1. Ch. 16
The Conquest of the West
After the Civil war, a dynamic period in American
history opened-the settlement of the West. The
lives of Western miners, farmers and ranchers
were often filled with great hardships, but the
wave of American settlers continued. Railroads
hastened this migration. During this period, many
Native Americans lost their homelands and their
way of life
2. What is the West?
• A mix of myth with reality
• The “Great American Desert” Stephen Long
• Diverse land and inhabitants
4. Native Americans
• The Great Plains were
home to many Native
Americans
• Some were farmers
• But the majority were
nomads—roamed the
vast distances following
their source of food—
the buffalo
• As ranchers, miners and
farmers moved out to
the Plains—Native
Americans were
deprived of their
hunting grounds
• The Buffalo was killed
for sport—by the
millions
5.
6. Hispanics
• New Mexico, Texas and California—as the Anglo
American presence increased and new ranching
and farming operations followed, Hispanics
were no longer in control of the region and
were relegated to unskilled farm work and
industrial labor
8. Homestead Act
• “Rain follows the Plow”
• Homestead Act- the
government would give
up to 160 acres of land
and receive the title to
that land after 5 years.
• Life was hard
17. Migration from the East
• After the Civil War, over 2 million
came from the East—Scandinavians,
Germans, Irish, Russians, Czechs and
others
18. The Changing Western Economy
• In the 19th century the region produced 3
major industries: mining, ranching and
commercial farming
• Gold, silver and copper
• Boom to Bust
19. Cattle Kingdom
• Ranchers—at first
ranching was not
practical—no water,
cattle could not
survive—tough
prairie grasses—but
in Texas—The
Longhorn—lean and
rangy—the longhorn
could survive.
20. Open Range-a vast area of grassland
owned by the government.
• Hispanic cowhands
developed the tolls
and techniques for
rounding up and
driving cattle.
• Lariat, lasso,
stampede
•
•
•
•
•
•
After the Civil War meat
prices soared
Millions of longhorns roamed
in Texas
How to move the cattle to the
RR
Long cattle drives-The
Chisholm Trail
Barbed wire
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