the new south and the west 1865 to 1900 after completion of this unit of study the student should be able to demonstrate a general knowledge and understanding of the following in what ways the new south emerged in the late 19th century what was the crop lien system in the south explain how it shaped the region after the civil war how and did white sanders adopt jim crow segregation laws and take away african-americans rights to vote at the end of the 19th century who were the various groups of migrants to the west after the civil war why did they move there describe the experience as a miners farmers ranchers and women in the west in the late 19th century how did the federal government's post civil war policies in the west affect native americans and finally how did the south and west change by 1900 the myth of the new south the lost cause politics in the south after the civil war was much the same as before many white senators discuss the civil war as a lost cause nostalgia romanticizing wealthy cotton growing plantations in an area of white supremacy and race-based slavery while white southerners are marching backwards toward an idealized past they're at the same time projecting an image of progress and economics and technology the new south after the civil war the south was in shambles with its social political and economic systems broken the region needed a new vision the new south envisioned by henry woodfin grady and a number of other senators involved the introduction of industry and diversification of agriculture and manufacturing grady the editor of the atlanta constitution pictured a perfect democracy of farms and industries however the new south still assumed that white southerners could remain in control and that black southerners must accept a state of political social and economic inferiority textile medals during the civil war the south had suffered from a lack of manufacturing centers this change in the new south with factories and textile mills springing up in record numbers before the end of the century by 1900 the southern textile industry produced more cotton fabric than new england the former leading producer the growth of this industry provided jobs with low wages and attracted former farm workers as well as women and children from subsidized farming communities such jobs provided opportunities for mostly white workers and mill owners sought to encourage a sense of community and tried to prevent the growth of labor unions the tabacco industry the rise of the tobacco industry is due to the duke family in durham north carolina washington duke was able to produce 25 000 pounds of tobacco annually by night 1872 his son james buchanan duke spent money on advertising and perfected mechanized mass production of cigarettes due to cigarette rolling machines his primary competitors would agree to join forces with him and in 1890 duke bought out most of them creating the american tobacco company and would control 90 of cigarette production if the name sounds familiar duke university railroads the pre-war south were not the same gauge making it difficult to link the lines across the south a post-war railroad construction boom promoted commercial agriculture industry in the south during reconstruction and in the period of the new south uniform gauges and connections to major trunk lines in the north linked southerners to the rest of the nation northern interests however owned the major southern railroads in 1899 and most of the products flowing northward were raw materials to be processed by northern industry or shipped elsewhere by northern merchants in other words the south was becoming a colony of the north other new industries the coca-cola soft drink industry would spring up in atlanta georgia and become an important economic aspect of the south railroads although the new south fosters growth in manufacturing agriculture still rained and cotton was still king the reconstruction of the south and its rare lines improved the shipping of crops to market in the introduction of the refrigerated rail car allow crops to ship farther without spoiling southern railroad construction boomed in the 1880s tying the section together and stimulating the rise of the interior cities birmingham steel coal mining provided jobs along the appalachian mountains and as it grew into a steel milk making city birmingham alabama became known as the pittsburgh of the south with the expansion of southern towns and industry in general population growth also impacted the lumber industry as more americans sought to construct new houses and businesses the redeemers were a small group of democrats were known by the redeemers were in charge of the south and they gave themselves credit for saving the south from the yankee carpet battles thus redeeming the south the failings of the new south southern poverty the old plantation system gave way to tenant farmers or share cropping farmers work land they did not own and traded a set percentage of their annual yield to the right to work the field the next season cash in the south was lacking so credit was the only way tenant farmers survived by 1900 an estimated 70 percent of farmers did not own land they worked share cropping and crop lean systems undermine the economic opportunities for poor white and black americans alike racism persisted and helped keep these groups from working together to escape multi-generational cycles of poverty the crop lien system was an arrangement made between the black farmer and a merchant who sometimes charged up to 60 percent interest on the futures of the farmer's crop the tenant farmers paid cash rent to the land owner and then was free to choose and manage his own crop and free to choose where he would live the tenant farming system resulted in significant damage to the south without ownership of the land tenant farmers were required to grow high yield crops in high demand this trained the land of nutrients vital for the future seasons it also undermines sharecroppers or tenant's ability to grow their own foods to eat or sell forcing families to purchase food from local merchants and leading to further debt in addition the increased use of fertilizers put the land at greater risk when the land was depleted tenant farmers moved to another field in share cropping sharecroppers generally gave up to 50 percent of the crap to landlords it forced southern blacks to be more economically dependent on whites landlords typically owned stores where tenant farmers had to shop the landowner dictated the crop and provided the sharecropper with a place to live as well as the siege tools in return for a share of the harvested crop hence sharecroppers were perpetually in debt to the landowner share tendency was the farmworker chose the crop he would plant and brought his own supplies then he gave a share of the crop to the land owner this map shows the share cropping and tendencies between 1880 and 1900 and the percentage of farms and which were not owned by the farmers who worked them falling cotton prices after the civil war farmers from the south grew more cotton and it dominated between 1877 and 1900 railroad construction allowed farmers to plant more cotton but the region became an importer of food after record-breaking explosions in supply led to catastrophic decline in prices the more cotton farmers grew the less money they made the cash poor economy meant credit dominated cotton was the only commodity easily converted into cash and so became the only accepted for credit so it was often used as collateral on loans the web of credit extended from farmers to local merchants and then also to city merchants race relations during the 1890s disenfranchising african-americans african-americans born during the reconstruction period after the civil war who had not lived through the dehumanization of slavery uh and were more likely to have access to education tended to be more assertive and immediate in their demands for equality although their efforts had some positive results a wave of violent anti-african-american sentiment ran rampant in the 1890s south especially among young white southerners many white settlers viewed the education of african americans as a danger to the social order and felt it must be stopped to keep black southerners in their place that is in a state of social political and economic subservience even compared with poor white farmers the republican party prior to disenfranchisement black's participation in politics in the south was active and influential they joined the republican party and voted republican after reconstruction a movement to reduce or eliminate black vote in the south began in the 1880s the question facing white democratic legislatures in the south was how can you legally disenfranchise blacks without violating the 15th amendment the u.s constitution allows states to determine the eligibility of the electorate so laws would have to be passed that legally would apply to all races but were used to eliminate the black republican vote here are several of the plans first the mississippi plan it was a series of amendments to the state constitution of mississippi that would set the pattern a disenfranchisement and nine more states would follow and enacted in 1890. it required a resident for voting two years in the state and one year local election districts and this was specifically aimed at african-american tenant farmers who are in the habit of moving each year in search of better economic opportunities the second part of plans that if he had committed certain crimes you could not vote and the last part in order to vote people had to pay all taxes on time including the poll tax disenfranchisement included a variety of measures such as complicating the registration voting process as well as instituting the secret ballot the most commonly form of disenfranchised was the poll tax a tax imposed on voters is a requirement for voting most southern states have imposed poll taxes after 1900 as a way to disenfranchise black people the measures also restricted the white vote so then comes to grandfather clause a rule that required potential voters to demonstrate that their grandfathers had been eligible to vote used in some southern states after 1890 to limit the black electorate as most black men's grandfathers had been slaves by keeping them from voting as time passed now these men's children and their grandchildren would be banned from voting in the future race relations remained fluid between 1877 and the early 1890s many african americans voted and held office segregation was the rule in church and schools and some organizations in some public places but whites and blacks conducted business with each other and otherwise maintained cordial relations it was with the civil rights cases of 1883 that the supreme court asserted that the 14th amendment applied only to cases in which the state infringed on the rights of african americans therefore it was perfectly legal when an individual did so new segregation legislation focused on railroads and providing separate but equal facilities in 1892 homer plessy an octroon who is a person of seven eights white and one eighth black ancestry governments assign children of mixed unions to the ethnic group which the dominant group is perceived as being subordinate so a person's race was really determined by not by color of skin but by blood that he had deliberately violated louisiana's separate car act of 1890 which required equal but separate train car accommodations for white and non-white mass passengers during his trial plessy's lawyers argued that the state law which required east louisiana railroad to segregate trains had denied him his rights under the 13th and 14th amendment of the united states constitution which provided for equal treatment under the law however the judge john howard ferguson ruled that louisiana had the right to regulate railroad companies while they operated within the state boundaries in 1896 the united states supreme court took up the case in world 7-1 that separate but equal was constitutional in the plessy v ferguson case the lone dissenting judge john marshall harlan argued that even if many white americans in the late 19th century consider themselves socially superior to americans of other races the united states constitution was colorblind they could not permit any classes among citizens in matters of civil rights here's the irony harlan was born into a slave-holding family from kentucky this brought about the jim crow laws due to this ruling of segregation in the south jim crow laws spread throughout the southern states legal segregation became the norm and racial stereotypes and tensions only seemed to grow more pronounced in north carolina in wilmington african americans composed a majority of the 20 000 city residents in 1894 in 1896 they joined with republicans and populists to choose their own slate of elected officials a stunt that the minority white democrats found unacceptable on november 10 1898 more than 2 000 white men and boys rampaged from the town destroying african american-owned businesses and killing as many as 100 african-americans they then forced elected officials out of office and appointed their own slate of officers while raising four children well sustained her commitment to sinning racial and gender discrimination african americans responded in different ways some fought back against the racism in the area and faced lynch mobs or legal punishment as a result others left the south and sought opportunities elsewhere and still others remain and adopted a solitary lifestyle to keep from being noticed yet still others who remained sought solace and support within african-american community groups and organizations unexpectedly some african-american entrepreneurs actually benefited from segregation due to the demand of certain services for the black community an outspoken african-american activist was ida b wells she came to the public attention when she was denied a seat on a railroad car due to a race she filed suit and won but this was overturned on appeal to the tennessee supreme court from this event she founded her life's calling and helped fund found the naacp in 1909. wells also fought for justice as a journalist and was the editor of a newspaper memphis free speech women's suffrage was another one of our passionate causes booker t washington up from slavery was the autobiography of booker t washington born into slavery washington walked over 400 miles just to attend a private school he slept under the boardwalk and cleaned the one-room schoolhouse to pay for his tuition he'd become the founder of the tuskegee institute a historically black vocational training school he went on to become the nation's most prominent african-american leader washington gave a speech in atlanta known as the atlanta compromise he was is the foremost black educator in the 1890s and he believed that race should first achieve economic stability and that would ultimately provide for the advancement of social status washington urged blacks to accommodate themselves to segregation in a speech called the atlanta compromise accepting segregation and disenfranchisement for african americans in exchange for white assistance in education and job webb dubois was an advocate of civil rights a fierce advocate for black education and civil rights w.e.b dubois was born in massachusetts and would become the first african-american to graduate from harvard university he worked for immediate acceptance of an equal status of african americans with their anglo neighbors dubois challenged washington he became disillusioned about southern whites aiding blacks in his book the soul of black folks dubai asserted that black americans were divided between their status as americans and as african-americans in a state of double consciousness and attacked the stance of accommodation expressed by washington he was a member of the national association of the advancement of colored people the naacp which started out as an interracial organization founded in 1910 dedicated to restoring africa american political and social rights although washington wells and dubois sought to promote equality for african americans they often disagreed on the timing and approaches that should be used to achieve their goals the next section we're going to now cover is the new west the settling of the new west the western landscape between 1870 and 1900 americans settled more land in the united states than had occupied before the civil war about a third of the american population lived west of the mississippi river by 1900 the great plains offered little rainfall and few rivers or trees which seemed useless to the pioneer they were used to log cabins rail fences as well as traditional methods of tilling the soil this was also called the green american desert white cylinders believe there is no way one can make a living out there this of course would change with the coming of the transcontinental railroad and in the subduing a native americans in the latter part of the 19th century the duality of the west the american west was one on one hand became symbolic of both economic opportunity and individual liberty on the other hand it came to represent a region of irresponsibility lawlessness and economic and cultural exploitation especially of native americans the migratory stream native americans and hispanic american populations already lived in the west with time they were joined by migrants that included white americans african-americans and native americans from the eastern portions of the united states immigrants from northern europe and canada tended to move into a the northern plains regions where they found fertile soil in addition to anglo-americans mexican south americans chinese and european immigrants tended to move into the southwestern region after the civil war african americans by the thousands and former slaves migrated west to seek new opportunities in an area known for the availability of land benjamin papp singleton played a pivotal role in promoting migration of former slaves to the american west especially to kansas these freedmen were known as exodusters because they made their exodus from the south this migration died out in the 1880s as many exodusters were unprepared for the harsh living conditions of the plains to employ these out-of-work farmers the army created two colored calvary units in the west known as buffalo soldiers by 1890 around 520 000 african americans lived in the west and the african americans made up about 25 percent of the cowboys in the texas region western mining the gold rush of 1849 established a pattern in the search of precious materials gold or another valuable material were discovered a rush of prospectors flat to the area businesses followed to provide the needs of the migrants and prospectors moved on to a newer fine when the mine panned out corporate mining in the late 19th century individual miners were replaced by large companies using equipment from the industrial revolution high pressured water cannons scoured the land of top soil and deep shaft mining drilled caverns into the earth to search for ore farmers in the central valley in california complained that their farms and the area's fertile lands were damaged by industrial mining practices in 1878 they formed the anti-debris association as a result in 1884 after trying a variety of methods to address the concerns federal judge lorenzo sawyer ruled in the farmer's favor in woodruff v north bloomfield gravel mining company mining boom towns male dominated towns known as boom towns due to rapid growth sprang up in areas in the southwest around mining operations tombstone arizona for example evolved around a silver mining site deadwood in the dakota territory was another example of a boom town such towns tended to have a primary male population and the few women in the camps had limited employment options with prostitution being the largest source of jobs saloons were prevalent in mining camps violence was frequent and often associated with ethic and racial differences personal violence was less common than collective acts of violence a large portion of immigrant groups including the chinese and mexicans suffered from discrimination in many southwest boom towns the famous comstack globe produced a large amount of gold and silver in an area more than 50 feet wide and thousands of feet deep like other mining operations it attracted settlers this attraction brought population boom across the southwest led to colorado's amendments to the union in 1876. but the partisan nature of the process hindered additional territorial requests for statehood many democrats were reluctant to create states out of predominantly republican leaning regions however when the republican party gained control of both the houses of congress in 1888 north dakota south dakota montana and washington became states in 1889. idaho and wyoming gained statehood in 1890 and utah became his state in 1896. in 1907 oklahoma formerly indian territory became a state arizona a new mexico then officially joined the united states in 1912. life in the west the cattle boom after the civil war industrial expansion and railroad enlarged the market for texas beef texas became the starting point the plains of texas had wild longhorn cattle roaming free all you had to do was corral them brand them and then drive them north with a near extension of the buffalo came the rise of the cattle industry the terminus for the cattle drive was whichever rail line was closest as railways continue to extend west the destinations of the cattle drive change joseph mccoy made an important decision when he established a northern shipping point for cattle in abilene kansas the cattle trails the drive lasted about three months over the chisholm good night loving western or sedalia and baxter spring trails texas this was the starting point they drove the cattle up the chisholm trail to abilene texas kansas and between 1867 and 1870 one and one half million cattle reach abilene these cow towns were where the cattle trade simulated urban development in these cow towns but not all thrive abilene dodge city cheyenne and ellsworth the invention of barbed wire fencing by joseph glidden in 1873 allowed farmers and ranchers to choose their farms and ranches the enclosure of lands frustrated small ranchers who depended on open ranges for their livelihood and caused problems for native american migration patterns confiscating claims of land and water boundaries along the ethnic prejudices triggered range wars violent disruptions between ranchers and farmers chicago gateway to the west and the western economy chicago was serviced by nine railroads and located on lake michigan it has lumber yards grain elevators stockyards and slaughterhouses it also became a magnet for immigrants seeking jobs frank norris in his novel the pit said of chicago that it imposed a domination upon a reach of a country larger than many kingdoms of the old world it was the meat packing industry places like cincinnati and chicago and started not with cattle but with hogs cincinnati was given the nickname porkopolis in 1850. chicago slaughtered which are 20 000 hogs cincinnati 330th 4 000 each in 1862 chicago would displace cincinnati due to the civil war and the high demand for poor it was refrigeration that would make a major impact the ice cut from lake michigan allowed chicago to transport their pork all the way to the east coast but there's no ice in the summer gustavus f swift experimented with refrigerated rail cars and his competition was a phillip armor who developed refrigerated freight cars that could ship processed meat with a refrigerated car chicago became dominant in the meatpacking corporations swift and armor would branch out trade with grains and corn and packing plants in kansas city in omaha and were responsible for processing most of the meat in chicago farming on the plains the homesteaders the homestead act of 1862 opened up for cultivation the last portion of the great plains providing 160 acres of land free to anyone who could live and plot and farm on it for five years but restrictions limited to the public land and most settlers the great plains or they had purchased it farming in the west required a much larger scale of farming to achieve its success 160 acres was good in the east but was extremely difficult on the plains by 1900 400 000 families had tried to settle on the great plains the various challenges they faced were many families received only 10 percent of the land the rest went to railroads miners cattlemen speculators and state governments the pioneers in the great plains faced all the falling problems scarcity of water that harm survival and domestic labor a shortage of trees which meant there was little wood for housing and sod houses being plagued by snakes mice and insects the santa fe ring western settlement was promoted by newspapers land companies steamship companies and most importantly railroad advertising and promotional campaigns migrants flooded into every area of the west various ethnic groups established ethnic communities in specific areas in the southwest the large infusion of anglos undermined traditional hispanic society they seized millions of acres through fraud in legal manipulation that would be known as the santa fe ring from mexican families that had worked their land for generations commercial farming operations increased as small farmers were unable to compete economically several hard winters in a period of drought led to the end of the cattle drives and the open range gave way to be enclosed women in the west here we see a woman in her family in the front of their side house the difficult life on the prairie led to more egalitarian marriages than that were found in other regions of the country because women had to play so many roles women's work included transporting water often over long distances some women farmed land themselves married women operated the family farm when their husbands worked elsewhere plain settlers especially women experienced isolation and loneliness communities began to be a form as local populations grew it was women who worked to form communities by organizing social activities and institutions such as churches and schools women in the west face the same societal constraints as in the east however many women who became widowed in the west assumed control of their land and obtain independence that would not have been allowed back east the fate of western indians as the line of frontier moved further west indians who had been forced west by treaties and congressional degrees once again found anglo settlers encroaching on land that had been promised to them unwilling to move again they attacked the immigrants as they passed through or attempted to settle their land in the 1830s the federal government policy was to separate whites and indians moving native americans west of the mississippi river expanding white settlement devastated the native americans who already were competing with each other for limited resources on the plains the cause of many indian deaths in the great plains was due to smallpox or starvation or the decimation of the buffalo herds and then the of course the indians lack of humidities to new diseases by the early 1850s settlers sought to occupy indian territory and the land for the railroad further cut into indian land the federal government implemented the reservation system to relocate tribes promising annual provisions return oklahoma state territory had the greatest percentage of its area as indian reservation land in the mid-1890s the sand creek massacre the cheyenne raided trails near the sand creek reservation the tribe was ordered off the reservoir they stay on november 29 1864 the civil war was taking place in the eastern and central united states colonel john m chivington and his 700 militiamen attacked a group of cheyenne and arapahoe women children elders and a few men near the sand creek in colorado most of the men were out hunting chief black kettle attempted to show that the group was peaceful by waving an american and a white flag however the militiamen ignored those signals and killed scalped and mutilated about 165 indian women children elders and men shivington a former abolitionist and a methodist minister claimed that he and his men had won a victory against one thousand entrenched cheyenne warriors americans at first healed him as a hero not so others in the company such as captain celia soul reported more truthful accounts of the massacre a congressional investigation into the event condemned chivington's actions but seoul was murdered in denver and his murderers were never prosecuted spreading conflict many native american groups across the west responded to the sand creek massacre with outrage arapaho cheyenne sioux and others attack groups of white settlers in response many confederate military prisoners were recruited to fight united for the united states in the west and congress established two colored or african american cavalry regiments but the cheyenne called buffalo soldiers these soldiers were known for their valor and hard work as they helped fight in the indian wars and built infrastructures across the west they were called buffalo soldiers due to the kinky hair that the natives americans said looked similar to that of the hen of a buffalo indian relocation in 1866 chief redcloud asked the government to stop building forts along the bozeman trail crazy horse of the city nation routed detachment led by captain fetterman that was sent to defeat them which would be known as the battle of 100 slain in 1867 a congressional committee recommended that the indian peace commission be formed to remove the causes and the wars and massacres between the united states the indian tribes in the west congress decided that the best approach would be to persuade nomadic nations to move to the federal reservations on lands not yet claimed by american settlers despite misgivings the kiawahs comanches arapaho and the cheyenne agreed to move to western oklahoma at a conference in medicine lodge kansas in 1867. the treaty of fort laramie of 1868 acknowledged the u.s defeat and the great sioux war in 1868 and supposedly guaranteed to sue perpetual land and hunting rights in south dakota wyoming and montana the western sioux the lakotas signed the treaty of fort laramie in 1868 agreeing to settle into black hills reservation in the southwest portion of the dakota territory however sitting bull and crazy horse expected to use the traditional hunting grounds and even though the lakota sioux signed a treaty sitting bull and crazy horse tribes did not and saw this as not complying but to the united states they were part of the sioux nation and must comply regardless if they did not sign it grants indian policy whereas many americans ignored the interest of native americans in the west president grant argued that they should be treated better and have the right to become americans most americans disagreed especially when native american interests ran up against the economic opportunities pursued by minors farmers rare rotors ranchers and so on generals william tecunzi sherman and phillip sheridan's basic attitude towards the indians can be summed up by the statement allegedly by sheridan the only good indian is a dead indian cluster in the sioux in 1874 miners find gold in the black hills and pour into the reservation violating the black hills reservation of the sioux the soon the arapaho protests lieutenant colonel george armstrong custer is sent to investigate and reports there is gold the gold brings in more miners and the us offers to purchase the land but red cloud refuses in 1876 will begin the great sioux war custer and his troops attacked sue hunting parties who fought back against american miners the great sioux war was the united states largest military campaign in the 1870s or following the end of the civil war it lasted 15 months and included 15 battles in the present states of wyoming montana south dakota and nebraska in june of 1876 custer makes a series of mistakes underestimating the indian strength his men and horses exhausted he split up his regiment and custer and his detachment of 210 soldiers moved against a sioux and northern cheyenne in arapahoe encampment along the little bighorn river to the montana territory only to find themselves surrounded by more than 2500 warriors led by crazy horse in the end custer and all of his men were killed cheyenne women pierced custer's eardrums to show that he should have listened to the warnings to stay away from their lands the rest of the dead soldiers of the seventh cavalry would be scout their legs and arms chopped off due to the sioux belief and not wanting your enemies to chase you in the afterlife although the battle was a decisive sioux victory it led grant and the congress to abandon their more peaceful policies and to send troops and supplies to wage total war against the sioux and their allies by the spring of 1877 crazy horse and most of the sioux had surrendered the sewer finally defeated because it was difficult for them to sustain their traditional indian economy last resistance the near extinction of the buffalo also led to the decline of native americans resistance to a white settlement indians used every partner of buffalo in some manner relying on them for substance demand for buffalo skins following the civil war caused a dramatic increase in their slaughter a buffalo hunter killed on average 100 a day taking only their skins the widespread slaughter along with the increase in forage with horses cattle and sheep greatly reduced the number of buffalo in the south the nez pierce peaceful vans attempted to hold out along the salmon river in idaho and eastern oregon in 1877 however chief joseph led about 650 nez pierce on a 1300 mile track across montana in an attempt to reach canada u.s soldiers stopped them just before they reached the border and chief joseph gave a stirring and eloquent speech that highlighted the sense of sorrow inherit in his surrender in 1886 with the capture of geronimo the chief of the chukawa apaches after fighting american forces the apache band were dodgedly pursued by the united states army about 5 000 troops for 15 years that singled the end of the indian wars geronimo agreed to stay on the san carlos reservation in arizona and new mexico however the apaches that he led and his van were sent to saint augustine and were prisoned from april 1886 to may 1887 at fort marion today known as the castillo de san marcos a majority of his band perished due to diseases geronimo what was left eventually moved to oklahoma where they learned farming at fort sill wounded knee assimilation taking a native american land was considered the first step in requiring native americans to adopt white ways education religion were the vehicle for this change often supplemented by military force right reformers on the board of indian commissioners believed that indians should be assimilated by teaching them to be christians off-reservation boarding schools isolated indian children as they were taught white ways in 1884 a criminal code made it illegal for native americans to practice their tribal religion in 1888 bovoca jack wilson a pieta in western nevada dreamed of a spirit world that included a deliverer who was to come free the indians and restore their homelands to them he told others of this dream and urged him to perform a ceremonial dance wearing a ghost shirt the resulting ghost dance movement spread across much of the west among native american groups and u.s authorities responded in fear the last battle indian policemen were sent to arrest sitting bull after the sioux wars sitting bull had spent several years in buffalo bill's wild west show a kind of a circus that featured celebrities of the old west sidney bull was given as a gift a trick horse that would perform a dance when it heard a gunfire the indian soldiers sent to wounded knee demanded that the sioux give up their firearms they refuse a warrior fires his gun and city bull is killed instantly on the horse that he was sitting on and the horse begins to dance the indians freak out they had believed that the spirit of sitting bull was now in the horse now the seventh calvary on the hills responded with the cannon and gatling guns when they heard the gunfire at the end at least 150 sioux men women and children were slaughtered the indian wars would officially come to an end with the battle of wounded knee although many americans viewed the indian wars as a necessary part of american settlement across the west a growing number of politicians religious leaders and other americans recognized the horrible treatment of native americans helen hunt jackson's a century of dishonor 1881 called attention to the exploitation of native americans interactions and led to many to seek change in related policies the daw's severity act of 1887 undermined tribal power by allowing homestead to white individuals american settlers and policies forced a large number of native american nations that lived in the west once again to relocate the end of the frontier in 1890 the census office could no longer find an area that qualified as a frontier line previously it was defined as an area where fewer than two people per square mile resided in addition historian frederick jackson turner's frontier thesis shaped the way that many view the experiences settlement patterns in the history of the american southwest many agricultural communities in the late 19th century grew disillusioned with the new west mechanization of agriculture enabled some farmers to become wealthy whereas many homesteaders and smaller farmers had to abandon their land and seek wage labor often as migrant workers these and other frustrations gave rise to the populist movement in the 1890s