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CHAPTER 2 WESTERN BONANZAS The most influential idea in western culture in the late 19th century was the way the American West was to be developed. A bonanza is an instance where a person can make quick and easy wealth. In a sense, the entire West was a bonanza for our economy (i.e. mining, ranching, farming, etc...). In this chapter, you ll discover how the United States expanded westward, benefitting itself socially and economically.
CHAPTER 2, SECTION 1 Expanding Westward IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... Understand how the survival of the fittest mentality influenced settlement in the American West Learn about how Indians halted westward development Read about Indian wars, including the Battle of Little Bighorn As I stated in the chapter s introduction, the most influential idea in western culture in the late 19th century (late 1800s) was the way that Americans would develop the West. The importance of this idea can perhaps be rooted in the work of Charles Darwin (left). Some years before America decided to move westward, Darwin wrote a book called The Origin of Species. In it, he outlined the idea of natural selection and survival of the fittest. Darwin s thoughts became very popular with people in the scientific community. The idea that animals survive based on which one is best and can fend for themselves made a lot of sense to people. Later on, British sociologist Herbert Spencer (right) applied Darwin s ideas to human society. He believed that stronger humans would survive, and the weak would fall away and die off. Over time, the human 2
race would become more efficient and improve as the weaklings fizzled away. This, of course, is a very cold way to view life. It s essentially putting our race on an animalistic level, saying that the only real value in live is individual survival. But if you look at the American West, this idea has a strong resemblance to the lifestyle people led there. It was a dog eat dog society where rugged individualism was prominent among those who settled there. Thus began the Gilded Age (1876-1900). On the surface, American society shined and there was a lot of progress. But beneath the surface, there is a society that is valueless and there was a lot of corruption and exploitation of people and resources. It was said that there was a lot of wealth to be had out West. Prior to that being taken, the development of the West was halted by the Indians. By 1870, most Indians that had lived east of the Mississippi River would be relocated to reservations (the biggest being in Oklahoma). West of the Mississippi, there were still some 200,000 Indians who were living freely all the way to the Rocky Mountains (basically, the Great Plains region of America). Tribes including the Sioux and Cheyenne dominated this part of the country. Unfortunately for them, the racism that was occurring in the South also extended to them. Consequently, white settlers moving westward believed that the Indians needed to be removed. There were two animals that were essential to Native American culture in the Plains. One was the buffalo. They Sand Creek Massacre Picture Gallery A delegation of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho chiefs in Denver, Colorado on September 28, 1864. Black Kettle 2nd from left front row used literally every part of this animal for survival. Meat was used as food. Their hide was used for shelter and their fur used for coats. They even used buffalo dung for fuel. The 3
horse was also used for transportation, hunting, and war. More on this later and why it s worth mentioning. Following the Civil War, whites began to move in large numbers west of the Mississippi River. Because of this, there was conflict between Indians. From 1862-1868, there was a period of intermittent war. There were no major battles, just a lot of small skirmishes and random acts of violence. In many cases Indians were being attacked. Two major events during this time included the Sand Creek Massacre and the Bozeman Trail Massacre. In the Colorado territory in 1864, a white militia attacked a Sioux village led by John Chivington. About 400 Indians were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre, which happens to be one of the worst acts of violence against this tribe. In 1866, Sioux Indians rebelled against U.S. cavalry in Montana. They captured and executed about 75 members of the military led by Chief Red Cloud during the Bozeman Trail Massacre. Because of these acts of violence, the U.S. government came up with a treaty between some of the Indian tribes out west. It would create a large reservation in the Dakota territory in the Black Hills. This was a significant and sacred place for the Plains Indians, and because of that many of them settled there. But the treaty would only work for about six years. In 1874, whites broke the treaty because of gold being found in the Black Hills. So, the Indians just kept settling further west. They were angry, and rightfully so. Promise after promise was broken by either the government or settlers routinely raiding their land and way of life. The Plains Indians who moved west formed a camp at Little Bighorn River, primarily made up of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. The camp continued to expand, and President Grant became anxious by their rapid growth. By spring in 1876, the army was sent to deal with this problem. The American forces were led by Colonel George A. Custer (left). General Custer was an ambitious and selfcentered man. During the outset, he listened to the people he was supposed to. General Terry told him to wait for everyone to arrive before attacking. Instead, Custer attacked on his own to try and gain glory and fame for himself. Custer divided his men into three smaller parts around the Indian camp, and in the end, all the men were killed including Custer himself. The Battle of Little Bighorn (June 1876) is regarded as one of the greatest Indian victories over the U.S. government. Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull showed that the Indians were not going to be rattled. 4
Battle of Little Big Horn 1876, the U.S. suppressed the Indian resistance and now further development was possible. One way the white society attacked their culture besides military force was using a systematic, effective assault on the buffalo on the Great Plains. It was believed that before the Slaughter of the American Buffalo "The Custer Fight" by Charles Marion Russell. Man sitting on buffalo hides Sadly, by the end of 1876, all the Indians were put back onto the reservation after being defeated. The Battle of Little Bighorn was considered the last major event of this time between the U.S. military and Native Americans. After Civil War, 13 million buffalo roamed the Plains. But by 1885, they were all but extinct. One of the main ways this happened was the expansion of the railroad industry. 5
Railroads would connect the coasts of the country. In that regard, they were important. But the cost of construction was devastating. A lot of times, buffalo were hunted. The purpose was essentially to eliminate them. More often than not, the buffalo were just left to rot, and barely any part of the buffalo was used. Not only was this wasteful, but it undermined Native American culture. It d be like shooting all the deer and only using their antlers for decoration. Or killing elephants and only using their tusks...oh wait, people already do that. How sad! 6
CHAPTER 2, SECTION 2 IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL... Learn about the development of the mining, farming, railroad, and ranching industries in the Great American West Western Economic Improvements Thus far, you ve learned that westward movement was not exactly a happy-golucky fairytale. It involved the exploitation of Native Americans and natural resources like the buffalo. Nonetheless, once we got there, the country boomed in a way that we had never seen before. In this section, I ll outline four bonanzas that made the West what it was. From about 1860 to 1875, mining in America went through its first phase. Individual prospectors looked for minerals like gold and silver in streams to make themselves rich. This was also the period of the boomtown. Word of someone striking it rich with gold or silver would draw thousands of people to the same place. Once all the gold and silver ran out, the boomtown would become a ghost town. Boomtowns were not areas with moral standards. Have you ever seen a movie about the wild west? Well, this is the time period we re talking about. Men gambled a lot, drank in saloons, and exploited other people. After 1875, the second phase of mining occurred. This was when large corporations moved west and bought territory to dig deep mines that went well beneath the earth s surface. It was after this time that most of the gold and silver was found, not during the first phase. George Hearst (above), a senator from 7
California, became one of the wealthiest corporation miners of this period. Hearst made millions doing this, but it s important to understand that he had money before discovering gold. He and others like him had the money to buy the technology and hire the workers necessary to find riches they were looking for. So this wasn t a thing that just anyone could do; you needed to have the resources to become rich. And there weren t many people who did. There were three results from mining out west. One, mining really bolsters the U.S. economy. Simply put, our country became richer. It also created a lot of fascination and attracted people to move from their homes. Mining also sped up the political development and organization out west. Many states would become a part of the Union because of the wealth that grew out of mining. Another natural resource that created tremendous value and individual wealth in the west was fertile, agricultural land. In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act to help facilitate the development of farmland out west. Its specific objective was to make it very difficult for one person to accumulate a lot of property. Middle and lower-class Americans could by a small tract of land and become an independent farmer. Unfortunately for Congress, this did not happen. Many corporations bought land and developed large commercial farms. In essence, big business ran the farms out west, and the Homestead Act failed. Farming was a risky venture and if you did not have enough money to begin with, people would not make it. Therefore, the risk involved opened up opportunities for larger corporations and Americans to buy the land and farm it. Another way people gained wealth with land was through ranching. It involved pastures of land out west on the Great Plains. The development of ranches was a natural, easy bonanza and came in a few phases. The first was from 1866 to 1872. Phase one was characterized by the cowboy and 8
cattle drive. Wild cattle (Texas longhorns) were rounded up in southern Texas and are moved north to cattle towns, which were mostly in Kansas. One of the most famous cattle towns terminated in Abilene, Kansas. The Chisholm Trail (see map on previous page) made the cowboy a vocation. A demand for beef industrialized parts in the country, and this trail produced a way for money to be made. Consequently, cowboys were hired by businessmen who would pay them to do their work. From 1872-1880, cattlemen discovered that longhorns could endure winter. So this phase became marked by the roundup. Cattlemen managed large herds into the central plains. Every spring and fall, there would be a roundup of roaming herds, and cattle would either be sent out and killed for food or to be bred. After 1880, Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire Glidden s patent for barbed wire fencing and introduced to the west, which would characterize the third phase of ranching. Wealthy ranchers fenced off some of their land in order to isolate their cattle. This seemed like a major advancement, and in the long run, it was because it brought stability to a chaotic industry. However, in the short term, it was not a good thing. Cattle owners did not know the best way to fence off land and how many cattle could survive on a certain tract of land. There was Joseph Glidden also not enough water and land for cattle to graze upon, and fencing limited their movement. The mid-1880s was especially bad for the cattle farming industry. In 1886 there was a horrific blizzard in the winter and a drought in the summer. Historians estimate that 85% of the cattle died during this time as a result of the extreme weather and the barbed wire fencing limiting their movement. Thankfully, though, the industry recovered in the 1890s. The final bonanza that developed out west (and in the east for that matter) was the railroad industry. Throughout the 19th century, the railroad became the primary symbol of modernization and advancements in technology. The primary goal by political and business leaders in the west was 9
Andrew J. Russell s East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of Last Rail. May 10, 1869. to develop a transcontinental railroad, which would connect the east and west coasts. This was a risky proposition. Natural obstacles would routinely block the construction of this railroad and would discontinue efforts on a regular basis. Nonetheless, construction began on the first transcontinental railroad in 1865. It was built by the Union-Central Pacific Company. Construction started in the cities of Omaha and San Francisco. Upon its completion in 1869, workers met in Ogden, Utah to bring together a railroad of over 1,750 miles. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was a point of national pride. The world had never seen anything like it before. 10