The Closing of the Western Frontier
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Transcript of The Closing of the Western Frontier
The Closing of the Western Frontier
Out of ManyChapter 18
A lot of slides within this powerpoint were created by Pamela Montague.
Key TensionsKey TensionsNative
AmericansBuffalo HuntersRailroadsU. S. Government
Cattlemen Sheep Herders
Ranchers Farmers
Key TensionsKey TensionsEthnic
MinoritiesNativists
EnvironmentalistsBig Business InterestsLocal Govt. OfficialsFarmersBuffalo Hunters
Lawlessness of the
Frontier“Civilizing”
Forces
Plains Indians• Nomads – followed
their food source– buffalo, 12 to 15
million• Horses made them
better hunters and warriors
• Plains Wars, 1860-1890– Fight to protect
land and stop waste (buffalo)
THE BUFFALOTHE BUFFALO• The buffalo or bison
was an extremely important part of the plains people’s lives.
• They used virtually every part of the buffalo from the hide for clothing, to the stomach for holding water.
• At one time, an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of the present day United States and Canada.
A buffalo can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and live as long as 30 years.
U.S. Government Indian Policy• Dept. of Interior in charge – gross corruption
• Initial policy of CONCENTRATION•Deal with each tribe individually; to define
territories•Allegedly to stop intertribal warfare but
actually to divide & conquer• By the 1860s, policy is one of confining all to
reservations in Black Hills of SD, or OK – Indians to become farmers on the reservations
• Indians received food, supplies in return for removal to reservations & promise to be left alone
• INDIANS WAGED WAR!!• Plains Wars last from 1860-1890• Plains Indians are excellent warriors
– Sherman: “…a mere 50 Indians could often checkmate 3000 U.S. soldiers.”
The Buffalo Soldiers on the Great The Buffalo Soldiers on the Great PlainsPlains
1/5 of soldierson frontier
The nickname was given to the "Negro Cavalry" by the Native
American tribes they fought; the term eventually became
synonymous with all of the African-American regiments
formed in 1866:
SAND CREEK MASSACRE
• Colorado, Nov. 1864• Cheyenne, under
Chief Black Kettle, came to U.S. fort to negotiate
• Col. Chivington arrives at fort & ignores attempts to negotiate
• Executes them all –men, women & children
• Much mutilation
Kill & scalp all, big & Kill & scalp all, big & little!little!
ColonelJohnChivington
Battle of Little Bighorn• Treaty of Fort Laramie –
granted Sioux the right to occupy Black Hills
• Gold found in Black Hills, DK, 1874
• Col. George A. Custer, 7th Calvary – leads expedition of 264 soldiers– Suppose to say that there
wasn’t much gold to be found
– Instead, said the opposite• Sioux & Cheyenne force
of 2,500
• “Custer’s Last Stand”• 1st major victory for
Indians after a long series of defeats
• But, short-lived victory
Chief Joseph: Chief Joseph: II will fight no will fight no more forever!more forever!
Nez Percé tribal Nez Percé tribal retreat (1877)retreat (1877)
• Reservation reduced by 90% after gold discovered– 6 million acres at less
than 10 cents/acre• Flee towards Canadian
border• Surrender after 3
months & 1700 miles…..only 30 miles from the Canadian border
• Told they’ll be returned to ID, instead are sent to OK and 40% die of disease
Dawes Severalty Act Dawes Severalty Act (1887):(1887):
Assimilation PolicyAssimilation Policy
• Tribal lands split into allotments - each family 160 acres• Land can’t be disposed of for 25 years• After 25 yrs., would get citizenship & ownership of land
ASSIMILATION
• Attempt to have Indians “become white” and become part of white man’s culture
• Boarding schools, like Carlisle School, PA– “Kill the Indian & Save
the Man!”• U.S. government tries
to give them land and turn them into farmers
• Failed – Indian culture was nomadic – don’t make good farmers
Apache children on arrival at the Carlisle Indian School (Pennsylvania)
Apache children at the Carlisle School 4 months later.
Arapahoe “Ghost Arapahoe “Ghost Dance”, 1890Dance”, 1890
• Prophet had vision– If the Indian peoples learned
to love each other, they’d have a special place in the afterlife
• The Sioux came to believe that when the day of judgment came, all Indian peoples who had ever lived would return to their lost world
• White people would vanish from the Earth
• White settlers saw this as a threat
Battle of Wounded Knee• Sioux fleeing
reservation after Sitting Bull shot
• Rounded up by Army; surrendered & herded into Wounded Knee Army Camp
• Ghost Dance• Army ordered to
disarm Indians• 190 unarmed
Indians massacred in the process
• End of Plains WarsChief Big Foot’s Lifeless Body
Factors which brought an end to Plains Indians’ way of life:
• RAILROADS!!– Destroy Buffalo– Bring out settlers,
miners, etc.• Discovery of gold/silver
on Indian lands• Disease & Firewater• Indian Wars
– Either killed them OR– Survivors forced to
move to reservations (Dakota and Oklahoma)
"Crazy Horse is being carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse -- to his people."
MINING IN THE OLD WEST:
• MAJOR GOLD STRIKES:– California,
1848– Colorado,
1858 (Pike’s Peak or Bust!”)
– Black Hills of the Dakotas, 1877
• MAJOR SILVER STRIKE:– The
“Comstock Lode” in Virginia City, Nevada
– Over $300 million of silver extracted over 18 yrs
• COPPER – MT• Only those who
could afford to invest in the large machinery were making huge profits
THESE STRIKES CAUSED MINING TOWNS TO SPRING UP:
• “Helldorados”• 1 in 3 buildings
is a saloon• Gambling,
prostitutes, etc.• “Vigilante” and
“lynch law” justice
• Deadwood, OK– Home of many
famous “Wild West” legends
Colt .45 Colt .45 RevolverRevolver
God didn’t make men equal.God didn’t make men equal.Colonel Colt did!Colonel Colt did!
Legendary Gunslingers & Legendary Gunslingers & Train RobbersTrain Robbers
Jesse JamesJesse James
Billy the KidBilly the Kid
Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost TownsNow Ghost Towns
Calico, CACalico, CA
Role of Mining in Subduing the Frontier
• Eventually becomes “big business”– Small miners can’t get
to deep ores; need big $
• Attracts people & wealth to West
• Helped fund the Civil War & building of railroads
• Brought more conflict with the Plains Indians
• Another effect:– Discovery of gold/silver
leads to increased interest in the West…. enter the Wild West Shows!
William “Buffalo Bill” William “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West Cody’s Wild West
ShowShow
Wild West vaudeville shows traveled worldwide
““Buffalo Bill” CodyBuffalo Bill” Cody& Sitting Bull& Sitting Bull
Annie Oakley
Calamity Jane
“There’s gold from the grass roots down, but there’s more
gold from the grass roots up.”
• Open range ranching began in Spanish Texas– Spanish gave us techniques of roping,
herding, etc. as well as style of dress & equipment
• Between 1836 & 1860 mavericks multiplied on the open range to 3-4 million (along with the 12-15 million buffalo)
• Distinguished only by branding – owners didn’t have to own much land
• RR & refrigerated cars solve problem of getting meat to markets in NE
• So, to get cattle to the railroad centers….
…THE LONG DRIVE WAS ESTABLISHED BY ’66 where herds were driven to rail centers in Kansas and Missouri.
TheTheCattleCattleTrailsTrails
Routes were known as “trails.”
The most famous was the Chisholm Trail (San Antonio to Abilene).
• 8 to 10 cowboys could work 2,500 steer• Several thousand were black, also many
Mexican• Dime novels (“tall tales”) were created about
such legends as Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc.
Nat Love
MANY DIFFICULTIES ONTHE LONG DRIVE:
• Overgrazing• Disease• Floods• Droughts• Stampedes• Rustlers• Homesteaders• Cold Winters/Blizzards
The Fall of the The Fall of the CowboyCowboy
Frederick RemingtonFrederick Remington• Closed range ranching takes over
• Cow hands became ranch hands
• Required actual ownership of land so ranching also becomes “big business.”
The Homestead Act• 160 acres for $10 to
head of household• must improve it &
cultivate it for 5 years• Did NOT work out as
planned:– 160 acres not enough
on Great Plains– Factory workers can’t
farm– Fraud by speculators– RAILROADS!!
• Selling “better” land cheap
BlackBlack“Exoduster”“Exoduster”HomesteadeHomesteade
rsrs
PROBLEMS OF PLAINS FARMERS
• NATURAL DISASTERS:– DROUGHT– SEVERE CLIMATE– PRAIRIE FIRES– GRASSHOPPER PLAGUES
Changes inChanges inAmericanAmericanfarming:farming:
• High crop prices for wheat/corn encouraged cash crop farming
• Large scale farming becomes a business– Need mega $ to buy
new combines, etc.• Emergence of
“bonanza” farms– Pushes small
farmers off the land– Hired hands
(Mexicans, Chinese) to work the farms
• ¼ of American farms operated by tenantsHow did 1800s Plains farming
techniques help lead to the Dust Bowl in the 1930s?
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FOR PLAINS FARMERS:
• CASH CROPS made farmers dependent on high prices– Foreign competition drove it down
• DEFLATION – farmers caught in debt cycle– have to produce more to pay back fixed
debts– Overproduction drives prices down
• MORTGAGES – high interest; foreclosures• DEPENDENT ON RR for shipping – high
rates
Government and Business Policies also hurt Farmers
• Gov’t favored industrial classes & urban areas• Local property taxes high & Westerners
can’t hide land like Easterners could hide stocks & bonds– Protective tariffs for industry; nothing for
farmers• Farmers were at mercy of corporations, trusts,
agents:– Machinery, fertilizer, barbed wire all controlled
by major trusts– Middlemen take cut of sales & kept prices high– Storage rates for grain in warehouse &
elevators high; RR freight rates also high
RAILROADS
• Sold land from land grants cheaply• Bureaus of Immigration in East & Europe
to encourage settlement in the West• Advertised myths to encourage
settlement:– Climate would cure all diseases– Women would find husbands; men get
rich quick– “Rain follows the plow”
Single greatest factor in settlingthe West.
The Reality:The Reality:
PLAINS WOMEN:• “Born and scrubbed; suffered and died.”• Morrill Act – Federal $ to help states
establish universities (land grant colleges) which were open to women
• Western women will ultimately get the vote first
The “Chinese Question”The “Chinese Question”
§ Exclusion Act (1882)Exclusion Act (1882) - Oriental Exclusion - Oriental Exclusion ActAct - Chinese Exclusion - Chinese Exclusion ActAct
Destruction of the Buffalo Destruction of the Buffalo HerdsHerds
The near extinction of the buffalo.The near extinction of the buffalo.
LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THE WESTWARD EXPERIENCE?
Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park
First national First national park established park established
in 1872.in 1872.