Conquest and Survival:

The Trans-Mississippi West

1860 – 1900

Indians had occupied the Plains for over

20,000 yrs., developing diverse ways of adapting to the environment

Indians then adapted to European ways: riding horses, guns; some converted to Christianity and learned English

Legally tribes were supposed to be regarded as autonomous nations residing within the US, and though treaties were negotiated, force was often used instead

Indian Peoples Under Siege

The government had pressured Indian tribes

to migrate West into a permanent Indian Territory, but Whites’ desire for land led the federal government to pressure western Indians to move to reservations

Federal policies on reservations were inadequate to the needs of the tribes

Nomadic tribes found their freedom disappearing as the buffalo were slaughtered by the railroad and overkilling by white hunters

Reservations and the Slaughter of the

Buffalo

Sand Creek Massacre (Nov. 29, 1864): The Cheyenne led

by Chief Black Kettle were massacred by the US Cavalry (despite waving an American flag and signaling a truce)

Great Sioux Wars (1865-67): led by Sioux warrior Red Cloud, resulted in the Treaty of Ft. Laramie that allowed the Sioux to occupy the Black Hills

GOLD in the Black Hills led settlers to invade the territory; the Sioux, Cheyenne, and the Arapaho united to defend their territory

George Armstrong Custer and his regiment was wiped out by the largest assemblage of Indian warriors (2,500 warriors) at the Battle of Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand, June 25, 1876)

The Indian Wars

Chief Sitting Bull, the primary leaderof the Sioux coalition at Little Big Hornbecame a main attraction of BuffaloBill’s Wild West Show, before he waskilled in 1890, in an arrest to preventhim from joining the Ghost DanceMovement

Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce: though

originally cooperative with their removal, rebelled after several betrayals; the tribe was sent to a disease-ridden land in Kansas: “I shall fight no more, forever.”

Red River War (1874-75): The Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche joined forces against the US Army in the Southwest (Arizona Territory); the fighting continued until Geronimo’s surrender in 1886—the last of the tribes to do so

The Indian Wars, cont’d

Geronimo Chief Joseph

Sioux leaders (c. 1868) Red Cloud (one of the leaders of the Little Big Hornbattle is seated center

Mining fostered western expansion as gold and silver

discoveries brought thousands of fortune seekers: California Gold Rush (1849); Comstock Lode in Nevada (1859); the Black Hills (1870s)…

Mining began as an individual enterprise, but because deeper mining required finance, special equipment, most fortunes went to corporations that bought out the smaller claims

The western labor movement emerged in this rough and violent climate; unions refused to allow Black, Chinese, Mexican, and Indian workers membership

Although many mining settlements were short-lived “Boomtowns” that were abandoned after the mines dried up, some would become permanent settlements—Unions were unable to stop owners from shutting down mines

The Mining Towns

The Mormons under Brigham Young had migrated

into Utah in 1846, by 1870 over 87,000 were living in the territory

By the 1860s into the 1870s, the federal government began tightening control over the territory, and eventually banned polygamy and confiscated major assets to undermine the Mormon Church’s authority in the region

The Mormon leaders obliged, and by 1890 officially denounced plural marriage, as their society began to resemble the very culture they wished to escape

The Mormons

Under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, all Hispanics

were formally guaranteed citizenship and the full rights of liberty and property

However Whites and Hispanics clashed over control of the land

As some Mexican elites were able to maintain their wealth and power, the majority of Mexicans found themselves trapped in poverty and turned to migratory work or moved to urban areas

Mexicans were able to maintain their traditions and culture through continuous migrations into the 20th century (Diaz’s Mexico, and the 1910 Revolution)

Mexican Borderlands

The destruction of the buffalo opened the path

for the western cattle industry The “long drive” saw cowboys rounding up

herds for around $30 a month, living under the most harsh conditions: a roughly 1500-mile trek with poor diet, no protection from the elements, and little to no rest

Despite the “romantic image” of the West, 1/3 of all cowboys were Black, Mexican, or Indian

The Open Range

Personal violence was commonplace in the cattle

towns and mining camps: horse theft and cattle rustling was conveniently dealt with by lynching

By the 1870s, the “range wars” turned violent as farmers, sheep herders, and cattle ranchers battled over the same land—the “cattle barons” hired out mercenaries to deal with anyone who posed a problem

By the end of the 1880, however the cattle business went bust: overstocking, overgrazing, and the winters of 1885-87 killed off 90% of the cattle, causing prices to plummet

Cattle Towns

1862: offered the incentive to prospective white

farmers—gave 160 acres of land, had to live on the land and improve upon it within 5 years

Sparked the greatest migration in US history, and those who settled in the central and upper Midwest had the greatest successes due to climate and rich soil

Only about 10% of farmers got their start under the act, as most bought their land outright (for a hefty price); land speculation ran rampant, and the railroads bought the rest—about half the homesteaders would lose their claims

The Homestead Act

Railroads were the instrument by which the

Plains were populated, delivering crops and cattle to eastern markets, and brought back goods to the settlers

Since the railroads preceded settlement, they directly impacted the settlement of the West

Professional promoters went to Europe and throughout the US recruiting settlers

Immigrants formed tight-knit communities retaining their native languages and customs

Populating the Plains

The Soddy

Farm families survived and prospered through hard work and

community: all members of the family worked, tended to be seasonal, and dependence on neighbors for help with the hard work, tough soil, and the harsh climate

Barter system developed among farmers due to lack of cash, not so much out of “being neighborly”

Prepping the land was difficult due to the tough sod New technologies such as the singing plow and mechanical

reaper made mass-farming possible Through federal aid, land grant colleges (Morrill Act, 1862),

and federally-funded scientific research (Hatch Act, 1887) farmers were able to cultivate large-scale wheat production on the Great Plains

Life on the Plains

Because of the new technologies, farmers

adapted to produce for the cash market, rather than subsistence

Wheat production became instrumental, as the Great Plains became the “World’s Breadbasket”

Yet, startup costs for a farm kept homestead families in a cycle of debt, hence the well-capitalized, financed farmer had the advantage, turning farming into big business—small farmers became a part of their “bonanza farms”

Producing for the Global Market

California led the way toward large-scale

commercial farming that defined the “agribusiness”

By 1900, CA had become the showcase for heavily capitalized farm factories employing large numbers of tenant farmers and migrants

Fruit and vegetable growers (oranges, grapes, wine…) manipulated consumer tastes to create new markets for their products

California Agribusiness

Farmers destroyed existing plant and animal species and

introduced new ones (buffalo, grizzlies, wolves – cattle and sheep)

Due to the introduction of grazing animals, the grasslands and prairies were eaten away creating the potential for huge dust storms

Water supplies dwindled, natural lakes, springs, and rivers were diverted, dried up, and manipulated to suit commercial agriculture

The federal government addressed these concerns and enacted many regulations to oversee the transformation of the land: Land Revision Act and Forest Management Act gave the president and federal government the power to reserve land from large-scale activities

Environmental Tolls

The Yosemite Act (1864) placing the area

under the management of California 1872: Yellowstone becomes the first national

park, five more would be established from 1890-1910

Writers described the majestic quality of the American West, as landscape painters and photographers captured these images, tantalizing the public’s interest in the West

Nature’s Majesty

More popular presentations emphasized the West as a source of

“vigorous manhood” (TR) Dime novels portrayed the area in romantic and heroic terms: bold

cowboys, savage Indians, exotic locations… Turner’s Thesis emphasized the settling of the West as instrumental to

the development of the American character (individualism, innovation…) William Cody (Buffalo Bill) created a Wild West show that toured the

country giving people a “recreation” of the West, staging famous reenactments of Little Big Horn, featuring the real Sitting Bull!

Lewis Henry Morgan and Alice Cunningham Fletcher were two American “anthropologists” who helped pioneer a new science of cultural study as they sought to learn about the American Native—Fletcher would help found the American Anthropological Society and the American Folklore Society

The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America incorporated used tribal lore to instill strength of character and a uniquely “American” sentimentality

The Wild West

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill

Reformers advocated assimilation and

eradication of tribal customs (Bureau of Indian Affairs)

The Dawes Severalty Act (1887) sought to destroy tribal sovereignty Individuals were granted land if they chose to

sever themselves from their tribe Indian religions and ceremonies were banned,

along with the telling of myths Indian schools forbade traditional clothing,

language, and body fashions: “kill and Indian, save a man”

Reform Policy and Politics

An Indian prophet Wovoka had a divine vision that

said judgment was coming and that the Sioux needed to practice the Ghost Dance

The Ghost Dance was not tolerated among white settlers, who were freaked out by the natives dancing to exhaustion (Sitting Bull was killed over a misunderstanding at the Pine Ridge Reservation)

December 29, 1890: 200 Indians were massacred at Wounded Knee Creek after an accidental misfire by automatic weapons, even though they had agreed to surrender; soldiers left them to die in the cold

Wounded Knee

Tribes that survived were those living on

unwanted land (Navajo and Hopi) Tribes became extinct, or have dwindled to the

brink Northwestern tribes managed to adapt to the

new situations and remain relatively isolated to survive

And though the traditional ways of life are for the most part gone, the resurgence of Indian sovereignty would rise again decades later

Endurance and Rejuvenation