Chapter 17 – The West Professor J. Gutierrez 1 The West Recap before the Civil War Post-Civil War Westward Migration The Indian Wars Westward Economic Expansion – Railroads Westward Economic Expansion – Cattle The West Mythos & Frontier Thesis 2 Timeline  1830: Indian Removal Act (Trail of Tears)  1846-1848: U.S.-Mexico War // U.S. gains Texas & American Southwest  1847: Mormon migration to Utah  1848-1850: California gold rush // California statehood  1861-1865: American Civil War  1862: Homestead Act passed // Dakota War  1863, April: Navajo Long Walk  1864, Nov. 29: Sand Creek Massacre  1869, May 10: Transcontinental Railroad complete in Utah  1874: Red River War  1876-77: Great Sioux War  1882: Chinese Exclusion Act passed  1883: Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West” begins  1887: Dawes Act passed  1890: Wounded Knee Massacre // U.S. Census Bureau declare Western frontier closed  1893: Frederick Jackson Turner present’s the Frontier Thesis 3 Recap before the Civil War  Since the establishment of the United States, Americans had always been eager to migrate westward.  The U.S. decisively defeated Mexico in the U.S.-Mexico War of 1846-48 and annexed what we now call the American Southwest (from Texas to California) - Acquired in 1848, California had swelled up with so many people so quickly that it was prepared for statehood in only 2 years!  Most land between Kansas and California, however, was still dominated by Native American nations and seen as “empty” by Americans.  Modern Oklahoma was regarded as a large Indian Reservation (see map on next slide)  The American Civil War put a pause on Westward migration while the states fought each other, but afterward Americans were on the move again.  Native Americans still lived in the West (250,000+) and the U.S. had a long history of making, and then breaking, treaties with Native American tribes:  The 1830 Indian Removal Act and subsequent “Trail of Tears” was an example of the U.S. Gov’t’s willingness to terminate previous treaties, forcefully relocate Native Americans, and endure little backlash from the American public 4 Post-Civil War Westward Migration States & Territories after the Civil War 5 life Post-Civil War Westward Migration  Economic incentive was the main motivator for migration; - People from the East moved West to start anew with promise of a good - The 1848-49 California “gold rush” offered a chance of wealth – more often at least promise of a good living and a chance to “start over” - The California valley was fertile for agriculture - Oregon offered rich forests and excellent rivers to settle in as well  The area between had mountains, arid desert, plains and aggressive Native American tribes  Discovery of precious metals in the 1860s in Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and Colorado fueled post-Civil War migrations into each area (many territories had their own smaller “gold rushes”)  Settlers rushing in brought wealth – sometimes more than what the mineral wealth contained (ex: Colorado’s 100,000 settlers in the first 7 years generated more wealth than the gold mined) (Colorado would be ready for statehood in 1876)  People journeyed on the California and Oregon Trails in the 1840s-60s; use of the trails fell off considerably after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in Utah in 1869, allowing rapid transport over trains in a matter of days instead of months  Prices of rail transport could vary  Some migrants used the Oregon Trail as late the 1880s  Picture: Map of the Oregon Trail 6 Post-Civil War Westward Migration Bison hunting The American bison/buffalo once roamed the plains in vast numbers (est. 60 million+) Native Americans hunted them and utilized much of the body American settlers began mass- hunting bison, utilizing primarily the skins for leather American bison-hunting peaked in the 1870s and by the 1880s the bison population dropped to just a few hundred! Cattle ranching expanded with the now-empty grasslands of the Great Plains Conservation efforts have been somewhat effective; as of 2010 there are estimated to be 400,000-500,000 bison 7 Post-Civil War Westward Migration  The Great Plains had vast fertile land with few trees – perfect for farming  Congress in 1862 passed the Homestead Act: any citizen (or immigrant with intent to become a citizen) could claim a surveyed 160-acre tract of Federal land in the West - To claim it they had to improve it (plow the land, build a house/barn, etc.) - After 5 years of improvement they could then claim the deed to the land at $1.60 per acre (with expansion tracts possible if neighboring land was open)  This encouraged thousands of poorer Americans and immigrants to leave the cramped cities and make their way West – mostly married couples (why?)  Populations exploded in the West: - Kansas had 10k farms in 1860 ->239k in 1880 - Texas had 200k people in 1850 -> 1.6M in 1880; 3M in 1900  There was an exception to economic motivations: religion  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) had been founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in Upstate NY  The Mormons faced backlash from other Christian groups and moved to Illinois  Smith was murdered in 1844, and in 1847, Brigham Young took leadership and led the 70,000 Mormons West to the Salt Lake valley in Utah to establish themselves - Young was appointed governor of Utah in 1850  Although the Mormons were wary of travelers, their presence effectively allowed the Salt Lake Valley to grow as a supply depot for other settlers moving into California, Nevada or Oregon 8 The Indian Wars  The Indian Wars (1860-1880) were a series of military conflicts that went on between encroaching American settlers and the U.S. Army against the Native Americans who lived in the West  U.S. policy since before the Civil War, with the est. of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, was to relocate Native Americans in Reservations.  The Native Americans had tenacity to fight (often fueled by anger over mistreatment by the Americans or broken agreements with the Gov’t)  However, the U.S. military had numbers, technology, and battle-hardened commanders fresh off the Civil War  The Dakota War, 1862: Tensions rose between settlers in Minnesota and Native Americans of the Dakota territory; Natives encouraged to farm by Federal Indian agents endured starvation - Federal Indian agents refused to distribute food; agent Andrew Myrick supposedly said that if the Native Americans were hungry they could “eat grass or their own dung” - Violence broke out and the Dakota chose to go to war, attacking settlements and even ambushed a company of soldiers sent to respond (what happened to Myrick?) - Eventually Minnesota deployed elements of the state militia to push the Dakota nation out of Minnesota  Sand Creek Massacre: - In 1851, the Treaty of Fort Laramie, signed between the U.S. and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho and others allowed safe passage of settlers westward through tribal lands in Colorado territory and on toward California (what happened?) - In Sept., 1864: A group of Cheyenne and Arapahoe camped near Ft. Lyon while their leaders sought to renegotiate the treaty and seek peace - Nov. 29, 1864: Colorado militia leader John M. Chivington led his men to massacre 200-600 Native Americans 9 The Indian Wars  The Great Sioux War - 1868: After a series of wars in the 1860s, the Sioux signed a treaty with the U.S. and were granted the Great Sioux Reservation (modern South Dakota), including the Black Hills - 1874: Gold was discovered on the Black Hills, causing white settlers to flood in, violating the treaty - The U.S. sought to sign a new treaty that’d hand the Black Hills over to the settlers; troops were moved in and fights broke out - June 1876: At Little Bighorn, Colonel George Armstrong Custer led his 700-strong 7th Cavalry against over 2000 Sioux, Custer and 268 troops were all killed in the battle; the Sioux were led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. - October 1876: General Nelson Miles led another expedition against the Sioux; talks with Sitting Bull broke down and a short fight erupted at Cedar Creek with Sioux fleeing - After this, most of Sitting Bull’s group surrendered – Sitting Bull escaped to Canada - Sitting Bull was killed in 1890 after returning to the U.S., when an attempt to arrest him was botched by soldiers who shot him Apache: -From 1876-1886, Geronimo led a band of Apache against U.S. forces in the Southwest -He hid in Mexico, where he also fought against Mexican authorities -Hit group slowly collapsing under pressure from both the Mexicans and U.S. Army, Geronimo surrendered in 1886 -Geronimo is often regarded as a symbol of Native American resistance and leadership 10 The Indian Wars  It was argued that transferring reservations into individual-owned homesteads would “civilize” Native Americans quicker; this was coupled with attempts to assimilate Native Americans and Christianize them  The Dawes Act of 1887 did just that; Native American heads of family could get 160 acres; single adults could get 80 acres, orphans could get 40 acres. - Native Americans had 4 years to select allotments, or the Federal Gov’t could pick for them - Land was held in a trust for 25 years, after unclaimed tracts could be sold to white settlers  Native Americans, the Lakota Sioux among them, adopted the “Ghost Dance” ritual, hoping to bring the spirits to their aid  1890: Soldiers attempted to disarm a band of Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek – a single shot began a massacre of 250+ Sioux 11 Westward Economic Expansion - Railroads  Ranching and Railroads also fueled economic development of the West  The largest rail project was the Transcontinental Railroad that would link the developed Eastern U.S. and the West Coast (and everything in between)  Towns sprang up along railroad stops – the “Wild West”  By 1880, 400,000 people labored in the railroad industry nationwide.  Immigrants (mostly Chinese after the Civil War) were often employed: they were cheap and worked hard, often laying tracks in the heat or cold or operating as brakemen, where it was easy to lose hands/fingers - Chinese immigrants faced intense racism, especially for any economic woes - 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese immigration for 10 years! 12 Westward Economic Expansion - Cattle  Cattle ranching and cattle drives were economic drivers especially in Texas  Cattle would be driven up north from Texas toward railroad depots in Kansas City, cattle were then taken on rail up to slaughterhouses in Chicago  Ice-laden “refrigerator cars” would then be packed with meat for transport to the East to major cities like New York where they were distributed to markets via supply networks  Cowboys became economically important in Texas for handling cattle; developing techniques from Mexican vaqueros - Numbers ranged from 12k-40k cowboys - Cowboys worked for ranchers, often hoping to be ranchers themselves - Pay for cowboys was meager for beginners: 20-25$/month - Trail bosses could make twice that - Cowboys endured the elements, especially the Texas heat and cold and endured what food they brought with them on drives  Cattle ranching was largely profitable: cows worth 4$ in Texas could be sold for 40$ in Kansas City 13 The West Mythos and Frontier Thesis  The “West” exists now as something of a mix of history and myth – uniquely American in its form; “Cowboys & Indians” is a children’s game, movies and TV shows play off the stereotypes (often quite racially the further back you go) - We tend to romanticize the Wild West and have folk heroes (and villains): Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral fight. - “Spaghetti Westerns” of the 1960s and even modern films like “Back to the Future III” and “Rango” play off as “Westerns” - Cowboys are still very much a cultural thing (especially in Texas); sometimes for showmanship (rodeos), even the name “Dallas Cowboys” (What does the “cowboy” symbolize? Theodore Roosevelt example?)  William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody: recognized the appeal of the “West” as a setting and as of 1883 presented a show – “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” - “Pawnee Bill” Lillie: Got his start on Wild West as an interpreter and then started his own production in 1888 - Annie Oakley: female sharpshooter who’d perform shooting stunts to awe a crowd  Cody knew the appeal Native Americans had on American and European audiences, so they were featured; Native Americans willingly participated (why?)  1890: By this point, the Western frontier was no more: so now what?  1893: Historian Frederick Jackson Turner offered a thesis; the Frontier Thesis which in turn argued that Americans possess American Ingenuity (what does it argue? What of the future at this point?). - Westward Migration (Homestead Act, why immigrants/people went West?) - Indian Wars (the incidents we focused on & Dawes Act/Assimilation) - Frontier Thesis (who presented this and what does it say?)