Western Migration

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Western Migration

• Into the Great Plains and Past the Rocky Mountains

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The Great Plains

• West of the Mississippi River and East of the
  Rocky Mountains
• Before U.S. exploration
• Home to prairie dogs, coyotes, wolves, and bison
• Home to Native Americans
• Omaha, Osage, Sioux, Comanche, and Blackfeet
  tribes
• Some set up communities
• Some were nomadic moving from place to place
  following food source (usually bison)

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Bison (aka. Buffalo)

• Food
• Clothing
• Shelter
• Tools
• Sport
• Training
• Worship

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Prairie Dogs
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European Influence

• Native Americans acquired horses in the 1600s
• Traded or stole from Spanish Settlers
• Native Americans with Horses
• Better Hunters
• Faster Travelers
• Better Warriors

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U.S. Influence on Great Plains

• Railroads were built west due to the discovery
  of gold in California
• Construction of railroads increased due to the
  Civil War
• Transporting supplies and troops
• Effects of the Railroads
• Killed nearly all the Bison
• Started to disrupt and remove people and
  communities

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Railroads

• Connected ports to cities and industries
• Connected cities with other cities
• Provided many jobs for Immigrants
• Workers hunted bison for meat
• Workers and travelers hunted bison for sport
• Nearly exterminated the bison

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First Transcontinental Railroad

• Federal Government would help fund construction
• Union Pacific Co. (started in Omaha, NE)
• Employed many Irish Immigrants
• Central Pacific Co. (started in Sacramento, CA)
• Employed many Chinese Immigrants
• Laid down as many as 10 miles of track per day
• All done by hand
• Finished in 1869

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Connected at Promontory, Utah
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Railroads Would Expand
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Conflict with Native Americans

• Native Americans would react to these events
• Must protect their land
• Must stop the waste of bison
• U.S. army and settlers were too strong
• Government funding to remove tribes
• Pushed Sioux out of Minnesota region
• Exterminated Cheyenne in the Colorado region

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Reservations

• To end the warfare, the federal government
  decided to set up reservations
• One in the Dakota Territory
• One in Oklahoma
• But fighting would continue
• Found gold in Dakota Territory
• Miners flooded into the region
• Sioux tribe would attack miners
• Led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

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• Chief Sitting Bull

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• Chief Crazy Horse

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Little Bighorn River and Wounded Knee

• U.S. General George Custer would attack a camp
  of Cheyenne and Sioux
• Native Americans killed Custer and all of his
  troops (Battle at Little Bighorn, 1876)
• 190 unarmed Native Americans were killed in 1890
  at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

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• General George Custer

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The Dawes Act

• When herds of bison were wiped out, resistance
  became impossible
• Natives couldnt fight anymore
• 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act in result to
  warfare
• Broke up Native American nations
• Gave each family 160 acres of land to cultivate
• Probation for 25 years, then granted ownership of
  land and U.S. citizenship for Native Americans

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Ranching, Mining, and Farming
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Ranching

• Northern cities were growing due to industry and
  immigrants
• Higher demand for meat (food)
• Ranching and cattle drives in the west would
  supply for this demand
• Open areas for cattle to graze

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Cattle Drives
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Mining

• Discovery of gold in California
• Fortune seekers spread into the Great Basin and
  Rocky Mountains
• Gold in South Dakota
• Copper in Montana
• Silver in Nevada
• Migration of miners into this area would lead to
  the creation towns and cities

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• Great
• Basin

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Mining Towns

• Saloons and gambling
• Scene of wild west and Westerners
• Billy the Kid and Jesse James
• Shootouts
• Impacts
• Destroys wildlife
• Wipes out natural resources

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Industrialization

• Created a large urban population in America and
  Europe
• Needed to increase food production and supply

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Farming

• Homestead Act of 1862 (Congress)
• Would sell 160 acres worth of land to a family
  for only 10
• Wanted to increase food production
• Restriction owner must reside on or cultivate
  the land for 5 years

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Farming

• Homestead Act was ineffective
• Railroad companies bought land near railroad
  lines
• Did not cultivate this land
• Others would simply buy the land and spread a
  few corn seeds
• Would sell the land later for profit

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Advertisements

• Wanted to increase settlement in the Western
  United States
• Advertisements
• Will strike it rich
• Region is so healthy that it will cure diseases
• Unmarried women would easily find husbands

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Farming Technology

• Disadvantages in farming in the west
• Water was less available and too deep underground
• During some years little rainfall (drought)
• Less available trees for fuel on construction
• Industrialized Technology (Iron)
• Could drill a well deeper
• Cast iron windmill
• Barbed wire fences

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Farming Technology

• Improved agricultural machinery
• Reaper 1865
• Cut grain pulled by horses
• Mechanical Binder
• Gathered grain as it was cut
• Steam power would bring new ideas

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Agricultural Growth

• Wheat Production
• Minnesota, Dakotas, Kansas, and Nebraska
• Dairy Production
• Wisconsin (Cheese Heads Green Bay Packers)

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Economy of Farming

• Farming was expensive
• Drill wells for water
• Buy and maintain machinery
• Buy seed and materials
• Pay railroads to store and transport products

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Railroads Charge Farmers

• Transportation of crops
• Railroads charged the highest price
• Farmers depended on railroads, had to pay the
  price
• No other way to transport products quickly
• Farmers would store crops in storage
  elevators owned by railroads
• Railroads charged high price

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Farmers Protest

• These problems faced by farmers will be attacked
  by the Populist Movement
• Farmers would unite and call themselves the
  Grangers