History American West Flashcards
Native Americans : Chiefs and Councils
Natives lift of schemes of chiefs and councils to lead their bands.
- Chiefs were leaders of plains Indian society
- They were always Men
- Each Tribe could have many chiefs
- Usually they always had a War Chief, Spiritual Chief and Chief negotiator
- Chiefs names were assigned to them during a dream they would see supposedly showing a sign from the Gods of their power and their duties for the Tribe
Native Americans : Bands
Natives didnt live in conventional families instead lived in bands
- Many different tribes lived on the Great Plains
- Each tribe was made up of different Bands
- Bands could be several hundred people or just 20/30 people
- Usually based on friendships or ancestors bonds with eachother
Native Americans : Warrior Brotherhood
As well as Bands and the tribal councils there was brother hoods that would work together to prevent attacks from animals or people
- Young men who joined to protect
- aimed to show the bravery and skill of fighting other tribes or animals
- Natives used Counting Coup as an attack method, this would be a warrior running up to the opponent and tapping them with a stick to show the bravery to charge and come back alive
Native Americans : The Great Spirit
The holy God that natives worshipped.
- Also Known as Wakan Tanka
- Among the Sioux tribe and other tribes is known as the supreme being god.
- Conception of universal spiritual force
- Found in the California Hills
Native Americans : Nature
Natives were well connected with nature
- They believed their lives were not more important than an animals.
- They specifically hunted buffalo for their usages
- they would leave the buffalo heart out for the Gods to grow a new life from
- Follow in “Nomadic Lifestyle”
Native Americans : Laws Effecting Natives
Several Laws changed the Us Relationship with the Indians
Indian Removal Act 1830
- Moved Natives west of the Mississippi River
Permeant Indian Frontier
- Established a permanent plot of land for natives
Trade and intercourse act 1834
- Blocked trade between natives and Us Citizens
** War with Mexico**
- US won land in the west
- Sandwiched the natives between two regions of the US
Indian Appropriations Act 1851
- Raised Funds to established reservations for Natives
Native Americans : Nomadic Lifestyle
Natives followed the Bison as a part of their native lifestyle
Natives had several usages for the buffalo,
- Tail for Fly swatter
- Tongue for Brush
- Lungs as Bags
- Hyde as blanket
Early Migrants : Mormons (Joseph Smith)
The Mormons were a group which believed in Polygamy
-Founded in 1830s by Joseph Smith In New York
- Joseph Smith Founds the religion after a visit from an Angel called Moroni
- The angel tells him the location of gold plates with texts on
- He translates the texts containing Prophetic Visions of Jesus Christ
- Publishes his finding under the Book of Mormon
- Smith was Charismatic and persuasive
- Gained several hundred followers which angered mainstream Christians
- saw him as a fraud and sinner
He was perscuted in the east so began moving his group
New York To Ohio
- He first moves from New York to Ohio
- Thrives here and grows to over 1000 members by 1831
Ohio to Missouri
- Mormons began outnumbering non Mormons who began to resent Smith and the religion
- They wrongfully blamed Smith for the Economic depression of 1837
- Mormons headed to Missouri
Trouble is Missouri
- The arrivals of Mormons in the independent Missouri alarmed the already established settlers
- Settlers rioted against the Mormons
- Mormon Leaders Blamed for the protest and imprisoned and sentenced to death
- Released as long as they leave Missouri
Missouri To Illinois
- Unwilling to go west into the great plains Smith took the mormons east into a small town.
- There mormons worked hard and prospered renaming the town to Nauvoo
- They built a huge temple here
- by 1840 35,000 mormons in Nauvoo with more arriving from Europe
Fall of Joseph Smith
- In 1844 Smith claimed God told him some mormon men were allowed to have more than one wife
- Sparked outrage in Mormons and Non Mormons alive
- Upset turned to outrage when Smith said he was planning to Run for president
- June 27 1845 Joseph Smith is shot dead by an angry mob and the Mormons are hunted down and attacked in the countryside
Early Migrants : Mormons (Brigham Young)
The New leader of the Mormons Brigham Young was a practical man and a Brilliant Organizers. He believed that if they lived alongside non Mormons they would be Persecuted for their beliefs
- Young decides to lead the community west , across the plains to the Great Salt Lake
- He said he was looking for a place no body would want
- Moving 16,00 Mormons across 2250km was an almost impossible task due to the terrain and being able to establish a city once they were there
- First winter spent building wagons, collecting provisions and buying oxen
- Mormons divided themselves into series of separate wagon trains each containing 100 wagons under control of a captain
- Meant there was never any confusion over who was in charge
- First wagon train which contained Young stopped to build rest camps for the following groups
- at each camp people would stay behind to plant crops and build workshops
- When yous train reached the Missouri river in 1846 it stopped to build thousands of cabins to shelter in through the freezing winter months
- In April 1847 set off with a handpicked 143 men known as pioneer band, included 3 women and 2 children
- They founded the settlement which would be known as the salt lake city
- Young allocated land for each family to work on.
- Irrigation channels were dug to provide water
- Hard work meant the city thrived and many more joined them
Early Migrants : Gold Rush
- John Sutter Discovered gold in California in 1848 whilst constructing a watermill
- News of the discovery spreads rapidly
- 80,000 people arrived in California to seek their fortune
- 1853, 250,000 people are searching for gold
- thousands of the people looking for gold made the hazardous journey across the plains and rocky mountains
- Others came by see including over 20,000 Chinese migrants
Gold towns also know as boom towns were established, more people made money from selling the equipment required than actually mining the gold.
Mining towns were packed with saloons and brothels as many of the gold hunters were single men.
Early Migrants : Oregan Trail and Other Trails
Early Travel West
- Over 3200km long combined with the California trail it was 3800km
- First people to travel is called “Pioneers”
- First Carts along were about 3 meters long and 1 meter wide and were pulled by horse or ox
- They could only travel about 20k a day
- A typical journey lasted 8 months and took place between April and November
- Set off in groups called wagon train, usually had varieties of skills
- Guidebooks were sold to help people in hazardous situations, sandstorms , snowstorms and rains
- Estimated 34,000 men, women and children died on the trials between 1840s and 1860s
- Approximately 9 for each Km of the trail
Early Migrants : Railroads Act
The East coast states crisscrossed with railroads, politicians wanted a transcontinental railway that stretched the across the Nation.
The distance was so large no one company could take on the full task by itself, the US government offered a lot of money as incentives to do it.
Two Companies Eventually Agreed Union Pacific Railroad Company and the **Central Pacific Railroad Company ** They were lent 16,000 for every mile they laid and paid 48,000 per mile.
Also received millions of acres of land to sell in the future to settler
The two companies met at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869 completing the railway, the president attended and layed a golden nail to signal the completion.
The railway would be used by most people in the USA for either travel or for work, The cattle business flourished as a result of it.
Problems for Early Migrants
While the journey there was hard many stopped and tried to live on the plains
Problems of the Plains
- Previously unfarmed soil was thick and tangled with grass roots and broke ploughs easily
- Prairie fires were common because of the dry grass, violent winds and lighting strikes.
- Very Hot dry summers were followed by freezing winters
- Lack of rainfall meant there was a struggle to irrigate plants and crops and wasn’t enough for humans and animals to consume
- Grasshopper swarms destroyed plants and crops
- Lack of trees meant that houses were made from earth and crops and animals couldn’t be enclosed or protected.
Indian Wars : Fort Laramie Treaty 1851
Use of the Orgean trail was causing conflict between settlers and Natives
- US Government met with the natives to discuss terms of allowing whites on the land
- Translation issues and large amount of chiefs meant the negotiations were not fair
- Ended the conflict between them allowing travelers safe passage
- 50,000 Dollar Annuity to natives as a result
- First step forward being allowed to choose where the natives settled
Consequences of the Act
- Plains were no longer one big reservation for the natives.
- US army would patrol the trails to make it feel safer
- Increased usage
- Roads and gates threated the Nomadic Lifestyle
- US government did not stop the settlers living on Native land however did defend them if the natives tried attacking them
- Increased Hostility
Indian Wars : Little Crows War 1862
Indian Wars : Sand Creek Masacre 1864
Indian Wars : Red Clouds War 1865
Indian Wars : Battle of Little Bighorn 1876
Cattle Industry
Most of the USAs cattle was based in the South of America, in areas like Texas.
The first ever cattle drive to the North was on the Sedalia Trial From there they were transported by train to the East
- Texas fever was common in the Texas Longhorns, while the longhorns were immune other cattle were fatal to it so major protest and riots to block the trial began
- Quarantine Measures were put in place in 1855 to prevent the spread of the disease
Goodnight and Loving Trail
- Goodnight was a solider who left for war with 180 cattle and returned to see over 5000 cattle, realizing there may be a market for the cattle he looked looked at moving them to the west.
- Takes the cattle to a local army fort where the government bought the cattle to feed the soliders
- Began supplying to feed the Indians who were on the reservations
Cattle Town
- The establishment of Cow towns was crucial as they served as hubs for the cattle to rest before being transported to the East or North to serve as food sources.
- Towns such as Abilene began to emerge containing a place to transport the cows onto trains.
- Cow towns also included Saloons so cowboys were able
