Chapter 19 LESSON 1
Mining and Railroads in the West
ESSENTIAL QUESTION Why do people make economic choices?
Discoveries of gold and silver sent miners flocking to the American West.
Gold, Silver, and Boomtowns
How did mining lead to the creation of new states?
The California Gold Rush was over by the mid-1850s. Yet "gold fever" raged on. Still hoping to strike it rich, disappointed miners began searching other parts of the West for treasure. In 1858 prospectors—people who seek valuable minerals — found gold at Pikes Peak in the Colorado Rockies. According to newspaper reports, miners there were making $20 a day panning for gold. That was a large sum of money at a time when many workers earned less than $1 a day. By the spring of 1859, about 50,000 prospectors had flocked to the Colorado goldfields. People panned gold dust from streams or scratched gold particles from the ground. Most of the gold, however, was in the form of ore found deep
underground. Ore is a mineral in which the gold or other valuable material is mixed with less-valuable substances. Mining the ore and then extracting the gold from it required machinery, workers, and an organized business. A company had a better chance of getting rich from mining gold than an individual did.
Boom and Bust
In 1859 prospectors made an amazing discovery along the Carson River in what is now Nevada. They found one of the world's richest deposits of silver-bearing ore. People called the discovery the Comstock Lode after Henry Comstock, one of the owners of the claim. A lode is a rich vein of ore. Thousands of mines opened near the Comstock Lode, but only a few were profitable. Several miners and entrepreneurs made fortunes.
Gold and silver strikes created boomtowns—towns that seemed to pop up almost overnight near mining sites. Virginia City, Nevada, was the Comstock boomtown. Boomtowns were lively, often lawless places. Miners made money quickly, and many spent or gambled it away just as fast. Violence was common because many people carried guns and a lot of cash. Few boomtowns had police or jails, so citizens took the law into their own hands. Vigilantes captured and punished suspected wrongdoers without holding trials or following legal processes. The population in a boomtown was mostly men. Some women also opened businesses or worked as cooks or entertainers. More often, women founded schools and churches. Despite the promise of prosperity, however, many mining "booms" became "busts." When the ore was gone, people left, and boomtowns became ghost towns.
Westward Growth
As the gold and silver disappeared, mining for other metals such as copper, lead, and zinc increased. Areas around the mines became more populated. At the same time, thousands of settlers also headed west. They farmed the fertile valleys and started ranches. Others opened businesses in towns to serve the growing populations. By 1890 Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho had become states.
Railroads Connect East and West
industrial centers of the East and Midwest were hundreds of miles away. Wagons and stagecoaches could not move people and goods fast enough, but railroads could. The nation's railroad network grew rapidly between 1865 and 1890. During that time, track length in the United States soared from about 35,000 miles (56,327 km) to more than 150,000 miles (241,402 km).
The Government Helps
To help with high construction costs, the government gave railroad companies large subsidies (SUHB • suh • deez)— financial aid and land grants. Leaders knew a rail network connecting East and West would bring important benefits to the entire nation. The federal government granted more than 130 million acres (52,609,180 ha) of land to railroad companies. The government got much of that land by buying it from or making treaties with Native Americans. Government land grants included land for the tracks plus strips of land, 20 to 80 miles (32 to 129 km) wide, alongside the tracks. Railroad companies sold this land to raise money to pay for construction. States and local communities also offered subsidies. They did this because their communities might not survive without railroads. Los Angeles, for
example, gave the Southern Pacific Railroad money and paid for a passenger terminal to ensure that the company would build its railroad near the town.
Spanning the Continent
In the 1850s, railroad companies began to search for a route for a transcontinental rail line—one that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Southerners wanted the route to run through the South; Northerners wanted it to go through the North. During the Civil War, the Union government chose a northerly route. The government offered land grants to companies that were willing to build the transcontinental line. The challenge was enormous—to lay more than 1,700 miles (2,736 km) of track across hot plains, over rivers, and through mountain ranges. Two companies accepted the challenge. The Central Pacific Company worked eastward from Sacramento, California. The Union Pacific Company laid track westward. It began work in Omaha, Nebraska, at the western edge of the existing American rail network. Because companies got subsidies for each mile of track built, they each raced to cover as much land as possible. Both companies hired thousands of workers. In general, they received low wages to labor in choking summer heat and icy winter winds. They cleared forests, blasted tunnels through mountains, and built tracks across the country. The Union Pacific relied on Irish immigrants and African American workers. Most Central Pacific workers were Chinese immigrants. Central Pacific workers, who covered more difficult terrain, laid 742 miles (1,194 km) of track. Union Pacific workers laid 1,038 miles (1,670 km) of track. On May 10, 1869, workers completed construction of the transcontinental railroad. A Chinese crew laid the final 10 miles (16 km) of track. The two sets of track met at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory. Leland Stanford, governor of California, drove a final golden spike that joined the tracks. With the final hammer blow, telegraph lines flashed the news across the country: "The last rail is laid! The last spike driven! The Pacific Railroad is completed!"
Effects of the Railroads
same track. To make rail service safer and more reliable, the American Railway Association—a group that included the nation's railroad companies—divided the country into four time zones in 1883. All communities within a time zone would have the same time. Each zone was exactly one hour later than the zone to its west. Congress made the time zones official in 1918. Meanwhile, new technology enabled trains to pull longer and heavier loads. Railroad systems became so efficient that the average cost of shipping one ton (0.91 t) of freight one mile (1.6 km)dropped from two cents in 1860 to three-quarters of a cent in 1900. The nationwide rail network also helped unite Americans in different regions. Nebraska's Omaha Daily Republican newspaper wrote in 1883 that railroads had "made the people of the country homogeneous [alike], breaking through the peculiarities and provincialisms [local ways] which marked separate and unmingling sections." This was a bit of an exaggeration, but it recognized that railroads were changing American society.
LESSON 2
Ranchers and Farmers
Americans eager to own land and build homes migrated to the GreatPlains, transforming their lives as well as the region.
Cattle on the Plains
How did ranchers get their cattle to markets in the North and East?
When the Spanish first came to Texas in the 1500s, they brought cattle for food. Some of the cattle escaped and survived in the wild. In time, these wild cattle developed into a new, tough breed called longhorns. By the 1800s, thousands of wild longhorns roamed the Texas plains. At that time, much of Texas was still open range. The land was not fenced or divided into lots. Seeing a good business opportunity, settlers in Texas rounded up the wild longhorns and started ranches.
The Cattle Business
Texas ranchers had plenty of cattle, but their profits were low. Because the supply was high, longhorns sold for only $3 or $4 each in Texas. Yet, in the cities of the North and East, demand for beef was high. Cattle sold there for $40 per head. If Texans could get their cattle to those markets, their profits would be huge. Trains were the best shipping method, but Texas had no railroads linking it to eastern cities. Then, in the early 1860s, the Missouri Pacific Railroad reached Sedalia, Missouri. Texas ranchers began driving their herds—that is, forcing them to walk—north to Missouri. The Long Drives
To reach the railroads located in Missouri, and later in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming, Texas ranchers had to drive their cattle hundreds of miles. Ranchers called these journeys long drives. Most long drives started in spring, when enough grass was growing along the way to feed the cattle. Ranchers followed several trails, such as the Chisholm Trail from central Texas to Abilene, Kansas. Abilene and other railroad towns that sprouted at the end of cattle trails became known as "cow towns." There, ranchers sold their cattle. Then workers loaded the animals onto trains for shipment east to Chicago and other cities.
Cowhands
to ride among thousands of pounding hooves to chase down the sprinting cattle and bring the herd under control. Many cowhands were Civil War veterans or African Americans who moved west in search of a better life. Some were Native Americans. Western cowhands of Hispanic background were known as vaqueros (vah • KEHR • ohs). The vaqueros represented a long tradition of ranching in the Spanish Southwest. They introduced many of the riding, roping, and branding skills cowhands used. Vaqueros also brought much of the language of ranching. For example, the
word ranch comes from the Mexican-Spanish word rancho. The Cattle Kingdom Ends
From the late 1860s to the mid-1880s, more than 5 million Texas cattle moved north on long drives. Many ranchers and traders became rich as cattle prices boomed. The "Cattle Kingdom," however, collapsed even faster than it rose. The collapse occurred for several reasons. Hoping for more profits, ranchers expanded their herds. The result was overgrazed land and falling prices. Ranchers also lost much of their free grazing land as people began fencing their property. The cattle industry survived but was changed forever. Meanwhile, another type of economic activity was rising on the Great Plains—farming.
Farmers Settle the Plains
What brought more settlers to the Great Plains?
Early pioneers who reached the Great Plains did not believe the dry, treeless area was good for farming. In fact, most maps labeled the region the "Great American Desert." Still, farmers began settling there in the late 1860s.
Several factors brought settlers to the Great Plains. Railroads made the journey west easier and less expensive. New laws offered free land. Finally, new technology and above-average rainfall in the 1870s convinced settlers that they would be able to farm in the region.
The Homestead Act
In 1862 Congress passed the Homestead Act to encourage settlement on the Great Plains. This law gave up to 160 acres (65 ha) of land to any head of a family who paid a $10 filing fee and lived on the land for five years. Later laws increased the amount of land available. The policy brought farmers to the Plains to homestead—earn ownership of land by settling on it. Lured by land, settlers by the thousands were willing to move west. Some of those settlers were women. Married women could not claim land, but single women and widows could acquire property through the Homestead Act. In Colorado and Wyoming, for example, 12 percent of all those who filed homestead claims were women. Some homesteaders were African Americans. They, too, were attracted by free land and opportunities for better lives. Many also hoped to escape the segregation and violence that followed Reconstruction. By 1881 more than 40,000 African Americans had migrated to Kansas. Legal immigrants could also file homestead claims, and thousands did. Many came from Scandinavia, a region of Northern Europe. Their influence remains strong in the Dakotas today.
Cheap Land
Not all settlers on the Great Plains were homesteaders. Some people bought their land. Railroad companies charged low prices for land. For them, more settlers meant more business. The railroads promoted the Great Plains as a great place to live with advertisements in the East and in Europe. So did steamship companies, land speculators, and western states and territories. Lured by promises of cheap land, independence, and easy profits, thousands of settlers headed for the Great Plains.
Life on the Great Plains was not easy for new settlers. The first challenge was building a house. With few trees, not much lumber was available to build homes. There was, however, acre after acre of grass. Many settlers built "soddies." These were houses made of sod—densely packed soil held together by grass roots. The extreme climate of the Great Plains presented settlers with their greatest challenge. Some years, excessive rainfall caused flooding. Other years brought drought, or less-than-normal amounts of rain. Brushfires swept rapidly, destroying crops, livestock, and homes. Summer might bring clouds of grasshoppers, which could quickly destroy a field of crops. Winter was worse. Winds howled, and deep snow could bury animals and trap families in their homes. Farm families had to plan ahead and store food for the winter. Farming on the Great Plains was a family affair. Men labored in the fields. Women often did the same work, but they also cared for the children, made clothing and candles, and cooked and preserved food. As soon as they were able, children worked on the family farm. This often kept children from attending school.
New Farming Methods
Farmers on the Great Plains had to adapt to the environment and unusual conditions on the plains. Known
as sodbusters, these farmers developed new farming methods and tools. Most of the region had little rainfall and few streams for irrigation. To adapt, sodbusters practiced dry farming. In this method, farmers took steps to trap the limited moisture in the soil, such as plowing their land after each rainfall. Farmers also dug deep wells and used windmills to pump water from them. Sodbusters adapted in other ways. To cut through the tough layers of sod, they relied on a new invention—the steel plow. Farmers planted winter wheat, which grows well in dry, harsh climates. Instead of using wood, they used newly invented barbed wire to build fences.
LESSON 3
Native American Struggles
ESSENTIAL QUESTION Why does conflict develop? First People of the Plains
How did settlement on the Great Plains threaten Native Americans?
In the mid-1800s, miners, ranchers, and farmers began to settle on the Great Plains. In many places, they competed for land and resources with the Native Americans who already lived there. Conflict with settlers and the government grew as Native Americans tried to preserve their ways of life. Native American groups had lived on the Great Plains for centuries. Some, like the Omaha and the Osage, lived in communities as farmers and hunters. Most, including the Sioux, the Comanche, and the Blackfoot, were nomadic. They moved often and traveled long distances, following huge herds of buffalo—their main source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools. Despite their differences, the Plains people were similar in many ways. Their nations, sometimes numbering several thousand people, were divided into bands. Each band had a governing council, but most members took part in making decisions. Women raised the children, cooked, and prepared hides. Men hunted, traded, and protected their band. Most Plains people believed in the spiritual power of the natural world. For most of their history, Native Americans of the Great Plains had millions of buffalo to meet their needs. As American settlers pressed onto the Great Plains, however, the buffalo population declined steeply. American hunters targeted buffalo to sell the hides in the East. Railroad companies also hired hunters to kill the buffalo to feed the railroad crews and to prevent giant herds from blocking the trains. By the end of the 1800s, only a few hundred buffalo survived. Conflict on the Plains
In 1867 the federal government set up the Indian Peace Commission. Its job was to develop a policy for relations with Native Americans living within U.S. borders. The commission recommended moving all Native Americans to a few large reservations—areas of land set aside for them. Moving Native Americans to reservations was not a new policy, but the government now increased its efforts. It gave the army authority to deal forcefully with any groups that refused to move.
Life on a Reservation
Congress created the largest reservations on the Great Plains. Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma was reserved for Native Americans who were relocated from the Southeast in the 1830s. The Sioux, originally from the Great Lakes region, had a large reservation in the Dakota Territory. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs managed the reservations. Its agents often used trickery to persuade Native American nations to move to reservations. Native American leaders wanted to ensure that their people would be able to farm and hunt. Many reservations, however, were on land that was unfit for farming or hunting. In addition, the government often failed to deliver promised food and supplies. Goods they did deliver were often of poor quality. At first, many Native Americans agreed to move to reservations. After
experiencing the harsh conditions, many wanted to leave their reservations, and some did. Others refused to go at all. To protect their lands and ways of life, many Native Americans believed they needed to fight. The stage was set for conflict.
Conflict Begins
Violent clashes soon broke out between Native Americans and whites. One took place in Minnesota in the summer of 1862. Angry at what they felt were broken promises from the government, Sioux warriors burned and looted the homes of white settlers. Hundreds of people died before U.S. Army troops put down the uprising. The government forced most Sioux to move to reservations in the Dakota Territory. Meanwhile, tensions were increasing in Colorado Territory. The miners rushing there in search of gold and silver displaced and angered Native Americans who already lived there. Bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho raided wagon trains and stole cattle and horses from ranches. About 200 settlers were killed. U.S. troops responded with attacks on Native American villages in the territory. Colorado's territorial governor ordered the Native Americans to surrender at Fort Lyon. He told them they would have food and protection there. In November 1864, Chief Black Kettle and several hundred Cheyenne went to the fort to negotiate a peace treaty. They camped nearby at Sand Creek. Colonel John Chivington and his troops, on their way to the fort, attacked the unsuspecting Cheyenne. Fourteen U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Cheyenne died in what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. Cheyenne retaliation was swift and widespread. Finally, in October 1865, some of the Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders agreed to stop the fighting. Other Native American groups, however, continued to fight. Having already been forced from Minnesota, the Sioux were alarmed when the U.S. Army began building forts along the Bozeman Trail. This trail to Montana's gold mines went through Sioux country. Led by Red Cloud, the Sioux launched a series of attacks on the forts. One of the bloodiest occurred on December 21, 1866. The Sioux trapped and killed 80 U.S. soldiers in what became known as Fetterman's Massacre.
Little Bighorn
Colonel George Custer of the U.S. Army faced thousands of warriors. Still, he attacked. In the battle, Custer and almost all of his men were killed. News of the U.S. Army's defeat at Little Bighorn shocked the nation. Yet the army soon crushed the Native American uprising, sending most of the Native Americans to reservations. Sitting Bull and his followers fled north to Canada. By 1881, starving and exhausted, the Lakota and Cheyenne agreed to live on a reservation.
The Long March of the Nez Perce
The Nez Perce (NEHZ PUHRS) were a large and powerful group of the Pacific Northwest. Their relations with white settlers were friendly and peaceful until the 1860s, when gold was discovered on Nez Perce land in Oregon. In 1877 the U.S. government ordered the Nez Perce to leave their land and move to a reservation in Idaho or be forcibly removed. Their leader, Chief Joseph, decided to leave. Before he could act, a small group of Nez Perce attacked and killed several settlers. Knowing that his small band had no chance of defeating the U.S. Army, Joseph decided to retreat to Canada. With only about 200 warriors and nearly 600 women and children, he started north. After traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,609 km), the group stopped to rest just 40 miles (64.4 km) from the Canadian border. It was a costly error. Army troops surrounded the Nez Perce and initiated a five-day siege. They blocked Joseph's people from getting out to find food and water. Finally, Chief Joseph surrendered, vowing, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." The army took Chief Joseph and his people to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma. Later, in 1885, he and many of his people moved to a reservation in Washington. Joseph spent the rest of his life trying to get better treatment for Native Americans.
The Apache Wars
Trouble also broke out in the Southwest between Native Americans and government troops. In the 1870s, the government forced the Chiricahua (chihr • uh • KAH • wuh) Apache to move to a reservation in Arizona. The Apache leader, Geronimo, then fled to Mexico. During the 1880s, Geronimo led raids in Arizona. Thousands of U.S. Army troops pursued the Apache leader and his warriors. In 1886 Geronimo finally gave up the fight—the last Native American to surrender. The conflicts, however, were not over.
A Changing Culture
Many factors changed Native American life—white people moving onto their lands, the killing of the buffalo, U.S. Army attacks, and the reservation policy. Change also came from reformers who wanted Native Americans to fit into white culture. In 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act. With this law, Congress hoped to change what white people saw as weaknesses in Native American cultures: the lack of private property and nomadic habits. The Dawes Act called for breaking up reservations and ending Native Americans' identification with a tribal group. According to the plan, every Native American would receive a plot of reservation land. Reformers hoped that the native peoples would become farmers and, in time, adopt the way of life practiced by most American citizens. Some Native Americans became successful farmers or ranchers, but many had little training or eagerness for the jobs. Like homesteaders, Native Americans often found the plots of land they received too small to be profitable, so they sold them.
Wounded Knee
Dakota. They were armed. In December 1890, the U.S. Army sent troops to Wounded Knee. Their mission was to collect the Sioux weapons. As they did this, one of the guns discharged—fired a shot. The army, in turn, opened fire. When the shooting ended, more than 200 Sioux and 25 soldiers lay dead. Wounded Knee marked the end of armed conflict between the U.S. government and Native Americans.
LESSON 4
Farmers - A New Political Force
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How do governments change? Farmers Unite
How did the National Grange and the Farmers' Alliances try to help farmers?
In the late 1800s, American farmers experienced great economic hardships. The expansion of farming on the Great Plains was a major cause. The supply of crops kept increasing, but the demand did not. Without enough buyers, farmers had to lower their prices to attract more. In 1866 a bushel of wheat sold for $1.45. By the mid- 1880s, the price was 80 cents, and by the mid-1890s, it was 49 cents. At the same time, farmers' expenses—for seed, equipment, and
transporting their goods to market—remained high. Farmers had other financial problems. Railroad companies charged them high rates to ship their crops. Bankers charged them high interest rates on loans for seed or farm equipment. Senator William A. Peffer of Kansas summarized farmers' problems, saying that the railroad companies "took possession of the land" and the bankers "took possession of the farmer."
The National Grange
Farmers began to organize in order to solve their problems. They believed they would have more power if they banded together. Before long, they had created a political movement. The first large farmers' organization was a network of local groups that became the National Grange. At first, its main purpose was social. For lonely farm families, the Grange held social gatherings. For new farmers, the Grange library provided books on planting crops and raising livestock. When the national economy suffered in the 1870s, the Grange focused on encouraging economic independence. It set up "cash-only" cooperatives,stores owned by and operated for the benefit of farmers. Cooperatives charged lower prices than regular stores and provided an outlet for farmers' crops. The cash-only policy kept farmers from buying on credit and going into debt. The Grange also became politically active. It asked state legislatures to limit railroad-shipping rates. Many Midwestern states passed such laws. By 1878, however, under pressure from the railroads, the states repealed the laws. Also, farmers were always short of cash and had to borrow money until they sold their next crop. As a result, the cash-only cooperatives failed. By the late 1880s, the Grange had declined.
New Organizations
Senate, and 50 seats in the House of Representatives. As a result of their success, Farmers' Alliance leaders decided to turn the movement into a national political party. In February 1890, Alliance members formed the People's Party of the U.S.A., also known as the Populist Party. The party's goals were rooted in populism, or an appeal to the common people. The Populist View
The Populist Party believed government—not private companies— should own railroads and telegraph lines. Populists also wanted to replace the nation's gold-based currency. In general, the gold standard tended to drive prices down. This favored lenders, because it meant borrowers repaid loans with money that could buy more than the money they had borrowed. Populists proposed a system of "free silver"—the unlimited production of silver coins. By putting more silver coins into the economy, Populists believed farmers would see prices and income rise. This would make it easier for them to pay their debts. The Populists also supported several political and labor reforms. They wanted to limit the president and vice president to a single term, elect senators directly, and introduce the use of secret ballots. They called for shorter hours for workers and the creation of a national income tax that would tax people who had higher earnings more heavily. In the local elections of 1894, the Populists did well. They had hopes of building even more support in the presidential election of 1896. Despite choosing energetic candidates, however, the Populists lacked money and
organization.
The Movement Grows
As if these problems were not enough, hostility between the North and the South after the Civil War divided the Populist Party. In spite of their mutual interests, many white Southerners would not join their forces with African American Populists. In addition, Democrat-controlled Southern state legislatures in the 1890s limited the voting rights of African Americans—many of whom might have supported the Populists. Still, support for free silver grew. Silver-mining companies in the West also supported the cause. If the government coined large quantities of silver, the mining
companies would have a ready-made buyer for their metal. The wide appeal of free silver did not go unnoticed. As 1896 approached, some Democrats took up the issue as their own.
The 1896 Election
At the Democratic National Convention in 1896, a young Congressman from Nebraska made an electrifying speech in support of free silver. He concluded with this stirring call:
"If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost. . . . Having behind us . . . the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."