Two Visions of the West
“Mythic West” vs.
Pioneers & gunslingersIndividualism, freedom, & opportunity
“Tragic West”
Greed, irresponsibility, exploitationDestroyed wildlife & nearly exterminated Native Americans
Reasons for Moving West
PUSH Factors Civil War Failure to achieve
prosperity in the East
Repression
PULL Factors Railroad Land availability Natural resources
Civil War made transcontinental
RR possible – Pacific Railroads Act (1862)
A race between Union Pacific and Central Pacific ended in Promontory, Utah (1869)
Chinese recruited for RR work were later subject to racism
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) due to resentment of white workers
The Transcontinental Railroad
Women in the West had
greater equality within the family
Large numbers of immigrants
African American “Exodusters” fled post-Reconstruction discrimination and poverty
“Buffalo soldiers” in the Indian Wars
Diversity in the West
Began with California Gold
Rush in 1849 Comstock Lode (1873)
generated vast wealth Permanent settlements
resulted In late 1800s, mining
turned commercial
Mining
Violations of Fort Laramie Treaty (1851)
brought conflict Sand Creek Massacre (1864) and other
violence led to new Indian policies Great Sioux Wars were the result of
Custer’s expedition into Sioux hunting grounds
Despite victory at Little Bighorn, Sioux eventually gave up and were moved to reservations
Great Sioux Wars
“Tell your people that since the Great Father promised that we should never be removed, we have been moved five times… I think you had better put the Indians on wheels and you can run them around wherever you wish.” – Chief Spotted Tail of the Sioux
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed… The old men are dead… I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find… Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.” – Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
Indian Resistance Ends
Movement started by
Wovoka in 1888 in order to see Indian lands returned
When Lakota Sioux defied the ban on the Ghost Dance, this led to the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
Ghost Dance Movement
Resulted from:OverhuntingClimate changeCompetition for grasslandsDiseaseBarbed wire
Decimation of the Buffalo
“Many, if not most, of our Indian wars have had their origin in broken promises and acts of injustice on our part.” – Rutherford B. Hayes
A Century of Dishonor (1881) brought attention to the Indians’ plightDawes Severalty Act (1887) was central to the new policy of “Americanizing” Indians
Remaking Indian Policy
Homestead Act (1862) and railroad land grants made
farm land available for purchase Land is cheap, but life was hard – many claims
abandoned New technologies played a significant role in
conquering the West Small farmers who stayed struggled with indebtedness,
leading to political movement through the Grange
Homesteading
Shortage of meat after the Civil War created
opportunities Cowtowns emerged, but the boom was shortlived
Cattle Drives
1890 census showed no end to consistent settlement,
which prompted the issuance of Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis
Turner believed that American character was shaped by the existence of new areas to conquer
“Four centuries from the discovery of America, at the end of a hundred years under the Constitution, the frontier has gone and with its going has closed the first period of American history.” – Frederick Jackson Turner
End of the Frontier