Closing of the Frontier. Native American land. Essential Questions : The West 1/12/2018. Federal Policies that Encouraged Movement

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1 Closing of the Frontier Native American land _loss_of_indian_land.html Essential Questions What impact did the completion of the transcontinental railroad, increasing westward migration of settlers, and government policy have on American Indians in the West? How did westward migration, new systems of farming and transportation, and economic instability, lead to political tension and social conflict? Federal Policies that Encouraged Movement 500,000 families settled in West 1860s 1900 Homestead Act of 1862: 160 acres free if worked for 5 years and improved land Railroad grants Land speculators Morrill Act (1862) gave federal lands to states to build agricultural colleges for education & research A&M = Agricultural & Mechanical universities Michigan State, Penn State, Kansas State, Cornell, VA Tech, etc. Backstory: Land Grant Colleges what is a land grantcollege anyway/ Helped research & develop new grain strains & farming techniques for arid Midwest soil The West: Settlement of Frontier Before 1860 area west of Mississippi was known as Great American Desert Great Plains: grasslands, less than 15 inches of rain/yr. Harsh winters & hot dry summers 15 million bison 250,000 American Indians By 1900: frontier largely was gone along with bison Open Indian land replaced by ranches & farms, railroads & new boomtowns. Federal Policies that Encouraged Movement Oklahoma Land Giveaway (1889) gov t offered unclaimed land in Indian Territory (OK) to settlers Sooners settlers who moved in before they were allowed Boomers settlers who moved in at the sound of the cannon, signaling the start Land grants to railroad companies worth $500+ million (billions today) ` Companies granted more land for building in territories than states 1

2 Transcontinental Railroad Transcontinental Railroad started by President Lincoln in 1862, completed in 1869, linked east & west coasts by rail HUGE impact on interconnectedness of U.S. On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, as railroad officials and employees celebrated the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Cattle Frontier 5 million Texas longhorn cattle herded by vaqueros & cowboys along cattle trails like Chisholm & Goodnight Loving to railroad lines in Kansas to ship to East demand for beef Cowboys were poorly paid many were black (1 in 4), Mexicans, Indians, and women combined overgrazing, blizzards, and drought killed off 90% of the cattle Arrival of homesteaders using barbed wire fencing Replaced by large corporate ranches Migrating West White settlers European settlers Middle class businesspeople or Lured by economic opportunity, farmers from the Mississippi they came from Scandinavia, Valley moved west. Ireland, Russia, and Germany. They could afford money for supplies and transportation. African American settlers Benjamin Singleton urged his own people to build communities. Some fled the violent South. Rumors of land in Kansas brought 15,000 Exodusters who also settled in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. They brought their farming experience with them. Chinese settlers Initially came for the gold rush or to build railroads They turned to farming, especially in California, establishing the fruit industry there. Most Chinese were farm laborers because they were not allowed to own land. The Farming Frontier Homestead Act of 1862: 160 acres free if worked for 5 years & railroad grants & land speculators 500,000 families settled in West 1860s 1900 Problems: lack of wood & water, extreme weather, locusts, isolation Solutions: Joseph Glidden s invention of barbed wire, windmills with water pumps, soddies, dry farming & deep plow & Russian wheat & irrigation techniques Due to difficulties, rising costs of machinery & falling crop prices caused 2/3 of Homesteads to fail in Great Plains by 1900 Mining Frontier Pike s Peak, Colorado Gold Rush, ,000 miners Denver Comstock Lode mines in Nevada, 1859 $340 million in gold & silver (NV became a state in 1864) Followed similar pattern as CA Gold Rush individuals replaced by large corporate operations Significant conflict with American Indians Many boomtowns turned into ghost towns Mining companies hired experienced miners from around world: 1/3 from China nativism Anti Chinese sentiment arose in California: Miner s Tax of $20 to all foreign miners, Anti Coolie Clubs Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: political pressure from West banned immigration to US by Chinese laborers San Francisco harbor in 1850 or During this time, the harbor would become so crowded that ships often had to wait days before unloading their passengers and goods. Railroads Railroads expanded from 35,000 miles in 1865 to 193,000 miles in 1900 Effects: expanded national markets, encouraged mass production, mass consumption, specialization, American Railroad Association time zones (1883), investment in railroad co.s led to modern stockholder corporation & high finance. Eastern Trunk Lines: (major routes between large cities) Commodore Vanderbilt NY Central Railroad (1867) connected NYC to Chicago, B & O RR, & Pennsylvania RR Western Railroads: Federal Land Grants: 170 million acres to 80 railroad companies, some corruption like Credit Mobilier Scandal Transcontinental Railroad: Union Pacific (UP) built west from Omaha, Central Pacific (CP) built east from Sacramento, 6,000 Chinese employed. Completed at Promontory Point, UT in 1869 Competition & Consolidation: Overtime railroads formed pools & used rate fixing schemes to survive Panic of 1893 many in bankruptcy consolidated control under banker J.P. Morgan regional monopolies By giant companies controlled 2/3 of railroads Criticism led to reforms: Interstate Commerce Act of 1886 (ICC) 2

3 Cherokee Trail Of Tears, Indians regarded as both independent nations and wards of the state. Strange relationship. Any treaty required ratification by the Senate, who also regarded the Amerindians as children. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Established in 1824 to administer and manage the lands reserved for Indians. For most of the 19 th century, was run by corrupt officials from the top to the bottom. Agents would use the supplies sent by the government for their own use, often selling the goods for poorer quality food and supplies, making a profit in the process. Flagrantly disregarded the treaties, allowing the reservation lands to be seized, game to be wantonly killed, and murders of Amerindian to go unprosecuted. Resulted in constant conflicts between tribes and nearby White settlers. Impact of White movement westward Whites pressured the government for more access to Amerindian lands for mining, settling, and farming. Government frequently violated treaties made by the Amerindians, leading to increased conflict between Amerindians and settlers. Wagon Train Being Attacked g Slaughter of the buffalo. As the railroads moved west, the buffalo became a hazard that needed to be eradicated. Coupled with the impact of non- Indian traders, who wanted the buffalo for coats, leather, fertilizer, and trophies, professional hunters were hired to slaughter the buffalo. Encouraged by army commanders, who believed that the slaughter would lead to starvation that would break tribal resistance to the reservation system. Concentration policy Began in 1851, the U.S. government began to concentrate Indians in areas to the north and south of intended White settlement. Intensified in the 1860s, as the Amerindians were herded into smaller areas. Sioux were guaranteed sanctuary in the Black Hills of the Dakotas. Other tribes relocated to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. Amerindians agree to surrender their ancestral lands. In return, they want a guarantee of food, clothing, other supplies, and, in some instances, an education. Sand Creek Massacre, 1864 Colorado governor John Evans declared all treaties with Amerindians and the Colorado Territory void. Governor John Evans Allowed a group of White settlers to form the Colorado Volunteers to raid Cheyenne territory. Federal treaties still in effect, Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle went to a federal fort and received orders from the commandant to set up camp. 3

4 Sand Creek Massacre, 1864 November 29, Colorado Volunteers and a number of drunk soldiers attacked the camp, killing 133 Cheyenne. Black Kettle killed while waving a white flag in one hand and an American flag in the other hand. For nearly two years, Cheyennes, Sioux, and Arapaho were still retaliating, burning civilian outposts and slaughtering White settlers. Chief Black Kettle Signing The Treaty Of Ft. Laramie _23.jpg Col. George Armstrong Custer (Yellow Hair By The Sioux) Battle of the Little Bighorn. Colonel George Armstrong Custer and 264 men rush to Montana. Meet with an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Slaughtered by the Amerindian warriors, known as Custer s Last Stand. The Great Sioux War, Sioux, protecting their buffalo range from a mass invasion of miners and military forts, begin to attack along the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming. Fought the U.S. Army to a stalemate. Treaty of Fort Laramie. Granted the Sioux the right to the Black Hills (Paha Sapa), their sacred land, as long as the grass shall grow. Discovery of gold in the Black Hills led to an invasion of Sioux territory. Custer s Last Stand In order to protect their land, thousands of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors move into the Black Hills, Montana, and Wyoming regions to prepare for war. Sioux On The Warpath Indian Account Of Custer s Last Stand 4

5 Map Of The Red River War : The West 1/12/2018 Sitting Bull, Now they will never let us rest. The defeat of Custer gave the Indian-haters ammunition to rally public support. Sitting Bull and many of the Sioux were pursued by a large American army to Canada. Surrendered by 1877, leading to an end of Sioux resistance and leadership. Sitting Bull ull_2.jpg American Indians in the West Dawes Severalty Act (1887) break up tribal organizations and land into 160 acre plots that could become their own if worked for 25 years and they adopted civilized life 47 million acres split among American Indians 90 million acres of best former tribal land sold to white settlers or seized by government Failed policy remaining 200,000 American Indians by 1900 mostly were malnourished and impoverished Red River War, Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche band together to fight against the U.S. Army in the Arizona territory. Led by Cochise and Geronimo. One of the bloodiest conflicts of the Indian Wars. Eventually, the U.S. Army overwhelmed the alliance with numbers and chased them to the Mexican border where they surrendered. Moved to the Oklahoma Territory, where the three tribes became successful farmers. Dawes Severalty Act, 1887 Expectations At An Indian Boarding School Red River War, American Indians in the West Buffalo nearly extinct by early 1880s Assimilationists: Helen Hunt Jackson s A Century of Dishonor (1881) sympathy, but support for ending Indian culture with Christianity and assimilation through boarding schools like Carlisle School in PA Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee Massacre end of resistance 1890 What happened to the sacred Black Hills? /Cochise Geronimo 5

6 Wovoka Battle Of Wounded Knee, 1890 Army sent to end the peaceful Ghost Dance led by Wovoka of the Sioux. Cult expected the buffalo to return and the White Man to leave if they continued to dance. Fearful White settlers urge the government to end it. 300 men, women, and children killed, along with 60 American soldiers (most by friendly fire). Final battle of the Indian Wars. Closing of the Frontier After Oklahoma Territory great land rush in 1889, the frontier was closed Turner s Frontier Thesis: Frederick Jackson Turner s 1893 essay The Significance of the Frontier in American History argued that West had been a equalizer and a force for democracy; with closing he feared US condemned to follow Europe Battle Of Wounded Knee, 1890 Latinos in Southwest Latino Southwest: despite promises of citizenship and land rights, Californios lost most land claims by 1900 but maintained cultural traditions Mexico border open until 1917 & many migrant workers throughout SW The Ghost Dance Battle Of Wounded Knee, 1890 The Massacre At Wounded Knee Conservation Conservation Movement: rise of concerns over deforestation Yellowstone 1 st National Park in 1872 Carl Schurz, Secretary of Interior in 1880s, pushed for creation of forest reserves Presidents Cleveland & Harrison reserved 33 million acres of national timber Forest Reserve Act of 1891 & Forest Management Act of 1897 Preservationists vs. Conservationists John Muir founds Sierra Club in 1892, Arbor Day & Audubon Society growing movement by