KT3 Flashcards
What new farming method was created during the period 1876-95?
Dry farming
What new technology was created during the period 1876-95?
-Wind pumps
-Barbed wire
-Improved “sod-buster”
Discuss the development of dry farming.
-This method aimed to conserve the amount of water trapped in the soil; so, e.g. the soil should be ploughed immediately after it rained.
-Agricultural experts promoted the method as the best farming method for homesteaders in growing wheat.
-It was the main method responsible for turning the Plain’s into America’s main wheat-producing region.
-It prevented evaporation and so therefore now meant wheat could be successfully grown on the arid Plains, especially for the Turkey Red variety of wheat.
Development of wind pumps?
-Wind pumps solved the problem of finding enough water to farm the plains; as now farmers had access to water hundreds of meters underground.
-Successful wind pumps in the West began with the development of the “self-regulating” windmill: it turned automatically as the wind changed direction.
-It was invented in 1854, though took years of development for it to become widespread.
-High steel towers, efficient gear mechanisms and large steel windmill blades were needed to generate enough power to pump water from these hundreds of meters underground.
-1880s, powerful wind pumps developed that did not require constant repair and oiling, becoming widespread across the West.
The development of barbed wire?
-First introduced in 1874 and became the ideal solution to the problem of the lack of wood for fences.
-However, when it was first introduced it was relatively expensive and broke too easily, some types also had long barbs that wounded cattle.
-1880s, coating applied to the wire to make it much stronger, with new techniques making it much cheaper.
-As well as being used by farmers, the cattle industry used barbed wire to fence off land and the railroads used it to fence off tracks.
Development of the “sod-buster”?
-Improvements to this type of plough made farming arid ground much easier.
-It became affordable as well as other machinery like binders, threshers and reapers.
Advantage of the railroad?
Made equipment more widely available for farmers.
Discuss the events that changed the cattle industry.
-With enormous profits to be made, cattle barons’ herds grew larger and larger
-This increased demand on Plains grass, especially during droughts like in 1883, with the lack of pasture meaning that many cattle became too weak.
-Supply of beef soon greater than its demand, meaning its prices dropped.
-Lower prices meant lower profits for cattle barons, with some becoming bankrupt. Some sold their cattle, others held onto them in the hope that prices would increase again.
-Large numbers of underfed cattle in harsh winter of 1886-7, deep snow and freezing prevented access to grass or water and an estimated 15-30% of Plains cattle died.
-More cattle barons became bankrupt, others began to change the ways they raised their cattle.
Consequences for the open range?
-After the winter of 1886-7, the cattle ranchers still in business moved to smaller ranches with fenced-in pastures.
-Smaller herds were easier to manage and could be brought under shelter indoors during bad weather.
-Smaller herds pastured in fencing were more easily monitored and guarded against cattle rustlers.
-Ranchers brough in high-quality breeds that produced better meat. -These animals were kept separate from the other breeds so their calves would also be of high-quality.
-Small numbers of cattle reduced the supply of beef, raising its prices again, with higher quality beef sold at higher prices, so the cattle industry began to recover.
-Homesteaders also moved often into farm areas previously used for open-range ranching, leading to demands for surviving cattle ranches to fence their land and stop their animals from eating homestead crops.
Consequences for cowboys?
-Many cowboys died in the winter of 1886-7 trying to find cattle in the deep snow of the open range.
-The end of the open range meant the end of cowboys also.
-They now had less adventurous lives; de-horning and dipping cattle, looking after horses and their calves, mending barbed wire fences, repairing buildings, inspecting the grass in fenced-off fields and harvesting the hay used to feed the herd during the winter.
-They lived in bunkhouses, often not very comfortable with thin walls, and beds full of lice.
-They had schedules to keep to and rules to follow, often including a ban on carrying firearms.
-Smaller ranches often employed fewer cowboys, meaning the number dropped too.
Who were the Exodusters?
-By the end of the Civil War in 1865, slavery was abolished.
-Black Americans in southern states were supposed to become socially, politically and economically equal to white people.
-However, many white southerners prevented this.
-Many former enslaved people therefore continued to face violence and poverty in the South.
-Some migrated to the West in search of a better life.
-In 1879, a large group of 43,000 headed to Kansas, who became known as the Exodusters.
-Other settled areas and territories included Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona.
Discuss the Exoduster movement.
-Fleeing continued oppression in the southern states from former slaveholders.
-Exoduster name came from Bible story of Exodus - an escape from slavery. Where God rescued an entire nation from enslavement, with many people walking long distances to freedom, inspiring many African Americans in the South to move to Kansas.
-Benjamin Singleton, a former enslaved African-American was a key individual, a community leader and businessman, who helped many migrants make the long journey south.
-Kansas had a reputation for supporting the anti-slavery movement.
-1862 Homestead Act enabled the formerly enslaved to rightfully claim 160 acres of Western land.
-1879, fake rumour spread that the federal government had given up the entire state of Kansas to the enslaved, a trigger for the 43,000 black Americans to move to Kansas and other western states.
What were the consequences of the Exoduster movement in Kansas.
-Farming;
-Other settlers had already taken up the best land
-Most Exodusters had no money to afford investment of setting up a farm
-Most Exoduster homesteaders found it very difficult to survive.
Response to Exodusters;
-Southern whites opposed
strongly the move.
-Whites in Kansas did not think that the Exodusters should be helped.
-Kansas’ governor did however set up some help for these migrants via a financial assistance.
Consequences;
-1880, mass migration ended due to the discussed variety of problems and the exposure of the 1879 rumour being fake.
-43,000 black Americans had now settled in Kansas.
-Exodusters typically remained poorer than white migrants, who were not formerly enslaved, and had fewer rights.
Discuss the Oklahoma Land Rush.
-Indian Territory had different sections for different tribes, with the middle a section not allocated to any tribe.
-Indian Territory was not open to any white settlement, with the US army repeatedly moving white settlers off the middle section.
-1889, US government opened up the middle section to white people.
-Midday of 22nd April 1889, after the firing of a cannon, 1000s of white settlers rush over boundary to claim their homestead of a 160 acre-section out of 2 million overall, in what was known as the Oklahoma Land rush.
Was the Oklahoma Land Rush a solitary event?
-7 occurred, with 1889 the first, when 2 million acres was the total land up for offers.
-Last was in 1895, when 88,000 acres were left for settlement.
-Largest Oklahoma Land Rush, Cherokee Land Rush, of 1893, had 8 million acres open for settlement amidst protesting from the Cherokee nation, whom this piece of land had been promised to 60 years previously.
What was the significance of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush?
Idea of separate Indian Territory no longer a concept.
1890?
US governmental organization US Census Bureau, declare in census that the Indian Frontier was officially closed, unlike in 1880, white settlement was complete from east to west.
Was lawlessness still a problem in the West in the 1880s-90s?
-Although it was gradually becoming under control due to the appointment of more marshals and sheriffs, conflicts and tensions still were occurring between people as they struggled to make a living.
-Criminals and law enforcement officers became internationally famous and helped promote the idea of a “wild west”.
-Unlike previous periods, majority of crime was due to struggles over land between mining companies, homesteaders and cattle barons.
Who was Billy the Kid?
-He grew up, William H Bonney Jr, in poverty and was soon in trouble for stealing.
-1878, he became involved in a range war, the Lincoln County, between cattle baron John Chisum and smaller ranchers, swearing revenge when his friends and baron John Henry Tunstall, were killed.
-A posse called the Regulators were formed to avenge his death, with the criminal a member.
-Around 19 people were killed in the Lincoln County War, including a sheriff and his deputy whom the Regulators believed had supported the rival barons.
-His gang caused chaos across New Mexico, leading for local law officers to become caught up in this range war.
-Only when the new governor appointed a new sheriff, Pat Garett, could law be enforced.
-After escaping jail, Billy was tracked down and shot dead by Garett in 1881.
Reasons for Billy the Kid’s success?
-Conflict over resources; involved in range war, a war between ranchers when rose to fame
-Intimidation and corruption; local law enforcement was too weak to stop the range war from happening, and became involved themselves
-Geography; Billy’s gang could easily escape the law and hide in remote areas
-Poverty; life for the majority was hard; however, being an outlaw was glamorous and exciting.
Who was Wyatt Earp?
-Earp first became involved in law enforcement when he was arrested for fighting in Wichita, when then he helped the deputy marshal deal with a rowdy bunch of cowboys.
-He also was arrested several times for cattle rustling in his youth.
- By 1879, he had moved to mining town of Tombstone.
-Rich businessmen of a powerful mining company were fighting for control of the area with ranchers and cowboys led by the Clantons and the McLaurys.
-1880, businessmen hired Earp as deputy sheriff and his brothers as lawmen to end the battle in their favour.
-He and his brothers had a tough approach to solving and handling crime, viewed by some as a way of increasing lawlessness rather than reducing it.
-His rivalry with the Clantons and McLaurys led to a famous gunfight at the saloon OK Corral in October 1881. Three cowboys died; citizens disagreed on whether it was an act of self-defence or murder, found innocent by a judge.
-In the months after the OK Corral, one of Wyatt’s brothers, Morgan was murdered and the other maimed in a feud, Wyatt immediately led a posse that killed 3 cowboys in retaliation; people began to question the nature of Wyatt’s violent policing methods.
-After the gunfight, public opinion turned against the Earps, believed by some that the Earps believed they were above the law, considered murderers and thieves, with lawlessness also beginning to increase again in the area, leading to their departure from Tombstone in 1882.
What was the significance of Wyatt Earps?
His career brought attention to lawlessness in the West, demonstrating how law enforcement officers could be criminals themselves, Earps was arrested 9 times in total in his youth, with many other officers also having criminal pasts.
What was the effect of the growth of cattle industry in Wyoming?
-Only 9000 US citizens lived in Wyoming Territory in the early 1870s
-Most of the land was public
-Huge cattle ranches were developed, financially supported by foreign investment
-A few cattle barons owned these ranches, the men who at the time controlled Wyoming.
The impact of the harsh winter of 1886-7?
-Caused terrible losses to the open-range herds there
-Power and influence of cattle barons shaken, some became bankrupt
-Smaller ranches were more successful as they could rescue more of their herd
-Cattle barons believed that the owners of the smaller ranches stole cattle from the
Divide between cattle barons and owners of smaller ranches now?
-Population of Wyoming increased as more homesteaders and owners of smaller ranchers arrived there
-1884, 10,000 acres homesteaded. Barbed wire fences problematic for the bigger ranches.
-Newcomers disliked the way the cattle barons owned all political power.
-Johnson County, juries never convicted people accused of rustling cattle on big ranches.
Increased tension with homesteaders?
-Eva Watson and Jim Averill were homesteaders.
-Their 640 acre claim was to public land that rancher Albert Bothwell, a member of the WSGA, Wyoming Stock Growers’ Association, used for his cattle.
-Averill wrote rude letters about Bothwell to the newspaper.
-Watson obtained a small herd of cows.
-Bothwell accused Watson of rustling his herd.
-He and his men hung Watson and Averill, and, soon reclaimed the disputed land.
Effect of the murders of Watson and Averill?
-After their murders, three more killings occurred.
-Smaller ranches announced they would hold a spring round up, before the WSGA, of cattle that previously had been rounded up by the WSGA, the cattle barons.
-WSGA members were confident that smaller ranchers would use this round up to rustle more cattle from them.
What were WSGA members also angered about?
-They were displeased by the amount of public land that was fenced off by the homesteaders.
-They also suspected that they were stealing their young cattle before the WSGA members were able to brand them.
What did the WSGA expect after the smaller ranch owners’ round up
Their motivation in doing this was to steal young, unbranded cattle from the WSGA.
What were the main events of the Johnson County War
-WSGA hired 22 gunmen from Texas to “invade” Johnson County and kill 70 suspected rustlers.
-They raised $100,000, the majority of which would be used to pay for legal costs after the invasion.
-The invasion failed, the “invaders” got held up in a shoot-out with a man named Nate Champion.
-Word reached the sheriff of Johnson County, Angus, and residents of the county’s main town of Buffalo.
-The invaders were surrounded and arrested.
Consequences of the Johnson County War?
-WSGA’s raised $100,000 was used in its entirety to hire the best lawyers in Chicago.
-Lawyers got trial moved to Cheyenne, where jurors favoured the WSGA.
-WSGA lawyers delayed the trial until Johnson County could no longer afford to keep the gunmen in jail.
-State government, full of WSGA supporters, refused to help with the costs of the trail.
-The gunmen were freed.
Conclusion from the Johnson County War?
Although law and order did triumph over vigilantism, still the wealthy WGSA used their power and influence to prevent the prosecution of the suspected “invaders”.
