U.S.

History Chapter 13
Notes
Changes on the Western
Frontier
The culture
of the Plains Indians
declines as white settlers transform the
Great Plains. Meanwhile, farmers form
the Populist movement to address their
economic concerns

Section 1
Cultures Clash
on the Prairie

The cattle industry booms in the

late 1800s,
as the culture of the Plains Indians
declines

Geography of the West

Area between the

Mississippi Valley and
the Pacific Mountains
Areas where settlers and
Indians lived
By 1900 Indians had
been forced off their
lands
- Transcontinental
Railroad opened up the
west for settlement a.
carried materials and
people

Minors in the West

1859 - Gold found in the

Rocky Mountains (Clear
Creek near Pikes Peak)
- 1st found by George
Jackson
1959 - Gold found in
Nevada
- Lode produced 100s of
millions of dollars worth
of gold and silver
- Lode - a deposit of a
valuable mineral buried
between layers of rock

Mining Life
Boom

towns sprang

up
- They were rough
towns
Women worked in the
mining towns
- Cooked
- Laundry
- Dance halls
- Boarding towns

The Business of Mining

Few

prospectors
became rich
Lack of technology
prevented most
people from
becoming rich
- Most were placer
mining - where
people wash the
sand and gravel
from a stream

The Business of Mining

More efficient methods

developed in the 1870' s
- Water cannons were used to
strip the dirt off the hillside
- Exposed gold
- Very harmful to the
environment
Only companies had the
money to use water cannons
Working conditions were brutal
- 100 degrees fairenhight in
some caves
- Workers wore thick boots to
protect against hot water
- Accidents such as cave-ins
and dynamite explosions were
common

Mining Boom Ends

Most

of the mining
towns became
ghost towns
Gold rush changed
the geography of
the United States

Mining Boom Ends

The population grew

so much in some
areas that they were
able to become states
- 1864 - Nevada
- 1876 - Colorado
- 1889 - North Dakota,
South Dakota, and
Montana
-1890 - Idaho

Lumber Industry
Logging

became a big
business in the west
Pacific Northwest had
an abundance of
trees
-Redwoods
- Douglas fur
Settlers needed
lumber for homes and
mine timbers

Alaska

1867 - William Seward

arranged for the purchase of
Alaska from Russia
U.S. Senators didn't want to
buy it
- Called it "Seward's Folly"
Gamble paid off
- Russia lost foothold in North
America
Alaska was rich in natural
resources
- Gold
- Copper
- Oil
-Timber

Government policy

Early 1800's Plains Indians lived and hunted between

the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains
- 1840' s - Whites begin to settle the west coast
- U.S. Gov. ask Indians to let settlers pass safely
- Asked the Indians to limit their hunting to certain are
- Indians had to move with buffalo
Mid 1800's - U.S. Gov changes policy
- Established reservations - special areas used by a
specific group
- Indians agreed to live on reservations based on the
promise that the land would be theirs forever (signed
Treaties with the U.S. Gov.)
- They were also promised food, money and other help

Clash of culture
Indians

and settlers looked at the world

differently
Settlers felt that the resources were their
to be used
- Large scale hunting, mining, and farming
Plains Indians used only the resources
they needed for their actual needs
- They saw the white settlers as being
greedy and destructive

Fighting begins

By 1860's - Treaties were being

broken by both sides
Settlers continued to pass
through areas where they were
not allowed
Groups of Indians raided white
settlements and wagon trains
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)

Fighting begins
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

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
warrior 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 showoff
Custer had orders to attack any
Indians he came into contact with
When he attacked he was
actually stepping into a trap
Custer and all of his men were
killed
- Became known as "Custer's
Last Stand"

Fighting begins

People in the East were shocked by the news of the

Battle of Little Bighorn
- U.S. Gov. sent 1000's of troops to fight the Indians
The Battle of Little Bighorn was the last Indian
Victory in the Indian Wars
- 1876 - U.S. Army defeated the Sioux
- Sitting Bull and his followers escaped to Canada
Crazy Horse was arrested
- He was fatally stabbed as he was being arrested
- Not sure if guard or another Indian stabbed him

Chief Joseph

Led the Nez Perce people

Nez Perce lived in northwest
(Oregon and Idaho)
- Fished for salmon, gathered
food, and hunted
Chief Joseph refused to sell land
to government
1877 - Gov. ordered the Nez Perce
people to move to a reservation
- They fled and tried to evade
the army
Captured about 40 miles south of
Canada
- Chief Joseph made speech
- Said that he would fight no
more

Southwest Indians
Navajo were forced to move to
reservations in the east
- March called "The Long Walk"
Reservation was a failure
- Navajo allowed to return home
Mid 1870's - Apache were
forced to move away from their
traditional territory
- Geronimo - led his people off
the reservation
- Evaded the army many times
due to their knowledge of
southern Arizona
- 1886 - Geronimo captured and
forced to live far away from his
people

Indians way of life

destroyed

Whites killed buffalo

Indians depended on buffalo
Indians were unable to survive
without the buffalo
Many Indians turned to the
Ghost Dance Religion
- It taught that the spirits of the
dead Indians would return to
help the Indians reclaim their
land
Many whites were fearful of
this movement
- Asked the army for help
- Cavalry rounded up Sioux men
on the Pine Ridge Reservation
- Place called wounded knee

Indians way of life

destroyed
Wounded

Knee

Massacre
- 300 men, women,
and children Sioux
were killed
- Considered to be
the last battle of the
Indian Wars

Assimilation
Conditions

grew worse as more Indians

were forced on to reservations
Reformers began calling for changes
Many white though that only solution
was to make the Indians become more
like the whites
- Assimilation - to adopt the culture
of the people around you

Assimilation
Dawes Act (1887) - intended to make Indians give up their
traditions and accept White customs
- Reservation lands were divided up in farm plots for families and
individuals (40 to 160 acres)
- Any remaining land was sold to white settlers
- Profits used to pay for Indian schools
- Indians who accepted the plots of land could become citizens for
the 1st time
Dawes Act failed
- Many western Indians didn't want to settle down as farmers
- Lacked tools and training
- Many sold their plots to white settlers cheap
End 1800's - situation of the American Indians was tragic
- Lost land, people, and culture
- 20th century U.S. government finally realizes importance of Indian
way of life

Cowboys
1/6

were Mexican
American
Some were black
- Nat Love - born in
a slave cabin
- Moved west when
he was a teenager
- Became famous
performing in rodeos

Birth of the Cattle

Industry

Cowboys' roots were in

Texas
Small herds - (only sold
cattle locally)
Joseph McCoy organized
1st cattle drive
- Drove cattle to Abilene
Kansas (Railroad)
- Cattle sold for $40 per
head in the east ($3 per
head in Texas)
Dodge city also becomes a
cattle town

Long drives
Cowboys herded cattle
over the open plains to
cattle towns
12 cowboys 3000 head
Made sure that cattle
had plenty of grass to
eat along the way
Drives were tough
- Had to keep cattle
together
- Watch for thieves

Wild West

Cowboys ended drives in cattle

towns
- Were dirty and nasty
- Weren't always law abiding
- Had money to spend
Large spaces with little
settlement made it hard to
catch outlaws
- Frank and Jesse James
became legendary bank robbers
- Belle Starr became famous
cattle thief
Westerners formed vigilante
groups
- Groups that took the law into
their own hands

The End of the Open

Range

Late 1800's -long drives

end
Overgrazing, bad weather
from 1883 to 1887
destroyed whole herds
Ranchers began keeping
smaller herds that yielded
more meat per animal
Tick fever caused land
owners to cutoff land from
the long drives
Fence land with barbed
wire & turn open range
into separate ranches

Section 2
Settling on
the Great Plains
Settlers on the Great Plains
transform the land despite great
hardships.

Farming the Plain

Gov.

encouraged
western settlement
(1862) Homestead
Act - Gov. offered 160
acres to head of
family over age 21 in
return for living on the
land 5 years and
improving it
- 1862 to 1900
6000,000 families
settled in the west

Farming the Plain

Exodusters - Southern
African-American
settlers in Kansas
Gov. created
Department of
agriculture
Introduced new crops
(Russian wheat) that could
survive harsh winters
Morrill Act of 1862, 1890
financed agricultural
colleges

Life on the farming

frontier

Lumber was scarce

Many settlers dug homes
into sides of ravines or hills
Made soddy or sod home
by stacking blocks of turf
- Snakes & bugs sometimes
crawled into cracks
- Burned cow chips for fuel
Grew cash crops (wheat and
com)
Had to fight year around
battle against weather
(blizzards and extreme
heat)

Life on the farming

frontier

Homesteaders were
virtually alone (Had to
be self-sufficient)
Women did mens work
(plowing, harvesting,
shearing sheep)
- Also did traditional
work (carding wool,
making soap, canning
vegetables)
- Some worked for
communities (sponsor
schools, churches)

Farmers in Debt
Railroads,

investors created bonanza

farms (huge, single-crop spreads)
1885 to1890 - droughts bankrupted
single-crop operations
Rising cost of shipping grain pushed
farmers into debt

Closing the Frontier

1872, Yellowstone National

Park created to protect some
wilderness
1890s - No frontier left
- miners, ranchers, and
farmers had swelled the
population
April 22, 1889 - Governemt
gave signal for settlers to
settle the Oklahoma territory
- It was laid out within the day
- 60,000 people lived there by
the end of the year
Sooners - some people
snuck into Oklahoma before
the Gov. gave the signal

Section 3
Farmers and the
Populist Movement
Farmers unite to address their
economic problems, giving rise to
the Populist movement.

Unrest in Rural America

The

growth of urban America made

possible because farmers were so
productive
Farmers felt poor compared to city
people
Farm life seemed boring compared to
the exciting opportunities of the city

Hard Times for Farmers

1867 - Oliver H. Kelley started

the Patrons of Husbandry
(Grange)
- Hoped to fight the loneliness of
farm life and farming methods
- Open to both men and women
Meetings were held at local
schools
- Both social and educational
Late 1800's - most farmers
weren't self sufficient
- Grew cash crops
Most were in debt
- Western farmers owed banks
money for their land and
equipment
- Southern farmers had taken on
debt to rebuild farms destroyed in
the Civil War

Low Prices and High Cost

Farmer's lives were hard

- droughts, floods, insects, and animal diseases
1870's - faced another problem
- Low prices for their crops
- Sank farther into debt
Caused by overproduction
- More people became farmers
- Farming methods improved
Became more expensive to operate a farm
- Tariffs on imported farm equipment
- Railroads raised prices

The Granger Movement

Turned their attention to economic and political issues
Economic goal - avoid using middlemen
- People who made a living storing, transporting and selling
product
- Cut into farmers profits and added to cost for buyer
Grangers created cooperatives
- An organization owned and operated by those who use its
services
- They shared crops in some places
- Allowed them to set their prices
Politically - they elected legislatures that put limits on railroad
and storage prices
- Called Granger laws

The Populist Party

1880's

- Several political parties combined

Populism - movement of the people
Populist Party wants reforms
Economic: increase money supply, graduated
income tax, & federal loans
Political: Senate elected by popular vote,
secret ballot & 8-hour day
1892 - Populist candidates elected at
different levels of government
Democratic Party eventually adopted platform

Debate Over Money

Policy

Pitted debtors against creditors

Debtors wanted more money to be put into circulation
Wanted the government to coin more silver (bimetallism)
Bimetallism - system using both silver and gold to back
currency
Silverites - would create more money, stimulate economy
Creditors wanted to limit the amount of money
- Favored gold standard
Gold standard - backing currency with gold only
Paper money considered worthless if cannot be exchanged for
metal
Gold bugs - gold only would create more stable if expensive
currency

Election of 1892
1892 - Populist nominate
James B. Weaver for
president
He had the following proposals
- Wanted Gov. to control and
operate railroads, telegraph
and telephone systems
- Wanted secret ballot in
elections
- Wanted graduated income tax
- Wanted U.S. senators to be
elected directly by the people
rather than state legislatures
- Demanded shorter working
hours for labor
Grover Cleveland won 1892
election

The Panic of 1893

Railroads expanded
faster than markets
- Some went bankrupt
Governments gold
supply became
depleted
- Led to rush on banks
- Businesses, banks
collapse
- Panic became
depression

Election of 1896
Money was the central
issue
Republicans nominated
William McKinley
- Supported big business
(gold standard)
Democrats nominated
William Jennings
Bryan
- Supported silver
Populists endorsed
Bryan & chose own VP to
maintain party identity

Election of 1896
Candidates ran different campaigns
- McKinley didn't go out and campaign
- Considered undignified
- Accepted visitors at his home Bryan launched
something like a modem campaign
- Traveled by train made speeches
Bryan carried the south and west (except California)
McKinley carried northeast and California
- Won more electoral votes
Urban America defeated rural America

The End of Populism

1896

- McKinley
elected president
Populism collapsed
Left legacy:
- Showed the
powerless could
organize & have
political impact
- Agenda of reforms
enacted in 20th
century