The West 1 What is the West 02 04 2014 a Anything west of the Mississippi River b Louisiana Purchase 1803 from France i Napoleon bought it c Mexican War i 1840 obtained land through war as California d Settling the West 1 Part of treaty that ended the war US acquired land such i People in the east viewed the West as an opportunity 1 New chance new start ii American Rail Road Network 1 Allowed for efficient transportation of people and goods across the U S a Took lots of labor to build these lines Immigrants former slaves built them b Materials Wood and Steel 2 Transcontinental Rail Road iii Who went west 1 Miners a Young men single who headed out west in large number after civil war trying to get rich quick b Corporate miners invest in equipment that would dig further into the ground water jets 2 Cattlemen feeding cities in the east a Rancher shipped cattle back to the east acquire land cheaply form federal government i Let cattle roam free in winter ii Perfect area for ranchers because it was grassland iii Sent cowboys to capture them to then send the cattle back on the RR to the east iv Texas Longhorn New unique cattle 3 Farmers a Put up fences to avoid land being destroyed i Homestead Acts Federal government gave away land people who wanted to move west and have a farm ii Life was hard iii Land wasn t the best for agriculture late 1800 s bad weather hard ground e Native Americans of the West i Plains Indians Culture ii Dozens of tribes living scattered throughout the West iii Believed that no single person should own land iv Lived nomadic lifestyle v Very egalitarian vi Were not politically unified vii Leaders or chiefs were identified through accomplishment and the respect others had for them viii Sioux were the largest and most popular plains Indians 1 Teton Western 2 Yankton Central 3 Santee Eastern 2 The Plains Wars a Little Big Horn i Sent in troops involved Sioux resistance ii Custer was in charge iii Led an attack on Sioux in June 1876 and was slaughtered b Concentration i Treaty agreement between different nations 1 Don t sign treaties with own country a Federal Government tried to get tribes to agree to live on specific areas of land in returns of goods and supplies c Resistance i Buffalo Skulls 1 Inhibiting western migration of US 2 Limiting Buffalo a Use buffalo hides for industrialization same with skin for belts b 1895 less than 1000 in less then 30 years buffalos were almost extinct d Nez Perce i Government wanted to round up Nez Perce ii Gave famous speech e Apaches i Well known western tribe 1 Supposed to be confined to reservation in AZ a Tried to avoid being rounded up and put into b Led 5000 American soldiers at its peak on a chase eventually the Indians were caught and reservations surrendered f Wovoka i 1889 very ill solar eclipse 1 met with god 2 Native Americans should be resolved 3 Vision spread across the plains ii Ghost Dance 1 Religious dance 2 Seen as messiah g Wounded Knee i Scared the heck out of the white settlers ii Result U S government sent in to soldiers to stop the potential uprising threat towards the settlers iii Dec 29 1890 moved into on the Sioux reservation 1 Some point shot was fired 2 Death of hundreds of Sioux Indians mothers and iv Significant because it lead to the death of the Sioux Indians babies way of life Terms Homestead Acts Plains Indian Culture Little Big Horn Ghost Dance Wounded Knee Promontory Point 02 04 2014 02 04 2014