American West Flashcards
Why did smaller ranches become the model for the cattle industry in 1887?
The Great Die up, smaller herds easily found, easier to provide water, easier to guard, reduced the supply of beef which made prices go up
How did Joseph McCoy set up Abilene?
Bought 450 acres, built a stockyard, negotiated a railroad side track, constructed a hotel, marked out the Chisolm Trail
What were the three types of Chief in Indian society?
War chief, Spiritual chief, Diplomatic chief
Why did Whites want to give Indians money?
To civilise them, and make them act more White - dependent on American life rather than Indian life
What act established a permanent Indian Frontier?
Indian Trade and Intercourse Act 1834 - Kept whites and Indians apart, prevented sale of guns and alcohol to Indians
What caused soil erosion?
Drought and Overstocking cattle
Who were the Pinkerton National Detective Agency?
Private law enforcement used to track down outlaws and bring them to justice
Why was there an Exoduster movement?
Oppression of Black Americans in the South, Individuals promoted a black emigration, Kansas was anti-slavery, Homestead Act
How did the Indians hunt Buffalo?
Lived a nomadic life (followed the Buffalo), Horses, Bows and Arrows
Which individual made an open range ranch between Denver, Colorado and Wyoming?
John Iliff
What were the problems with the Homestead Act?
- Only 16% of the land was used
- More homestead land was bought by railroad companies
- 60% of homesteads were not proved up
- Rich landowners would use employees to gain more land
Name 3 problems getting the Fort Laramie Treaty signed?
- Choosing a representative of each tribe
- Getting all tribes involved
- Agreeing boundaries (Indians did not understand this)
- Translation
Why did Red Cloud’s War start?
Prospectors using the Bozeman trail, the US army planned to build forts along it in Indian Territory
Why did Little Crow’s war start?
Banned getting money and food if they left reservation to hunt, were given mouldy food, whites settling on their land
What did Red Cloud do during his war?
Attacked soldiers building forts, Fetterman’s trap (killed 80 soldiers), Surrounded Fort Phil Kearny
Name three different Nations/Tribes of Indian
Crows, Cheyennes, Sioux (Dakota, Lakota, Nakota), Apaches, Omaha’s, Comanches, Pawnees, Kiowas
What happened to Little Crow after his war?
Scalped and decapitated by a bounty hunter
What year was the Great Die Up?
What happened?
Winter1886/7 - Harsh cold winter killed 15% of all open range cattle
What was the Indian Appropriation Act 1851?
Moved Plain Indians in Indian Territory onto Reservations
How did the railroad help Homestead life?
- Travel easier
- Order products that would be transported close to them
- Towns started to be built
Name 4 ways people broke the law in the West?
Claim Jumping
Salting a claim
Racism
Prostitution
Murder
Robbery
What did the Indians use Buffalo for?
Food
Knives (Bones)
Blankets (Fur)
Soap (Fat)
Hairbrush (tongue)
Tools and Glue (Hooves)
What was the impact on cowboy’s after the end of the open range?
Less adventurous lives, lived in bunkhouses, had to patrol the land
What two acts did the Northern states pass in 1862?
The Homestead Act
Pacific Railroad Act
Which city in the West had the most gangs?
San Francisco
What is a Vigilance Committee?
A group of ordinary people who punish suspected lawbreakers themselves instead of relying on the justice system
What are the levels of Indian society?
Nation -> Tribes -> Bands
What was agreed in the Second Fort Laramie Treaty 1868?
- Bozeman trail closed
- Great Sioux Reservation was only for the Sioux
What is a ‘long drive’?
Herding cattle over long distances
What was built next to the Transcontinental Railroad?
Transcontinental Electric Telegraph
What year was the American Civil War?
1861
Why was Red Cloud victorious when other Indians were not?
Did not attack white settlers only soldiers
What did Little Crow do to start a war?
- Stole food from storehouses
- Burned agency buildings
- Attacked settler towns and army forts
- 600 settlers and soldiers killed
What were the two railroad companies that built the Transcontinental Railroad?
Which company built from where?
Union Pacific - E -> W
Central Pacific W -> E
How much was a cow worth in Chicago?
How much was a cow worth in Texas?
Chicago - $40
Texas - $5
Why would people use the Oregon trail in the 1840s?
- Farmland in Oregon
- Religious migration
- Gold Rush 1848/9
- Manifest Destiny
Which treaty with the Indians lead to the Transcontinental Railroad?
Fort Laramie Treaty 1851 (Could build forts and have surveyors on the Plains)
Which individuals made a trail through Texas to sell cattle in the West?
And what was the trail called?
Charles Goodnight
Oliver Loving
Goodnight-Loving trail
What tactics would ranchers use against homesteaders?
- File claims where water was
- Buy railroad company land which made it impossible for homesteaders to get public land (chessboard)
- Take them to court
- Violence
What dies Lawlessness mean?
There are laws but they are not enforced
What was the Oklahoma Land Rush?
Settlers rushing to make claims on land in the middle of an Indian reservation
Who killed Billy the Kid?
Sheriff Pat Garrett
How did the Timber Culture Act help Homesteaders?
- Trees would act as a wind break and shelter crops
- Provide timber for houses, fences, furniture
- Provides fuel
What was the Timber Culture Act 1873?
Claim 160 more acres of land if you planted trees on a quarter of it
Which livestock trader created Abilene?
Joseph McCoy
Name three problems farming on the Plains?
Low Rainfall, Few Trees, Climate extremes, Deep roots (Virgin Soil), Fires, Grasshoppers
Why did the American Civil War start?
- Disagreements on Slavery
- Disagreements on how to settle the West
- Disagreements on the Transcontinental Railroad
What were the three inventions that helped Homestead life?
Windmills (1854) (Steel Blades - 1870), Barbed wire (1874), Sulky Plow (1875)
Why was the Mormon Migration successful?
- Set off in April
- Enough food for a year
- Portable boat
- Had a party that went ahead
- Left markers
- Planted vegetables along the way
- Split into manageable groups all with different roles
What was the Indian Removal Act 1830?
Forced Indians in the Eastern States to move west of the Mississippi River
Which mountain range was gold found in 1848/9?
Sierra Nevada
Which Indian war was successful?
Red Cloud’s War - Second Fort Laramie Treaty 1868
Why did the Donner Party fail?
- Tried a shortcut
-Arguments
-Set off late - Stuck in the snow
What was agreed in the Fort Laramie Treaty 1851?
- Indians wouldn’t attack Indians
- Whites wouldn’t attack Indians
- Indians to allow whites to build forts and roads on the plains
- Whites pay Indians $50,000 a year for good behaviour
Name three Cattle Barons
Joseph McCoy
Charles Goodnight
Oliver Loving
John Iliff
The Homestead Act
- What is ‘filing a claim’?
- What is ‘proving up’?
- Pay $10 for 160 acre plot of land in the plains
- Build a house, plant 5 acres of crops, live there for 5 years and pay $30
Why did Black Kettle want a Peace treaty with the US government?
Cheyenne Dog soldiers refused to leave reservation and attacked prospectors
Why was Black Kettle moved off his reservation?
Gold Rush in Colorado
What happened to Black Kettle at Sand Creek?
US Government murdered 130 Men, Women, Children (Indians) led by Colonel Chivington a Civil War hero
