Life in the West

Mr. MelendezUS History

Gold Discoveries•Gold Discovered:

•California, 1849•Colorado, 1858•Black Hills, South Dakota, 1874

•Brings thousands of men out west hoping to strike it rich•Some, like Levi Strauss, made money by supplying the miners’ needs•Small and dirty mining towns spring up all over the west

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/three/63_02.htm

How many western states had gold strikes?

•1862, US government passes the Homestead Act•Gives 160 acres to heads of families who pay a small fee, improve the land and live on it for 5 years•A lot of the land is taken by private speculators and state and railroad agents•In the 1890s over 2 million acres in Oklahoma are given away by the government

Homestead Act of 1862 and Oklahoma Land Rush

160 acres of free land—hard

work, but not a bad deal!

http://historyrevision.myfreeforum.org/archive/1.-homesteaders-and-farming-the-plains-2004-25-mks__o_t__t_134.html

Why build a house out of chunks of grass? Advantages/Disadvantages?

http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/soddies.html

•After the Civil War, demand for beef grows•Cattle ranching becomes very profitable in Texas•“Cattle drives” take thousands of cows from Texas to the railroad lines up north•Cattle are taken to Chicago to be butchered and sold across the East

Cattle Ranching and Cowboys

Which trail crossed through Colorado?Which trail crossed through Colorado?

Until the 1870s, most western settlers used the “trails’ to make it to the West. The journey to Oregon took 4-5 months and most people walked the 2,000 miles. In 1869, that changed!

Until the 1870s, most western settlers used the “trails’ to make it to the West. The journey to Oregon took 4-5 months and most people walked the 2,000 miles. In 1869, that changed!

Mama, Billy Joe smacked

me with a stick! Did too!

I did not!Did not!

CUT IT OUT or I will TURN THIS

WAGON AROUND! so

help me...

CUT IT OUT or I will TURN THIS

WAGON AROUND! so

help me...

Railroads•In 1860, 30,000 miles of railroad track. •By 1890, 90,000 miles. •In 1869, first transcontinental railroad•Many Irish and Chinese immigrants building the railroads.•Railroads provided:

•Safer travel from Indian raids and bandits•Faster travel times : months to days•Cheaper prices on transporting goods; became the lifeline of towns out west

Wait, wait, wait-- tell me

gain-- how much longer?

How did the federal government promote the building of railroads in the West?

How did the federal government promote the building of railroads in the West?

How did all of this western movement affect Native

Americans?

To what modern day state were most Indians forced to move in the 1830s?

Major Events in US-Native American Relations

Reservation Policy (1800s):• Indian Removal policies moves many Indians west

•Government makes reservation treaties with tribes as white settlers need more land

• Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Cheyenne people under US protections are massacred by the US Army.

• Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868): Sioux agree to a reservation treaty but don’t give up their hunting grounds

• Battle of Little Big Horn (1876): General Custer and his men are killed while attempting to return Sioux /Cheyenne Indians to their reservations

• Destruction of the Buffalo (1890)

• As many as 65 million in 1800

• Less than 1,000 by 1870• Destroyed the

livelihood of the Plains Indians

• The Dawes Act (1887): Indians would be forced to assimilate or “Americanize.”

• Own individual property• Give up their language,

customs and beliefs

• Ghost Dance (1890): widespread spiritual movement hoping for the return of the days before the white man.

• Battle of Wounded Knee (1890): An accidental shot leads to the killing of almost a whole group of Sioux Indians by the US Army.