The Western Frontier A Look at the Wild West. Introduction WHAT IS THE FRONTIER? It is the furthest extent of settled land It is the open range of the.

The The Western Western FrontierFrontier

The The Western Western FrontierFrontierA Look at A Look at the Wild the Wild

WestWest

IntroductionIntroductionWHAT IS THE FRONTIER?WHAT IS THE FRONTIER?

It is the furthest extent of It is the furthest extent of settled landsettled land

It is the open range of the It is the open range of the midwest and westmidwest and west

The belief that the United The belief that the United States was destined to States was destined to

control north America from control north America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the Atlantic to the Pacific and

from Canada to Mexicofrom Canada to Mexico

WHAT IS MANIFEST DESTINY?WHAT IS MANIFEST DESTINY?

WHY MOVE WESTWARD?WHY MOVE WESTWARD?Country—growth and prideCountry—growth and pride

Land—fresh, cheap; a refugeLand—fresh, cheap; a refuge

Wealth—mining and Wealth—mining and agricultureagricultureAdventure—new challenges; Adventure—new challenges; leave leave

the past behindthe past behindReligious freedomReligious freedom

13 Original Colonies

War for Independence (1783)

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Red River Basin (1818)

Florida Purchase (1819)Mexican Annexation (1845)

Oregon Country (1846)

Mexican Cession (1848)

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

MOVING WESTMOVING WESTA. The U.S. controlled the A. The U.S. controlled the continent continent from coast to coast, from coast to coast, but the land but the land “in the middle” “in the middle” was not settled or was not settled or developeddeveloped

B. The Government Passes Legislation to grant land

1. Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 & 1864 gave railroad companies 10 square miles of land on each side of the track for every mile of track laid >> they resold the land to settlers

2. Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) distributed millions of acres of land to state governments >> they could sell the land to

found “land-grant” colleges3. Homestead Act (1862)

offered 160 acres of land to settlers who

a. were 21 or heads of families

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b. were citizens or immigrants who had applied for citizenshipc. paid a $10 registration feed. built a house within 6 monthse. farmed the land for 5 years before claiming ownership

4. Oklahoma Act of 1889 opened the last of the

frontier to new settlers; the “Sooners” sneaked into the territory before the official start and claimed the best land

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Base camp before the 1889 land run. Boomers at Arkansas City, Kansas, 1889. Photographer: William S. Prettyman.

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Boomers on Kansas state line, April 19th, 1889. Photographer: William S. Prettyman.

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Waiting for land run at Purcell, Oklahoma Territory, 1889. Photographer: William S. Prettyman.

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http://oksenate.com/senate_artwork/images/artwork/oklahoma_city.html

Oklahoma City - April 29, 1889Seven Days After the Land Run of 1889

©2002 Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. and Wayne Cooper

C. People Who Moved West

1. Speculators: people who bought large areas of land in hopes of reselling it for a profit2. Homesteaders: people who rushed to accept offers of free land

3. Exodusters: African-American settlers who moved west; took their name from the biblical account of the Jews escaping slavery in Egypt4. Solid Folk: people who

settled down if they liked it or returned east if they didn’t

This poster urges Exodusters to move from Kentucky to Kansas.Kansas State Historical Society

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/030203/our_ot.hist6.shtml

"Negro Exodusters en route to Kansas, fleeing from the yellow fever, " Photomural from engraving. Harpers Weekly, 1870.

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Exodusters waiting for a steamboat to carry them westward in the late 1870's.

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5. Boomers: people who kept relocating from town to town looking for a quick fortune, but seldom staying long enough to make a living

D. Problems Facing Settlers

1. The extremely poor couldn’t afford the “free” land

2. Land companies claimed most of the land, not individuals3. Resettlement of the Native Americans4. The “Anglos” (white easterners) overwhelmed

the Mexicanos (Spanish- speaking westerners) who lived in the area

5. Scarce resources (water, trees, etc.)

6. Harsh climate (blizzards in winter, heat in summer, prairie fires, insects)7. Squatters moved onto land that did not belong to them

FARMING THE WESTA. Overcoming Problems

1. Irrigation systems used dams, canals and sloping fields to control water flow2. Windmills drew water from below ground 3. Settlers burned dried buffalo manure and built houses of sod

4. The government created the Department of Agriculture to help the farmerB. New Farming Techniques

1. New equipment: “self-binding” harvester, combine, chilled- iron plow (James Oliver), seed-drill

2. Barbed wire

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3. Bonanza farms: farms owned by large companies and operated like factories with machinery, professional managers and specialized laborers4. Dry farming: planting crops that require less water and keeping fields free of weeds

Aerial view of bonanza farm in the late 1800’s to early 1900s.

http://www.mnstate.edu/heritage/BaggFarm/HistoryBonanza.jpg

C. Complaints of the Farmers

1. Low agricultural prices – increased output, competition2. Insufficient and expensive credit – high interest rates, defaults on loans3. High rates charged by middlemen

4. High industrial prices – machinery, etc.

5. Tariffs favored industry and hurt agriculture

6. Demonetizing of silver (no more minted coins made from silver)

D. Responses of the Farmers1. Granger Movement (Patrons of Husbandry) – an organization of local farmers’ clubs to protect their interestsa. cooperatives:

groups of farmers who pooled their resources to share work and buy supplies

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b. wholesale: buying or selling something in large quantities to

lower prices

c. worked to advance political interest of farmers

d. provided social activities

a. farmers and labor unions formed a

new political party

2. Farmers’ Alliance: organized to unify concerns of farmers with miners and factory workers3. The Populist Party

1) free and unlimited coinage of silver

2) graduated income tax3) government ownership of transportation and communication systems4) shorter working hours5) restrictions on immigration

b. the party was short-lived – Democrats adopted some policies & prosperity returned

RAILROADS & MININGA. A Rush for Gold.

1. People had been looking for gold since the ’49 rush in

California2. Discovery of silver in Nevada (the Comstock Lode) led to more strikes3. By the late 1800s people

flocked to the West, Canada, and Alaska

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B. Mining Techniques1. Panning

2. Placer mining: shoveled loose dirt into boxes and then ran water over it, causing the heavy materials to sink to the bottom3. Patio Process: using mercury to extract silver from ore

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4. Hydraulic mining: water shot at high pressure ripped away gravel and dirt to expose the minerals beneath5. Hard-rock mining: sinking deep shafts to obtain ore locked in veins of rock

C. “Boom to Bust”Miners arrive to build a tent cityMiners arrive to build a tent city

Merchants arrive to supply minersMerchants arrive to supply miners

Wood-frame structures replace tentsWood-frame structures replace tents

GOLD OR SILVER STRIKE

BOOM TOWNMining production fallsMining production falls

Miners move onMiners move on

Stores close and merchants leaveStores close and merchants leave

Town is abandonedTown is abandoned

GHOST TOWN

D. Mining: An Overview1. Few people struck it rich2. Once the easily accessible deposits were “worked out”, only large companies could afford to mine3. More money could be made supplying the miners than mining4. Lawlessness and violence

were common in mining areas

E. Railroaders1. The federal government helped the railroad companies because it would benefit the entire nation; a subsidy is financial aid from the government2. Two railroad companies started a transcontinental railroad

Central Pacific Union Pacific

Promontory Point, UT 1869Promontory Point, UT 1869

Transcontinental RailroadTranscontinental Railroad

3. the completion of the railroad sparked a spirit of unity in the country

4. The railroads allowed for rapid transport of people and supplies

5. New states admitted (NV, CO, ND, MT, WA)

F. Problems with the railroad1. labor was scarce >> dangerous, low pay, hard work2. high rates because of no competition3. discrimination regarding rates >> rebates to large shippers, rural service high4. corruption >> bribery, free passes to government officials

RANCHERS & COWHANDSA. Ranching in the West

1. Spaniards raised Texas longhorns in the Southwest2. Sheepherding also profitable, but conflicted with cattle3. The government allowed cattle ranchers to use public lands as open range (free grazing land)

4. Families and large companies established ranches with vast grassland to feed their herds5. During the round-up, ranchers would drive their cattle from the open range to a central location

1. Ranchers employed cowhands to tend cattle and drive herds to market

B. The Cattle Industry

2. A cowboy’s skills and dress came from Spanish and Mexican vaqueros

3. The cattle drives followed specific routes leading to railheads, where the

cattle were loaded onto railroad cars4. The railheads became cow towns -- cities that concentrated on the cattle industry

C. End of the Cattle Kingdom

1. Surplus of cattle

2. Fencing limited availability of open land

3. Severe weather

INDIANS IN THE WESTA. The Plains Indians

1. A wide variety of tribes inhabited the Great Plains2. Many tribes followed the migration of the buffalo, living off the land as they moved3. Societies were highly structured with specific jobs assigned to men and women

4. The US government acquired land from the Indians through numerous treaties—the Indians were to receive money and supplies; the Bureau of Indian Affairs managed Indian issues 5. Treaties were periodically

broken, new ones made, and then broken again