Settling the Western Frontier

Battle of the Little Bighorn(MT, 1876)

Sioux forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull surrounded and defeated Custer and his troops; marked the beginning of the Indian Wars

Exodusters

African American migrants to the Great Plains state (Kansas & Oklahoma) in 1879 to escape conditions in the South

Wounded Knee Massacre(SD, 1890)

In December 1890, Army troops captured some of Sitting Bull's followers and took them to a camp. 300 Sioux men, women, and children were killed; Marked the end of armed resistance on the plains

Chisholm Trail

The major long drive route north from Texas to Ablilene, Kansas, where cowboys drove herds of cattle to the railroads to be shipped back East for huge profits

Soddy

a frontier home usually dug into a hill or made from sod; Good example of human-environment interaction

Homestead Act(KS, 1862)

1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for five years

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic candidate for president in 1896; Believed in adding silver to the money supply(silverite); Support by the Populist Party but lost to McKinley

Cattle Kingdom(open range)

Great Plains from Texas to Canada where many ranchers raised cattle in the late 1800's; Caused largely by demand for beef, railroad shipping, and existence of cattle trails

Dawes Act(1887)

An act that removed Indian land from tribal possession, divided it, and distributed it among individual Indian families; Resulted in the loss of 2/3's of native lands; Benefited white settlers more than Native Americans

Populism(1890's)

Supported the concerns of ordinary people, gave them a voice, and sought regulation of railroads

Bimetallism

The use of both gold and silver as a basis for a national monetary system; Favored by populist farmers to inflate crop prices

End of the Frontier(1889)

Railroads created development and settlement patterns that rapidly increased the western population

Forced Assimilation

To forcefully supplant one groups culture on another; Failed because U.S. policies did not respect native ways of life

Collapse of Populism(1898)

McKinley won the 1896 election

Causes of famer's debt on the plains

High shipping costs and interest rates, falling crop prices, tight money supply

Reservation

Federal land set aside for Native Americans; Created because of white expansion

Populist Platform

8 hour work day, graduated income tax, RRs to return land not used to build RRs so farmers could get cheap under Homestead Act, silver, government ownership of RR/telephone/telegraph, farm warehouses, direct election of senators

Hardships for frontier farmers

Hail storms, prairie fires, locusts, drought, extreme heat, tornados, no lumber

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US

Central Pacific Railroad

A railroad that started in Sacramento , and connected with the Union Pacific Railroad in Promentary Point, UTAH

Union Pacific Railroad

A railroad that started in Omaha, and it connected with the Central Pacific Railroad in Promentary Point, UTAH