Lone Star: The Story of TexasLone Star: The Story of Texas

Chapter 13Closing the Frontier:

1866 - 1888

Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

Lone Star: The Story of TexasLone Star: The Story of Texas

Section 1: The Frontier Wars

Section 2: Cattle Kingdoms

Section 3: Westward Expansion

Section 4: The Texas Rangers

Chapter 13: Closing the Frontier: 1866 - 1888

Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

• Why did American officials and many Native American leaders agree that the Indians should move to reservations?

The Frontier WarsThe Frontier Wars

• Why was the Red River War significant?• What effect did the

Frontier Wars have on the Texas Indians?

Chapter 13, Section 1

A History of ConflictA History of Conflict

Soldiers Defending Texas• After the Civil War, the U.S.

government sent troops to help end the Indian raids.

• In 1867, tribal leaders met with government officials to sign the Medicine Lodge Treaty.

• A treaty is a formal agreement between two nations.

• The treaty did not bring peace.

Reservation Policy• Kiowas raided a wagon

train at Salt Creek in the Salt Creek Massacre.

• This caused the army to switch its policy. Instead of defending the frontier, the army would now force all Indians onto reservations.

• Fighting in Texas intensified.

Chapter 13, Section 1

Chapter 13, Section 1

The Frontier WarsThe Frontier Wars

Leaders in the Frontier WarsLeaders in the Frontier Wars

William T. Sherman

General Philip Sheridan

Colonel Ranald S. MacKenzie

Colonel John Davidson

Quanah Parker

General Nelson Miles

• Union hero in the Civil War• commanded the U.S. army

• Union hero in the Civil War• Directed five separate field armies against the Comanches

and the Kiowas in the 1870s

• Led much of the fighting against the Indians• Considered by many to be the best Indian fighter in the West

• Led several campaigns against the Indians in Texas

• Led units in the Panhandle

• Son of a Comanche father and white mother• Became a Comanche warrior and leader• Led several successful raids

Lone Wolf • Kiowa leader• Opposed settlement on reservations• Led raids against the Texans

Chapter 13, Section 1

The Frontier Wars in the PanhandleThe Frontier Wars in the Panhandle

U.S. Strategies• Soldiers attacked Indian

villages.• Troops captured food,

blankets, and other supplies.• Soldiers burned the villages

and killed the horses.• The army brought in buffalo

hunters to destroy the Indians’ major food source.

• The buffalo hunters nearly drove the animal to extinction (complete destruction).

Red River WarThe Texas Rangers, joined the final campaign against the Indians in the Panhandle—the Red River War. By destroying the Native Americans’ horses and food supply, U.S. troops were able to defeat them. By the end of 1875, most Texas Plains Indians lived on reservations.

Chapter 13, Section 1

The Frontier Wars in Southern TexasThe Frontier Wars in Southern Texas

The end of the Red River War did not stop the violence in Texas:• Rio Grande Campaigns - Apache leader Victorio led Indian

raids across the Southwest and Mexico.• Buffalo Soldiers - Buffalo Soldiers were African American

soldiers who fought in the Frontier Wars. • Outlaws - Texas was a violent place in the 1870s and 1880s.

Cattle thieves were common. Cattle ranchers fought against sheep ranchers. Bandits raided South Texas towns. The Texas Rangers helped control some of these problems.

Chapter 13, Section 1

Cattle KingdomsCattle Kingdoms

• Who first established the cattle industry in Texas?

• What hardships did cowboys face on the trail?

• Why did the big cattle drives end in the 1880s?

Chapter 13, Section 2

Spanish OriginsSpanish Origins

• Texas Longhorns resulted from Spanish cows bred with Anglo cows.

• Spanish vaqueros (cowboys) used lariats to round up cattle from horseback. A lariat is a long rope with a noose on one end.

• Spanish priests and soldiers were the first cattle ranchers in Texas. Early ranchers in Texas faced drought, disease, and theft. They had difficulty transporting cattle to market.

• The Civil War increased the demand for Texas beef.

Chapter 13, Section 2

Chapter 13, Section 2

Cattle TrailsCattle Trails

Problems on the Trails• Bandits stole cattle. • Farmers complained that

longhorns trampled their crops and spread disease to their cattle.

• Some states passed quarantine laws to keep Texas cattle away from settled areas.Quarantine - to isolate or separate to prevent the spread of disease

Famous Trails• The Chisholm Trail ran from

Texas to Abilene, Kansas.• The Great Western Trail

traveled through Indian Territory to Dodge City, Kansas.

• The Goodnight-Loving Trail ran from West Texas through New Mexico and Colorado to Wyoming.Drover - a person who moves livestock to market

Chapter 13, Section 2

Life on the TrailLife on the Trail

• The daily life of cowboys was less glamorous than what is shown in the movies.

• A manager, or trail boss, planned the cattle drive.• Each drive had 11 to 18 men, including a cook and a

scout.• Cowboys kept a remuda (a group of spare horses), so

they always had fresh horses available.• The herd moved about 10 to 15 miles per day.• Hazards on the drive included rainstorms, stampedes,

extreme heat, rattlesnakes, river crossings, and attacks by Indians and bandits.

Big RanchesBig Ranches

Huge Ranches Spread Across Texas• The King Ranch grew to more than 1 million acres—about

as large as the state of Rhode Island.• Charles Goodnight’s JA Ranch covered more than 1 million

acres.• A group of Chicago investors owned the XIT Ranch, which

was almost as large as Connecticut. Sheep and goat ranching also expanded in Texas in the late 1800s.

• Some Texans owned mustang (wild horses) ranches.Cowboy Legend and Reality• Cowboys generally did not fight with Native Americans.• Drovers tried to avoid Indians.• Not all cowboys carried guns.

Chapter 13, Section 2

Westward ExpansionWestward Expansion

• Why did many people stream into West Texas in the 1870s?

• What were the fence-cutting wars?

Chapter 13, Section 3

Chapter 13, Section 3

The Western Frontier After the Civil WarThe Western Frontier After the Civil War

• Settlers Move to West Texas• The state’s population doubled between 1870 and

1880.• Settlers used the idea of manifest destiny to

justify forcing Indians off the land.• Ranchers and farmers saw great financial

potential in West Texas.• Railroad companies promoted the settlement of

West Texas by building railroad lines through the region.

The Growth of RailroadsThe Growth of Railroads

Chapter 13, Section 3

Chapter 13, Section 3

The Closing of the Western FrontierThe Closing of the Western Frontier

• Ranchers put up barbed wire enclosures, fenced-in areas, to protect their cattle. Farmers put up fences to protect their crops. Some of these fences blocked roads and interfered with mail delivery.

• By the 1880s, the open range in Texas had been fenced in.

• Landless cattle owners resorted to cutting these fences to secure grass and water for their herds. Fence cutting caused an estimated $20 million in damages. In 1884, Texas passed a law making it a felony to cut a fence. Felony - a serious crime that usually results in jail time

The Texas RangersThe Texas Rangers

• What caused Stephen F. Austin to raise a force of Rangers in 1823?

• How did the Texas Rangers change under President Lamar?

• What were the main tasks of the Rangers during the 1870s?

Chapter 13, Section 4

The Rangers’ OrganizationThe Rangers’ Organization

• Young, single men• Few family ties• Often retired by age

30• Provided their own

horses, weapons, equipment, and rations

Skills of Texas Rangers• Skilled horsemen• Expert marksmanship• Excellent tracking

skills

Characteristics of Texas Rangers

Chapter 13, Section 4

The Rangers in ActionThe Rangers in Action

• In the Texas Revolution, the Rangers served as scouts and messengers.

• In the 1830s and 1840s, Rangers played a major role in removing Native Americans from East Texas.

• During the Mexican War, Rangers scouted Mexican troop movements. They helped the United States win the Battle of Buena Vista.

• The Rangers fought against guerrilla fighters in Mexico. Guerrillas are soldiers who are not part of the regular army.

Chapter 13, Section 4

The True Value of the RangersThe True Value of the Rangers

• Rangers fought to protect Texans from attacks by outlaws, rustlers, Mexican bandits, and Native Americans. The Frontier Battalion dealt with more than 3,000 desperados (reckless, bold outlaws).

• Rangers also performed routine police tasks, like transporting prisoners and collecting taxes.

• Their methods were often violent and sometimes illegal. However, the Rangers provided better law and order to Texas in the early days.

Chapter 13, Section 4