeans arrival changed their lives
Tamed herds of wild horses (could travel faster & farther) &
traded with French & British for guns (could kill more game
w/ guns)
Some groups became wanderers & lived in tepees
Followed buffalo herds (buffalo was a source of food,
shelter, & clothing)
15. Division of Labors
Women managed village life
Cared for children & prepared food
Carved tools & made tepees
Sometimes they went to war
Wise women sometimes ruled
Men
Hunters & warriors
Led religious lives
Sun Dance: 4 day ceremony that brought together
thousands of Native American from many nations;
men made pledges to the Great Spirit
16. Broken Treaties
U.S. treaties promised to protect Native American
lands
Miners & railroad crews as they pushed West broke
these treaties
Fort Laramie Treaty 1851
10 thousand people from many Plain nations
gathered for a “big talk” w/ U.S. officials
Officials wanted: nations to stop following buffalo; would
protect their lands “as long as the grass shall grow” if they
settled permanently
Settlers soon after began settling on Native
Americans land, along with the 1859 gold rush to
Pikes Peak in Colorado
17. Sand Creek Massacre
1860s
Native Americans forced from their land around
Pikes Peak
Many warriors resisted & attacked supply trains & homes
Colonel John Chivington
Led 700 volunteers to attack Cheyenne at Sand Creek
Cheyenne were friendly & under army protection; they
raised a white flag to signal peace
Chivington ordered men to attack; more than 100
men, women, & children died
18. Buffalo Soldiers
Sand Creek Massacre ignited an era of war
African Americans who fought on the Plains for
20 years
Part of the U.S. army
Fought Native Americans & bandits
Started roads & communication lines still found
today
19. End of the Buffalo
1870s
Giant herds of buffalo vital to Native American way
of life began to decline
Railroads had hunters kill the animals to feed their
crews
Others killed them because the value of the buffalo
hides
Hides were removed and rest of animal was left
20. Last Stand for Custer & the Sioux
1860s
New treaties between U.S. & Native Americans
Reservations
Kiowas, Comanche, & Arapahos moved to
Oklahoma
Life was terrible; poor soil made farming difficult
Sioux & Cheyenne moved to Black Hills
1874 gold rush flooded area with miners
Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse led attacked to keep whites out
21. Little Bighorn
June 1876
Colonel George Armstrong Custer ordered to force
Native Americans onto a reservation
Attacked a large band of Sioux & Cheyenne at Little
Bighorn Valley in Montana Territory
Custer & all his men died at the Battle
Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull victory did not last long
22. Other Efforts at Resistance
Nez Perces
Lived in Idaho, Oregon, & Washington
Bred horses & cattle
Many agreed to go to reservations
Chief Joseph fled with a large band in 1877 to
Canada
U.S. army pursued them
Nez Perces traveled 1,300 miles in 75 days
Army caught band near Canada's border
Chief Joseph declared as he surrendered, “I shall fight no
more forever”
23. The Navajos
Raised sheep, horses, & cattle in the Southwest
Some bands raided settlers’ farms for livestock
Army called in for protection
1864
Navajos defeated in Arizona after a series of wars
Were taken on a “Long Walk” to the Pecos River where they
suffered years of disease & hunger
24. The Apaches
Fierce resistance
Geronimo refused to go to reservation
From Mexico Geronimo & men attacked settlers in
Arizona & New Mexico for 10 years
1886
Geronimo was captured & sent to a reservation in
Oklahoma
25. The Ghost Dance
1880s
Native Americans across the Plains began performing a
unique dance
Dancers fell into a trance; believed they were talking to ghosts of
their ancestors; believed their ancestors & buffalo would return &
white people would leave
December 1890
Native American police went to a Sioux Village to stop
dances
In a struggle to arrest Sitting Bull, police killed him
Sioux tried to flee to avoid further violence
Army pursued them to Wounded Knee Creek in SD
Sioux began to give up guns; a shot rang out & army troops
opened fire with machine guns and rifles
200 Sioux men, women, & children were killed
30 soldiers died
The Battle of Wounded Knee marked the end of the era of Indian
26. The Failure of Reform
Reformers criticized gov’t for treatment of N.A.
Susette La Flesche
Father was Omaha chief
Talked about destruction of Native American culture
in lectures & articles
Alice Fletcher
Promoted Native American rights
Became agent of U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs
27. The Dawes Act
Passed in 1887
Tried to end Native American’s wandering and turn
them into farmers
Received 160 acres to farm
Schools were also set up to make Native Americans
children more like other children
Dawes Act failed
Few took to farming
Land sold cheaply to dishonest whites
Federal agents replaced native leaders
Traditional ways given up, like the buffalo hunt
Many grew dependent on the government for food & supplies
29. The Rise of the Cattle Industry
Wild cattle wandered open range
Called longhorns
Little care needed: prairie grass & watering holes
Means & Markets
Stray herds grew from strays lost by Spanish
ranchers
American settlers: set up ranches, but didn’t round
up stray herds; no means to get them to market
Railroads: provided means to get longhorns to
market; demand for beef to feed city dwellers,
miners, & soldiers rose
30. The Long Drives
1860s
Cattle began to be rounded up
Cowhand were hired
Skilled riders who knew how to herd cattle
Moved cattle to rail lines in Kansas, Missouri, & Wyoming (about
1,000 miles away)
Cattle Drives
Spring was ideal time
Grass was long & rivers flowed full
Multiple horses used
Allowed for fresh horse each day
Drives lasted 2-3 months
Followed worn trails
Chisholm Trail: San Antonio, TX to Abilene, Kansas
Goodnight Loving Trail: led to rail towns in Wyoming
31. Life on the Trail
Hard & Dangerous Work
Cowhands kept herds together as the cattle
moved along the trails
Developed nerves of steel
Stampedes could occur without warning
Swift river currents could carry longhorns away
Fought grass fires, pulled cattle from swamps, &
cased off thieves
Often spent 18 hours in the saddle
Earned less that $1 per day
32. Spanish Roots
Cowhands learned herding methods from
Spanish & Mexican vaqueros
Riding, roping, & branding
Wore Mexican spurs & leather chaps
Cowboy hat came from Mexican sombrero
Used leather lariat, lasso, to catch cattle and horses
1/3 of western cowhands were Mexican
33. The Wild West
Cattle drives ended at towns along railroad lines
Towns were unruly & developed fantasy of Wild
West
Cow Towns
1867 Joseph McCoy
Cowboys need place for a bath, good meal, bed, & fun
Cattle needed place to be penned
Founded Abilene, Kansas were Chisholm Trail met Kansas
Pacific Railroad
1st cow town: settle at end of cattle trail
Rival cow towns soon developed
Wichita & Dodge City
Dance halls, saloons, hotels, & restaurants served cowboys
Gunfights were rare
34. The Myth of the West
Myths
Spread due to rough-tumble life in cow towns
Filled w/ violence, adventure, & opportunity
William “Buffalo Bill” Cody
Former buffalo hunter
Created traveling Wild West show in 1883
Gun-slinging cowboys & Native Americans performed
Sharp shooting & horseback riding
Depicted frontier events (Custer’s Last Stand)
Annie Oakley broke stereotype of woman
35. Boom and Bust in the Cattle
Kingdom
Last from 1860s to 1880s
Area of ranches, trails, & cow towns known as
cattle kingdom
Ranchers profited as herds & markets grew
The Cattle Boom:
Buy calf for $5 & sell mature steer for $60
Profits were extremely high, especially with the
introduction of new breeds of cattle
Caught fewer diseases & had more meat than longhorns
People from East coast & Europe began investing millions
in huge cattle companies
36. The Boom Ends
Mid-1880s
7 million cattle roamed the open range
More than land could feed
1886 & 1887
Scorching summers & frigid winters killed millions of cattle
Economic depression put many city dwellers out of work, &
demand for beef dropped
Sheep starting competing with cattle for grasses
Farmers fenced open range to keep cattle away from crops
Ranchers had to buy expensive feed
Giant cattle ranches gave way to smaller ones that grew
their own feed
Railroads brought lines closer to ranches, doing away
with long cattle drives
38. Homesteading
1900
½ million farmers settled the Great Plains
Homestead Act
Passed in 1862
Offered 160 acre plot to anyone who resided on
land for 5 years
Chance for poor to own farms
Few had money to move west & start a farm
Land companies took over large areas illegally
160 acres not enough to grow crop for profit
1 in 3 homesteaders lasted 5 years
39. Railroads Promote Farming
Railroads gave away some of 180 million acres
they got from the government
Recruited people from eastern
U.S., Ireland, Germany, & Scandinavia to settle
Great Plains
More farms = more shipping
40. A Hard Life on the Plains
Not an easy life
Scare water supply & crops difficult to grow
Farmers struggled to make ends meat
Busting Sod
Early settlers cut sod into bricks to build walls for
their homes
Kept homes cool in the summer & warm in the winter
41. New Farming Methods
Plows made of wood or iron were not strong
enough to break through tough sod
1877
John Deere of Illinois invented a sodbusting plow
made of steel
Plain farmers, or sodbusters, used drills to plant
crops
Buried seeds into the ground where there was
moisture
Reapers were used to harvest crops & threshers
to beat off the hard coverings of the grains
42. Windmills used to pump water from hundreds of
feet below ground
Fences were used to keep cattle away from crops
Barb wire was used
1874 Joseph Glidden invented it
43. Farm Families
Whole families worked farms
Men labored from dawn to dusk
Children tended animals & helped with chores
Women kept the house, planted & harvested
crops, educated children, nursed the sick, sewed
clothing, preserved food, & made basics like
candles & soap
44. Exodusters
African Americans streamed onto the plains
Became known as exodusters because they
believed they were like the Jews fleeing slavery in
Egypt
Some took up farming, others moved to towns
Men often worked as hired hands & women as
laundresses
45. The Spanish Southwest
Spanish speaking farmers & sheepherders
resided along the border with Mexico, some
before the Mexican American War
Many of the new railroad lines were built with the
help of Mexican immigrants
Ricos, Hispanic large landowners
Fought to keep their lands deeded under Spanish or
Mexican law
46. A Last Rush for Land
1880s
Few areas of unsettled land on the Plains remained
Federal Government agreed to open Oklahoma to
homesteaders
Boomers & Sooners
April 1889
100,000 people gathered near a line in Oklahoma City
“Boomers”: people who had come to claim some of the 2
million acres of free homesteads
“Sooners”: people who had already sneaked onto the land
The Frontier Closes
1890
National census reported U.S. had no more land available
for fomesteading
47. Farmers Organize
Wheat & Grain from plains fed growing cities
A few big farmers prospered
Small farmers faced an economic crisis &
organized to end it
48. Crisis on the Farm
More grain hauled to market = lower grain prices
Surplus of crops
Smaller farmers hit the hardest
Many borrowed money to buy land & machinery
Could not repay their loans
49. Cooperative & Political Parties
Farmers lived in poverty & isolation
Granges were formed in some communities
Groups of farmers who met for lectures, sewing bees, & other
events
1867: local granges formed National Grange
1870s & 1880s Granges began demanding low rates from
railroads & warehouses that were given to big farmers
Elected state officials who passed laws limiting rates
Farmers Alliance
Set up farm cooperatives: groups of farmers who pool their
money to make large purchases of tools, seed, & other supplies
at a discount
1892
Populist Party Formed
Unhappy farmers joined w/ labor unions
Pushed for social reform
Demanded public ownership of railroads & warehouses to control rates, a
tax on income to replace property taxes, an 8 hour workday, & other
reforms
50. The Election of 1896
Populists supported Democrat William Jennings
Bryan
Won votes of farmers from the South & West
because he supported using silver to raise prices
Bankers & business owners claimed raising
prices would hurt the economy
They backed Republican William McKinley
McKinley won; Republicans took both the White
House & Congress
Populists faded