America’s Last Frontier

The need to “Go West” and the forced removal of the

Native Americans in our way

The Transcontinental Railroad

• The Civil War was still raging when Congress put aside land for the first transcontinental railroad

• The Union Pacific line, built by mostly Irish immigrants, started from Omaha, Nebraska and went west

• The Central Pacific line, with mostly Chinese workers, started in San Francisco, California and went east

The Transcontinental Railroad

• The two sides met in Utah in May 1869

How did the railroad change America?

• Made it easier for settlers to move westward and to receive supplies from the East

• They made it possible for farmers and ranchers to ship their grain and cattle to Northeastern urban markets for sale

• Telegraph wires were installed right next to rail tracks; increase in communication network

The Relocation of the American Indians

• Tensions rose with the inhabitants of the Great Plains region such as the Sioux and the Cheyenne

• A series of “Indian Wars” breaks out for about 25 years

• Federal troops stationed in forts are there to protect the settlers

• Some of those were African American troops known as “Buffalo Soldiers”

Buffalo Soldiers

Click icon to add picture

Dawes Act, 1887• Passed to “Americanize” the Native

Americans• Each male Indian was permitted to

claim 160 acres of reservation land as his own private property – he had to farm it

• Threatened the survival of Indian culture

• Most of the land was infertile

ACTIVITYReading with Questions from Ordinary Americans book

The Reservation System• Land the federal government

“reserved” for particular tribes• Government promised to provide

food, blankets, and seed, but most Indian agents ignored their duties or cheated the Indians

• Most reservations located in infertile and undesirable areas

• Teachers sent to Christianize

Native Americans picking hops on a

reservation

Mass Grave after Wounded Knee Massacre

Cheap Land• With the slaughter of

buffalo and removal of Indians, there was new land available for settlement

• Immigrants from Europe and farmers from the East and Midwest of the U.S. wanted in

Cheap Land• Homestead Act of 1862 – 160 acres

of land for $1.65/acre after six months, or for free if farmed for five years

• In 1889, government sold 2 million acres of former “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma; “Land Run”

The Mining Boom• In many parts of the West, miners

were the first to arrive• Gold and silver discovered in

California, the Rocky Mountains, and the Black Hills

• Once a discovery was made, thousands of prospectors and adventurers came

• “Boom” towns sprang up overnight

Mining

Boom Towns

Cattle Drives• Cattle drives took about

3 months• Cattle were driven

northward from Texas to Kansas

• Cowboys were those who had special riding, roping, and branding skills

Farming on the Frontier

Problem:• Remoteness of markets

Solution:• Railroads allowed farmers to ship

their produce eastwards

Farming on the Frontier

Problem:• Lack of wood,

clay, or rock for homes

Solution:• “Sod-houses”

made from thick clumps of grass and soil cut into bricks

Farming on the Frontier

Problem:• Lack of wood for fencing

Solution:• Barbed wire, first invented in 1874

Farming on the Frontier

Problem:• Lack of rainfall

Solution:• Dug wells hundreds

of feet deep in order to tap into the groundwater

Farming on the Frontier• Tough, dry soil

• Lack of fuel

• Lack of manpower

• Used steel or iron plows

• Burnt “buffalo chips” for fuel

• Used machinery to farm more acres with fewer workers

ACTIVITY – CHOOSE ONE (get rubric from teacher)

• Pretend you are working for a railroad company in 1870. Design a poster to attract farming families to the Great Plains.

• Imagine you are a settler on the Great Plains. Write a letter to your relatives back home, describing the conditions around you.

Checkpoint• What was the main purpose of the

reservation system?A. To make the new transcontinental

railroad safer to operateB. To clear federal lands for settlement by

railroads, ranchers, and farmersC. To provide employment for Union

troops and veterans after the Civil WarD. To make it easier for Indians to

assimilate into mainstream American culture

Checkpoint• What was the main purpose of the

reservation system?A. To make the new transcontinental

railroad safer to operateB. To clear federal lands for settlement by

railroads, ranchers, and farmersC. To provide employment for Union

troops and veterans after the Civil WarD. To make it easier for Indians to

assimilate into mainstream American culture

Checkpoint• How did completion of the first

transcontinental railroad in 1869 encourage settlement of the American West?

A. The railroad led to new discoveries of precious minerals

B. The railroad required immense quantities of iron and coal to build

C. The railroad frightened Indian tribes, who retreated to reservations

D. The railroad made it easier for ranchers and farmers to ship goods back east

Checkpoint• How did completion of the first

transcontinental railroad in 1869 encourage settlement of the American West?

A. The railroad led to new discoveries of precious minerals

B. The railroad required immense quantities of iron and coal to build

C. The railroad frightened Indian tribes, who retreated to reservations

D. The railroad made it easier for ranchers and farmers to ship goods back east

Checkpoint• How did completion of the first

transcontinental railroad in 1869 encourage settlement of the American West?

A. The railroad led to new discoveries of precious minerals

B. The railroad required immense quantities of iron and coal to build

C. The railroad frightened Indian tribes, who retreated to reservations

D. The railroad made it easier for ranchers and farmers to ship goods back east

Checkpoint• What did the passage of the Homestead Act

of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act demonstrate about the federal government?

A. It was committed to settling the western territories

B. It was concerned about conserving natural resources

C. It was unwilling to move American Indian tribes to reservations

D. It was determined to break up business trusts harmful to free enterprise

Checkpoint• What did the passage of the Homestead Act

of 1862 and the Pacific Railway Act demonstrate about the federal government?

A. It was committed to settling the western territories

B. It was concerned about conserving natural resources

C. It was unwilling to move American Indian tribes to reservations

D. It was determined to break up business trusts harmful to free enterprise

Checkpoint• What was a negative aspect of the

“Americanization” policy of the late 1880s for American Indians?

A. Indians attended reservation schools and learned a trade

B. Indians could own and farm 160 acres of their own land

C. Indians learned English and could gain the right to vote

D. Indians saw the survival of their traditional cultures threatened

Checkpoint• What was a negative aspect of the

“Americanization” policy of the late 1880s for American Indians?

A. Indians attended reservation schools and learned a trade

B. Indians could own and farm 160 acres of their own land

C. Indians learned English and could gain the right to vote

D. Indians saw the survival of their traditional cultures threatened