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The Big IdeaAs more settlers moved West, mining, ranching, and railroads soon transformed the western landscape.
Main Ideas•A mining boom brought growth to the West. •The demand for cattle created a short-lived Cattle Kingdom on the Great Plains.•East and West were connected by the transcontinental railroad.
Mining was dangerous. The equipment was unsafe and miners had to breathe hot, stuffy air that causes lung disease. Poorly planned explosions and cave-ins killed and injured miners. Fires were also a threat.
Mining in the West
Mining became big business with discoveries of large deposits of precious metals, such as the Comstock Lode in Nevada.
Miners from all over the world came to work in the western mines.
Boomtowns grew quickly when a mine opened and often disappeared quickly when the mine closed.
• The growth of the West created a need for communication across the country.– The Pony Express carried messages on a route 2,000 miles long.– Telegraph lines put the Pony Express out of business.
• Demand for a transcontinental railroad grew.–Congress passed the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864, giving railroad companies loans and land grants. –The railroads agreed to carry mail and troops at a lower cost.
Main Idea 3: East and West were connected by the transcontinental railroad.
• In the race to complete a transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific started in San Francisco and worked east, and the Union Pacific started in Omaha and worked west.
• Large numbers of Irish and Chinese immigrants worked on the railroads.
• Geography and weather posed many challenges to building the railroads.
• On May 10, 1869, the railroad lines met and joined the two tracks with a golden spike at Promontory, Utah.
• Companies continued building railroads throughout the West.
The Treaty of Fort Laramie recognized Native American claims to the Great Plains. It allowed the United States to build forts and travel across Native American lands.
The U.S. government negotiated new treaties after gold was discovered in Colorado, sending Native Americans to live on reservations, areas of federal land set aside for them.
The movement of pioneers and miners across the Great Plains and through Native American hunting grounds led to conflict with the Sioux, led by Crazy Horse.
Most southern Plains Indians agreed to go to reservations under the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, but the Comanche continued to fight until 1875.
•Initially, the United States promised to let the Nez Percé keep their Oregon land.
•Later, the government demanded land.
•Fighting broke out.
•U.S. troops forced the Nez Percé to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma where many died.
Fighting on the Plains
Southwest
•Navajo refused to settle on reservations.
•U.S. troops raided Navajo fields, homes, and livestock.
•Out of food and shelter, the Navajo surrendered.
•Navajo were forced on a 300-mile march, known as the Long Walk, to a reservation and countless died.
Northern Plains
•Battles with the Sioux throughout the 1800s.
•In 1876 George Armstrong Custer’s troops were defeated by Sioux forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Sioux’s last major victory.
•U.S. troops killed about 150 Sioux in the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
Main Idea 3: Despite efforts to reform U.S. policy toward Native Americans, conflict continued.
• Ghost Dance movement– Predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans– Misunderstood by U.S. officials, who feared it would lead to rebellion– Gradually died out after the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890• Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute, lectured on problems of the reservation system and called
for reform in the 1870s.• Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887– Made land ownership among Native Americans private– Tried to lessen traditional influences of Native American society so as to encourage them
to adopt the ways of white people– Ended up taking about two-thirds of Native American land
Main Idea 1: Many Americans started new lives on the Great Plains.
• Two important land-grant acts helped open the West to settlers in 1862.– The Homestead Act gave government land to farmers.– The Morrill Act gave federal land to states to sell in order to fund colleges to teach
agriculture and engineering.• People who made new lives in the West included women, immigrants, and African
Americans.– Thousands of southern African Americans, known as Exodusters, moved to Kansas.
Building Communities•Women were an important force in settling the frontier.
—Annie Bidwell, a founder of Chico, California, supported many social causes.
•Harsh life on remote farms led farmers to form communities, creating churches and schools.•Children helped with many chores on the farm.
New Lives in the West
Farming•Breaking up tough grass on the Plains earned farmers the nickname “sodbusters.”•1880s—Mechanical farming was becoming common.•1890s—Farmers began dry farming, growing hardy crops such as red wheat.•Crops were shipped east by train and then overseas; the Great Plains became known as the breadbasket of the world.
Main Idea 2: Economic challenges led to the creation of farmers’ political groups.
• The United States was growing during the period 1860-1900.– The population more than doubled.– The number of farms tripled.– Farmers could harvest a bushel of wheat 20 times faster in 1900 than in 1830.• Farm incomes fell.– More farms and greater productivity led to overproduction, which led to lower prices.– Many farmers lost their farms and homes and became tenant farmers.– By 1880, one-fourth of all farms were rented by tenants.• Farmers formed associations to protect their interests.
The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was a social and educational organization for farmers.
The Grange called for laws to regulate railroad rates.
The Supreme Court ruled:•1877 that the government could regulate railroads•1886 that government could regulate only companies doing business across state lines
Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 to provide national regulations for trade, but could not enforce them.