Western Frontier

ranscontinental Railroad –

Series of railroads completed between 1869 and 1893 that connected the eastern U.S. with the Pacific Coast. They opened the West to settlement, linked national markets, and symbolized industrial growth. (Also displaced Native Americans and contributed to environmental damage.)

Great Plains –

Region west of the Mississippi River considered the “Great American Desert” before 1860. After the Civil War, it became a center for cattle ranching and farming, reshaping the frontier and Native American life.

Vaqueros

Mexican cowboys who developed many techniques later used by American cattle ranchers (branding, roping, herding). They influenced the culture of the cattle frontier and the image of the cowboy.

Cattle Drives –

Long journeys in the 1860s–70s moving cattle from Texas to railroad towns in Kansas (like Abilene). They supplied beef to eastern markets and shaped the myth of the “Wild West.” Ended due to barbed wire, overgrazing, and harsh weather.

Barbed Wire –

Invented in 1874 by Joseph Glidden, it allowed farmers to cheaply fence land on the treeless plains, ending the open range and helping settle the West.

Homestead Act (1862) –

Federal law granting 160 acres of free land to settlers who lived on and improved it for 5 years. Encouraged westward migration but often benefited speculators and railroads more than poor farmers.

Cash Crops –

Crops grown primarily for sale (like wheat or corn) rather than subsistence. By the late 1800s, western farmers became tied to global markets and vulnerable to price drops.

Markets –

National and international buyers that western farmers relied on. Integration into markets made farmers dependent on railroads, banks, and global prices.

Deflation –

Falling prices in the late 1800s, worsened by limited currency. Hurt farmers by lowering crop values while debts remained fixed, fueling demands for “free silver” and inflationary policies.

Middlemen –

Merchants, wholesalers, and retailers who profited from selling farm goods and supplies. Farmers resented their control and costs, seeing them as part of the system that exploited agriculture.

National Grange Movement –

Founded in 1868 as a social/educational group for farmers, it grew into an economic and political movement. The Grange fought railroads and middlemen, organized cooperatives, and influenced state regulation (Granger Laws).

Cooperatives –

Farmer-owned businesses that tried to reduce dependence on middlemen by pooling resources for storage, supplies, and sales. They represented early farmer attempts at economic self-help.

Granger Laws – .

State laws (mainly in the Midwest) that regulated railroad and grain elevator rates in the 1870s. Reflected farmer political activism and the fight against corporate power.

Munn v. Illinois (1877) –

Supreme Court case that upheld the right of states to regulate private industries affecting the public interest (like railroads). Important victory for farmers against corporate power

Ocala Platforms—

Reform agenda of the Farmers’ Alliance calling for direct election of senators, lower tariffs, a graduated income tax, banking reform, inflation through silver, and government storage loans. Anticipated the Populist Party’s platform and shaped national politics in the 1890s.