Old West

Chivington Massacre aka Sand Creek Massacre

Chivington Massacre aka Sand Creek Massacre

• U.S. Army colonel John M. Chivington led a surprise attack on a village of sleeping Cheyenne Indians by a regiment of Colorado militiamen

Dawes Severalty Act

• intent to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream of American life

•  dissolved tribes as legal entities and eliminated tribal ownership of land

  • promised Indians tracts of land to farm

Sioux War – causes

• the desire of the US government to obtain ownership of the Black Hills. 

• Gold had been discovered in the Black Hills

Joseph Glidden

• Invented barbed wire

• effective method of securely enclosing one's property, thereby keeping cattle in and trespassers out

Homestead Act

• 1862

• gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years. 

Plains Indians – reasons for decline

• government’s' willingness to deploy 

• construction of railroads

• buildings on Indian settlements

• butchery of the buffalo (most impactful)

Old Indian Policy vs. New Policy

• Andrew made eastern Native Americans move to the West of Mississippi thinking it would permanently remain Indian territory. 

• BUT conflicts occured w Native American tribes and settlers →constantly fought with settlers and the government in hopes of reclaiming their land. 

• Dawes Act (1887) divided Native American tribes and forced assimilation upon them.

Peace Commission

• 1867 to 1868

• most Plains Indians agree to 2 reservations

• 1) Oklahoma

• 2) Black Hill of the Dakotas

Little Bighorn

• 1876

• a battle in Montana near the Little Bighorn River —> Sioux Tribe defeated the U.S. Army forces led by Colonel George A. Custer

Chief Joseph & the Nez Perce

• US govt attempted to remove Joseph and Nez Perce Indians of Idaho from the Oregon territory

• violence broke out when Nez Perce warriors killed several white settlers without Chief Joseph's blessing

Destruction of the Buffalo

• most significant blow to tribal life on the plains

• caused by over-hunting by Native Americans, tourists, fur traders, and even the US Army.

Timber Culture Act

• 1873 act of Congress added to the Homestead Act 

• stated a person who planted 40 acres of trees and maintained timber for 10 years were granted 160 acres of land

Timber and Stone Act

• 1878 bill allowed private citizens to purchase forest territory in Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada. 

• intended to encourage settlement in these areas, but lumber companies purchased large amounts of these land claims from those who originally purchased them

A Century of Dishonor – Helen Hunt Jackson

•  detailed the injustices made to Native Americans during US expansion

Wounded Knee, 1890

• Battle bw U.S. Army and the Dakota Sioux

• two major issues: the Sioux practice of the "Ghost Dance," which the U.S. government had outlawed, and dispute over whether Sioux reservation land would be broken up because of the Dawes Act.

• Marked the end of the Indian Wars and the close of the western frontier.

Geranimo

• leader of Apache tribes

• escaped to Mexico and was forced to return to the United States

Open Range – decline of

• introduction of windmills + farmers + crops → expansion onto the plains

• Greater demand for woolen textiles in New England led to a rise in wool prices.

evolution of Indian policy

• coexistence (1789–1828)

• removal and reservations (1829–1886)

• assimilation (1887–1932)

• CCOT: reorganization (1932–1945), termination (1946–1960), and self-determination (1961–1985)

Turner Thesis – Frederick Jackson Turner

• argued that the frontier was the key factor in the development of American democracy and institutions

•  he maintained that the frontier served as a "safety valve" during periods of economic crisis

Boom Towns

• Communities that grew suddenly due to economic shock

• Old west → boom town when a mine opened

• Sometimes would lead to a ghost town when mining period is over

• CCOT: California Gold Rush → mining in Sutter’s mill

Mining Frontier, locations

• California gold rush → 1850s

• Nevada and Colorado → 1860s 

• Wyoming and Montana, and in the Black Hills of South Dakota → 1870s

Comstock Lode

• First discovered in 1858 by Henry Comstock

•  some of the most plentiful and valuable silver was found here →  causing many Californians to migrate here, and settle Nevada.

Frontier Law

• 1890 → Census Bureau broadcast the closure of the frontier ( in the west there was no apparent tracts of land without settlers). 

• frontier represented danger b/c of the Natives who lived in the region + freedom and opportunity.

• "lawmen" often worked both sides of the law

•  Lynch law an vigilante justice were prevalent

Cattle Frontier, Ranching, Trails

• There were cattle in Texas that had been raised and rounded up by Mexican cowboys (vaqueros).

•  By the 1860s, there were ~5 million cattle in Texas grasslands.

•  Texas cattle business was appealing because cattle and grass were free. 

• The cattle frontier took place between Texas and Canada.  

  • Ex of trails: Chisholm trail (went to Abilene, Kansas).

Longhorn Steer

• a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns;

• traditionally reared for beef

• occasionally used for steer riding.

Railroads

• Killed some town and gave birth to others

• Linked west w the rest of america

• Pacific railroad act  

• St. louis → gateway to the west

The Long Drive

• herding of cattle from the grassy plains → to the railroad terminals of Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming

• transport of cattle by the cowboy over the three month period. 

  • Cattle were sold to settlers and Native Americans.

CowTown

• town that serves as a market or shipping point for cattle

The Grange

• an association formed by farmers in the last 1800s to make life better for farmers by sharing information about crops, prices, and supplies

• Originally a social organization between farmers → it developed into a political movement for government ownership of railroads

Buffalo Soldiers

• Nickname for African-American soldiers who fought in the wars against Native Americans living on the Great Plains during the 1870s

Treaty of Fort Laramie

• between US government and Sioux nation.

•  US would recognize the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation.

• Treaty Required the Sioux to live on a reservation along the Missouri River + restricted them from major trails

Vigilantes

• People who would enact justice in the absence of law enforcement 

  • Self-appointed law enforcers

Prairie Farming

• New crops

• Crop rotation

• Moderate weather

• Revolutionized farming 

Dry Farming

• farming method used in dry regions in which land is plowed and planted deeply to hold water in the soil

  • seeds are planted deep in ground where there is some moisture

Oklahoma Land Rush – boomers, sooners

• many settlers rushed to Oklahoma (which was Indian Territory) in order to buy cheap land. 

• Those who illegally entered Indian territory in the Oklahoma district were called “sooners”.

  •  Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907, known as a “sooner state”.

• Boomers - waited to claim their land

• Sooners - did not wait

Ghost Dance

• A spiritual movement amongst Native Americans based on visions of a renewal of nature and help for native communities. 

• Native Americans believed that ghost dances would get rid of white settlers and bring back the buffalo.

• crushed at the Battle of Wounded Knee after spreading to the Dakota Sioux → led to Dawes Act

Problems faced by farmers

• farmers in the midwest faced inclement weather conditions like droughts. 

• The constant threat of pests like grasshoppers also made farming difficult. 

• Falling crop prices and high-interest rates made it difficult for farmers to sell their crops. 

• smaller farmed without machinery struggled to keep up with larger, mechanized farmers

Samuel Colt

• This inventor patented the six-shooter pistol, which was used often during the Mexican war. 

  • Used  Whitney's system of interchangeable parts

• later used the concept of mass production in his factory to produce them more quickly.

Sarah Winnemucca

• Paiute Indian gave lectures on the problems of the reservations in the 1870s

William Larimer

• born and raised in Pennsylvania, made his first fortune in the railroad industry in Pittsburgh. He became a land speculator in the 1850s in the Kansas Territory when he heard that gold had been found at Cherry Creek,

• Colorado. Larimer did not intend to make his own fortune by digging or panning

• for gold.

John W. Mackay

• After two other mining ventures, one an expensive failure and the other modestly profitable, Mackay's biggest mining success came in 1874 and 1875, when he and his partners hit “the Big Bonanza” 

  •  a strike 1,500 feet below the surface in the Comstock's adjacent Consolidated Virginia and California mine

John Wesley Illiff

• Organized the first long drive of cattle from Texas to Wyoming

Charles Goodnight

• A Texan who returned from the Civil War to find his herd of cattle had increased

• Teamed up with Oliver Loving- an experienced cattle drover

• They established the Goodnight-Loving Trail to supply meat to the army and Indian reservations

Joseph G. McCoy

• Transformed the cattle industry into a big money maker by organizing ranchers to drive huge herd of cattle from SW ranches to the rail depots in Kansas.

John Chivington

• commander who attacked the Cheyenne at Sand Creek

• arrived with 700 Colorado volunteers raised US flag as sign of peace but then open fired at Indian people which lead to the Sand Creek Massacre

Oliver H. Kelley

• considered the "Father" of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry (more commonly known as "The Grange"). 

• a fraternal organization for American farmers that encouraged farm families to band together for their common economic and political good.