Chapter 18: Conquest and Survival: The Trans-Mississippi West

AP United States HistoryWest Blocton High School

Mr. Logan Greene

Chapter Objectives

• What was the Federal government’s policy toward Indians in the late nineteenth century?

• How did Western railroads shape the West and effect the East?

• What brought the flood of migrants to the West in the late nineteenth century?

• How was the environment transformed by Western expansion?

Railroads

• Railroads were the driving force behind virtually every aspect of the West

• After the Civil War railroads expanded at an amazing rate and in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah the first transcontinental railroad was completed

• This opened up the previous “frontier” areas of the West and led to conflict with natives, more areas for mining, and additional land opened up for farming

Tribes and Cultures

• The environment governed how Native cultures developed

• The abundance of the Northwest forest for game and fishing led to stable native societies

• The Desert tribes of the Southwest had to learn farming and hunting techniques and were generally much smaller

• The most prolific of the natives lived on the Great Plains and based their entire lives around the Buffalo

Federal Indian Policy

• The United States had followed a policy of separating white and Indian society since the 1830’s (Andrew Jackson i.e. Trail of Tears & reservations)

• However, this began to fall apart as whites expanded west into land that had been set aside for Indians

• The migration saw the destruction of forests by livestock, new diseases, and the beginning of the devastation of the buffalo

Warfare

• From the 1850’s to the 1880’s white-Indian relations were defined by conflict

• The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in 1864 when a group of Cheyenne were annihilated by Colorado troops with incredible violence

• Battles occurred all over the West, with the Natives fighting valiantly but against incredible odds

• In 1868 the US admitted defeat against the Sioux and “guaranteed” the Sioux rights to hunt and live in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana

Warfare• The Second Treaty of Fort Laramie kept the peace

for a few years; however, by 1874 the US was needing to build railroads through Sioux territory

• Railroad expansion further disrupted the buffalo and the discovery of gold in the West led to an influx of settlers

• In this year the final provocation came as General George Custer attacked a group of Sioux at the Battle of Little Bighorn

• Even though Custer began the incident after his men were wiped out it was deemed a “massacre”

Warfare

• Sadly the “massacre” at Little Bighorn led the United States to concentrate on the Sioux

• The entire tribe had to capitulate and surrender by 1876-1877

• Virtually all other tribes were quickly subdued such as the Nez Perce, Kiowas, Utes, Navajos, and Comanche

• The defeated natives were sent to reservations

Reservation and Americanization

• Once the Indians were “defeated” the next step was to Americanize them or culturally defeat them as best as possible

• Reformers came to the reservations and the natives, now reliant on government rations, had little choice but to listen

• The government even resorted to violence to destroy the native culture as the case of Wounded Knee South Dakota when natives participating in the Ghost Dance were gunned down

Reservation and Americanization

• Many white settlers believed the issue with truly “converting” natives was the idea that natives did not believe in private ownership

• The Dawes Act in 1887 terminated tribal ownership of reservation land and required individual ownership of land by individual natives

Mining

• The West was filled with natural resources and many of the white settlers began exploiting these natural riches

• Bonanza’s (A sudden source of luck in mining) began to define the west

• The first of these bonanzas in the Rocky’s occurred in 1859 and over 100,000 prospectors founded the mining town of Denver

• Mining camps were generally isolated shanty towns with little law and order

Mining Camps

• Populations are heavily male• Largest source of paid employment for women was

prostitution• Saloons and drinking dominated the town economy• This also led to a rise in crime• Chinese immigrants populated these towns as they

moved from California• They faced constant racism and attacks

Labor and Capital

• Technology quickly changed the face of mining• What began as a single endeavor hoping for riches

became big business• Placer mining was the cheaper individual mining

often using a pan in a river• Quartz mining became the more profitable mining

involving dynamite and deep digging but required massive amounts of capital

• As well, this form of capital mining destroyed the land

Labor and Capital

• Miners who struck out on their own quickly worked for the new capital mines

• Mining was already extremely dangerous so the workers quickly formed unions to protect themselves and their interests

• Mining companies and their workers conflicts consistently led to violence

Cattle

• As the East grew in population and industry it needed steady supplies of food and especially meat

• The western cattle industry originated in Texas with the usage of the Texas longhorn which was well suited for the arid conditions

• The cattle drive became the standard method of moving the cattle from the west to railroad markets to take them to the east

• The Chisholm Trail from Texas to Kansas was by far the most famous

Cattle Ranching

• Removal of the Indians and the expansion of railroads allowed for major ranching

• Originally ranchers favored open range ranching or ranching without fences and distinguishing cattle by brands

• Eventually with the growth of big business ranching and economic collapses ranchers needed more control and began using barbed wire to control their herds

Cowhands and Capitalists

• Cowboys lived a difficult life in the west• In the early days of ranching cowboys were simply

seasonal employees who helped with the round up• However, as ranching became big business cowboys

worked year around and became highly skilled professionals

• Many African-Americans found work as cowboys

Homestead and Agricultural Expansion

• Agriculture truly expanded the West’s economy• The Homestead Act of 1862 set aside 80 million

acres to prospectors to encourage settlement• As well the ever growing railroads opened more

land to settlers• Migrants poured into the West with the hope of

beginning the “family farm”• Although predominantly white some Africans also

migrated West

Home on the range

• Farming on the range in the west was difficult• The only fuel most frontier farmers had in

abundance was dried dung• Water was difficult to find and sometimes had be

transported great distances• Without a doubt the biggest danger to these new

farmers was extended drought

Farming

• Farming in the west was VASTLY different than farming in the east

• The lack of water led to the necessity of “dry farming” of planting seeds much deeper in the ground to maintain moisture

• Special plows and windmills were necessary to maximize the arid land

• When conditions were favorable the farming was profitable but all to often the farms failed under daunting challenges

Chapter Objectives

• What was the Federal government’s policy toward Indians in the late nineteenth century?

• How did Western railroads shape the West and effect the East?

• What brought the flood of migrants to the West in the late nineteenth century?

• How was the environment transformed by Western expansion?