Causes Of Crime On The Plains

Question 1

1840s and 1850s

Answer 1

No law and order until a territory reached 60,000 people

Question 2

1840s-1860s

Answer 2

Horseback was the fastest way to travel

News of trouble took a long time to reach law officers

Question 3

1850s

Answer 3

The growth of California led to problems with law and order

California was a mining community mainly consisting of gold prospectors- fought over land

Question 4

1851

Answer 4

Famine in China led to Chinese migrants coming to California
From 2,000 in 1851 to 20,000 in 1852
Led to racist violence as some Chinese migrants became miners underground and were accused of ‘stealing’ jobs

Question 5

1850-1851

Answer 5

Many miners moved into underground mines and some became unemployed mines and some became unemployed leading to more crime because of lack of gold found in California

Question 6

1861- 1865

Answer 6

The Civil War causes lawlessness

Deserters (soldiers who ran away) would hide out in Western territories with little law and order

Question 7

Hell on Wheels

Answer 7

Nickname for new towns that developed along the railroad lines
Often when these towns tried to build jail houses drunken cowboys would tear them down

Question 8

1870s-1880s

Answer 8

Cattle barons tried to control the beef market during the beef bonanza years
They bought land which Homesteaders were living on, trying to ruin sheep farmers by killing sheep as they didn’t want the lamb to be more popular than beef
Bought land surrounding water supplies so Homesteaders couldn’t access water
Caused tension

Question 9

1886-1887

Answer 9

After the Great Die Up many ranchers used barbed wire to fence off the land
This created more tension with the Homesteaders as it prevented them getting access to water