·         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