Natives and Newcomers (Chapter 15)

One distinct subgroup of native-born white migrants where the MORMONS, a religious group founded by Joseph Smith originally in upstate New York. Why did the Mormons move? (445)

After their leader was killed by a mob in Illinois, the Mormons headed West in search of an isolated homeland that could ensure their security and survival. However, in 1896 polygamy was banned and the couch took a less prominent role in public life.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West

Cody put on a cicuslike production (ropes, cowboys, Indians, musicians, Annie Oakley, and even Sitting Bull) begun in 1883 that helped create a romantic and mythological view of the West in the American imagination - heroism, optimism, individualism, and gallantry.

The second great western mining boom, after California in 1849, began in 1859 with the discovery of gold in Colorado and silver in Nevada. Among the titans who accused stupendous fortunes were four Irishmen, the SILVER KINGS. But it wasn't until when that miners hit the greatest silver vein of them all, the Big Bonanza?

In 1873, miners found more than $100 million.

Daniel Boon, a famous pioneer and icon of frontier masculinity, represented what? (452)

Indian savagery and white domination

As it became clear that the traditional government policy of simply forcing tribes into the West was no longer viable because of increased white migration into the region, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act. What did this act do? (452)

It set aside vast tracts of the Oklahoma Territory as reservations for dozens of Native American tribes.

More than two million immigrants were drawn by the same desire for free/inexpensive farmland and to find work in mines, on railroads, or in the rapidly expanding economies of Western towns and cities. What played a large role in bringing immigrants out West? (445-446)

Railroads and land companies played a key role in promoting immigrants to the West, sending agents to Europe and advertising there to encourage migration, sometimes by entire villages, directly to the West.

Despite its lack of commitment to honoring them, the federal government nonetheless signed many treaties in the late 1860s hoping to bring peace to the West and allow continued settlement by whites. Treaties were drawn up and signed with what Plain Tribes? (455)

The Apache, Cheyenne, and Araphao in 1864 The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache in 1867 The Sioux in 1868

Despite their legal victories, why did the party far out of favor? (449)

The Granger movement faded when the depression lifted and farm product prices rose in the late 1870s. The Democratic and Republican parties also added pro-farmer planks to their platforms.

Between 1860 and 1900, the country's agricultural output soared. The number of farms grow from two to six million, with most of the growth taking place in the West. What accounted for this AGRICULTURAL BOOM? (447)

(1) New technologies such as the steel plow and the mechanical reaper (increased how much you could till) (2) The establishment of many agriculture schools (advanced farming) (3) The spread of the railroad (sold crops nationally)

Congress passed three major bills to facilitate the settlement of the trans-Mississippi West in 1862. What were these bills? (440)

(1) The Morrill Land Grant College Act (2) The Homestead Act (3) The Pacific Railway Act

In the late 1840s, after the Mexican War and the discovery of gold in California, a steady flow of settlers into the trans-Mississippi West commenced. By the mid-1850s, thousands annually transversed the 2,000 mile OREGON TRAIL that stretched from Missouri to Oregon. What attracted them? (444)

A torrent of pamphlets, books, articles, and photographers produced by publicists and boosters; the employment by the railroads and land companies; a stereotype celebrating the West as a region of wealth and opportunity

Why was there "Room for Millions of Immigrants"? (446)

As in the East, increased ethnic and racial diversity and economic competition in the West lead to tension and conflict that occasionally exploded into violence. Chinese immigrants were frequent victims. Congress, with heavy lobbying from California, passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that barred Chinese immigration to the USA.

Another key emerging sector of the Western economy was cattle ranching. As Americans developed a taste for beef in the 1860s, a longhorn that cost $4 in Texas could be sold for $40 on the Northern market. How did ranchers get their cattle to the North? (449)

Beginning in 1866, ranchers began the first of annual LONG DRIVES of more than 1,000 miles to bring the cattle to market. Over time the need for the drives diminished as rail lines were extended from Kansas into Texas and entrepreneurs establish large cattle ranges close to railroads.

The period of the great cattle drives established the cowboy as an enduring icon of the Old West. The cowboys were depicted as paragons of manliness, independence, and courage who spent most of their days battling Indians and driving cattle. Was this an accurate representation? (449-450)

Cowboys worked from dawn to dusk, dependent of the market prices of beef. Moreover, they were a far more diverse lot than the popular images. 1/3 were nonwhite: the largest group being Mexican vaqueros, and the second largest group being African Americas.

What were some other problems? (454-456)

Epidemics of diseases such as smallpox and measles diminished their numbers. Alcohol, a commodity obtained through the whites, further compromised their health. Long-standing animosities among tribes prevented Native Americans from banding together. Americans eradicated the buffalo on which the depended. And, the white settlers had a technological advantage (while the Native Americans had guns, they obtained the firearms through whites).

The primary motivation for migration was economic - a search for land and work. As a result, economic development was a chief driving force behind the Western transformation. What industries reshaped the region? (447-448)

Farming, ranching, and mining provided employed millions. However, the railroad supplied some of the essential needs of consumers and thus promoted urban growth. Once connected to the national rail networks, western cities became major metropolises.

To prevent speculators from defrauding Indians, and allotments would be held in a trust for 25 years before full ownership was conferred. Did this stop scammers? (458-459)

Firstly, the land given was often of poor quality, making successful farming difficult. Despite this and the laws, white speculators and scammers found ways to con Native Americans out of their land. Any land deemed "surplus" was sold to white settlers.

In addition to writers, artists popularized a heroic image of the West. Who was one of the most famous? (462)

Frederic Remington

The US government, the Sioux, and other Plains tribes signed the first Treaty of Fort Laramie that same year in 1851. What did this treaty do? (452)

In exchange for declaring nearly all of the central and northern Great Plains off limits to white settlements, the tribes agreed to allow whites to pass unmolested along the Oregon Trail as they moved westward.

The third act built the transcontinental railroad: the UNION PACIFIC built west from Omaha to meet the CENTRAL PACIFIC, which built east from California. When did the two railroads meet? Where did they meet? And who built them? (440-441)

It took six years of low-paid, hard, and dangerous work by huge gangs of workers, especially the Irish and Chinese, to complete the project. On May 10, 1869, a grand ceremony marking the union of the two lines took place at Promontory Point.

On top of all these challenges were the loneliness and drudgery of life on the Plains. To improve the lot of American farmers, Kelley founded in 1867 the Patrons of Husbandry, or GRANGE. What did this social and education society first do? (449)

It was dedicated to alleviating the problems faced by farmers by promoting fellowship, fraternity, and education. Grangers shared ideas about farming through a newsletter and attended lectures by traveling experts. By the early 1870s, it had several hundred thousand members.

While most Americans expressed little concern over the fate of Native Americans in the West, Jackson and Winnemucca began speaking and lobbying on the behave of Native Americans. They both promoted eduction for Native Americans, but with what different goals in mind? (457-458)

Jackson represented the reformers who believed it the duty of the government to assimilate Indians into white society. Winnemucca believed in formal education, but not at the expense of elimination their culture.

In the southwest, Hispanos and Mexicans farmers bore the brunt of the ruling Euro-Americans' ruthless tactics (lined themselves with gangs) and hunger for land. When officials began to sell off to speculators and ranchers what had long been used as common grazing lands, how did the poor farmers resist? (457)

Las Gorras Blancas, a secrete militant vigilante group of Mexican men, wore white masks and cut fence on lands taken over by speculators. They also destroy railroad bridges, buildings, and crops.

The economic development of the West led to countless success stories. But at what price did such development came? (451)

Mining left behind badly scarred landscapes and muddy waterways; ore processing often used toxic chemicals which where dumped into the rivers; hunting and human activity lead to the near eradication or elk, bear, wolf, and buffalo populations; settlers introduced foreign animals and plants that disrupted the balance of the ecosystem; farming and grazing livestock elevated the grass whose roots held the soil in place, which would eventually lead to dust storms.

While Native American tribes could be found in virtually every corner of the West, the largest group - 2/3 of all Native Americans living the West - lived on the Great Plains. How did these PLAIN TRIBES end up in the Great Plains? (443)

Most of the tribes were relocated from the East during the TRAIL OF TEARS.

How did Limerick's THE LEGACY OF CONQUEST: THE UNBROKEN PAST OF THE AMERICAN WEST challenge Turner's views? (464)

Native Americans had inhabited the West for thousands of years, and thus they had a legitimate claim to the land. Viewed from this perspective, the story of the West was one of violence, exploitation, and conquest.

Rather than enforce the terms of the treaty and force the removal of white settlers, the government inevitably revised the treaty to further shrink designated Native American lands. This combination of white settlers' desire for land and disregard for Native Americans' rights and the efforts of Native Americans to resist white encroachment let to what? (454)

Repeated outbreaks of violence Most notably, in the Sand Creek Massacre led by Colonel Chivington, 200 Cheyenne Indians (mostly women and children) were mutilated and returned to Denver with their scalps.

The Plain Tribes varied culturally, but many shared a smilier tribal structure. Most tribes consisted of bands about 300-500 related men and women, each governed by a council that welcomed community involvement. They lived in settled villages near rivers where they tended to crops. While most religious practices varied, most tribes still shared important fundamental elements, like spirits and a shaman. In contrast to these similarities, what did some of the larger tribes have? And what was its effect? (443-444)

Some of the largest tribes took to using horses and adopted a migratory lifestyle by the eighteenth century. The horses allowed the Plain Tribes to follow the seasonal migrations of the buffalo. The military advantages of the courses and the material wealth provided by the buffalo lead these tribes to become the dominant powers on the Plains, allowing them to exact tribute from weaker sedentary tribes. But the moment brought them into conflict with whites eager to acquire land! *While the Native Americans were thought of as violent, much conflict was due to the whites moving the tribes farther West and closer together. Moreover, warfare was usually not about killing but stealing horses!

The Homestead Act did indeed attract farmers to the West, but by 1900 only 52% of HOMESTEADERS claimants had acquired legal title to the land. What other types of people unexpectantly became involved? (440)

Speculators claimed their 160 acres with the intention of selling them for a quick profit in a few years. Larger enterprises like railroads and real estate companies accumulated vast land holdings by buying out farmers who failed or by paying people to file homestead claims and then buying the land from them.

On the northern plains, the Fort Laramie Treaty granted territory exclusively to Native American tribes. Rather than keep white trespassers out, however, the federal government demanded the Sioux vacate their Red River hunting grounds and return to their reservations. When the tribes refused to comply, the army launched an offensive. How did we still end up winning? (455-456)

The Battle of Little Bighorn quickly disintegrated into one of the most devastating defeats ever suffered by the US military as Custer and more than 250 of his men were killed by a large band of Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho warriors (including Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull). In response that the government was showing too much leniency, it expanded military action in the Black Hills and forced the Sioux and other defiant tribes onto reservations.

What did it later become? (449)

The Grange was transformed into a powerful political movement during the Panic of 1873. The Granger Parties in 1874 won control of some legislature and gained significant influences in others. "Granger Laws" were some of the earliest regulations of banks and corporations, especially railroads! They set maximum rates for transporting or storing grains and banned abusive practices such as offering preferred customers special rates.

Despite these measures, continued violations of treated by white settlers who ventured onto Indian lands and bands of Indians who refused to accept confinement of reservation lands let to increased bloodshed. Describe the Red River War of 1874. (455)

The Kiowa, Comanche, southern Cheyenne, and southern Araphao were angered over the federal government's failure to uphold its obligation to provide adequate supplies and keep whites off the reservation land. They left the reservation and raided white settlements. General Sheridan ended resistance on the southern plains by causing this rebellion.

Was this opposition to railroads legal? (449)

The Supreme Court in Munn v. Illinois and Peik v. Chicago and Northwestern Railway ruled that state governments had the legal authority under the Constitution to regulate commerce, especially commerce between states.

Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huck Finn" contained which Western themes? (Zane Grey also popularized this vision of the West.) (462)

The West was a place of adventure and individualism; it was an escape from the constraints of modern society to a purer, more authentic world. (The figure of the cowboy embodied American manliness, decency, courage, and common sense.)

The Morrill Land Grant College Act (440)

The act created a system whereby funds raised by the sale of public land went toward establishing colleges specializing in agricultural, mechanical, and technological education.

By making available 600 million acres of public land to be settled and farmed, the Homestead Act touched off the larges migration of people ever within the United States. (440)

The act provided 160 acres of free land to any settler willing to live on it and improve it for five years. Those with more capital could buy the land for $1.25 per acre after living on it for only six months.

The Homestead Act advertised the flourish of civilization in as little as five years. But the actual results varied widely by region. On the Great Plains and the lands farther west, farmers often went bankrupt due to harsh climate, poor soil, inconsistent water supply, and limited transportation. Where did farmers have better success? (440)

The act worked well in the northern and central portions of the Midwest, where the soil and climate were favorable to farming.

The second Fort Laramie Treaty with the Sioux ended the Red Cloud's War. What did the treaty guarantee? (455)

The conflicted erupted when the US army announced plans to build forts along the Bozeman Trail in the Wyoming and Montana territories to protect white migrants draw by the discovery of gold. It guaranteed to the Sioux ownership of the Black Hills and land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. It also explicitly barred white people from these lands.

While the overall trend in this period was one of expansion and profit, the reality of many farmers was struggle, frustration, and failure. What was going wrong for poor farmers? (448)

The farmers faced unpredictable weather patterns season to season, and they were plague from swarms of insects. They also struggled with wild fluctuations in prices for their crops.

How did Turner's FRONTIER THESIS present the West? (464)

The frontier had played a vital role in shaping the American character and institution, supplying endless land and opportunity for upward mobility. The frontier forced Americans to develop a spirit of rugged individualism and innovation, which fosters equality and democracy.

In the 1880s, wheat farmers on the Plains saw prices fall due to competition with less expensive wheat grown internationally. Sudden drops in prices pushed many farmers into foreclosure and high debt. How did this reflect an significant flaw in the Homestead Act? (448)

The land needed to be maintained with expensive equipment such as harvesters, plows, and windmills. These conditions favored larger farms that could assume and pay the large debt. The 160 acre plots were too small to be profitable! BONANZA FARMS of 1000+ acres became increasingly common.

The freed slaves hoped to secure new lives as independent farmers, free of poverty and violence in the South. One of these ex-slaves, Henry Adams, became a land promoter after emancipation, helping more than 20,000 blacks move. Why where they called EXODUSTERS? (444-445)

The name reflected the belief that, like the Israelites in the Book of Exodus, they were heading for a promised land. Unfortunately, many Exodusters settled on poor land and lacked the capital to establish successful farms. As a result, only about 1/3 stayed while remaining 2/3 moved on or returned to the South.

Jackson's book prompted Congress to appoint a commission to study Indian affairs and seek new and more humane polices. With that in mind, Congress also passed the DAWES SEVERALTY ACT to break up the reservations and assimilate Indians into the dominate, white culture. How so? (457-458)

The plan offered families allotments of 160 acres of reservation land, and the remaining land would be sold off and the profits set aside for tools and educations. Those who accepted the terms could apply for citizenship.

Tension and violence between white settlers and Native American tribes only increased in the coming years. What where some of the problems that Native Americans faced in resisting Euro-American incursion onto their lands? (452)

The racism of white Americans characterized Indians as backward, pagan, violent savages who lacked a rightful claim to the lands they occupied.

The northwest was also growing thanks to mining and railroad industries. Did the Nez Perce tribe go willingly? (457)

The tribe agreed to move onto a reservation, but about a quarter had refused. Led by Chief Joseph, 750 came within 40 miles of the Canadian border before they were forced to surrender to the army and to life on a reservation.

Native-born whites constituted a second, much larger segment of the westward migration. Many were Eastern and Midwestern farmers who sought larger plots of land or upward mobility. How did this group move? (445)

They where mostly brought by either purchase of the Homestead Act. Others were soldiers who had been stationed in the West and had elected to stay after their terms of service expired.

The Ghost Dance movement did not become popular until a Northern Paiute shaman name Wovka began preaching a message of Native American revival. The hopeful message spread rapidly, alarming fewer officials. While the WOUNDED KEE MASSACRE was not the bloodies clash, what did it symbolize? (461)

When Sitting Bull resists arrest, the police shot him dead. Two weeks later, the army confronted about 300 Sioux Ghost Dancers and killed more than 200 - showing just how brutal the conquest of the West truly was. While Indians would struggle for decades, this was the last major form of resistance to Western conquest!

The image of the West was first cultivated with the sports of Western explorers, but the image really flourished after migrants sent back East countless letters. What did writers eventually turn to? (462)

Writers created a new fiction genre known as the DIME NOVEL. (A popular character was Buffalo Bill.)

Which groups lead the GREAT WESTWARD MIGRATION?

freedman, native-born whites, and immigrants

Who took advantage of the Homestead Act? (440)

landless farmers from the East, single women, and freedman

Ranchers were vulnerable to extremes of weather and the rapid expansion of the ranching industry. Additionally, they classed with other livestock enterprises. To what did this lead? (450)

to violence and even widespread hostilities known as RANGE WARS

The good soil, adequate rainfall, and sufficiently long frost-free period made the GREAT PLAINS a good location for farming. What part of America comprises this region? (443)

vast open territory stretching east to west from present-day Missouri to the Rocky Mountains and north to south from North Dakota to Texas