Miners, Ranchers, And Railroads Flashcards
What is the comstock lode?
A huge deposit of gold and silver in Nevada that was found by miner Henry comstock
What is a “frontier”
An undeveloped area
What were the dangers of mining?
Miners had to use unsafe equipment such as elevator platforms without protective walls, They worked in dark tunnels and breathed hot stuffy air (they suffered from lung disease), they were often injured or killed by poorly planned explosions or cave-ins, fire
Where did the settlers going to work in the western mines come from?
Eastern United States, Europe, Central America, South America, and Asia
What does “boomtowns” mean?
Communities that grew suddenly when a mine opened
What was a women’s role in a boomtown?
Women washed, cooked, made clothes, chopped wood, raised families, established schools, and wrote for newspapers
What started the cattle industry?
A growing economy and population created a greater demand for beef in the east.
What was the most popular breed of cattle? Why?
Longhorn
Longhorn cattle needed very little water and could survive harsh weather. The cattle were well suited to the dry desert like environment of western Texas.
How could Texas ranchers move the longhorns to eastern markets?
Joseph McCoy built pens for cattle in Abilene Kansas. The Kansas pacific railroad line went through Abilene. Cattle could be shipped by rail from there. Many Texas ranchers were soon making the trip north to Abilene to sell their herds of cattle.
What is the cattle kingdom?
The Great Plains from Texas to Canada where many ranchers raised cattle in the late 1800s.
What are “vaqueros”?
Mexican ranch hands who cared for cattle and horses.
What is “the cattle drive”?
Long journeys where cowboys herded the cattle to the market or to the northern plains for grazing.
What is “The Chisholm trail”?
A trail that led from San Antonio Texas to the cattle town of Abilene Kansas. It was one of the earliest and most popular routes for cattle drives.
What caused the end of the cattle kingdom?
Competition between farmers, large ranchers and small ranchers for land. The cattle herds had eaten most of the prairie grass and they were experiencing unusually severe winters in 1885 and 1886 which caused thousands of cattle to die, this was the end of the cattle kingdom
List 3 reasons people from other countries came to America to work in the mines.
Better paying jobs, more freedom, better work conditions
Define open range.
Land once occupied by Indians, then used by ranchers. It is public land that ranchers let the herds of cattle graze on.
List 3 conditions that started the cattle kingdom.
Demand for beef, railways, open range
What was the pony express?
A system of messengers on horseback used to carry messages west.
Explain why the federal government supported the transcontinental railroad.
The railway could carry mail and us troops at a lower cost. More importantly it would improve the economy because the population would increase.
What where some geological challenges railroad companies faced?
Crossing mountain ranges, harsh weather, snowdrifts collapsed and killed workers.
What goods were shipped east via the railroad?
Wood, metals, meat, and grain
How many more miles of railroad track where there in 1890 than in 1865?
164,000 more miles
What is the transcontinental railroad?
A railroad that would cross the continent and connect the east to the west.
What two companies led the race to complete the transcontinental railroad?
Central Pacific and union Pacific
What geographic challenges did the railroad workers miners and ranchers face?
Large rock formations that needed to be blown up, mountains, and severe weather
How did railroads and ranching change the landscape of the west?
Railroad companies had to blow up the landscapes. Forests had to be cut down and new towns were formed.
What was the ghost dance?
A Religious movement that predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans. In the paradise the buffalo herds would return and the settlers would disappear.
Why was the government concerned by the ghost dance?
US officials feared it would lead to rebellion against the white men.
What political organizations did western farmers create? why did they create these organizations?
Farmers alliances
The farmers alliances was created to elect candidates that would help the farmers causes.
How did women participate in the settling of the American frontier?
Women helped build many communities, they also farmed, ranches claimed land and influenced many moral and social causes such as suffrage (the right to drink) and temperance
Who was Annie Bidwell?
One of The founders of Chico CA. Used her influence to support a variety of moral and social causes such as women’s suffrage and temperance
What did the homestead act grant?
Gave government owned land to small farmers for free.
What did the morrill act do?
Granted 17 million acres of land to states to sell off and use the money to pay for colleges teaching engineering and agriculture
Who were exodusters?
Southerners that made a mass exodus or departure from the south.
Define sodbusters.
The nickname plains farmers earned for the hard work of busting up the sod.
Define dry farming.
New method of farming that shifted the focus away from water dependent crops such as corn and focused on growing heartier crops such as red wheat.
Define the national grange.
A social/ educational group for farmers
Who was William Jennings Bryan?
Nebraskan first democratic congress member in 1890. He was a candidate for president that favored free silver coinage.
What is deflation?
Decrease in the money supply and overall lower prices
What was the populist party?
New party that called for the gov to own railroads, telephone and telegraph systems.
What caused farm incomes to fall?
The us population doubled from 1860-1900, the number of farms tripled leading to overproduction of crops (wheat was being harvested 20x faster) which led to the lowering of prices. Many farmers lost their land and became tenant farmers.
What is tenant farming?
Farmers continued to farm their land but only kept a share of the profit and gave the other part to the tenant. In 1800 1/4 of farms were rented by tenants.
What was the free silver debate?
US had been on gold standard, (which was when all paper money was backed up by gold) since 1873 which resulted in deflation. Farmers wanted free silver coinage which would allow all paper currency to be backed up by silver.
What did the Sherman silver purchase act do for Americans?
Was supposed to increase amounts of silver purchased for coinage but it didn’t help farmers much.
What happened between 1877-1887 with the national grange?
1877 gov says they will regulate railroads to make sure farmers are being treated equal to big businesses. 1886 gov could only regulate companies doing business across state lines. 1887 congress passes the interstate commerce act that provides national regulations for trade but could not enforce them.
What marked the end of the farmers alliances?
William Jennings Bryan’s defeat in the 1896 election.
What 4 groups moved to the west to settle in the plains?
Families, exodusters, women, and immigrants
When did families move west?
1880s
When did exodusters and immigrants move west?
Between 1879-1881 moved to Kansas
When did women move west?
After homestead act was passed in 1862-1880s
What happened to families in the west?
They established churches and schools, some became shopkeepers
What happened to women in the west?
Started farms, established communities. Suffered from loneliness, disease and harsh weather
What happened to exodusters in the west?
Became free from discrimination, formed black communities.
What happened to immigrants in the west?
Started families, created the national grange. Suffered from diseases and harsh weather.
Why did families move west?
Land was scarce and expensive in New England
Where did the immigrants come from?
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Czech republic
What is mechanical farming?
The use of machinery, it was quicker and easier
How did the west earn the title “the breadbasket of the world”?
The crops from the plains were shipped by train east and then taken overseas by boats
Where was the golden spike located? What is it?
Promontory, Utah
The golden spike is where the two railroads connect
What was the treaty of fort Laramie?
The first major treaty between the US government and the plains Indians
What are reservations?
Areas of federal land set aside for native Americans
Who was crazy horse?
Leader of the Sioux drive
Define the treaty of medicine lodge.
Most southern plain Indians agreed to live on reservations
What are buffalo soldiers?
Troops including African American Calvary
Who was George Armstrong Custer?
Lieutenant colonel in the army, led troops in the battle of the Little Bighorn against the Sioux, all of his men were killed there
Who was sitting bull?
Leader of the Lakota Sioux, led men into battle of the Little Bighorn, in 1890 sitting bull was killed by reservation police while they were following orders to arrest him.
What happened after sitting bulls death?
The massacre at wounded knee occurred when the Sioux left the reservations in protest, the US army surrounded sitting bulls followers and an accidental shot went off causing fighting between the two forces, about 150 Sioux were shot and killed, this was the last major incident on the Great Plains
What was the long walk?
A 300 mile march the Navajo were forced to walk across the desert to a reservation is bosque redondo, New Mexico
Who was Geronimo?
An Apache Indian, ended the apache armed resistance
Who was Sarah winnemucca?
A Paiute Indian who gave lectures on problems at the reservations
What was the Dawes general allotment act?
It tried to leased traditional influences on Indian society by making land ownership private rather than shared
What do plains Indians live on?
Buffalo
What are buffalo used for by the plains Indians?
Food, shelter, clothing and utensils
Describe life for the plains Indians before and after the settlers came.
Before life was peaceful, they were dependent on buffalo and were free to go hunting. After settlers came the Indians were forced into reservations where there were no longer any buffalo and they lost many freedoms.
How did the battle of the Little Bighorn start?
Gold was found by colonel clusters soldiers
Who was Chief joseph?
The chief of the nez perce, lived in the wallowa valley of Oregon, gave an important speech surrendering from fighting on their escape to canada
Where did the plains Indians love?
Apache and Comanche lived in and around Texas and what is now Oklahoma. Cheyenne and Arapaho lived in different regions across the Central Plains. Pawnee lived in parts of Nebraska.
Why were the plains Indians unwilling to stay on reservations?
They couldn’t hunt buffalo
Why were the Native Americans forced onto reservations?
The government wanted their land for the minerals and the area to settle
Describe Lakota family life.
The children were treated well, the men would hunt and the women would build teepees. Family first was the key unit of Sioux life.
Trace the history of the horse. Consider the significance of the horse in Lakota history.
In 1519 the Spanish brought horses to the United States, the Indians put the rope on a horse and called it a sacred dog, the horse revolutionized hunting (buffalo especially), the horse improved mobility
Explain Lakota spirituality and it’s impact on behavior
Dance and music (the sun dance)- they danced for the continuation of Lakota people.
Piercings- they could easily endure pain.
Describe the Sioux war philosophy.
Sense of pride, right of passage for young men
Sequence major conflicts and events between the Sioux and white settlers under chief Red cloud.
Conflict between federal and red cloud. Built forts. Chief red cloud raided forts. White settlers wanted peace. Red cloud signed a peace treaty.
Describe sitting bulls prophecies.
Sitting bull predicted that the white men (Sioux) would kill him- white soldiers falling upside down to predict battle-he was correct because he was killed by the white men (Sioux)
