The Cattle Kingdom and Farming the Great Plains

The Cattle Kingdom and Farming the Great Plains

Chapter 5 sections 3 and 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KlZuk5N2co&feature=related

The Cattle Boom

“Cattle are permitted to range… over a large surface of country, thirty, forty, and even fifty miles in extend [size].”

Who is going to keep track of these cattle?

The Cattle Boom

• ___________ _____________ are a mix between Spanish and English cattle breeds. – Breed spreads quickly throughout Texas– They were lean and tough– Had horns up to ____ feet across– Need little ___________ and can survive the harsh

weather.

The demand for beef

• Following the _____________ War, the demand for beef increases drastically. – Growing ________________ and increasing

_________________– Cattle that were $3 in Texas would sell for upwards

of ________in New York!• Joseph McCoy establishes a market where

cattle were shipped on the _______________ ____________ ______________.

The Cattle Kingdom

• ________________ expands onto the Great Plains

• Ranches are built and cattle is taken to Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and ___________________

• This area comes to be known as the _______________ ________________.

• In this area, ranchers graze their herds on public lands called the open range.

The Ranches

• ______________ _______________– Became extremely wealthy during this time period when she switched from mining to ranching

• Some ranches in Texas today are over 3 million acres! That is bigger than the size of _______________ ________________!

Range Rights

• Ranchers had to be concerned with securing ____________ for their cattle.

• ____________ _____________, or water rights, to ponds and rivers were bought by ranchers that allowed them to secure scarce water sources as well as the land around it.

• Ranchers could cut out their ___________________ by stopping other ranchers and farmers from using water.

Wild West Rootin Shootin Cowboy Dictionary

• Find your 8 o’ clock pardner!!!• You have 5 minutes!• Match the definition with its correct term by

robbin’ that thar word down yonder. • Good luck, Pardner!!!

The Cowboys

• The workers who took care of the ranchers cattle were called _______________. – They learned many farming and herding

techniques from Mexican ___________________.• Mexican ranch hands who cared for cattle and

_____________– Western saddle– The _______________(a rope used for lassoing cattle)– Leather chaps– Broad felt hats– Bandanas

Cowboys

• Gathering cattle together was known as ________________. – Each cow was branded

with a unique mark to prevent cattle theft

• Cowboys faced multiple ______________– Cattle thieves, bad

weather, unpredictable cattle,

Cattle Drives and Cattle Towns• The ____________ ____________ was a long

journey where cowboys herded cattle to the market or to the northern Plains to graze.

• The ______________ _____________was one of the earliest and most popular routes for cattle drives. – Ran from San Antonio, Texas to __________,

Kansas

The end of the open range

• The __________________ railroad car allowed meat to be carried from packing plants to eastern cities.

• ________ _______ allowed farmers to cheaply fence off their land.

Range wars

• With the use of barbed wire, large ranchers moved quickly to fence in the open range and secure the water sources.

• Farmers and small ranchers cut the fences and moved onto the land in response, creating _________ ______.

End of the open range 2

• _____________ owners begin to compete for the land– Sheep chew grass down very low

• 1885 and 1886 saw terrible winters in the Midwest. – Cattle die due to lack of food– _______________ drops the price of cattle– Harsh weather kills cattle– Greater competition for grazing land

Cowboys today

• http://app.discoveryeducation.com/search#selItemsPerPage=20&intCurrentPage=1&No=20&N=0&Ne=&Ntt=cowboys&Ns=&Nr=&browseFilter=&indexVersion=&Ntk=

• The Homestead Act• 160 FREE ACRES

OF LAND!!! • All you have to

do is move to it!!!

Farming the Great Plains

• In 1862, Congress passed two important land – grant acts that helped to open up the West for settlers to move.

• The _________________ __________ gave government – owned land to small farmers. – ______acres of land– Homesteaders paid a small registration fee– Must live on the land for ____ years

The Morrill Act

• Granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states.

• Required states to use the revenue from selling this land to build ____________ (Texas A & M) to teach agriculture and engineering.

Land Rushes and Staking their claims

• The Federal government offered land and opened up 11 million acres in Oklahoma for people to stake their claims.

• _____________ people rushed to Oklahoma for land.

• Far and Away– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxaJY8UZxn4

Settling the Plains

• The Homestead Act granted land not just to white males. – __________________– Immigrants from ________________– ______________ ______________from the south• ___________________– because of their exodus, or

mass departure, from the South. • Wanted better _____________ opportunities and

___________ _____________

Exodusters

• “I one day said to the man I rented [land] from: “It’s no use, I works hard and raises big crops and you sells it and keeps the money, and brings me more and more in debt, so I will go somewhere else.”– John Solomon Lewis quoted in Exodusters: Black

Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction, by Nell Irvin Painter

Farming on the Plains

• Inexpensive, but had many unique challenges– Extreme seasons

• -40 degrees in winter• 110 degrees in summer

– Dry climate– Deep rooted,

____________ land– Threat of blizzards and

extreme _____________

Adaptation• Farmers survived by

developing new farm equipment and methods

• _________ __________ developed the deep steel plow

• The hard work of breaking up the sod earned the farmers on the plains the nickname __________________.

Dry farming

• ___________ ____________ shifted the focus from water dependent crops to hardier crops.– Shift from corn to things such as wheat– Rotated crops and left certain farm land

_____________ to preserve soil and water in the fields

Cyrus McCormick

• In the 1880’s mechanical farming became increasingly common.

• Made farming much more efficient– Great Plains became known as the

“_________________” of the world. • Cyrus McCormick designed, built, and sold farm

equipment. – Reapers– Threshing machines

Daily Life on the Plains

• “When one begins to farm, it takes a great deal of to get started – especially when one must begin with nothing.” – Settlers had to make and mend their own clothing– No ______________ machines– Wash soap made from lye– Building a house• Very little ___________ available• Homes built out of brick and sod

Family Life

• ______________ prepared meals and often grew the vegetables for the family to eat.– Also raised ______________ and made butter to

earn extra money for the family• Raised livestock, plowed and planted the fields• Pioneers had to build their own farm buildings

and repair their own machinery. • Farm families were often very large and the

______________ helped on the farm.

Communities on the Great Plains

• Because of the isolated and lonely life of farming on the plains, farmers formed ___________to support one another.

• Established a local church and school

Schools on the Great Plains• Pioneer schools

– Often built by and run by community• Most teachers were young

________________– __________room buildings

with a _____________ in the middle of the room

– Children from all grades attended

– Most students only went to school only part of year to help ____________

Sitting Bull

• Vision of soldiers falling into camp was interpreted by the Sioux that they would defeat the white soldiers at Little Big Horn

• Killed in 1890 by Sioux Indian Reservation police

• Chief and medicine man of the Hunkpapa Lakota Group

Jesse James

• Train Robber and Bank Robber

• Married his first cousin, Zerelda

• So sought after that detectives stalked his mother and threw a bomb into her cabin, killing his half – brother

Wild Bill Hickock

• James Butler is his real name

• Buried next to Calamity Jane

• Dead Man’s hand because he was shot and killed while playing poker

• Always carried a pair of pearl-handled pistols

Geronimo

• Apache chief and medicine man

• Twice captured by Army generals

• Led the Apache armed resistance

• Took 5,000 U.S. soldiers and 500 Apache scouts to capture him

Crazy Horse

• War leader of the Sioux who led the Indian forces at the Battle of Little Bighorn

• Was stabbed to death when he tried to escape capture

• Led an ambush in 1866, killing 81 cavalry

George Armstrong Custer

• Infamous “last stand” at the Battle of Little Bighorn

• “Battle of Greasy Grass”• Civil War Hero• Wrote a book, “My Life

on the Plains”

Annie Oakley

• Historic character behind the Broadway musical, “Annie Get your Gun”

• Known for amazing speed and accuracy with rifles and pistols

• Could hit a dime in mid-air from 90 feet

Buffalo Bill Cody

• William• Supplied buffalo meet

for workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad– 1867 – 15,000,000– 1890 – 600

• Helped shape the worlds romantic image of the west

Butch Cassidy• Most famous partner was

Sundance Kid• Earned his nickname as being

a meat-cutter• Was portrayed by Paul

Newman in a film bearing his name

• Hideout was at Hold-in-the-Wall in Diamond Mountains, CO

• Voted whether or not to kill guards and bankers

Billy the Kid

• Killed 21 men during his 21 year life

• Escaped from a New Mexico jail twice

• Killed a man with a pen knife when 14 years old

• Fast draw and short temper

• Bank and train robber