· Oklahoma Land Rush
o Oklahoma Indian Territory
§ 5 civilized tribes –Cherokees, Chickasaw, Choctaws, Creek, Seminole
o Land Rush on “No Man’s Land” – April 22, 1889 – white settlers given opportunity to settle far western portion of OK
o Curtis Act 1889 – formally ended Indian communal land ownership thereby legally dissolving Indian Territory
o Oklahoma – “land of the Red Man”
· At the close of the Civil War 360,000 Indians still lived in Trans-Miss. West. Most in Great Plains.
o Plain Indians used guns, horses, relied on Buffalo
§ Sioux & Buffalo – gunpowder, improved guns, hunting by non-Indian traders led to rapid decline in Buffalo population. Exterminating of Buffalo sometimes encouraged by US Army Commanders to bring the Sioux to a point of desperation and cooperation.
· Sioux – “fight or die”
o Many tribes took dramatic steps towards assimilation.
§ Cherokee – learned English, converted to Christianity, established a Constitutional Republic, and adopted yeoman-like lifestyle
o Bureau of Indian Affairs – in exchange for agreeing to live in defined zones (reservations) – Bureau would take care of basic needs and provide guidance.
§ Sometimes corrupt govt. officials withheld relief/supplies for personal gain.
o Medicine Lodge Treaty 1867 – Comanche, Kiowa, Apaches, Cheyenne, Arapahoe moved into reservations in existing Indian Territory (Sioux, Shoshone, Bannocks) . Conditions and cooperation between tribes caused hardships.
· Indian Wars
o Cheyenne – Chief Black Kettle v. Colorado Volunteers
§ Colorado territorial governor John Evans terminates all treaties with tribes in CO.
§ Black Kettle went to US fort for protection – they were given orders to set up at Sand Creek
§ There they were attacked by Colorado Volunteers – 133 dead – Sand Creek Massacre
· Retaliatory raids followed
o Great Sioux War – 1865-67
§ Sioux Warrior, Red Cloud fought US forces to a stalemate in Wyoming.
§ Treaty of Fort Laramie – 1868 – temporary peace
· Sioux were allowed to inhabit their sacred land the Black Hills “Paha Sapa”
§ Treaty undermined when General George Custer reports that large easily extracted veins of ore were in region.
§ Speculators move into Indian lands, General Custer rushes ahead to a site in Montana called Little Bighorn. Met by one of the largest Indian contingents ever assembled. Custer and his men were wiped out – “Custer’s last stand” – 6/25/1876
§ Feb 1877 – Sioux leaders were forced to surrender by pursuing US forces.
o Apaches
§ Generally followed Medicine Lodge Treaty, but in 1874 some bands began to steal cattle seize territory.
§ Led by brilliant strategist, Geronimo, they conducted lightning-swift raids against white outposts earning a reputation as intrepid warriors.
§ Red River War
· Apaches joined by Kiowa and Comanche
· US Army prevails by preventing food supplies to reach Indians. Geronimo surrenders in September of 1886.
o Nez Perce – “pierced nose”
§ Formerly helped white settlers including Lewis and Clark expedition.
§ Gold discovered in their territory (parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon).
· Nez Perce ordered to cede 6 million acres (nine-tenths of their land)
§ Chief Joseph reluctant but willing to cooperate arranged for movement onto reservations. However, younger members of his tribe killed white settlers avenging a death of a peer. This turned into skirmishes with US military.
§ Eventually completely removed from all parts of their sacred land and moved onto reservations.
· Internal Empire
o Mining Towns – gold, silver, and copper found in CO, AZ, CA, OR, WA, AK, & SD
§ Boomtown phenomenon
· CA pop 1848 – 14,000, CA pop 1852 – 223,856
§ Sometimes ore veins were large enough to sustain communities for a long time and created permanent cities – Butte, Montana
o Most consistently successful were the entrepreneurs who invested in mining equipment (drills etc.) and employers of engineers and other people with technical knowledge related to mining.
o Anaconda Copper Mining Co. – example of monopolizing both vertically and horizontally
o 1892 – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – Western Federation of Miners
o Unions began to secure 8 hour workdays and worker’s compensation (by 1910s) – long before many eastern states.
o Early unions refused African Americans, Chinese, Mexicans, and Indians
o Caminetti Act 1893 – US Govt. gives state power to regulate mines (flooding)
§ Sacramento River Commission
· Mormon Sanctuary gone
o US v. Reynolds – US Supreme Court rules against polygamy
o Edmunds Act 1882 – disfranchised polygamists and threatened fines and imprisonment
o Edmunds-Tucker Act 1887 – confiscated all Mormon assets creating a federal commission to oversee elections in territory
o Mormons eventually renounce plural marriage and communal life altogether.
· Mexican Borderland Community
o Mexicans allowed to stay in land gained by US via Mexican Cession and Gadsden Purchase. Mexican culture remained in southwest.
§ Also Roman Catholic Church retains influence in southwest
· Farming Communities on the Plains
o Homestead Act 1862 – 160 acres for free, but must improve land and live on it for five years. Or, settler could buy it for $1.25 an acre for only six months.
§ Success in upper Midwest
§ Not so much in Great Plains interior – Great Desert
· Half of all homesteaders failed to improve land and lost their settlements.
o WINNING
§ Land speculators - bought choice land at bargain prices sold at big profit
§ Railroads – received land grants from government and sold of their holdings near their railroad for top dollar
o Population greatly influenced by railroad – in designing routes and local depots railroad communities put whole communities on the map or left them behind.
§ Western railroads encouraged settlement
· Aggressive promotional campaigns – also targeted foreigners
o Santa Fe Railroad agent CB Schmidt enticed 60,000 Germans to settle along their rail line.
§ benefits - Long term loans, free passage to west
o 2 million Europeans settled the Great Plains between 1870-1900
§ 25% of Nebraska foreign born in 1870
· Heavy German influx
· Communities eventually flourished and served the larger agricultural region
o Grand Island, NE; Fargo, ND;
o Social hierarchy based on education (doctors, lawyers, etc.) and investment property
· World’s Breadbasket
o Commercial farms employed the most extensive and intensive agricultural methods in the world.
§ John Deere – “singing plow” 1837
§ Cyrus McCormick’s reaper – mass produced in 1850s
§ Harvester – 1870s
· Automatic binder – 1880s
§ 1875 farmer could only plant about 8 acres – 1890, 135 acres
o Wheat became chief grain and not only fed domestic households but became a chief export
§ International demand high, profits were great
o California Agribusiness
§ Investors spent a lot of money on latest technologies, building dams and canals. Farming became chief business of CA
· 2/3 of arable land in CA was in 1000 acre farms
· CA national leader in wheat production 1880
· Took advantage of new refrigerated cars – cherries, apricots, oranges
o Sunkist, Sun Maid
o Toll on Land
§ Timber Culture Act – 1873 – allotted homesteaders an additional 160 acres of land in return for planting and cultivating 40 acres of trees.
§ National Reclamation Act – 1902 – added 1 million acres of irrigated land to the US
· States added 10 million more
· Irrigation also had a huge environmental impact – Lake Tulare CA – 760 square mile lake completely drained.
§ General Land Revision Act – 1891 – Gave the president authority to establish forest reserves to protect watersheds from lumbering, overgrazing, forest fires etc.
§ Forest Management Act – set the government up for large scale regulatory activities
· Forest Service 1905
