Tension in the West

U.S. HistoryChapter 23

Not just a fight about land.Fight was about two different cultures

and ways of seeing the world.Settlers: owning plot of land meant

freedomNative Americans: owning a plot of land

was like being tied down or in jail

verses

Nez Perce’ “Pierced nose” Named by French Expert horsemen and breeders (Appaloosa Oregon, Washington, Idaho After Civil War- Nez Perce’ way of life changed

forever

Always non violent Until….. 1860’s miners and influx of lots of

settlersSome Nez Perce’ bands sign treaty and move

to Lapwai Reservation in IdahoChief Joseph’s band (in the Wallowa Valley in

eastern Oregon) refuses to sign treaty Aided Lewis and Clark

Chief Joseph’s tribe move under threat of war

Let the fighting beginFirst: A few angry N.A.s leave camp and

kill several white settlersNext: Army responds and ignore the

N.A.’s white flag Finally: In the end 34 soldiers were dead

Result: First time ever any violence from the

Nez Perce’

Off to Canada

1. 3 months, Nez Perce’ wander over 1,000 miles, being chased by the Army all the way. 40 miles from Canadian border, they were forced to surrender.

2. Stuck in Oklahoma3. Many sick and dying4. Tried to negotiate a deal so they could be reunited

with bands in Lapwai, some got to go others sent to Washington state.

5. Chief Joseph dies of a broken heart once in Washington

New interest in the west

Two laws:Homestead Act Pacific Railroad Act

160 acres free if land Transcontinental RR Is cleared and stay (connect Union Pacific to Central

on land for five years Pacific)

Free land for every mile of tracks

Result:in 40 years, 6 million came for the land, 170,000 miles of tract laid

The race is on !( who will get the most land, loans, and profit?)

Goal: Two RR line meet somewhere between the starting part of each

Problem- It was HARD work Surveyors study land and plan routeGraders follow and prepare the land(using picks and shovels to get through hills and mountains) Tracklayers (one track weighing 700 lbs.)

Spikers (ten spikes per rail, three hammer blows per spike)

Union Pacific heads west

Slow start Civil War General leads

construction 1000 workers Irish Ex-soldiers, Mexicans, freed

slaves 7miles of tract each day Tent cities Buffalo slaughtered makes N.A.

mad Call in 5,000 troops to protect

crew

Central Pacific heads east

Different problems Silver discovers at same time,

many crew members left tracks

Chinese workers hired to replace missing crew

About 12,000 in all 10 miles of track each day

May 10, 1869 At last, they meet!

1800 miles of track“Golden Spike”

New RR allowed for: new settlers to go west, the construction of new towns and cities, mail and supply delivery

No one acknowledges Chinese contribution!

Who came next?The Miners!

Gold 1848 Silver 1874 California, Oregon. Washington

Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico

Discovery of gold/silver

Mining camps (boomtowns)

Lawlessness

Vigilantes

Ghost towns

Si

Native Americans run off their land

Land damaged

Opened West’s mountains and deserts

Mining Changes the West

Ranchers and Cowboys

Lots of cattle in TexasCattle needed in Eastern

Cattle cost $3 a head Cattle sold $50 a head

Bye Bye Buffalo

Buffalo hunters follow the railroad, killing all the way. Native Americans needed buffalo in order to survive.

Congress passes no kill billPres. Grant will not sign

By 1880, almost all buffalo dead forcing Native Americans onto reservations in order not to starve

Thank goodness for the railroad!

“Long drive” from Texas to Kansas From Kansas cattle shipped to NE on Railroads.

Saved time and money

A cowboy’s life on the trailPoor pay

Boring

Long hours

Fear

Dangerous

Nasty living conditions

Welcome to Dodge City “The wicked little city”

Home of Boot Hill

The “Long Drive” ends1887

Cattle industry collapsed

-“Great Die-up”- -Fenced in ranches-

- Cowboys become ranch hands --Wild cow towns become civilized

ranching centers-

Who were the Homesteaders?

Followed rancher to “Great American Desert”Normally dry land enjoys an unusual wet phase, encouraged more

homesteaders

-500,000 by 1900

-Promise of cheap or free land

-Former slaves

-European immigrants

-Easterners looking for a new starts

Boy, did they get scammed!

Huge challenges:Unreliable rainHotLocusts large grasshoppers Solutions:Windmills to get water from deep

undergroundSod housesWinter Wheat

Black Hills of the Dakota Territory(Sacred land to Sioux)

Recognized by U.S.A. government Sioux land George Custer looking for place to build a fort

( he was really looking for gold)

Small wars erupt in 1860’sBy 1870’s, who gets what is settled…. Not so fairly!

Bad time for the Natives

Agreement: Native American settle on reservations and will get food, farm tools, and

schools. U.S. get their land

How did that work out for the Natives???? It didn’tFood never came or was spoiledResult:Hungry Natives attach settlersSoldiers kill Natives

Custer realizes that there is gold in the

Black Hills. He wants the gold.One problem……

the land belongs to the SiouxWhat happens-

Fights for the land break out between the Army and the Sioux.

Enter: the GOVERNMENT, they will fix it

Government invites Native Americans to move out of the Black Hill so miners can get gold.Battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last

Stand Custer was ordered to locate Sioux and Cheyenne, but to

do nothing else. Custer attaches anyway. In a few short minutes all of Custer’s 260 men where dead….so was he.

Native Americans were soon forced out of their homeland, no more Indian battles

NOT