The West Transformed

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The West Transformed

• Chapter 17

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Mining and Railroads

• Boom and bust
• Before the Civil War, prospectors found gold in
  Nevada, which was owned by Henry Comstock.
• The Comstock Lode was filled with silver, and
  made more money in silver then gold. About 300
  Million in 20 years.
• After the Civil War, prospectors moved west, they
  found ores in Montana, Idaho, Colorado and South
  Dakota.

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Mining and Railroads

• Cities of tents grew around these ore mines, and
  were called Boomtowns. Merchants followed
  prospectors.
• Women opened restaurants, washed clothes, took in
  borders.
• About ½ of the miners were foreign
• To keep justice in these towns there were
  Vigilantes
• Once the ore was extracted, the miners often
  moved away and the towns died.

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Mining and Railroads

• The Railroad Boom
• Before 1860, railroads ended at the Mississippi
  River.
• The government gave subsidies to people.

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Mining and Railroads

• Transcontinental Railroad
• One railway went east from Sacramento, CA called
  the Central Pacific Railroad
• Another was built west from Omaha, Nebraska
  called the Union Pacific Railroad.
• They met in the middle

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Mining and Railroads

• Towns sprang up in the west because of the
  railroad.
• Gold and silver came out of the mines.
• The Transcontinental Railroad
• Finding gold and silver ore in the land out to
  the west was what eventually inspired this
  railroad which spanned the continent.

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• People of the Plains
• In 1865, about 360,000 Native Americans lived in
  the Great Plains
• Plains people lived by gathering, hunting and
  fishing.
• When the Native Americans traded with the French
  and British for guns, they could travel faster
  and farther.
• Native Americans carried their belongings in
  Travois and lived in Tepees

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• Plains people flowed the buffalo herds, which
  played a key role in the Native Americans
  survival.
• Women managed the village, cared for children,
  made food.
• Men were hunters and warriors and often led
  religious life.

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• Broken Treaties
• U.S. treaties promised Native Americans land,
  when miners and railroad crews went west, these
  treaties were broken.
• Fort Laramie Treaty-US officials wanted Native
  Americans to stop following buffalo, promising if
  they settled down, and the government would
  protect their land.
• When this was signed, Settlers moved onto their
  land.

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• Sand Creek Massacre-As a response by the Native
  Americans to give up their lands, they attacked
  supply trains and homes.
• The response to this was that about 700 people
  attacked the Cheyenne tribe. They raised a white
  flag but 100 people from the tribe were killed
  anyway.
• This massacre ignited war.

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• The giant herds of buffalo began to die out
  because of railroad hunters and the price of
  buffalo robes.
• Last stand for Custer and the Sioux
• Often times land on the reservation was bad and
  hard to farm on.

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Native Americans struggle to survive

• The Sioux and Cheyenne lived on a reservation in
  the Black Hills.
• In 1874 there was a gold rush and a flood of
  miners
• Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led attacks to keep
  out whites
• Little Bighorn- A battle between Colonel George
  Custer and the Sioux and Cheyenne to force the
  Native Americans onto a reservation
• Custer and all of his men died in this battle

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Native Americans Struggle to survive

• Other efforts of resistance
• When the Nez Perces were being forced onto a
  reservation, their Chief, Chief Joseph fled
  toward Canada with his people. The US Army
  pursued them, until their capture near Canadas
  border.

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Native Americans Struggle to survive

• Navajo Indians raided settlers farms for
  livestock, to stop this, the army was called in.
  Eventually the Navajo were defeated.
• The Long Walk was made by the Navajos, which
  was forced. Many died of disease and hunger.

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Native Americans Struggle to survive

• The Ghost Dance
• The failure of reform
• A Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson.
• A book that recorded the many treaties that were
  violated by the government.
• The Dawes Act
• Tried to end Native American wandering and turn
  them into farmers.
• Gave males 160 acres each to farm.
• They set up schools
• This act failed.

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The Cattle Kingdom

• Rise of the Cattle Industry
• For years wild cattle wanted the Open Range
• When American settlers moved to the west, they
  did not round up the stray herds.
• When the railroads came, Texans could now take
  the cattle to markets
• In spring there were Cattle Drives- These drives
  lasted months to move the cattle north.

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The Cattle Kingdom

• Life on the Trail
• Cowhands-had to keep the cattle in check.
• Herding cattle was risky they would stampede and
  could get taken away by a river.
• Cowhands worked 18 hours a day and got paid less
  than 1.
• People learned how to be cowhands because of the
  Vaquero
• Americans learned to ride, rope and brand.

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The Cattle Kingdom

• The Wild West
• After months on the trail, cowboys would be ready
  for a bath, a good meal and a soft bed. This is
  why Cow towns were formed. Cow towns
• These towns soon became popular they had dance
  halls, saloons, hotels and restaurants.

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The Cattle Kingdom

• There were many myths in the west. Although there
  was minimal violence, people tried to advertise
  for the west by saying there was.
• Annie Oakley even broke a stereotype and could
  shoot a gun as good as a man.

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The Cattle Kingdom

• Boom and bust of the Cattle Kingdom
• The cattle boom lasted from the 1860s to the
  1880s
• Cattle Kingdom-The region dominated by the cattle
  industry and its ranches, trails, and cow towns.
• The boom ended when a cycle of scorching summers
  and frigid winters killed millions of cattle.

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Farming in the West

• Homesteading
• Homesteaders- People were given 160 acres for
  free if they lived and farmed on it for 5 years.
• Only 1 in 3 people lasted the full 5 years
• Railroads gave away some of the 180 million acres
  it got from the government

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Farming in the West

• A hard life on the plains
• The land that people were given was hard to farm.
  It was fertile but covered with Sod
• Farmers broke through the sod with new plows made
  of steel by John Deere.
• Sodbusters used machines to plant crops
• Farmers used windmills to pump water out.

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Farming in the West

• Whole families worked on farms.
• Men worked from dusk until dawn
• Children tended animals and helped with chores
• Women kept the house, planted and harvested,
  educated the children, made clothes, preserved
  food and made basics like candles and soap.

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Farming in the West

• A last rush for land
• The Oklahoma Land Rush-people rushed onto land
  near Oklahoma City to claim it for free.
• Sooners came out and claimed the best land

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Farming in the West

• Farmers organize
• Farm crisis
• There was a surplus of food because too many
  farmers were taking grain to the market.
• Supply vs. Demand
• In many communities there were Granges. The
  Farmers Alliance was organized in the late
  1870s,
• It set up Farm Cooperatives

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Farming in the West

• Populists (the political party) wanted to use
  silver as well as gold as a basis for money
  supply. They believed that there would be
  Inflation
• In 1896, Democrat William Jennings Bryan ran
  against Republican William McKinley.
• Bryan was known as the Great Commoner and
  wanted to use silver as currency
• McKinley won with his gold alone standard.