The development of the plains Flashcards
the aims of the government
railroads would allow them to bring law and order to the west, get trade links with countries in the far east, and fulfil manifest destiny, congress passed an Pacific Railways act in 1862, this set up two companies the union pacific railroad company and the central pacific railroad company, they began building
the aims of the railroad companies
small risk more likely to make a profit for their share holders, they accepted the governments offer of free land to build on, the land on either side was sold and made a profit
the problems with the railroads
- Land – railroads had to cross difficult terrain such as mountains, valleys, and deserts which stretched the skills
- Living and working conditions – they were very bad they faced rain, hail, snow, gales and depended on food transported hundred of miles without refrigeration therefore they died
- Labour shortages – used immigrants, from china and Ireland to finish it people didn’t want to work in harsh conditions.
- Indians – they harassed railroad builder as they were taking away their hunting grounds.
the benefit of the railroads
creteated a lot of jobs, demand for raw materials led to growth in the industries, brought law and order, brought manchinery to plains, brought funtiure, allowed homesteaders to make a profit, cattle ranching thrived, cities grew, commercial companies began trading with china and Japan, contact with far away relatives was easier, travel west easier
the negative aspect of the railroads on the plains indians
freedom to roam was destroyed, enterprises and settlers grew in numbers, fenced in therefore could not roam through land, attitudes became hostile, buffalo numbers went down due to excursion trains
What were the reasons for growth in the cattle industry
increase in demand for beef from the east in 1867-85, the government paid a lot for cattle to be fed to the army and the Indians on the reservations, the railroads brought the cattle to feed their workers. The civil war – many Texan ranchers left their herds and when they came back they had multiplied. A new breed of hardy cow was developed it was able to survive the tough conditions this was called the Texas longhorn, Texas became the centre of cattle ranching
why did the cattle ranchers move onto the plains
push factors – negative impact of cattle drives, they took a long time, many cattle died and they all lost weight which made them less valuable, the ranchers were forced to look for alternatives – conflict with homesteaders, they fenced of their land this prevented the cattle from trampling there crops and they were not friendly as there cattle carried Texas fever which could spread to other farmers cattle, they would block access to water grazing and the main cattle routes. Pull factors – free land – there was a lot of open space and cattlemen would claim there 160 acres as well as they cowboys stakes, the weather – low plain temperatures killed of the fleas which caused Texas fever, railroads meant that they no longer had to cross the plains
why did the cattle ranchers go bust
- 1886-7 – two cold winters and a hot summer killed grass and many cattle died as they couldn’t reach the grass through the deep snow, 15% of the herd died
- Bust – overstocking – as cattle prices rise they put more cattle on open range and the drought in 1883 meant that the problem worsened as the cows could not eat anything, price of the cattle dell and ranchers kept there cattle, demand – in the eastern states beef was so readily available that shops had to lower there prices in order to sell the meet by 1882 cattle profits began to fall, (climate above), cattle rustling – protecting cattle on open range was impossible, this ended the open range
what was the open range?
this was unfenced land that was claimed but not owned by the ranchers, every rancher had range rights, they could reserve a stream or waterhole for the cattle, the boundaries between the ranches were the watershed, at the centre of the ranch the buildings were there this is where the ranch hands lived and worked in bunk beds, the stables for the horses were also there, the land was unfenced so the
what was the closed range
cattle men used barbed wire to fence of there farms this mean that breeding was carefully managed and the cows could not wander off, this brought them into conflict with homesteaders who claimed they were cutting off their water supply – wind pumps solved this, there were less problems with weather as the small herds could easily be found and brought into the buildings and fed, it was more sustainable and manageable then the larger open ranges
Charles Goodnight
– when he returned after the civil war he found his herd was now 8,000 instead of driving the cattle he herd troops were holding Indians captive therefore he teamed up with Oliver loving a experienced cow drover and drove his cattle to fort summer in 1866 where they sold 1,700 cattle, the only problem they had was the lack of water that killed a few of the cattle, they established a well know trail and others followed his example
Joseph McCoys
Abiliene, he found the problem of the long trails instead of driving herd he would set up a cow town were people would meet to buy and sell herds, there would be no rustlers aggressive mobs and hostile Indians, he had timber built in and built offices, cattle opens and small hotel, in 1867 37,000 passed through and in 1870 – 300,000 passed through, beef demand grew
John Lliff
he was an entrepreneur, he was the first ranch to began using the plains, he enlarged his herd by buying Oliver Loving’s cows which were beign driven to Colorado, he experimented with breeding and produced cows that had sweeter meat, he won a contract to supply to the Union Pacidic Railroad construction gangs, sent his beef to cities in the eastern states using refridgerated railroad cars, he won a contract in 1872 to supply beef to Red Cloud and over 7000 indians in a reservation
the cow boys life
they were cattle ranchers and there main job was to round up the cattle and drive them north to railroads, they had to supervise and protet them it was hard and dangerous work, stampedes during the first days were likely and the cowboys had to get them all back, there were things that could kil them like =wolves, water was important and the rivers had strong current so had to be crossed carefully, Indians were unpredictable, and at night the cows had to be guarderd. Ranches – rounded up the catlle and branded them, took tehm to market, made sure no one took their land, looked for animls in distress, shot predators, cooked, no drinking, gamabling, guns or knives – fenced decreased the life
Why was the west troubled
travel was slow and difficult so enforcement could not move quickly,. New mining towns sprung up quickly, there was less trained officers, there were many conflicts between people of different occupations, there were many conflict between people of different ethnic groups, after the civil war many old soldiers still had grudges, the west was dominated by individualism and everyone believed they should sort out their own problems
