CHAPTER 5

CHANGES ON THE WESTERN

FRONTIER

Cultures Clash on the Prairie • Native Americans VS. American Easterners

– Native Americans believed you could not own land merely live off of it. – Settlers believed owning land would give them a stake in the country

and make them rich

• Discovery of Silver and Gold lured many Settlers to the West– Irish, German, Polish, Chinese, and African-American men moved west

and crowded into small mining camps and boomtowns at a chance to get rich.

– Cities such as Virginia City Nevada and Helena Montana originated as mining camps on Native American Lands

• The settlers believed that Native Americans had no right

to the lands since they had not settled down to

“improve it”

Virginia City, Nevada

Government Restricts Native Americans

• In 1834 The government set aside the whole great plains for Indians– In the 1850s with the expansion of settlers the government

changed its policies as Railroads were build through this area

• Indians continued to hunt on this land and had many clashes with settlers and miners.

Massacre at Sand Creek• The Cheyenne peacefully moved back to Colorado’s

Sand Creek assuming they had protection from the US Government.

• Colonel John Chivington received a telegram that read “ I want no peace till the Indians suffer more”

• Chivington and his troops descended on 200 warriors and 500 women at Sand Creek

• They attacked at dawn Nov. 29, 1864 killing over 150 inhabitants mostly women and children.

• These events signified a terrible betrayal for chiefs willing to negotiate peace with the military."

Death On The Bozeman Trail• The Bozeman Trail ran right through Sioux hunting

grounds– Chief Red Cloud appealed to the government to end white

settlement on the trail

• December 1866 the warrior Crazy Horse ambushed Captain William Fetterman and his company at Lodge Trail Ridge.– Over 80 soldiers were killed.

• Native Americans called this battle Hundred Slain• Americans called it the Fetterman Massacre• Fighting continued until government agreed to close the

Bozeman Trail

More Conflict• Red River war broke out from 1874-1875

– Kiowa and Comanche raided settlements throughout the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma

– U.S army responded by killing all Indian Warriors who resisted.

• Custer’s Last Stand– June 1876 Custer and his men reached the little bighorn River in

Montana– Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull outflanked Custer’s troops.– Within an hour, Custer and all of the men of the Seventh

Cavalry were dead.– by late 1876 the Sioux were beat and forced to move to Canada

• Later in 1886 Sitting Bull assimilated into American Culture and begin performing in the Buffalo

Bill Wild West Show

Battle of Wounded Knee• Soldiers rounded up about 350 starving and Freezing

Sioux Indians and took them a camp at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota

• Soldiers demanded some Indians give up their Weapons• A shot was fired and the Soldiers open fire with a cannon• Within minutes 300 Indians were killed. • The Soldiers left their bodies to freeze on the ground• THIS BROUGHT A END TO THE INDIAN WARS

– The majority of the Indians move further west or into Canada

Cattle and Cowboys• Cattle Ranching became a big business on the Plains• Americans learned the ways from Spanish Vaquero

– Wearing spurs, chaps, and eating jerky

• Development of large cities raised demand for beef• Cattle began being shipped by railroad to eastern cities • Cattle was herded by the use of many trails to the

railroads in the north– Chisholm trail– Goodnight loving trail– Western trail

The end of the open Range• Between 1883 – 1887 alternating patterns of dry

summers and harsh winters wiped out entire herds of longhorn cattle

• The invention of Barbed Wire by Joseph Glidden brought a end to the open range as plots of land were fenced in to make small ranches.

Settling The Great Plains• The vast network of railroads allowed many settlers to

move west to obtain free land for farming.• Many immigrants such as the Chinese, African

American, and Irish workers laid miles of track• Homestead Act

– Government gave 160 acres of land free to any citizen or intended citizen of the U.S.

• In 1872 the government set aside much of the beautiful frontier for national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite

Challenges for Settlers on the Plains• Settlers faced droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, and

Indian Raids• Settlers lived in houses made of prairie turf and mud

known as sod. Others build their houses into hills or ravines known as dugouts

• Women worked beside the men in the fields– Shearing sheep– Hauled water from the wells– Made soap and candles– Canned fruits and vegetables

• The late 1800s brought many new inventions that helped farmers farm more efficiently

Farmers and the Populist Movement• Inflation and falling grain prices forced many farmers

into debt and bankruptcy.• Farmers were forced to pay high prices to railroads to

transport their goods• The Grange, a farmers alliance was formed to help

farmers fight the railroads and for famer rights• The Farmers Alliance was also formed

– Sent lecturers from town to town– Spoke about lower interest rates on loans and government

control over railroads– Membership grew to 4 million

The Rise and Fall of Populism • Populism – political party that promoted more rights for

the people favored farmers and laborers– Increase in the money supply– Federal loan program– Eight hour workday– Restrictions on immigration

The Panic of 1893• Farmers were overextended with debts and loans• Railroad construction had expanded faster than markets• Railroad companies such as the Reading and Northern

Pacific went bankrupt • The governments gold supply dried up• People panicked and traded paper money for gold• Stock prices fell rapidly• Price of silver plunged causing silver mines to close• End of the year 15,000 busines and 500 banks had

collapsed.• 3 million people lost their jobs•

Silverites VS. Gold Bugs• Struggle in the government emerged• Silverites favored bimetallism - a monetary system in

which the government would give citizens either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks

• The “gold bugs” favored the gold standard – backing dollars solely with gold

• The Republican party was committed to the gold standard chose William McKinley as Candidate

• The Democratic Party favored the combined gold and silver standard and chose William Jennings Bryan

Gold Bugs VS Silverites

Gold Bugs Silverites

Who they Were Bankers and Businessmen Farmers and laborers

What they wanted Gold standard Less money in circulation

Bimetallism More money in circulation

Why Loans would be repaid in Stable Money

Products would be sold at high prices

Effects DEFLATIONPrices fallValue of money increasesFewer people have Money

INFLATIONPrices riseValue of money decreasesMore people have money

• The Populist party endorsed the democratic party and Bryan

• William Jennings Bryan could not match the funds of the republican candidate William McKinley.

• Bryan had to travel to 30 states sometimes making 20 speeches a day

• McKinley had famous people tour the country speaking for him

• The republican party won electing William McKinley president thus collapsing the populist party