moving westward: 1850-1890 libertyville hs. westward movement by 1850s frontier had moved to 100 th...
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MOVING WESTWARD: 1850-1890
Libertyville HS
Westward Movement
By 1850s frontier had moved to 100th Meridian
Area beyond = “Great American Desert” North = Canada West = Great Plains &
Rocky Mountains South = Texas
Barriers to settlement Extremes of weather Lack of trees (fuel,
construction, food) Native Americans
The Indian Barrier
N.A. were masters of their environment
Indian advantages Horsemanship Weapons Knowledge of their
terrain White disadvantages
Unknown environment Slow loading weapons
Changing Circumstances
Use of the revolver Telegraph (“singing
wires”) Introduction of
alcohol Diseases Disappearance of
buffalo Introduction of the
railroad Ex – Union & Central
Pacific “Plenty wagon, no
horse”
The Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental Railroad – why? Quick transport across country
for goods, people Congress: land grants to RR
companies, as incentive to build
Trunk line + subsidiary lines Effects
Open up interior to settlement Hastened defeat of Indians Buffalo slaughter Political development of W
states
“America’s Second Civil War”1865-1886
Combat between encroaching whites, Plains Indians
Dilemma: what to do with defeated Indians? Americanize them!
Highlights of “Second Civil War”
1876 Little Big Horn (Custer’s “Last Stand”) 1877 Crazy Horse
surrendered 1877 Chief Joseph & Nez
Perce fled to Canada 1882 Oklahoma becomes
“Indian Territory” 1883 Sundance
prohibited by the Secretary of Interior
1886 Geronimo surrendered Chief Joseph Geronimo
Custer Crazy Horse
Assimilation of Native Americans
Bureau of Indian Affairs Manage assimilation of
Native Americans into mainstream culture
Confined Indians to reservations Teach white culture Christianize Break up tribes Disperse family units Force individual property
ownership
Political Timeline of Assimilation
1887 Dawes Act (Indian Homestead Act) 160 acres from government
Late 1880s, 90s Return of Sitting Bull Popularity of Ghost Dance
1889 Ghost Dance reached Pine Ridge Res
1890 Wounded Knee (massacre of Indians)
1904 Burke Act (Indian homesteads) 640 acres & potential citizenship
Sitting Bull
The Cattle Kingdom (1865-85)
“Open Range” Cattle business –
McCoy linked to Chicago meat packing business
Texas ‘longhorns’ “Long drive” to
railheads Railheads & “cattle
towns” Trails = Goodnight-
loving, Western Chisholm, Shawnee
Cattle towns = Wichita, Dodge City, Abilene
Joseph McCoy
Cattle Kingdom
Advances of Cattle Kingdom Joseph Glidden
Barbed wire (“devil’s hat band”)
Ned BuntlineDime novels
(paperbacks) John Deere
Steel edged plow
John Deere
Joseph Glidden
Cattle Kingdom: End of an Era
Over production Drought (1886) &
blizzards (1886-87) ended Cattle Kingdom
Sod busters & “range wars”
Result Ranches and fences Big business
Miner’s Frontier
There were approximately two dozen major “mining rushes” (mining rush = discovery of gold or silver) 1849 – Sacramento, CA 1859 – Colorado @ Pike’s
Peak 1859 – Nevada (Comstock
Lode - silver) 1874 – Black Hills, SD (Sioux
Res, sacred land – Army sent in to protect miners) (Homestake Mine – gold) Silver mine
Pike’sPeakMining
Miner’s Frontier: Black Hills War
George Custer & the 7th Cavalry
Crazy Horse and the Sioux
“Custer’s Last Stand” Custer, 200 troopers
march 30+ miles Attack 2-3000 Sioux
warriors! Cavalry killed, to the
man Only survivor…
Mining Town Life
Mining towns in territories = little law / justice
New vocabulary “vigilantes” “posse” “suspended sentence” “necktie parties” “Winchester litigation”
End of Boom times Mining becomes just another
big business
End of the Frontier: Farmers
Initial settlement of West Oregon Fever, 1840s CA Gold Rush, 1849
Post CW settlement of “American Desert” Dislocation due to Civil War Homestead Act of 1862
160 acres free, if developed (later increased to 640 acres)
1.6 million “freeholds” est.270 million acres, or @ 10%
of all US land Free RR transport to W
Barriers to Farmers in West
Housing Fuel Plowing Fencing Water
“Sod busting” “Buffalo chips” Deere plow Barbed wire Windmills to
pump well water to irrigate
Barrier Solution
Settlement of West
Last Land Rush: Oklahoma, 1889 (“89ers”)“Sooners” = those who
entered earlyBoomers = those who
legally entered – cannon boom
1890 census: officially ended the “frontier” as a part of USA