Conflicts and Settlements in the West

Title: URL Source: blob://pdf/318dee56-7631-422f-a41e-88bc37fc82d3 Markdown Content: Lesson 3 # Wars for the West The Big Idea Native Americans and the U.S. government came into conflict over land in the West. Main Ideas > As settlers moved to the Great Plains, they encountered the Plains Indians. > Native Americans attempted to keep their lands through trea-ties with the U.S. government. > Continued pressure from white settlement and government legislation brought the Plains Indians traditional way of life to an end. Key Terms and People Treaty of Fort Laramie reservations Crazy Horse Treaty of Medicine Lodge buffalo soldiers George Armstrong Custer Sitting Bull Battle of the Little Bighorn Massacre at Wounded Knee Long Walk Chief Joseph Geronimo Ghost Dance Sarah Winnemucca assimilate Dawes General Allotment Act If YOU were there . . . You are a member of the Sioux nation, living in Dakota Territory in 1875. These lands are sacred to your people, and the U.S. government has promised them to you. But now gold has been found here, and the government has ordered you to give up your land. Some Sioux leaders want to fight. Others say that it is of no use, that the soldiers will win. Would you fight to keep your lands? Why? Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians As miners and settlers began cross-ing the Great Plains in the mid-1800s, they pressured the federal government for more access to western lands. To protect these travelers, U.S. !officials sent agents to negotiate treaties with the Plains !Indians. The Plains Indians lived in the Great Plains, which stretch north into Canada and south into Texas. Indian groups such as the Apache and the Comanche lived in and around Texas and what is now Oklahoma. The Chey-enne and the Arapaho lived in different regions across the central Plains. The Pawnee lived in parts of Nebraska. To the north were the Sioux. These groups spoke many different languages. However, they used a common sign language to communicate and they shared a similar lifestyle. Hunting Buffalo For survival, the Plains Indians depended on two animalsthe horse and the buffalo. The Spanish brought horses to America in the 1500s. The Plains Indians learned to ride horses, and hunters used them to follow buffalo herds year-round. While on horseback, most Plains Indian hunters used a short bow and arrows to shoot buffalo from close range. The Plains Indians used buffalo for food, shelter, clothing, utensils, and tools. Women dried buffalo meat to make > Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witco) was a Sioux chief who fought to defend his peoples way of life and resisted attempts to force the Sioux onto reservations. Westward Expansion 371 jerky. They made tepees and clothing from buffalo hides, and cups and tools from buffalo horns. As one Sioux explained, When our people killed a buffalo, all of the animal was utilized [used] in some manner; nothing was wasted. The Plains Indians prospered. By 1850 some 75,000 Native Americans lived on the Plains. Struggle to Keep Land Miners and settlers were also increasing in numbersand they wanted the Indians land. The U.S. government tried to avoid disputes by negotiating the Treaty of Fort Laramie , the first major treaty between the U.S. government and Plains Indians. Two years later, several southern Plains nations signed a treaty at Fort Atkinson in Nebraska. These treaties recognized Indian claims to most of the Great Plains. They also allowed the United States to build forts and roads and to travel across Indian homelands. The U.S. government promised to pay for any damages to Indian lands. The treaties did not keep the peace for long. In 1858 the discovery of gold in what is now Colorado brought thousands of miners to the West. They soon clashed with the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. In 1861 the U.S. government negotiated new treaties with Plains Indians. These treaties created reservations , areas of federal land set aside for Native Americans. The government expected Indians to stay on the reservations, which made hunting buffalo almost impossible. Pioneers and miners continued to cross the Great Plains. Many miners used the Bozeman Trail. To protect them, the U.S. Army built forts along the trail, which ran through favored Sioux hunting grounds. The Sioux responded with war. In late 1866 a group led by Crazy Horse , an Oglala Sioux chief, ambushed and killed 81 cavalry troops. In 1868 under the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U.S. govern-ment agreed to close the Bozeman Trail and abandon the forts, and forced some of the Sioux onto reservations. The U.S. government also forced > The Plains Indians depended on two animalsthe horse and the buffalo. Module 11 372 1253486 7 > OONE ONE ONE NE ONE OOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDA IDA IIIIIIOOOOOOOOOO > HI PE PE PE PE PE PE EPE PE PE EEEEEPE PE PPWA WA HHHCHI CHI CHI PPE PP PP PE PE EEPE EPE EPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH > SHOSHONE SHOSHONE SHOSHONE BANNOCK WALLA WALLA CAYUSE COLVILLE SPOKANE FLATHEAD NEZ PERCE BLACKFOOT ASSINIBOIN SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX MANDAN CHIPPEWA MENOMINEE PONCA OMAHA KICKAPOO PAWNEE POTAWATOMI MUNSEE ONEIDA UTE PAIUTE PAIUTE UTE OSAGE CHEYENNE ARAPAHO ARAPAHO COMANCHE HOPI ZUNI NAVAJO APACHE APACHE APACHE PUEBLO MARICOPA PAPAGO PIMA QUINALT YAKIMA SILETZ HUPA YUROK WAILAKI MAIDU TULE RIVER MISSION MOHAVE CHICKASAW CHOCTAW CREEK CHEROKEE CHEYENNE CROW CHIPPEWA > Sand Creek Fetterman Wounded Knee Fort Laramie Fort Atkinson Medicine Lodge Bighorn Rosebud > 30N 30N 40N 90W 120W 80W 70W TropicofCancer ACIFIC CEAN Gulf of Mexico ATL A OC E > NSWE > 18501870 18701890 Reservations in 1890 Native American group 0200 400 Miles 0200 400 Kilometers UTE Explore ONLINE! Reading Check Summarize What was the federal policy toward the Plains Indians in the 1860s and 1870s? some of the southern Plains Indians to move off their land. In the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge , most southern Plains Indians agreed to live on reservations. However, many Indians did not want to give up their hunting grounds. Fighting soon broke out between the Comanche and Texans. The U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers were unable to defeat the Comanche, so they cut off the Comanches access to food and water. In 1875 the last of the Comanche war leaders surrendered. # Fighting on the Plains In the northern Plains, Southwest, and Far West, Native Americans con-tinued to resist being moved to and confined on reservations. The U.S. government sent troops into the area to force the Indians to leave. These troops included African American cavalry, who the Indians called buffalo soldiers a term of honor, inspired by their short, curly hair, that com-pared their fighting spirit to that of the buffalo. Battles on the Northern Plains As fighting on the southern Plains came to an end, new trouble started in the north. In 1874 Lieutenant Colonel Interpret Maps Region In what regions did Native Americans lose land in the late 1800s? 1 Treaties at Fort Laramie, 1851 and 1868 2 Treaty at Fort Atkinson, 1853 3 Sand Creek Massacre, 1864 4 Fetterman Massacre, 1866 5 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, 1867 6 Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876 7 Battle of the Rosebud, 1876 8 Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890 Battles and Treaties of the Indian Wars Native American Land Loss in the West, 18501890 Westward Expansion 373 George Armstrong Custer s soldiers discovered gold in the Black Hills of the Dakotas. Sitting Bull , a leader of the Lakota Sioux, protested U.S. demands for the land. What treaty that the whites have kept has the red man broken? Not one. What treaty that the white man ever made with us have they kept? Not one. Sitting Bull, quoted in Life of Sitting Bull and the History of the Indian Wars of 18901891 by W. Fletcher Johnson Two Views of a Historic Battle Art historians have identified about 1,000 paintings of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The painting at the top was painted in 1899. The drawing below it is one of the many colored-pencil drawings of the battle done by Amos Bad Heart Buffalo, who based his drawing on memories from Sioux warriors who participated in the battle. Analyze Visuals How do these paintings show the influences of different cultures? These horses have been captured by the Native Americans. Custer is shown standing among his men as he fires. The Native Americans are shown surrounding a small force of U.S. soldiers. The U.S. Army is shown on horseback in this drawing. Module 11 374 Reading Check > Contrast How did the Apache resistance differ from that of the Navajo? Other Sioux leaders listened to Sitting Bull and refused to give up land. During late 1875 and early 1876, many Sioux and Cheyenne war-riors left their reservations. They united under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Their plan was to drive the intruders from the Black Hills. Custer was sent to force the Native Americans back onto their reservations. On June 25, 1876, Custers scouts found a large Sioux camp along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Leading about 200 of his soldiers, Custer raced ahead without waiting for any supporting forces. In the Battle of the Little Bighorn , Sioux and Cheyenne forces led by Crazy Horse surrounded and defeated Custer and his troops. Newspapers called the battle Custers Last Stand because his entire command was killed. It was the worst defeat the U.S. Army suffered in the West. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was also the Siouxs last major victory in the Sioux Wars. In 1881 Sitting Bull and a few followers returned from Canada where they had fled after Little Bighorn. They had run out of food during the hard winter. They joined the Sioux on Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory. Almost a decade later, in 1890, while following orders to arrest Sitting Bull, reservation police killed him. Many Sioux left the reservation in pro-test. Later that year, the U.S. Army shot and killed about 150 Sioux men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. This Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major military incident on the Great Plains. Southwest The Navajo lived in what became Arizona and New Mexico. In 1863 the Navajo refused to settle on a reservation. In response, U.S. troops made raids on the Navajos fields, homes, and livestock. When the Navajo ran out of food and shelter, they started surrendering to the U.S. Army. In 1864 the army led Navajo captives on the Long Walk .On this brutal 300-mile march, the Navajo were forced to walk across the desert to a reservation in Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Along the way, countless Navajo died. Far West The United States had promised to let the peaceful Nez Perc keep their land in Oregon. Within a few years, however, the government ordered the Nez Perc to a reservation in what is now Idaho. A group of Nez Perc led by Chief Joseph resisted, and in 1877 left to seek refuge in Canada. For four months, they crossed more than 1,000 miles with army troops in pursuit. Near the border, U.S. troops overtook them and sent them to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma. Final Battles By the 1880s, most Native Americans had stopped fighting. The Apache of the Southwest, however, continued to battle the U.S. Army. A Chiricahua Apache named Geronimo and his band led raids on both sides of the ArizonaMexico border, avoiding capture for many years. In September 1886 Geronimo surrendered and was sent to an Apache internment camp in Florida. This ended the Apache armed resistance in the Southwest. > Apache leader Geronimo fought settlers on his land for more than 25 years all the while avoiding permanent capture. Westward Expansion 375 # A Way of Life Ends By the 1870s many Native Americans lived on reservations, where land was usually not useful for farming or buffalo hunting. Many were starving. A Paiute Indian named Wovoka began a religious movement, the Ghost Dance , that predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans. In this paradise, the buffalo herds would return and the settlers would disappear. U.S. officials did not understand the meaning of the Ghost Dance. They feared it would lead to rebellion, so they tried to end the movement, which had spread to other groups, including the Sioux. After the massacre in 1890 at Wounded Knee, the Ghost Dance movement gradually died out. In the late 1870s a Paiute Indian named Sarah Winnemucca called for reformparticularly of the reservation system. A writer, educator, and interpreter, she toured the country speaking on behalf of Native Americans. Her 1883 autobiography Life Among the Paiutes is one of the Chief Joseph c. 18401904 Chief Joseph became leader of the Nez Perc in 1871. He led his people in an effort to hold onto their homeland and to avoid war with the United States. In 1877, when the U.S. government ordered the Nez Perc to relocate to a reservation, Chief Joseph at first agreed, but then was forced to flee. He attempted to escape into Canada with about 750 of his people. On a courageous journey across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, they defeated pursuing troops who greatly outnumbered them. Traveling with families, and low on supplies, the Nez Perc managed to evade the U.S. Army for four months. Ultimately though, Chief Joseph saw that resistance was futile. Upon his surrender, he gave a speech that has become one of the most famous in American history. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. . . . The old men are all 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 areperhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them 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. > Chief Joseph, October 5, 1877 > Identify Cause and Effect > What brought suffering to Chief Joseph and his people? BIOGRAPHY Module 11 376 Reading Check > Summarize > How did reformers try to influence Native Americans lives? most significant accounts of traditional Native American culture. Writer Helen Hunt Jackson published a book in 1881 that pushed for reform of U.S. Indian policy. Titled A Century of Dishonor, it described the mistreatment of many Native American groups in an attempt to force the gov-ernment to establish fairer policies. Some reformers believed that Native Ameri-cans should assimilate by giving up traditional ways and adopting Anglo-American gender and family roles, cultural and social practices, and language. The Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 tried to lessen traditional influences on Indian society by making land ownership private for male-headed households rather than shared communally. The act also promisedbut failed to deliverU.S. citizenship to Native Americans. After breaking up reservation land, the govern-ment sold the acreage remaining. The act took about two-thirds of Indian land. The U.S. government also sent many Native American children to boarding schools in an effort to Americanize them. The children were dressed in European-style clothes, learned Eng-lish, and often spent part of the day farming or doing other work. They were discouraged from practicing their own culture or speaking their own language. Many were separated from their families for years at a time. Summary and Preview In this lesson you read about conflict in the settle-ment of the West. In the next lesson you will learn more about Great Plains settlers. > Sarah Winnemucca spoke out for the fair treatment of her people. 1851 1864 1867 1887 Lesson 3 Assessment Review Ideas, Terms, and People 1. a. Describe What animals did Plains Indians depend on, and how did they use those animals? > b. Analyze How did U.S. policy toward the Plains Indians change in the late 1850s? > c. Elaborate Would you have agreed to move to a reservation? Why or why not? > 2. a. Describe What events led to the Battle of the Little Bighorn? > b. Elaborate Why do you think most Indian groups eventually stopped resisting the United States? > 3. a. Describe How did the Dawes General Allotment Act affect American Indians? > b. Predict What effect do you think the Massacre at Wounded Knee would have on relations between Plains Indians and the United States? > Critical Thinking > 4. Sequence In this lesson you learned about the major events surrounding the loss of land rights of Native Americans. Create a timeline similar to the one below to organize the events in sequence. Westward Expansion 377 Lesson 4 # Farming and Populism The Big Idea Settlers on the Great Plains created new communities and a unique political movement. Main Ideas > Many Americans started new lives on the Great Plains. > Economic challenges led to the creation of farmers political groups. > By the 1890s the western frontier had come to an end. frontier had come to an end. Key Terms and People Key Terms and People Homestead Act Homestead Act Morrill Act Exodusters sodbusters dry farming Annie Bidwell National Grange National Grange deflation William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan Populist Party If YOU were there . . . You are a female schoolteacher in Wisconsin in 1880. You live and teach in a small town, but you grew up on a farm and are used to hard work. Now you are thinking about moving West to claim free land from the govern-ment. You could teach in a school there, too. You think it would be an exciting adventure, but your family is horri-fied that a single woman would move West on her own. Would you decide to become a homesteader? New Lives on the Plains In 1862 Congress passed two important land grant acts that helped open the West to settlers. The Homestead Act gave government-owned land to small farmers. Any adult who was a U.S. citizen or planned to become one could receive 160 acres of land. In exchange, homesteaders promised to live on the land for five years. The Morrill Act granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states. The act required each state to sell this land and to use the money to build colleges to teach agriculture and engineering. > Pioneers like this family often lived in houses made of sod because there were few trees for lumber on the Plains. Module 11 378 This family of African Americans moved to the West in order to build new lives after the Civil War. Settling the Plains People from all over the country moved West. Many farming families moved from areas where farmland was becoming scarce or expensive, such as New England. Many single women moved West. The Homestead Act granted land to unmarried women, which was unusual for the time. In the late 1870s, large numbers of African Americans began to move West. Some fled the South because of violence and repression. The end of Reconstruction in 1877 led to harsh new segregation laws. Also, the withdrawal of federal troops left African Americans unprotected from attacks by such groups as the Ku Klux Klan. Benjamin Pap Singleton, a former slave from Tennessee, inspired others. Born in Nashville in 1809, Singleton fled slavery several times. Eventually he got to the North and settled in Detroit. There, he helped runaway slaves escape to Canada. After the Civil War, he returned to Tennessee. He wanted to help freed African Americans buy farmland. However, white landowners refused to sell. So he urged African Americans to leave the South and build their own communi-ties in Kansas and elsewhere in the West. By 1879 some 20,000 southern African Americans had moved to Kansas. Many others settled in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. These African American migrants were known as Exodusters because they had made a mass exodus, or departure, from the South. The promise of free land also drew thousands of Europeans to the West. Scandinavians from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland came to the northern Great Plains in the 1870s. Many Irish who had helped to build the railroads decided to settle on the Plains. Russians also came to the Plains, bringing with them their experience of farming on the vast steppes, or grasslands, of their homeland. Germans and Czechs created many small farming communities on the Plains, especially in Texas. > Westward Expansion 379 DFarming the Plains Plains farmers had many unique challenges. The seasons were extreme. Weather could be harsh. Also, the root-filled sod, or dirt, beneath the Plains grass was very tough. The hard work of breaking up the sod earned Plains farmers the nickname sodbusters .In the 1890s western Plains farmers began dry farming , a new method of farming that shifted the focus away from water-dependent crops such as corn. Instead, farmers grew more hardy crops like red wheat. In addi-tion, new inventions helped Plains farmers meet some of the challenges of frontier life. A steel plow invented by John Deere in 1837 and improved upon by James Oliver in 1868 sliced through the tough sod of the prairie. Windmills adapted to the Plains pumped water from deep wells to the surface. Barbed wire allowed farmers to fence in land and livestock. Reapers made the harvesting of crops much easier, and threshers helped farmers to separate grain or seed from straw. These inventions also made farm work more efficient. During the late 1800s, farmers greatly increased their crop production. They shipped their harvest east by train. From there, crops were shipped overseas. The Great Plains soon became known as the breadbasket of the world. Building Communities Women were an important force in the settle-ment of the frontier. They joined in the hard work of farming and ranch-ing and helped build communities out of the widely spaced farms and small towns. Their role in founding communities facilitated a strong voice in public affairs. Wyoming women, for example, were granted the vote in the new states constitution, which was approved in 1869. Annie Bidwell , one of the founders of Chico, California, used her influence to support a variety of moral and social causes such as womens suffrage and temperance. > Academic Vocabulary > facilitate to make easier Letter from the Plains, 1863 In a letter to her family in Norway, immigrant Gro Svendsen describes her new life as a farmer on the plains of Iowa. > Analyze Historical Sources > What might be some of the differences between Norway and Svendsens new home in Iowa? I remember I used to wonder when I heard that it would be impossible to keep the milk here as we did at home. Now I have learned that it is indeed impossible because of the heat here in the summertime . . . Its difficult, too, to preserve the butter. One must pour brine [salt water] over it or salt it. The thunderstorms are so violent that one might think it was the end of the world . . . Quite often the lightning strikes down both cattle and people, damages property, and splinters sturdy oak trees into many pieces. > quoted in Frontier Mother: The Letters of Gro Svendsen DOCUMENT BASED INVESTIGATION Historical Source > Laura Ingalls Wilder (right) wrote the Little House on the Prairie series based on her childhood in a settler family. Module 11 380 # i.ir immammp ah06se_c17cmb014a final 12/3/04 > 600 450 300 150 0 > Wheat > (in millions of bushels) Wheat Production, 18661880 > 1866 1870 1875 1880 > Year > ah06se_c17cmb014b final 12/3/04 > 2.00 1.50 1.00 .50 0 > Cost > ($ per bushel of wheat) Wheat Prices, 18661880 > 1866 1870 1875 1880 > Year Explore ONLINE! > Reading Check > Compare and Contrast How were settlers lives alike and different from their lives in the East? Many early settlers found life on their remote farms to be extremely dif-ficult. Farmers formed communities so that they could assist one another in times of need. One of the first things that many pioneer communities did was establish a local church and school. Children helped with many chores around the farm. Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was one of four children in a pioneer family. Wilders books about settlers lives on the prairie are still popular today. # Farmers Political Groups From 1860 to 1900, the U.S. population more than doubled. To feed this growing population, the number of farms tripled. With modern machines, farmers in 1900 could harvest a bushel of wheat almost 20 times faster than they could in 1830. Farm Incomes Fall The combination of more farms and greater produc-tivity, however, led to overproduction. Overproduction resulted in lower prices for crops. As their incomes decreased, many farmers found it dif-ficult to pay bills. Farmers who could not make their mortgage payments lost their farms and homes. Many of these homeless farmers became tenant farmers who worked land owned by others. By 1880 one-fourth of all farms were rented by tenants, and the number continued to grow. The National Grange Many farmers blamed businesspeoplewholesalers, brokers, grain buyers, and especially railroad ownersfor making money at their expense. As economic conditions worsened, farmers began to fol-low the example of other workers. They formed associations to protect and help their interests. Agricultural Supply and Demand Connect to Economics The amount of goods available for sale is the supply. The willingness and ability of consumers to buy goods is called demand. The law o f supply and demand says that when supply increases or demand decreases, prices fall. By contrast, when supply decreases or demand rises, prices rise. What happened to the price of wheat as the supply increased? Westward Expansion 381 One such organization was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley, who toured the South in 1866 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kelley saw firsthand how the countrys farmers suffered. Afterward, Kelley and several government clerks formed the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in 1867. The National Grange was a social and educational organization for farmers. ( Grange is an old word for granary.) Local chapters were quickly founded, and membership grew rapidly. The Grange campaigned for political candidates who supported farmers goals. The organization also called for laws that regulated rates charged by railroads. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1877 that the gov-ernment could regulate railroads because they affected the public interest. In 1886 the Court said that the federal government could only regulate companies doing business across state lines. Rate regulation for railroad lines within states fell to the state governments. In February 1887 Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, provid-ing national regulations over trade between states and creating the Inter-state Commerce Commission to ensure fair railroad rates. However, the commission lacked power to enforce its regulations. Free Silver Debate Money issues also caused problems for farmers. Many farmers hoped that help would come from new laws affecting the money supply. Since 1873 the United States had been on the gold standard, meaning that all paper money had to be backed by gold in the treasury. As a result, the money supply grew more slowly than the nations population and led to deflation a decrease in the money supply and overall lower prices. One solution was to allow the unlimited coining of silver and to back paper currency with silver. This was the position of those in the Free Silver !movement. During the late 1870s, there was a great deal of support for the Free Silver movement. Many farmers began backing political candidates who favored free silver coinage. One such candidate was William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska. The two major political parties, however, largely ignored the money issue. After the election of 1888, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The act increased the amount of silver purchased for coinage. However, this did not help farmers as much as they had hoped. Populist Party To have greater power, many farmers organized to elect candidates who would help them. These political organizations became known as the Farmers Alliances. In the 1890 elections the Alliances were a strong political force. State and local wins raised farmers political hopes. At a conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1891, Alliance leaders met with labor and reform groups. Then, at a convention in St. Louis in February 1892, the Alliances formed a new national political party. > After the founding of the National Grange, other groups, including the Farmers Alliance, formed to advance the interests of farmers. Module 11 382 Reading Check > Summarize Why did farmers, laborers, and reformers join to form the Populist Party? The new party was called the Populist Party , and it called for the government to own railroads and telephone and telegraph systems. It also favored the free and unlimited coinage of silver. To gain the votes of workers, the Populists backed an eight-hour workday and limits on immigration. The concerns of the Populists were soon put in the national spotlight. During the Panic of 1893, the U.S. economy experienced a crisis that some critics blamed on the shortage of gold. The failure of several major railroad companies also contributed to the economic problems. The Panic of 1893 led more people to back the Populist call for economic reform. In 1896 the Republicans nominated William McKinley for president. McKinley was firmly against free coinage of silver. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, a strong supporter of the Free Silver movement. The Populists had to decide between running their own candidate, and thus splitting the silver vote, or supporting Bryan. They decided to support Bryan. The Republicans had a well-financed campaign, and they won the election. McKinleys victory in 1896 marked the end of both the Populist Party and the Farmers Alliances. # End of the Frontier By 1870 only small portions of the Great Plains remained unsettled. For most of the next two decades, this land remained open range. In March 1889, government officials announced that homesteaders could file claims on land in what is now the state of Oklahoma. This land had belonged to Creek and Seminole Indians. Within a month, about 50,000 people rushed to Oklahoma to stake their claims. In all, settlers claimed more than 11 million acres of former Indian land in the famous Oklahoma land rush. This huge wave of pioneers was the > BIOGRAPHY William Jennings Bryan > 18601925 William Jennings Bryan was born in Illinois but moved to Nebraska when he finished law school. He was elected Nebraskas first Democratic Congress member in 1890. Through his political campaigns and work as a newspaper editor, he became one of the best-known supporters of Populist ideas. After a dramatic speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, Bryan was nominated for the presidency. He was the youngest presidential candidate up to that time. Although he lost the election, he continued to be an influential speaker and political leader. Many of the reforms that he fought for in the late 1800s, such as an eight-hour workday and woman suffrage, later became law. > Make Inferences > Why was Bryans support of Populist ideas important? Westward Expansion 383 Reading Check > Find Main Ideas > What event signaled the closing of the frontier? Oklahoma Land Rush The rush began at noon on April 22, 1889. Some witnesses said they could feel the ground shake as 50,000 people raced to claim land. Single women and widows could claim land on an equal basis with men. Many settlers were dismayed to find some people had claimed land before the rush legally began. These people were called sooners .Guthrie, Oklahoma Change sought r eason why last chapter of the westward movement. From the time it began gathering information, the U.S. Census Bureau had mapped a frontier line along the edge of western population. The 1890 census showed that more than 20 million people lived between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast. There can hardly be said to be a frontier line, a Bureau report stated. The disappearance of the line is considered the closing of the frontier. Summary and Preview In this lesson you read about the challenges set-tlers in the West faced. Despite these difficulties, the promise of open land and a fresh start continued to lure Americans westward. Lesson 4 Assessment Review Ideas, Terms, and People 1. a. Describe What groups settled in the Great Plains? b. Explain how did the U.S. government make lands available to western settlers? c. Elaborate Would you have chosen to settle on the frontier? Why or why not? 2. a. Recall What was the goal of the National Grange? b. Make Inferences Why did the Populist Party want the government to own railroads and telegraph and telephone systems? c. Evaluate Do you think farmers were successful in bringing about economic and political change? Explain. 3. a. Recall What was the Oklahoma land rush? b. Explain Why did the frontier cease to exist in the United States? Critical Thinking 4. Compare and Contrast In this lesson you learned about the reasons for the rise of populism in the United States. Create a table similar to the one below to explain why Populists sought the changes they did. Module 11 384

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Lesson 3

# Wars for the West The Big Idea

Native Americans and the U.S. government came into conflict over land in the West.

Main Ideas

As settlers moved to the Great Plains, they encountered the Plains Indians.

Native Americans attempted to keep their lands through trea-ties with the U.S. government.

Continued pressure from white settlement and government legislation brought the Plains Indians traditional way of life to an end.

Key Terms and People

Treaty of Fort Laramie reservations Crazy Horse Treaty of Medicine Lodge buffalo soldiers George Armstrong Custer Sitting Bull Battle of the Little Bighorn Massacre at Wounded Knee Long Walk Chief Joseph Geronimo Ghost Dance Sarah Winnemucca assimilate Dawes General Allotment Act

If YOU were there . . .

You are a member of the Sioux nation, living in Dakota Territory in 1875. These lands are sacred to your people, and the U.S. government has promised them to you. But now gold has been found here, and the government has ordered you to give up your land. Some Sioux leaders want to fight. Others say that it is of no use, that the soldiers will win.

Would you fight to keep your lands? Why? Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians

As miners and settlers began cross-ing the Great Plains in the mid-1800s, they pressured the federal government for more access to western lands. To protect these travelers, U.S. !officials sent agents to negotiate treaties with the Plains !Indians. The Plains Indians lived in the Great Plains, which stretch north into Canada and south into Texas. Indian groups such as the Apache and the Comanche lived in and around Texas and what is now Oklahoma. The Chey-enne and the Arapaho lived in different regions across the central Plains. The Pawnee lived in parts of Nebraska. To the north were the Sioux. These groups spoke many different languages. However, they used a common sign language to communicate and they shared a similar lifestyle.

Hunting Buffalo For survival, the Plains Indians depended on two animalsthe horse and the buffalo. The Spanish brought horses to America in the 1500s. The Plains Indians learned to ride horses, and hunters used them to follow buffalo herds year-round. While on horseback, most Plains Indian hunters used a short bow and arrows to shoot buffalo from close range. The Plains Indians used buffalo for food, shelter, clothing, utensils, and tools. Women dried buffalo meat to make

> Crazy Horse (Tashunka Witco) was a Sioux chief who fought to defend his peoples way of life and resisted attempts to force the Sioux onto reservations. Westward Expansion

371 jerky. They made tepees and clothing from buffalo hides, and cups and tools from buffalo horns. As one Sioux explained, When our people killed a buffalo, all of the animal was utilized [used] in some manner; nothing was wasted. The Plains Indians prospered. By 1850 some 75,000 Native Americans lived on the Plains.

Struggle to Keep Land Miners and settlers were also increasing in numbersand they wanted the Indians land. The U.S. government tried to avoid disputes by negotiating the Treaty of Fort Laramie , the first major treaty between the U.S. government and Plains Indians. Two years later, several southern Plains nations signed a treaty at Fort Atkinson in Nebraska. These treaties recognized Indian claims to most of the Great Plains. They also allowed the United States to build forts and roads and to travel across Indian homelands. The U.S. government promised to pay for any damages to Indian lands. The treaties did not keep the peace for long. In 1858 the discovery of gold in what is now Colorado brought thousands of miners to the West. They soon clashed with the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. In 1861 the U.S. government negotiated new treaties with Plains Indians. These treaties created reservations , areas of federal land set aside for Native Americans. The government expected Indians to stay on the reservations, which made hunting buffalo almost impossible. Pioneers and miners continued to cross the Great Plains. Many miners used the Bozeman Trail. To protect them, the U.S. Army built forts along the trail, which ran through favored Sioux hunting grounds. The Sioux responded with war. In late 1866 a group led by Crazy Horse , an Oglala Sioux chief, ambushed and killed 81 cavalry troops. In 1868 under the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U.S. govern-ment agreed to close the Bozeman Trail and abandon the forts, and forced some of the Sioux onto reservations. The U.S. government also forced

> The Plains Indians depended on two animalsthe horse and the buffalo. Module 11 372

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> SHOSHONE SHOSHONE SHOSHONE BANNOCK WALLA WALLA CAYUSE COLVILLE SPOKANE FLATHEAD NEZ PERCE BLACKFOOT ASSINIBOIN SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX SIOUX MANDAN CHIPPEWA MENOMINEE PONCA OMAHA KICKAPOO PAWNEE POTAWATOMI MUNSEE ONEIDA UTE PAIUTE PAIUTE UTE OSAGE CHEYENNE ARAPAHO ARAPAHO COMANCHE HOPI ZUNI NAVAJO APACHE APACHE APACHE PUEBLO MARICOPA PAPAGO PIMA QUINALT YAKIMA SILETZ HUPA YUROK WAILAKI MAIDU TULE RIVER MISSION MOHAVE CHICKASAW CHOCTAW CREEK CHEROKEE CHEYENNE CROW CHIPPEWA
> Sand Creek Fetterman Wounded Knee Fort Laramie Fort Atkinson Medicine Lodge Bighorn Rosebud
> 30N 30N 40N 90W 120W 80W 70W TropicofCancer

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> 18501870 18701890 Reservations in 1890 Native American group 0200 400 Miles 0200 400 Kilometers UTE

Explore ONLINE!

Reading Check

Summarize What was the federal policy toward the Plains Indians in the 1860s and 1870s?

some of the southern Plains Indians to move off their land. In the 1867

Treaty of Medicine Lodge , most southern Plains Indians agreed to live on reservations. However, many Indians did not want to give up their hunting grounds. Fighting soon broke out between the Comanche and Texans. The U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers were unable to defeat the Comanche, so they cut off the Comanches access to food and water. In 1875 the last of the Comanche war leaders surrendered.

# Fighting on the Plains

In the northern Plains, Southwest, and Far West, Native Americans con-tinued to resist being moved to and confined on reservations. The U.S. government sent troops into the area to force the Indians to leave. These troops included African American cavalry, who the Indians called buffalo soldiers a term of honor, inspired by their short, curly hair, that com-pared their fighting spirit to that of the buffalo.

Battles on the Northern Plains As fighting on the southern Plains came to an end, new trouble started in the north. In 1874 Lieutenant Colonel

Interpret Maps Region In what regions did Native Americans lose land in the late 1800s?

1 Treaties at Fort Laramie, 1851 and 1868

2 Treaty at Fort Atkinson, 1853

3 Sand Creek Massacre, 1864

4 Fetterman Massacre, 1866

5 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, 1867

6 Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876

7 Battle of the Rosebud, 1876

8 Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890

Battles and Treaties of the Indian Wars

Native American Land Loss in the West, 18501890 Westward Expansion 373 George Armstrong Custer s soldiers discovered gold in the Black Hills of the Dakotas. Sitting Bull , a leader of the Lakota Sioux, protested U.S. demands for the land.  What treaty that the whites have kept has the red man broken? Not one. What treaty that the white man ever made with us have they kept? Not one. Sitting Bull, quoted in Life of Sitting Bull and the History of the Indian Wars of 18901891 by W. Fletcher Johnson

Two Views of a Historic Battle Art historians have identified about 1,000 paintings of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The painting at the top was painted in 1899. The drawing below it is one of the many colored-pencil drawings of the battle done by Amos Bad Heart Buffalo, who based his drawing on memories from Sioux warriors who participated in the battle.

Analyze Visuals

How do these paintings show the influences of different cultures? These horses have been captured by the Native Americans. Custer is shown standing among his men as he fires. The Native Americans are shown surrounding a small force of U.S. soldiers. The U.S. Army is shown on horseback in this drawing. Module 11 374 Reading Check

> Contrast How did the Apache resistance differ from that of the Navajo?

Other Sioux leaders listened to Sitting Bull and refused to give up land. During late 1875 and early 1876, many Sioux and Cheyenne war-riors left their reservations. They united under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Their plan was to drive the intruders from the Black Hills. Custer was sent to force the Native Americans back onto their reservations. On June 25, 1876, Custers scouts found a large Sioux camp along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Leading about 200 of his soldiers, Custer raced ahead without waiting for any supporting forces. In the Battle of the Little Bighorn , Sioux and Cheyenne forces led by Crazy Horse surrounded and defeated Custer and his troops. Newspapers called the battle Custers Last Stand because his entire command was killed. It was the worst defeat the U.S. Army suffered in the West. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was also the Siouxs last major victory in the Sioux Wars. In 1881 Sitting Bull and a few followers returned from Canada where they had fled after Little Bighorn. They had run out of food during the hard winter. They joined the Sioux on Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory. Almost a decade later, in 1890, while following orders to arrest Sitting Bull, reservation police killed him. Many Sioux left the reservation in pro-test. Later that year, the U.S. Army shot and killed about 150 Sioux men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. This

Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major military incident on the Great Plains.

Southwest The Navajo lived in what became Arizona and New Mexico. In 1863 the Navajo refused to settle on a reservation. In response, U.S. troops made raids on the Navajos fields, homes, and livestock. When the Navajo ran out of food and shelter, they started surrendering to the U.S. Army. In 1864 the army led Navajo captives on the Long Walk .On this brutal 300-mile march, the Navajo were forced to walk across the desert to a reservation in Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Along the way, countless Navajo died.

Far West The United States had promised to let the peaceful Nez Perc keep their land in Oregon. Within a few years, however, the government ordered the Nez Perc to a reservation in what is now Idaho. A group of Nez Perc led by Chief Joseph resisted, and in 1877 left to seek refuge in Canada. For four months, they crossed more than 1,000 miles with army troops in pursuit. Near the border, U.S. troops overtook them and sent them to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma.

Final Battles By the 1880s, most Native Americans had stopped fighting. The Apache of the Southwest, however, continued to battle the U.S. Army. A Chiricahua Apache named Geronimo and his band led raids on both sides of the ArizonaMexico border, avoiding capture for many years. In September 1886 Geronimo surrendered and was sent to an Apache internment camp in Florida. This ended the Apache armed resistance in the Southwest.

> Apache leader Geronimo fought settlers on his land for more than 25 years all the while avoiding permanent capture. Westward Expansion 375

# A Way of Life Ends

By the 1870s many Native Americans lived on reservations, where land was usually not useful for farming or buffalo hunting. Many were starving. A Paiute Indian named Wovoka began a religious movement, the Ghost

Dance , that predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans. In this paradise, the buffalo herds would return and the settlers would disappear. U.S. officials did not understand the meaning of the Ghost Dance. They feared it would lead to rebellion, so they tried to end the movement, which had spread to other groups, including the Sioux. After the massacre in 1890 at Wounded Knee, the Ghost Dance movement gradually died out. In the late 1870s a Paiute Indian named Sarah Winnemucca called for reformparticularly of the reservation system. A writer, educator, and interpreter, she toured the country speaking on behalf of Native Americans. Her 1883 autobiography Life Among the Paiutes is one of the

Chief Joseph c. 18401904 Chief Joseph became leader of the Nez Perc in 1871. He led his people in an effort to hold onto their homeland and to avoid war with the United States. In 1877, when the U.S. government ordered the Nez Perc to relocate to a reservation, Chief Joseph at first agreed, but then was forced to flee. He attempted to escape into Canada with about 750 of his people. On a courageous journey across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, they defeated pursuing troops who greatly outnumbered them. Traveling with families, and low on supplies, the Nez Perc managed to evade the U.S. Army for four months. Ultimately though, Chief Joseph saw that resistance was futile. Upon his surrender, he gave a speech that has become one of the most famous in American history.

I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. . . . The old men are all 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 areperhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them 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.

> Chief Joseph, October 5, 1877
> Identify Cause and Effect
> What brought suffering to Chief Joseph and his people? BIOGRAPHY Module 11 376 Reading Check
> Summarize
> How did reformers try to influence Native Americans lives?

most significant accounts of traditional Native American culture. Writer Helen Hunt Jackson published a book in 1881 that pushed for reform of U.S. Indian policy. Titled A Century of Dishonor,

it described the mistreatment of many Native American groups in an attempt to force the gov-ernment to establish fairer policies. Some reformers believed that Native Ameri-cans should assimilate by giving up traditional ways and adopting Anglo-American gender and family roles, cultural and social practices, and language. The Dawes General Allotment Act

of 1887 tried to lessen traditional influences on Indian society by making land ownership private for male-headed households rather than shared communally. The act also promisedbut failed to deliverU.S. citizenship to Native Americans. After breaking up reservation land, the govern-ment sold the acreage remaining. The act took about two-thirds of Indian land. The U.S. government also sent many Native American children to boarding schools in an effort to Americanize them. The children were dressed in European-style clothes, learned Eng-lish, and often spent part of the day farming or doing other work. They were discouraged from practicing their own culture or speaking their own language. Many were separated from their families for years at a time.

Summary and Preview In this lesson you read about conflict in the settle-ment of the West. In the next lesson you will learn more about Great Plains settlers.

> Sarah Winnemucca spoke out for the fair treatment of her people. 1851 1864 1867 1887

Lesson 3 Assessment Review Ideas, Terms, and People 1. a. Describe What animals did Plains Indians depend on, and how did they use those animals?

> b. Analyze How did U.S. policy toward the Plains Indians change in the late 1850s?
> c. Elaborate Would you have agreed to move to a reservation? Why or why not?
> 2. a. Describe What events led to the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
> b. Elaborate Why do you think most Indian groups eventually stopped resisting the United States?
> 3. a. Describe How did the Dawes General Allotment Act affect American Indians?
> b. Predict What effect do you think the Massacre at Wounded Knee would have on relations between Plains Indians and the United States?
> Critical Thinking
> 4. Sequence In this lesson you learned about the major events surrounding the loss of land rights of Native Americans. Create a timeline similar to the one below to organize the events in sequence. Westward Expansion 377

Lesson 4

# Farming and Populism

The Big Idea

Settlers on the Great Plains

created new communities and

a unique political movement.

Main Ideas

Many Americans started new

lives on the Great Plains.

Economic challenges led to the

creation of farmers political

groups.

By the 1890s the western

frontier had come to an end. frontier had come to an end.

Key Terms and People Key Terms and People

Homestead Act Homestead Act

Morrill Act

Exodusters

sodbusters

dry farming

Annie Bidwell

National Grange National Grange

deflation

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan

Populist Party

If YOU were there . . .

You are a female schoolteacher in Wisconsin in 1880. You live and teach in a small town, but you grew up on a farm and are used to hard work. Now you are thinking about moving West to claim free land from the govern-ment. You could teach in a school there, too. You think it would be an exciting adventure, but your family is horri-fied that a single woman would move West on her own.

Would you decide to become a homesteader? New Lives on the Plains

In 1862 Congress passed two important land grant acts that helped open the West to settlers. The Homestead Act gave government-owned land to small farmers. Any adult who was a U.S. citizen or planned to become one could receive 160 acres of land. In exchange, homesteaders promised to live on the land for five years. The Morrill Act granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states. The act required each state to sell this land and to use the money to build colleges to teach agriculture and engineering.

> Pioneers like this family often lived in houses made of sod because there were few trees for lumber on the Plains. Module 11

378 This family of African Americans moved to the West in order to build new lives after the Civil War.

Settling the Plains People from all over the country moved West. Many farming families moved from areas where farmland was becoming scarce or expensive, such as New England. Many single women moved West. The Homestead Act granted land to unmarried women, which was unusual for the time. In the late 1870s, large numbers of African Americans began to move West. Some fled the South because of violence and repression. The end of Reconstruction in 1877 led to harsh new segregation laws. Also, the withdrawal of federal troops left African Americans unprotected from attacks by such groups as the Ku Klux Klan. Benjamin Pap Singleton, a former slave from Tennessee, inspired others. Born in Nashville in 1809, Singleton fled slavery several times. Eventually he got to the North and settled in Detroit. There, he helped runaway slaves escape to Canada. After the Civil War, he returned to Tennessee. He wanted to help freed African Americans buy farmland. However, white landowners refused to sell. So he urged African Americans to leave the South and build their own communi-ties in Kansas and elsewhere in the West. By 1879 some 20,000 southern African Americans had moved to Kansas. Many others settled in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. These African American migrants were known as Exodusters because they had made a mass exodus, or departure, from the South. The promise of free land also drew thousands of Europeans to the West. Scandinavians from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland came to the northern Great Plains in the 1870s. Many Irish who had helped to build the railroads decided to settle on the Plains. Russians also came to the Plains, bringing with them their experience of farming on the vast steppes, or grasslands, of their homeland. Germans and Czechs created many small farming communities on the Plains, especially in Texas.

> Westward Expansion 379

DFarming the Plains Plains farmers had many unique challenges. The seasons were extreme. Weather could be harsh. Also, the root-filled sod, or dirt, beneath the Plains grass was very tough. The hard work of breaking up the sod earned Plains farmers the nickname sodbusters .In the 1890s western Plains farmers began dry farming , a new method of farming that shifted the focus away from water-dependent crops such as corn. Instead, farmers grew more hardy crops like red wheat. In addi-tion, new inventions helped Plains farmers meet some of the challenges of frontier life. A steel plow invented by John Deere in 1837 and improved upon by James Oliver in 1868 sliced through the tough sod of the prairie. Windmills adapted to the Plains pumped water from deep wells to the surface. Barbed wire allowed farmers to fence in land and livestock. Reapers made the harvesting of crops much easier, and threshers helped farmers to separate grain or seed from straw. These inventions also made farm work more efficient. During the late 1800s, farmers greatly increased their crop production. They shipped their harvest east by train. From there, crops were shipped overseas. The Great Plains soon became known as the breadbasket of the world.

Building Communities Women were an important force in the settle-ment of the frontier. They joined in the hard work of farming and ranch-ing and helped build communities out of the widely spaced farms and small towns. Their role in founding communities facilitated a strong voice in public affairs. Wyoming women, for example, were granted the vote in the new states constitution, which was approved in 1869. Annie

Bidwell , one of the founders of Chico, California, used her influence to support a variety of moral and social causes such as womens suffrage and temperance.

> Academic Vocabulary
> facilitate to make easier

Letter from the Plains, 1863 In a letter to her family in Norway, immigrant Gro Svendsen describes her new life as a farmer on the plains of Iowa.

> Analyze Historical Sources
> What might be some of the differences between Norway and Svendsens new home in Iowa?

I remember I used to wonder when I heard that it would be impossible to keep the milk here as we did at home. Now I have learned that it is indeed impossible because of the heat here in the summertime . . . Its difficult, too, to preserve the butter. One must pour brine [salt water] over it or salt it. The thunderstorms are so violent that one might think it was the end of the world . . . Quite often the lightning strikes down both cattle and people, damages property, and splinters sturdy oak trees into many pieces.

> quoted in Frontier Mother: The Letters of Gro Svendsen

DOCUMENT BASED INVESTIGATION Historical Source

> Laura Ingalls Wilder (right) wrote the Little House on the Prairie series based on her childhood in a settler family. Module 11 380

# i.ir

immammp ah06se_c17cmb014a final 12/3/04

> 600 450 300 150 0
> Wheat
> (in millions of bushels)

Wheat Production, 18661880

> 1866 1870 1875 1880
> Year
> ah06se_c17cmb014b final 12/3/04
> 2.00 1.50 1.00 .50 0
> Cost
> ($ per bushel of wheat)

Wheat Prices, 18661880

> 1866 1870 1875 1880
> Year

Explore ONLINE!

> Reading Check
> Compare and Contrast How were settlers lives alike and different from their lives in the East?

Many early settlers found life on their remote farms to be extremely dif-ficult. Farmers formed communities so that they could assist one another in times of need. One of the first things that many pioneer communities did was establish a local church and school. Children helped with many chores around the farm. Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was one of four children in a pioneer family. Wilders books about settlers lives on the prairie are still popular today.

# Farmers Political Groups

From 1860 to 1900, the U.S. population more than doubled. To feed this growing population, the number of farms tripled. With modern machines, farmers in 1900 could harvest a bushel of wheat almost 20 times faster than they could in 1830.

Farm Incomes Fall The combination of more farms and greater produc-tivity, however, led to overproduction. Overproduction resulted in lower prices for crops. As their incomes decreased, many farmers found it dif-ficult to pay bills. Farmers who could not make their mortgage payments lost their farms and homes. Many of these homeless farmers became tenant farmers who worked land owned by others. By 1880 one-fourth of all farms were rented by tenants, and the number continued to grow.

The National Grange Many farmers blamed businesspeoplewholesalers, brokers, grain buyers, and especially railroad ownersfor making money at their expense. As economic conditions worsened, farmers began to fol-low the example of other workers. They formed associations to protect and help their interests.

Agricultural Supply and Demand

Connect to Economics The amount of goods available for sale is the supply. The willingness and ability of consumers to buy goods is called demand. The law o f supply and demand says that when supply increases or demand decreases, prices fall. By contrast, when supply decreases or demand rises, prices rise. What happened to the price of wheat as the supply increased? Westward Expansion 381 One such organization was founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley, who toured the South in 1866 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kelley saw firsthand how the countrys farmers suffered. Afterward, Kelley and several government clerks formed the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in 1867. The National Grange was a social and educational organization for farmers. ( Grange is an old word for granary.) Local chapters were quickly founded, and membership grew rapidly. The Grange campaigned for political candidates who supported farmers goals. The organization also called for laws that regulated rates charged by railroads. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1877 that the gov-ernment could regulate railroads because they affected the public interest. In 1886 the Court said that the federal government could only regulate companies doing business across state lines. Rate regulation for railroad lines within states fell to the state governments. In February 1887 Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, provid-ing national regulations over trade between states and creating the Inter-state Commerce Commission to ensure fair railroad rates. However, the commission lacked power to enforce its regulations.

Free Silver Debate Money issues also caused problems for farmers. Many farmers hoped that help would come from new laws affecting the money supply. Since 1873 the United States had been on the gold standard, meaning that all paper money had to be backed by gold in the treasury. As a result, the money supply grew more slowly than the nations population and led to deflation a decrease in the money supply and overall lower prices. One solution was to allow the unlimited coining of silver and to back paper currency with silver. This was the position of those in the Free Silver !movement. During the late 1870s, there was a great deal of support for the Free Silver movement. Many farmers began backing political candidates who favored free silver coinage. One such candidate was William Jennings

Bryan of Nebraska. The two major political parties, however, largely ignored the money issue. After the election of 1888, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The act increased the amount of silver purchased for coinage. However, this did not help farmers as much as they had hoped.

Populist Party To have greater power, many farmers organized to elect candidates who would help them. These political organizations became known as the Farmers Alliances. In the 1890 elections the Alliances were a strong political force. State and local wins raised farmers political hopes. At a conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1891, Alliance leaders met with labor and reform groups. Then, at a convention in St. Louis in February 1892, the Alliances formed a new national political party.

> After the founding of the National Grange, other groups, including the Farmers Alliance, formed to advance the interests of farmers. Module 11 382 Reading Check
> Summarize Why did farmers, laborers, and reformers join to form the Populist Party?

The new party was called the Populist Party , and it called for the government to own railroads and telephone and telegraph systems. It also favored the free and unlimited coinage of silver. To gain the votes of workers, the Populists backed an eight-hour workday and limits on immigration. The concerns of the Populists were soon put in the national spotlight. During the Panic of 1893, the U.S. economy experienced a crisis that some critics blamed on the shortage of gold. The failure of several major railroad companies also contributed to the economic problems. The Panic of 1893 led more people to back the Populist call for economic reform. In 1896 the Republicans nominated William McKinley for president. McKinley was firmly against free coinage of silver. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, a strong supporter of the Free Silver movement. The Populists had to decide between running their own candidate, and thus splitting the silver vote, or supporting Bryan. They decided to support Bryan. The Republicans had a well-financed campaign, and they won the election. McKinleys victory in 1896 marked the end of both the Populist Party and the Farmers Alliances.

# End of the Frontier

By 1870 only small portions of the Great Plains remained unsettled. For most of the next two decades, this land remained open range. In March 1889, government officials announced that homesteaders could file claims on land in what is now the state of Oklahoma. This land had belonged to Creek and Seminole Indians. Within a month, about 50,000 people rushed to Oklahoma to stake their claims. In all, settlers claimed more than 11 million acres of former Indian land in the famous Oklahoma land rush. This huge wave of pioneers was the

> BIOGRAPHY

William Jennings Bryan

> 18601925

William Jennings Bryan was born in Illinois but moved to Nebraska when he finished law school. He was elected Nebraskas first Democratic Congress member in 1890. Through his political campaigns and work as a newspaper editor, he became one of the best-known supporters of Populist ideas. After a dramatic speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, Bryan was nominated for the presidency. He was the youngest presidential candidate up to that time. Although he lost the election, he continued to be an influential speaker and political leader. Many of the reforms that he fought for in the late 1800s, such as an eight-hour workday and woman suffrage, later became law.

> Make Inferences
> Why was Bryans support of Populist ideas important? Westward Expansion 383

Reading Check

> Find Main Ideas
> What event signaled the closing of the frontier?

Oklahoma Land Rush

The rush began at noon on April 22, 1889.

Some witnesses said they could feel the ground shake as 50,000 people raced to claim land.

Single women and widows could claim land on an equal basis with men.

Many settlers were dismayed to find some people had claimed land before the rush legally began. These people were called sooners .Guthrie, Oklahoma Change sought r eason why

last chapter of the westward movement. From the time it began gathering information, the U.S. Census Bureau had mapped a frontier line along the edge of western population. The 1890 census showed that more than 20 million people lived between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast. There can hardly be said to be a frontier line, a Bureau report stated. The disappearance of the line is considered the closing of the frontier.

Summary and Preview In this lesson you read about the challenges set-tlers in the West faced. Despite these difficulties, the promise of open land and a fresh start continued to lure Americans westward.

Lesson 4 Assessment Review Ideas, Terms, and People 1. a. Describe What groups settled in the Great Plains?

b. Explain how did the U.S. government make lands available to western settlers?

c. Elaborate Would you have chosen to settle on the frontier? Why or why not?

2. a. Recall What was the goal of the National Grange?

b. Make Inferences Why did the Populist Party want the government to own railroads and telegraph and telephone systems?

c. Evaluate Do you think farmers were successful in bringing about economic and political change? Explain.

3. a. Recall What was the Oklahoma land rush?

b. Explain Why did the frontier cease to exist in the United States?

Critical Thinking

4. Compare and Contrast In this lesson you learned about the reasons for the rise of populism in the United States. Create a table similar to the one below to explain why Populists sought the changes they did. Module 11 384

Transcript for:Conflicts and Settlements in the West

Transcript for:
Conflicts and Settlements in the West