The West

Push Factors ?

• What causes people to leave?

• What forces people to move?

• Think about- What pushed you out of bed today?

Pull Factors

• What leads people to a certain location?

• What attracts people to relocate to a specific place?

• What pulled you to U.S. History today?

Push Factors to the West

• Overcrowding• Need for job• Ethnic and religious repression• Refuge for Outlaws

Pull Factors

• Land (cheap and plentiful)• Riches (gold, silver, oil)• Freedom of religious beliefs• Family connection• Jobs and new opportunity• adventure

What are some modern day examples of push/pull factors?

Homestead Act

• Federal land policy and the completion of the transcontinental railroad led to the rapid settlement of American west

• Passed in 1862 to encourage settlement of the Plains area

• Gave 160 acres of land to settlers if they improved the land and live on it

Homestead Act

• Must farm the land for 5 years

• Paid $10 for the land• Land speculators- took

advantage of the situation- They used the land for

profit- They took advantage of

the settlers

Oklahoma• In 1889, a major

governmental land giveaway in what is now Oklahoma attracted thousands- Boomers

• In less than a day, 2 million acres were claimed by settlers

• Some took possession before the government had officially declared it open – thus Oklahoma became known as the “Sooner State”

Oklahoma Land Rush

55 Indian nations had been forced into Indian Territory, which contained the largest unsettled farmland in the U.S. (about 2

million unassigned acres). During the 1880s, squatters overran the land, and Congress agreed to buy out the Indian claims to

the land. On the morning of April 22, 1889, tens of thousands of homesteaders lined up at the territory’s borders. At the stroke of noon, bugles blew, pistols fired, and the eager hordes surged

forward, racing to stake a claim.

By sundown, these settlers, called

boomers, had staked claims on almost 2

million acres. Many Boomers discovered

that some of the best lands had been

grabbed by Sooners, people who had

sneaked past the government officials earlier to mark their

claims. Under pressure from

settlers, Congress created the Oklahoma Territory in 1890. In the following years,

the remainder of Indian Territory was open to settlement.

Exodusters head West

• African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction South to Kansas were called Exodusters

• Many exodusters took advantage of land deals

• Named after the book of Exodus in which Jews fled from Egypt

Mormons• Founded by Joseph Smith• Faced persecution based on

belief of Polygamy• Polygamy- more than one

wife• Smith was killed in Illinois• Brigham Young lead them

on migration west to Great Salt Lake

In their race to build railroads, the Central and Union Pacific Railroad

Companies would recruit immigrants, most notably the Chinese, to work on the rails.

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad by the

Union and Pacific Railroad companies marked a major

accomplishment in U.S. transportation. For the first time in

American history, East and West coasts were linked by the railroad, making transportation of people

and goods from East to West much easier and faster.

Transcontinental Railroad

• Pacific Railway Act- passed in 1862 by Lincoln

• It promoted the construction of a railroad across the country.

Transcontinental Railroad

• Government grants land to railroads

• Central Pacific- build east using Chinese labor

• Union Pacific- build west using Irish labor

• Two lines meet at Promontory Point, Utah

• Accidents, disease disable and killed thousands every year

The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1868. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in Promontory Point, Utah

and laid a Golden Spike

In their race to build railroads, the Central and Union Pacific Railroad

Companies would recruit immigrants, most notably the Chinese, to work on the rails.

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad by the

Union and Pacific Railroad companies marked a major

accomplishment in U.S. transportation. For the first time in

American history, East and West coasts were linked by the railroad, making transportation of people

and goods from East to West much easier and faster.

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869

Morrill Land Grant Act

• Gave federal land to the states to organize agricultural colleges

• Led to farming innovations

• Colleges built Penn St, Texas A&M, NC State and NC A&T

New Farming Technology

• Farming in the region was very hard at first.

• Technology made it easier.• John Deere- invented the

steel plow-• Cyrus McCormick- invented

the mechanical reaper• Steel Windmill- pumped

underground water to the surface

Life of the Farm• Most settlers built their

homes from the land itself

• Pioneers often dug their homes out of the sides of ravines or hills (Dugouts)

• Those in the flat plains made freestanding homes made of turf (Soddies)

Sod Houses

• Blocks of prairie turfs

• Warm in winter• Cool in summer• Small poorly lit• Haven for snakes

and insects

Sod Houses on the Frontier

Hardships on the Plains• The frontier settlers faced

extreme hardships – droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, locust plagues, and bandits

• Isolation miles from other settlers

• Despite hardships, the number of people living west of the Mississippi grew from 1% of the nation’s population in 1850 to almost 30% in 1900

Open Range

• Great Plains- Kansas to Texas

• No boundaries to man or cattle

• Open area free for cattle and men to roam.

• Low population

Cattle Kingdom

• Greater demand for beef in urban areas

• Ranching becomes a profitable business

• Chisholm Trail-major cattle drive trail

• Abilene- major cattle town

Cowboys

• Learned to be Cowboys from the Mexicans

• 1/5th of the Cowboys were black or Hispanic

• Long hard day, very dangerous and lonely work

Long Drive

• Round-up cattle for Long drive

• Longhorn- could survive the long journey

• Journey taking the cattle to the market

• Lasts about 3 months

TRAILS CONNECTED TO RAILROADS

VOCABULARY BORROWED• Vanilla, bronco, mustang,

chaps, mosquito, pronto, tuna, stampede, tornado, chili, cigar, shack, savvy, siesta, wrangler, lasso, lariat, ranch, corral, burro, canyon, bandit, fiesta, guerrilla, hurricane, matador, plaza, rodeo, vigilante, desperado, cockroach, buckaroo

MEXICAN “VAQUEROS” (COW MAN) PROVIDED THE

VOCABULARY FOR THE AMERICAN COWBOY

Cowboys worked 10-14 hours a day on a ranch and even more on the

Trail, alert at all times for any dangers to the herd. A cowboy’s season might

begin with the spring roundup (branding),

followed by the long drive. The cowboy life was

dangerous and lonely, which is why many

celebrated in the cow towns (like Abilene) upon

arrival.

“We went back to look for him, and we found him…horse and man mashed into the ground as flat as a pancake….We tried to think

that lightning hit him, and that was what we wrote his folks…but we couldn’t believe it ourselves. I’m afraid it wasn’t the lightning.

I’m afraid.. They both went down before the stampede.” ~Teddy Abbott, cowboy

The Old Chisholm Trail

Come along boys and listen to my tale,I'll tell you of my troubles on the old Chisholm trail.

Come a ti yi yippee, come a ti yi yea,Come a ti yi yippee, come a ti yi yea.

Oh, a ten-dollar hoss and a forty-dollar saddle,And I'm goin' to punchin' Texas cattle.

I wake in the mornin' afore daylight,And afore I sleep the moon shines bright.

It's cloudy in the west, a-lookin' like rain,And my durned old slicker's in the wagon again.

No chaps, no slicker, and it's pourin' down rain,And I swear, by gosh, I'll never night-herd again.

Feet in the stirrups and seat in the saddle,I hung and rattled with them long-horn cattle.

The wind commenced to blow, and the rain began to fall,Hit looked, by grab, like we was goin' to lose 'em all.

I don't give a darn if they never do stop;I'll ride as long as an eight-day clock.

We rounded 'em up and put 'em on the cars,And that was the last of the old Two Bars.

It's bacon and beans most every day,I'd as soon be a-eatin' prairie hay.

I went to the boss to draw my roll,He had it figgered out I was nine dollars in the hole.

Goin' back to town to draw my money,Goin' back home to see my honey.

With my knees in the saddle and my seat in the sky,I'll quit punchin' cows in the sweet by and by.

Home On The Range

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roamWhere the deer and the antelope playWhere seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the skies are not cloudy all day Home, home on the rangeWhere the deer and the antelope playWhere seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the skies are not cloudy all day

How often at night where the heavens are brightWith the light of the glittering starsHave I stood there amazed and asked as I gazedIf their glory exceeds that of ours

Then give me a land where the bright diamond sandFlows leisurely down to the streamWhere the graceful white swan goes gliding alongLike a maid in a heavenly dream

Oh I would not exchange my old home on the rangeWhere the deer and the antelope playWhere the seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the skies are not cloudy all day

End of the Open Range• Almost as soon as

ranching became big business, the cattle frontier met its end

• Too many cattle and overgrazing, disease and drought caused the decline

• Barbed wire fences ended the open range

• Invented by Joseph Glidden

Mining

• Gold Rushes- people moved west quickly

• Sutter’s Mill, Black Hills of the Dakota Territory

• Comstock Lode- Nevada largest discovery of precious metals in U.S. history

Mining Life

• Large mix of people• Many opportunities for

everyone• Saloons gambling• Violent towns with no

police• Hard luck• Made little or no money

had to stay west

Boom/Ghost Towns

• Boomtowns built quickly accommodate miners and they were abandoned just as quickly

“Wild West”

Legend of adventure

Wild Bill Hickok

Calamity Jane

Wyatt Earp

Jesse James

Billy the Kid

Annie Oakley

Dime novels that told western tales

•Romanticized the West

Only lasted 30 years

•1860-1890

Wild Bill Hickok Calamity Jane

Wyatt Earp Jesse James Billy the Kid

Decline of Farming

• Rise of Industry- big businesses back east provided jobs

• Urbanization- growth of cities pull many back East to work in factories

• End of the Frontier- Frederick Jackson Turner’s

Frontier Thesis- Claimed that the frontier

captured American spirit and made America unique

Now…the frontier has gone and with its going has

closed the first period of American history.”

~Frederick Jackson Turner

Decline of Farming

• Great debts- farm machinery expensive= debt

• Drought and low market prices= debt

• Railroad charges- charging western farmers more because there is no competition

“No other system of taxation has borne as heavily on the people as those extortions and inequalities of

railroad charges.” ~Henry Demarest

Lloyd, 1881 Atlantic Monthly

NCSCOS Goal 4

Page 27

Plains Indians

• Nomadic lifestyle-move from place to place following food supply

• Warfare among tribes• Communal living• Common use of tribal land• Did not believe in individual

ownership of the land

The Horse and The Buffalo• The introduction of horses by

the Spanish (1598) and later guns, meant natives were able to travel and hunt

• While the horse provided speed and mobility, it was the buffalo that provided for basic needs

• Buffalo was the key to survival• They used every part of the

buffalo for food, clothing, shelter and weapons

The buffalo provided the Plains Indians with more than just a high-protein

food source:

1. The skull of the buffalo was considered sacred and was used in many Native American rituals.

2. The horns were carved into bowls and spoons.

3. The bones of the buffalo were made into hide scrappers, tool handles, sled runners, and hoe blades. The hoofs were ground up and used as glue.

4. The hide was by far the most precious part of the buffalo. Native American clothing, tepees, and even arrow shields were made from buffalo hide.

FAMILY LIFE ON THE PLAINS

• Small extended families were the norm

• Men were hunters, while women helped butcher the game and prepare it

• Tribes were very spiritual and land was communal

OSAGE TRIBE

Settlers Push Westward

• The white settlers who pushed westward had a different idea about land ownership

• Concluding that the plains were “unsettled, “ thousands advanced to claim land

• Gold being discovered in Colorado only intensified the rush for land

The Government Restricts Natives

• As more and more settlers headed west, the U.S. government increasingly protected their interests

• Railroad Companies also influenced government decisions

• Railroads greatly impacted Native American lives

Conflict• 1834 – Government set

aside all of the Great Plains as “Indian lands”

• 1850s- Government shifts policy, giving natives much smaller lands

• Government took away hunting grounds and began to massacre the buffalo

Broken Treaties

• Treaties were broken• Indians forced onto

reservations• Government payments

and supplies were not delivered as promised

• Continued to slaughter the buffalo

Buffalo herds often ripped up train track and caused a problem for the railroads

Many American hunters removed the buffalo hides in order to sell them, but left hundreds of thousands of carcasses to rot on the plains. This type!

Tanning •Tanneries paid hunters $1 to $3 for hides

•Hides were sent east to be used as belts on industrial machines•Hunters often left carcasses and other potential uses of the buffalo were wasted

“Kill every buffalo you can. Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.”~A United States Army Officer

• Take away the food source from

the Native American and

they will be forced to submit

and go to the reservations.

• Take away the food source from

the Native American and

they will be forced to submit

and go to the reservations.

Indian Wars: 1860-1890

Clash Begins

• Indian uprisings due to broken promises and movement of white settlers on the Great Plains

• Treaties were often negotiated by unauthorized tribal leaders which made them easy to break

Dakota Wars 1862

• Live near Minnesota relations with whites good at first

• 1862 insects wiped out crops and government help never came, they were starving

• Chief Little Crow led warriors on rampage killing hundreds of whites

• Army put rebellion down first real outbreak of violence on the Great Plains

Sand Creek Massacre

• 1864 Colonel John Chivington leads a massacre of the Cheyenne tribe

• Surprise attack at dawn kills 400 natives, mostly women and children

• Massacre was down under a white flag truce by Chief Battle Kettle

Colonel John ChivingtonColonel John Chivington

“Kill and scalp all, big and little!”

Sand Creek, CO Massacre

November 29, 1864

Red Cloud War

• Gold is discovered in Montana in 1863 and miners began moving into the area

• Passed through Sioux country to get there and Sioux began to attack them

• Military brought in to defeat the Lakota, led by Red Cloud and his warriors (one of whom was Crazy Horse)

• Fetterman and 80 soldiers massacred

Red Cloud War

• After two years of fighting, U.S. conceded victory to the Sioux- noteworthy for 2 reasons:• Only WAR ever won by

Indians against U.S.• Sioux were guaranteed all

of Western S.D. in treaty, including Black Hills; also free to roam in unpopulated areas

Battle of Little Bighorn

• Gold is found in the Black Hills of the Dakotas

• Sioux try to defend territory promised to them in the Treaty of Fort Laramie

• Army sends George Armstrong Custer to move Sioux off the land

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse• Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa

Sioux) and Crazy Horse (Ogalala Sioux) were two chiefs who refused to sign the treaty.

• All Indians ordered back onto reservation

• "One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk" Crazy Horse

• Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Sioux) and Crazy Horse (Ogalala Sioux) were two chiefs who refused to sign the treaty.

• All Indians ordered back onto reservation

• "One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk" Crazy Horse

Little Big Horn River, Montana - 1876• George Armstrong

Custer was sent to force the Sioux, Cheyenne and

Arapaho back to their reservations (part of a larger

force).

• He was in command of the 7th

Calvary.

• June 26, 1876

• George Armstrong Custer was sent to

force the Sioux, Cheyenne and

Arapaho back to their reservations (part of a larger

force).

• He was in command of the 7th

Calvary.

• June 26, 1876

Battle of Little Bighorn 1876

• 1876 Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead a large force of 2500 Natives near Little Bighorn River in Montana

• Custer was heavily outnumbered

• He and 220 of his men were massacred

• This was called “Custer’s Last Stand”

Battle of Little Bighorn

• Last Major Native American victory

• Americans and the government were outraged

• Sioux were crushed in the following years

• Best and worst thing to happen to the Native Americans

Painting-Little Bighorn

Memorial-Little Bighorn

Indian Wars

-Nez Perce Indians, 1877

-Led by Chief Joseph, they refused to go to reservation

•Fled into Canada with the Army chasing them down

-chased by the Army for over 1000 miles until captured

-”I will fight no more forever”

“Hear me, my chiefs, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more against

the white man.”~Chief Joseph

Apache Wars-1849-1886

– Apaches led by Mangas Colorados & Cochise, were the last Indian resistance to whites• Mangas killed during Civil War• Cochise died in 1874

–Successor, Geronimo -fought whites for the next 10 years

Genocide

• Genocide The planned destruction and elimination of a particular ethnic or religious group

• Americans viewed Native Americans and Indians as a hindrance to their ambitions– The government supported policies that would

remove Indians from the path of white settlement– Wanted to Americanize Indians

• Wanted to end nomadic lifestyle of Indians

Conflict• Tribes of the Great Plains clashed with one

another over hunting rights due to scarcity of the buffalo– Tribes were forced to hunt further from home &

often entered the territory of rival tribes• Being further from home made settlement vulnerable to

raids

Starvation• Lack of buffalo forced Indians to rely on agriculture

– If weather caused crops to fail, Indians had no food to sustain themselves

Loss of Traditional Culture

• Indians would have to adapt to life without the buffalo– 1850: 13 million buffalo– 1880s: less than a thousand buffalo

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO

• The most significant blow to tribal life on the plains was the destruction of the buffalo

• Tourist and fur traders shot buffalo for sport

• 1800: 65 million buffalo roamed the plains

• 1890: less than 1000 remained

SHIRTLESS HUNTER WITH HIS KILL

Century of Dishonor• A book written by Helen

Hunt Jackson• Book talked about the

horribly treatment and the broken promises of the federal government towards the Native Americans

• Book treat attention to the mistreatment

“The history of the Government connections with the Indians is a shameful record of broken treaties and unfulfilled promises.”

“There is not among these three hundred bands of Indians one which has not suffered cruelly at the hands either of the

Government or of white settlers”

“It makes little difference…where one opens the record of the history of the Indians; every page and every year has its dark

stains.”

~Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonoror

Dawes Act

• The Dawes Act of 1887 attempted to assimilate natives

• Give up their Native lives and culture for the White culture

• The Act called for the break up of reservations and the introduction of natives into American life

• 160 acres was given to each family to farm

• By 1932, 2/3rds of the land committed to Natives had been taken

Dawes Act of 1887Quicker Americanization

Assimilate, mainstreamed and absorbed into US societyAdopt Christianity and White education Individual land ownership

Abandon tribe, culture and become farmers Male claimed 160 acres of landChildren would be sent to Indian schoolsFarm land for 25 years- then they owned it. 1924 gain citizenship and right to voteFailed policy

Indian resistance and corruption

Assimilation

• Assimilation- education of Indians to be more like whites- Stripped of their land,

culture, language, and religion

- Carlisle Indian School- sent boys East to be educated like whites

- Plan failed and caused alcohol abuse

- Ended Native American life

Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania

The Ghost Dance Movement -1890The Ghost Dance Movement -1890• Paiute medicine man Wovoka promised the return of the buffalo

and Indian way of life.

• The religion prophesied the end of the westward expansion of whites

and a return of Indian land.

• The ritual lasted five successive days, being danced each night and

on the last night continued until morning.

• Hypnotic trances and shaking accompanied this ceremony, which

was supposed to be repeated every six weeks.

• Paiute medicine man Wovoka promised the return of the buffalo

and Indian way of life.

• The religion prophesied the end of the westward expansion of whites

and a return of Indian land.

• The ritual lasted five successive days, being danced each night and

on the last night continued until morning.

• Hypnotic trances and shaking accompanied this ceremony, which

was supposed to be repeated every six weeks.

The Ghost Dance Movement -1890The Ghost Dance Movement -1890• Ghost Dance movement

spread to the Sioux• They religiously danced even

after they were told to stop by reservation authorities.

• Military went to arrest Sitting Bull, where he was killed.

• Many Sioux followers left the reservation and joined

Bigfoot’s group, who were now on the run

• Ghost Dance movement spread to the Sioux

• They religiously danced even after they were told to stop by

reservation authorities.• Military went to arrest Sitting

Bull, where he was killed.• Many Sioux followers left the

reservation and joined Bigfoot’s group, who were

now on the run

Ghost Dance 4

Telegram to Washington, D.C. Nov. 15, 1890

"Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. I have fully informed you that the employees

and the government property at this agency have no protection and are at the mercy of the Ghost Dancers. ... We need protection and we need it now ...nothing

[short] of 1000 troops will stop this dancing."

Dr. Daniel F. Royer, Agent,Pine Ridge Agency

Telegram to Washington, D.C. Nov. 15, 1890

"Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. I have fully informed you that the employees

and the government property at this agency have no protection and are at the mercy of the Ghost Dancers. ... We need protection and we need it now ...nothing

[short] of 1000 troops will stop this dancing."

Dr. Daniel F. Royer, Agent,Pine Ridge Agency

G h o st Sh irt

Indian warriors fighting against the US wore Ghost Shirts which were to stop the penetration of American soldiers bullets……It gave them supernatural powers as was believed………

Ghost Shirt

Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec.1890

• 7th Calvary caught Bigfoot’s people near Wounded Knee, SD• They attempted to confiscate all weapons when a shot was fired.

• 7th Calvary caught Bigfoot’s people near Wounded Knee, SD• They attempted to confiscate all weapons when a shot was fired.

BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE• On December 29, 1890,

the Seventh Cavalry (Custer’s old regiment) rounded up 350 Sioux and took them to Wounded Knee, S.D.

• A shot was fired – within minutes the Seventh Cavalry slaughtered 300 unarmed Natives

• This event brought the “Indian Wars”– and an entire era to a bitter end

HUNDREDS OF CORPSES WERE LEFT TO FREEZE ON

THE GROUND

“I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of old age, I can still see the

butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I

saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people’s dream died there. It

was a beautiful dream.” ~Black Elk

Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec.1890

• Violence erupted, 300 Indians and 25 whites lay

dead.• This is the last of the

Indian conflicts.

• Violence erupted, 300 Indians and 25 whites lay

dead.• This is the last of the

Indian conflicts.

Chief Big Foot

•The dead of Big Foot's people were buried in a mass grave. The still frozen stiff bodies were dumped unceremoniously into the

hole.

• The United States handed out over twenty Congressional Medals of Honor to soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry who had participated in

the battle.

•The dead of Big Foot's people were buried in a mass grave. The still frozen stiff bodies were dumped unceremoniously into the

hole.

• The United States handed out over twenty Congressional Medals of Honor to soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry who had participated in

the battle.

Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec.1890