The Conquest of the Far WestChapter 16

The Conquest of the Far West Native American tribes had felt a land

shortage among themselves beginning as early as 1831

Some tribes were sedentary and docile. Mexican landowners in Mexico had enslaved

tribes such as Navajo, or subdued tribes such as the Pueblo (both of these are Southwest tribes)

Warrior tribes rose to the top of a tribal class system after about 1831

The Conquest of the Far West Following the War with Mexico (1846)

those tribes were not troublesome to the USA

Plains tribes strongly resisted further attempts to limit their ancestral hunting access to lands of the plains

These tribes: Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and in some cases Apache, were the most feared by white settlers

The Conquest of the Far West White understanding of Indian nations

was limited All were assumed to be the same All were assumed to be hostile In reality, they were hunters rather than

warriors; tribes resorted to warfare against whites to protect their livelihood

The Conquest of the Far West Indians were very diverse groups There are an estimated 6,800 distinct

languages spoken in the world today About half are no longer spoken by

children; many more are extinct Over 2,000 have writing systems There were at least 300 distinct

languages spoken in the Americas in 1491

The Conquest of the Far West Had the tribes united against white take

over of their lands, they could not have been defeated.

As with South American indigenous peoples in the 16th century, all North American tribes suffered heavy death toll from European diseases such as measles and smallpox

The Conquest of the Far West “Conquering the West” not just a matter

of fighting Indians; subduing the land itself was a formidable task.

Travel into the new lands of the USA was difficult

Prairie grass was difficult to plow The Plains areas thus among the last to

be settled

The Conquest of the Far West What the Mexicans called “California”

was actually the modern-day states of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.

Large numbers of non-Spanish speakers had begun to migrate there in the early 1800s. Mexicans differentiated between themselves – the true “Californios” – and these settlers.

The Conquest of the Far West The Californios were outnumbered by

the 1830s, a fact that contributed heavily to Mexico’s loss of California in the war between Mexico and the United States in 1846-1847.

The Conquest of the Far West Manifest Destiny had been responsible

for the English-speaking migration into California

The Manifest Destiny movement also dictated that the Native American tribes that inhabited California were not entitled to these lands either

The Conquest of the Far West California was the first new state formed

from the lands won from Mexico in 1847, by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

It was quickly admitted to the Union after gold was discovered in 1848

The Conquest of the Far West The “gold rush” resulted in a rapid

increase in population of the new state It also led to a need for cheap labor, both

for mining tasks and for railroad building Indians were unsuited for this work, and

many white settlers were more interested in “get rich quick” opportunities than in the dreary labor of construction

The Conquest of the Far West California was a “draw” to settlers from

the time of the Gold Rush The lands near the west coast settled

before the Plains Travel to California sometimes overland

via covered wagon; more often, by ship

The Conquest of the Far West Asians Began settling in California in

early 1820s Their numbers grew after the 1840s Gold

Rush White mine owners needed cheap labor Many Chinese also worked on building

transcontinental railroad in 1860s Resistance to Chinese immigrants grew

as their numbers increased and prospered

The Conquest of the Far West Anti-Chinese racism in California was

similar to anti-black racism in East In 1852, California levied a tax on non-

white mine owners, to discourage Chinese entrepreneurship

Chinese workers on transcontinental railroad were treated badly, often cruelly, to discourage them from remaining in the US after completion of the railroad

The Conquest of the Far West In 1869, the final spike placed on

transcontinental track at Promontory Point, Utah, joining Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad company tracks

Once the railroad was completed, Chinese workers were expected to return to China

Instead, they flocked to West Coast cities, establishing many “Chinatowns”

The Conquest of the Far West Chinese contract labor was often the

solution to these worker shortages Mining companies and railroad

companies advertised heavily in China (most of which was at that time under colonial control by Britain)

Working prospects in China were poor, so many workers came to the US in search of the high wages advertised

The Conquest of the Far West The advertisements were often false The Chinese were welcome, but with the

understanding that once the work was completed they would take their wages and return to China

However, many men brought their families and settled permanently

The Conquest of the Far West By the late 1850s the permanent

Chinese population of California was growing

White resistance grew with it

The Conquest of the Far West Chinese immigrants were successful in

many ways In San Francisco, Chinese businessmen

formed the “Six Families” of “six Companies” organization

They worked out favorable trade arrangements among each other and kept Chinese trade in Chinese hands as much as possible

They also kept Chinese ethnic traditions alive

The Conquest of the Far West Generally similar to a business

corporation Provided jobs, insurance, business

contacts for Chinese people Other Chinese organizations were more

secretive, such as the gang-like “tongs” formed for protection

Not all of the tongs were criminal gangs

The Conquest of the Far West However, so many tongs were engaged

in criminal activity that the very existence of a Chinese tong in a community set local law enforcement on edge

Some of the benevolent tongs were harassed by police as much as those who ran opium dens or committed other crimes.

The Conquest of the Far West By an 1852 law, Chinese men were not

allowed to purchase mines without paying an exorbitant “foreign miner’s tax.”

Working conditions for Chinese men were harsh, often deadly

The fact that Chinese immigration continued regardless of the poor conditions in America shows how desperate Chinese were in China, under British rule.

The Conquest of the Far West All Chinese workers were called “coolies” in

the slang of the day – a highly derogatory term

Evidence of strong “anti-coolie” sentiment: Anti-Coolie clubs formed; boycott of

Chinese-made products; ban on hiring Chinese workers

All were organized by white businessmen and citizens

The Conquest of the Far West Anti-immigrant feeling towards the

Chinese grew as strong in California as anti Irish feeling had in the northeast, and anti-Black feeling had in the South

Newspapers began to speak of the “Yellow Peril” – the large population of Chinese in California’s bigger cities.

Often erupted into outright violence against Chinese

The Conquest of the Far West In 1882 Congress accepted this race

fear and passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned any Chinese immigration from 1882 until 1892

It also kept any non-naturalized Chinese person already in the US from applying for citizenship

Congress extended the Act for another ten years in 1892, and made it permanent in 1902.

The Conquest of the Far West White immigration from poor areas in

the eastern United States continued during these years also.

This immigration was encouraged by the US government, in part to counter the rise of Asian populations and in part to “fill up” the new territories

Some thought this would reduce the (negligible) risk of any attempted takeover from a foreign country

The Conquest of the Far West The invention of a new type of plow in

the 1850s made prairie farming possible Prairie soil was discovered to be

exceptionally rich, ideal for corn, wheat, oats

European immigration increased strongly from Eastern European farming countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Scandinavian countries of similar climate

The Conquest of the Far West This increasing population would bring

about conflict between these new populations and the many Native American tribes who had called California home for many centuries.

Settlers were innovative in adapting to harsh prairie conditions

The Conquest of the Far West Settlers made bricks of thatched prairie

sod removed for tilling soil (“soddies.”) Gave new nickname for Eastern

European immigrants: “sod-busters” Homestead Act of 1862 promised 160

acres to any who would live on and cultivate land

The Conquest of the Far West USA thus settled its new lands from the

edges into the center By 1890 only Oklahoma (once called

merely “Indian Territory in the early 19th century) was the only unorganized territory from the original Louisiana Purchase

The Conquest of the Far West The Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160

acres of land very cheaply (usually, 4 acres for $1) to any person who would live and farm there for at least 5 years.

Some land in California was not suitable for farming, and many homesteads were abandoned – more were abandoned than were settled.

The Conquest of the Far West The Homestead Act made the west by

far the most culturally diverse section of the United States or its territories, and it was for a long time the most socially integrated.

But the social equality was most obvious among the poor and landless than among land owners

Between these two classes, the differences resembled life in the East.

The Conquest of the Far West The gold rushes brought a mining boom

to western territories. The 1848 California gold rush was followed by an 1858 gold rush in Colorado, by a Nevada silver rush in the 1870s, and by an Alaska gold rush in the 1880s.

Each rush saw the overnight rise of “boom towns,” places where miners took care of the necessities (social and legal) of their lives and businesses.

The Conquest of the Far West Prairie land was also excellent for

grazing cattle New industry sprang up, aided by the

transcontinental railroad: cattle ranching

Ranchers established large spreads on remote prairie areas, herded cattle to nearest rail connection (“railhead”) in late summer each year to sell for beef markets and shipment East

The Conquest of the Far West Aside from gold, the next-biggest factor

in the economy of the New West was cattle farming

The plains (formerly called “The Great American Desert) were found to be very well-suited for cattle ranching.

Farmers did not develop suitable plows for the tough grass of the prairies until the 1880s, and ranchers’ cattle roamed free and grew fat on the rich prairie grass.

The Conquest of the Far West Once yearly, ranch hands known as

“cowboys” would round up their owners’ cattle – distinguished from each other by distinctive brands burned into the cows’ flesh, and herd them to the nearest railroad outpost (or “railhead.”)

Herders known as “cowboys” led the cattle to these railhead towns.

These were known as the “long drives.”

The Conquest of the Far West Boom towns also sprang up at these

railroad outposts. Rail towns became boom towns because

of the cattle markets Dodge City, Kansas and Omaha,

Nebraska are only two examples

The Conquest of the Far West Life in the “cattle country” was more

relaxed, much less formal than in the east Women were vastly outnumbered by men,

and gained social acceptance in traditionally male roles that was not available to them elsewhere.

Western states generally granted suffrage to females long before eastern states did.

The Conquest of the Far West “The West” was highly romanticized in

the East Novels, songs, “Wild West Shows”

attracted a wide audience Popular novels such as Owen Wister’s

The Virginian (1902) served to heighten public interest in the west; a popular perception was that people were somehow truer, and more natural living close to the land as westerners did.

The Conquest of the Far West American painters idealized the “savage

wilderness” Painters such as Albert Bierstadt,

Thomas Moran, and Frederick Remington romanticized the heroes of the “Wild West.”

The Conquest of the Far West A romantic aura grew around life in the

West Tales of cowboys, Indians, gold strikers

were popular with Americans who never hoped to actually see the territory

Often, these stories were written by people who had never seen the territory either, based on second-hand reports and pure invention

The Conquest of the Far West “Wild West” shows in the east featured

sharp shooters, cowboys and cowgirls doing stunts on horseback

Usually included a token Indian or two.

The Conquest of the Far West The West figured in American social

history as well Several important theories were

advanced by various historians to explain both the romantic lure of the west, and the necessity of a place for the country to expand.

The Conquest of the Far West American historian Frederick Jackson

Turner wrote an essay “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”

He advanced what has become known as the “Turner Hypothesis.”

Turner believed that the constant existence of a western frontier actually drove American expansion politically, and in turn shaped Americans’ view of themselves as a civilization

The Conquest of the Far West Turner saw the frontier also as a safety

valve, where the country could trust that the rowdier elements of society could be kept away from more citified folk

These adventurers could put their talents to use in a way that benefited the country; America got to use the talents of these people, without having to endure the problems they would have made in cities.

The Conquest of the Far West The Gold Rush in the late 1840s (and

later “rushes” as silver and copper were discovered through the 1870s and 1880s) also brought many “boom towns” into existence, almost overnight

Discovery of the Comstock Lode of silver and copper in the early 1860s brought a huge influx of new miners

The Conquest of the Far West Boom towns were often wild and lawless

places They attracted many who had not been

able to make it economically in the East They also attracted some who were

escaping from the police in the East

The Conquest of the Far West This “safety valve” belief filled some

politicians with alarm By the late 1800s, expansion toward the

Pacific was almost complete What would happen to the country once

there was no more frontier? Where would these rowdy elements of

society find a positive outlet for their energies?

The Conquest of the Far West With the last of the frontier being

settled as of 1890, how would the country cope with the absence of a “reason for developing”?

As a practical matter: the closing of the last frontier would bring “the Indian problem” to a violent and unsatisfactory close

The Conquest of the Far West Demographically, the West was vastly

different from the Eastern United States Population was ethnically quite diverse Economic opportunity more available Especially after the Gold Rush, the

wealthy class included many born into poverty

Women were scarce, often had more legal rights than in the East

The Conquest of the Far West Another famous historian of the west

was Henry Nash Smith, who echoed many of Turner’s beliefs in his own book, The Virgin Land

Smith described the romanticism not as actual fact but as an American “mythology.”

He used the word “myth” not as a synonym for “fairy tale,” but as a metaphor for the glass through which a culture examines itself.

The Conquest of the Far West Smith contended that whether the

stories about the Wild West were true or false was irrelevant

What was important was that Americans chose to believe them all, and embraced the stories as expressions of something they believed to be true about their country.

The Conquest of the Far West US policy toward Indian tribes went

through 3 phases in the 19th century: Concentration phase, begun in 1830s:

force all Indian tribes to live on land unwanted or unneeded by settlers

Tribes gradually pushed onto the Plains Satisfactory until new farm methods

made the Plains more attractive to white settlers

The Conquest of the Far West Concentration policies were gradually

replaced by the restriction phase by the second half of the 19th century.

All Plains Indians restricted to either the Dakota Territory (north Plains) or “Indian Territory (Oklahoma)

Tribes were left to fight out tribal boundaries among themselves.

The Conquest of the Far West As the Plains grew more and more

settled, Indians found their newly-limited hunting lands more and more disturbed.

Railroads disturbed their buffalo hunting.

Ill-planned buffalo hunting for sport by white settlers and buffalo hide-hunters was ruining their major food source.

The Conquest of the Far West It was inevitable that Indian tribes would

eventually strike out in warfare against white settlers and the US Government that protected them.

The outcome of these Indian wars was the reservation phase, during which tribes found their land boundaries extremely restricted, not by themselves but by the US government..

The Conquest of the Far West Important white-Indian conflicts: The Sand Creek Massacre, 1864. US

Cavalry commander J. M. Chivington led a group of irregular troops to murder nearly 160 Cheyenne Indians, to prevent their attack

Most of the Indians killed were women and children, not warriors.

The Conquest of the Far West Little Big Horn, 1876: US Cavalry

commander George Armstrong Custer and a troop of cavalrymen (some of whom had taken part in the Sand Creek episode) were cornered and massacred by Cheyenne and Sioux warriors.

The Conquest of the Far West Pursuit of the Nez Percé, 1877. The Nez

Percé were a relatively peaceful tribe; forced onto a reservation by the US government, several young warriors rebelled and killed four whites

The tribe was pursued nearly to Canada in retribution, and Chief Joseph pledged on the tribe’s behalf to “fight no more, forever” after many were killed.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

I am tired of fighting.  Our chiefs are killed.  Looking Glass is dead.  Toohulhulsote is dead.  The old men are all dead.  It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead.

It is cold and we have no blankets.  The little children are freezing to death.  My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food.  No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death.  I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find.  Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

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.

The Conquest of the Far West Cochise and Geronimo were both

Apache chiefs in the Southwest Geronimo was Cochise’s successor as

Apache chief Geronimo fought the last violent wars

against the US Army in the 1880s

The Conquest of the Far West Wounded Knee, South Dakota, 1890:

Because of an Indian revival ceremony called “The Ghost Dance,” a celebration of Indian tribal customs, the US Army feared an uprising. 350 Sioux

Many women, children, and elderly came to surrender to the Army in 1890 and were cut down by cavalrymen

The Conquest of the Far West The Dawes Severalty Act, 1887: US

government negotiated an end to tribal ownership of hunting lands

Each tribe relegated to a tract known as its “reservation”

Indian men were required to farm (the land was poor quality

Indians were ordered to stop tribal rituals, and to allow their children to be educated in “white” ways