The Last American Frontier

Frontier• Frontier – the line separating areas of

settlement from ‘unsettled’ wilderness territory

• See map on page 90 – ‘The Shifting Frontier’

The Lure of Precious Metals

• California gold rush in 1848-1849• Klondike Gold Rush – 1896• Set off one of the most turbulent gold rushes in

history • 100,000 started the trip ; only 30,000 completed

the trip

The Indian Wars

• American troops, settlers, & Native Americans• 1876 - General Custer & the battle of Little Big Horn

• Against the Sioux tribes (Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse)

• 1890 – Wounded Knee (South Dakota)• Massacre of 300 unarmed Sioux men, women, & children by

American troops

•

Impact of the Railroads• The 1st Transcontinental Railroad was

completed in 1869 @ Promontory Point, Utah• Reduced cross-country travel from 6 months to 10

days• The increasing number of railroads continued

to attract more settlers to the West

Availability Of Cheap Land

• Homestead Act 1862• Granted any citizen 160

acres of government land• If the settler lived on the

land for 5 years, farmed & improved the land, then he could own the land

• Almost 1.4 million settlers took advantage of the offer under the Homestead Act

The Cattle Industry

• After the Civil War, the demand for beef skyrocketed• Several million longhorn cattle roamed the Great Plains in

Texas by the end of the Civil War• Some settlers decided to drive these herds of cattle

northward along cattle trails towards the railroads• These cattle drives often took over 3 months to complete• Cowboys, who learned how to ride, rope, & brand from Mexican

vaqueros, were hired to drive these herds of longhorn cattle north• Eventually 3 main things brought these cattle drives to an

end: overgrazing, extended bad weather & winters, and the invention of barbed wire

The Cattle Drives

• The Texas Longhorn was lean and rangy, noted more for their speed and endurance rather than for their steak• Over 5 Million Roamed the grasslands of

Texas• Typically driven to markets in Austin,

Galveston or New Orleans• As railroads pushed further West, suitable

“cattle routes” opened up. Creating “Cowtowns” all throughout Kansas, Texas, Nebraska and Wyoming. • Ex: Fort Worth

• Led to increased population in Kansas and Nebraska between 1860-1880

Farming on the Great Plains

• The Homestead Act as well as the increasing number of railroads continued to stimulate the move westward

• Hardships the farmers faced:• Conflict w/ the Indians• Drought• Plagues (grasshoppers, locusts,

etc)• Eventually all the ‘good’ land was

taken• Lack of trees to build houses

• Built sod-houses from the soil & grass

THE FATE OF NATIVE AMERICANS

Government Policy

1830-1890 U.S government wanted to push Native Americans from their lands onto reservations

The Reservation Typically smaller Not near as fertile of landGovernment promised adequate food,

blankets, and seed to farmNative Americans were traditionally hunters &

not farmers so this clashed with their customs

The Dawes Act - 1887Americanization – adopting the culture of other mainstream

AmericansEach Native American family was given 160 acres of private land

Each Native American family would become farmersThose who accepted this offer would become U.S citizens & be given

the right to voteEventually, almost 2/3rds of this land was bought (or taken)

back by white settlers the purpose of the Dawes Act was to assimilate Native

Americans in to the ‘white culture’Schools were often times centers to ‘Americanize’ Native American

children

American Indian Citizenship Act - 1924 Some Indians became

citizens before American Indian Citizenship ActHad to take up life apart

from their tribes (Became citizens immediately)

1901 Citizenship Granted to the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma

Passed by the U.S. Congress

Granted immediate U.S. citizenship to all Native American Indians born in the United StatesDid not have to give up

tribal lands or customs