unit 3 - conflicts and conquest 1876-1895 Flashcards
during the period 1876-1895 what new technology/methods had a significant impact on farming on the plains?
Dry Farming:
- dry farming conserved the water trapped in the soil which meant that it was easier to grow wheat.
Wind Pumps:
- the ‘self-regulating’ windmill turned automatically and generated power to pump water up from hundreds of meters underground.
Barbed Wire:
- first introudced in 1874, barbed wire was cheap and easy to use and solved the problem of having no wood for fences.
what did the end of the open range mean for the cowboys?
- after the winter of 1886 (the great die-up), cattle ranchers who were still in business moved to smaller ranches which meant not as many cowboys were needed.
what was the Exoduster movement?
- after slavery was abolished during the american civil war, black americans in southern states were meant to be equal to whites.
- many white southerners prevented this so many black americans wanted to leave.
- in 1879, a rumour spread that the governement would give Kansas to ex-slaves which wasn’t true but triggered 40,000 to move to Kansas and other western states.
what were the consequences of the Exoduster movement?
- other settlers had already taken the best land so most Exoduster homesteaders found it hard to survive
- Exodusters were typically poorer than white migrants and had fewer rights.
what was the Oklahoma Land Rush (1889)?
- in 1889, the government opened indian territory for white settlement
- at midday on april 22nd 1889, thousands rushed over the boundary to claim 160 acres.
- (2 million acres were open for settlement)
What happened in the Lincoln County War (1878)?
- main people involved: lawrence murphy, john tunstall, billy the kid
- john tunstall set up a rival business to lawrence murphy’s (murphy practically ran the Lincoln County)
- tunstall employs lots of cowboys to look after the cattle including billy the kid
- war was sparked due to tunstall being murdered by murphy’s gunmen
- tunstall’s cowboys called themselves ‘the regulators’ and set out to avenge tunstall
- it culminated in a 5-day battle and ended in tunstall’s sotre burning down and murphy and his men winning.
- more than 30 were killed, murphy was eventually charged with murder (acquitted), billy the kid was on the run and famous.
what happened at the OK corral (1886)?
- main people involved: wyatt earp, virgil earp, other earp brother, ike clanton, billy clanton
- in Tombstone there was rivalry between the cowboys (clantons) and lawmen (earps)
- wyatt earp was hired as dpeuty sheriff to sort out the cowboys
- the gunfight at the OK corral happened after many clashes and morgan earp, billy clanton and two others were killed
- the town turned against the earps so they left Tombstone.
what happened in the Johnson County war (1892)?
- main people involved: ella watson, jim averill, WSGA
- ella watson and kim averill were killed because they were accused of stealing a cattle barons land and cattle
- the WSGA hired hired 22 gunmen to invade the county and kill 70 suspected rustlers.
- the WSGA lawyers kept delaying the trial until the county didn’t have enough money to keep it going
what happened in the Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)?
- main people involved: Sioux, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, us army, custer
- custer refused any extra men/guns
- on 25 june 1876, custer attacked the indian camp at little big horn
- the sioux defeated them, 225 men died
- because of the Sioux victory, the us army got worried and broke up the 7000 into smaller bands and attacked them causing them to retreat and go to reservations
- the us army built more forts and sent 2500 army reinforcements west
what happened in the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)?
- Big Foot led a band but snow slowed them down and the army caught them
- they were taken to Wounded Kee Creek and they were disarmed
- they started to dance and then the shooting happened
- after ten minutes, 250 indians were dead and 25 soldiers were dead
- it was the end of the indian resistance.
what was The Ghost Dance?
- an indian had a vision that if they kept dancing, an indian messiah would come and return the buffalo and get rid of all the whites.
- more and more indians began to dance on all reservations, this worried indian agents so the army moved to stop them
- Sitting Bull was killed
what factors destroyed the Indians way of life?
- extermination fo buffalo (bone pickers etc)
- life on the reservations (diminishing chiefs powers, sending children to boarding school, prevention of spirituality and dances, no hunting).
what did the Dawes Act 1887 state?
- each indian family was allotted 160 acres of land on reservations
- indians who then took the land and and left the reservation could then become american citizens
- all the reservation land left over could be sold to whites
