THE VANISHING FRONTIER

The Golden Spike

The railroad opens up the west to the early settlers.

The Middle Route

• Central Pacific started in California and built eastward

• Union Pacific built railroad westward from the east

Much of the railroad was build across the prairies of the west.

• A prairie is a large area of flat grassland.

The railroads were built through the center of the United States to meet in the middle.

The working conditions for the railroad builders in 1860’s were very bad.

• Workers lived outdoors and worked on the railroad in all types of weather.

• The workers moved as the track was laid down – sometimes staying in a box car or staying in tents.

• The hours were grueling – from dawn to dusk.

• Many men died while building the railroad – if men got hurt they were far from help

• Irish immigrants left Ireland to flee poverty and famine

Union Pacific hired many Irish workers

To the Irish

Chinese workers were hired to build the railroad in the West.

When the two rail road lines met, a golden spike was used to join the two lines in

Promontory, Utah

America’s growth

The construction of the railroad encourage America’s growth – Jobs were created as the railroad was built– New cities grew up around stops on the

railroad tracks– People were able to travel westward more

quickly and easily– Trade was made easier between the eastern

and the western United States

The Vanishing Frontier

Women on the Plains

Building houses on the plains was difficult because there was no

lumber (trees for wood).

Some homesteaders dug shelters into the

sides of hills on the prairies called dugouts

Some homesteaders used sod brick (made from dirt) to build walls of a soddie house.

Shanties were roughly built houses made from a few wooden boards.

People would use straw, cow chips (poop), or corncobs to make fires because there

was no lumber to burn.

Bad weather could wipe out crops leaving settlers without enough food.

The Homestead Act

• The Homestead Act in 1862 gave land to anyone who farmed it for five years.

• This Act help America grow westward because it encouraged people to travel west to get free land.

• Starting over was difficult for homesteaders.

• Starting over was difficult for homesteaders.

• Hard work was a part of life on a farm.

Churning cream to make butter was only one of a woman’s jobs.

Other jobs included washing and mending clothing, preparing food, cleaning the home,

and rearing children.

Not everything was like “Little House on the Prairie ~ pioneer living was difficult work in

miserable conditions.

The Vanishing Frontier

“I Will Fight No More Forever”

— Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Indians

White Settlers

• When white settlers moved into the west, many made and broke promises with the Indians.

• The Nez Perce Indians were one of many tribes that suffered and died because of American growth westward.

• White settlers moved onto the Nez Perce’s land in Oregon.

Wallowa Valley, ancestral home of Chief Joseph's band of the Nez Percé

Going to War

• The government tried to settle with Chief Joseph.

• The Nez Perce were told to go to a reservation.

• A raid on the white men was started when Chief Joseph was away.

• This attack against the white men started a war!

Fight or Flight

• The Nez Perce went into hiding in Idaho to avoid the fight.

• The Nez Perce tried to surrender, but a U.S. solider fired a shot, and the battle was on.

• The Nez Perce began a long retreat – this was difficult because the Indians were moving with women, children, and the elders of the tribe.

Unfair Advantages

• The American soldiers were all young men on horseback.

• The Nez Perce fled from the soldiers to Montana.

• One day the U.S. soldiers attacked the Nez Perce while they were sleeping, but the Nez Perce chased them away.

• The tribe planned to escape to Canada.

They were only 30 miles away when the U.S. cut off their escape.

• “I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed... The old men are all dead... It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people... have run away to the hills and have no food.... I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”