Introduction: There were nearly no white people from the Texas-Canada line to

California.
- Native American population receding as states are being created West
o ~360,000 in 1860, most in Missouri West.
- However, there was already conflict within the Indians before whites had started
settling
o Spanish horses caused Indian farmers Traders/Bison hunters
- Conflict got worse when White people came to the West during Civil War time.
o Sickness, taking away hunting land. Indians started competing for buffalo
- Fed tried to make treaties with tribes @ Fort Laramie + Atkinson. Started the
reservation system.
- Reservation system: Creating boundaries for each tribe and separating them
o Didnt work, because native Americans had no leader and they were
nomadic, traveling across the entire plains
- Fed continued with pushing Indians into boundaries such as the Great Sioux
reservation
o Indians only agreed when independence and supplies were guaranteed.
o But the Americans cheated them giving them crap
- Many conflicts between Indians and US Army after CW.
o 1/5 of these soldiers were black Buffalo Soldiers
- Whites would just shoot Indian bystanders
o Ex. Chivingtons massacre of 400 Indians.
- Indians would lash back
o Sioux ambushed Captain Fettermans army + civillians bc of Bozeman
trail
- Fetterman Massacre Battle of Little Bighorn
o Fort Laramie Treaty: abandoned Bozeman Trail and Sioux land promised
o But, Custer went to the Black Hills and said he found gold, which
caused random ass people to flood in
o The Sioux got pissed and fought back against Custers army @ Little
Bighorn River
o Indians (led by Sitting Bull) defeated Custer, but the US hunt down the
Indians for doing so
- Nez Perce Indians were denied their Idaho homeland and were sent to Kansas
reservation; the survivors could return to ID
- Apaches forced into Mexico and Florida, became farmers
- Indians eventually lost all morale and were defeated
o US used military force
o Railroad brought in white people by the truckloads
o Diseases
o Lack of Buffalo
- Buffalos were abundant when Americans first arrived
o There were still many even @ end of CW.
o Many railroad workers ate buffalo
o Buffalos slaughtered for sport and food

Americans finally started to feel bad for the Indians around 1880s.
o Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor
People still wanted to force Indians to accept American culture
o Outlawed Sun Dance, led to Ghost Dance
o Battle of Wounded Knee was attempt to end Ghost Dance, many Indians
killed
o Dawes Severalty Act: Wiped out tribes, tried to make Indian families
with land. Basically tried to make them white.
Citizenship was guaranteed in 25 years, not quite, but Indians still
became citizens by 1924.
Reservation land left over from Dawes was sold to white people,
the money from which was used to civilize the Indians
Created Indian boarding schools and tried to teach the women.
Tried to make individuals
Took away Indians sacred connection to land
Dawes Act was in place for 50 yrs until Indian Reorganization Act
Luckily Indians population started rising again
Mining boomed thanks to Indian removal and railroad (Gold)
o 59ers flooded into Rockies, but there wasnt enough gold there (Pikes
Peak)
They also went to Nevada for the Comstock Lode, where there was
a lot of gold
Nevada added to Union railroad
Boomtowns formed, where miners came in seeking gold
o Many saloons and bars formed, but when there was no more gold, the
towns became Ghost towns
Usually miners only sought surface level gold, needed expensive machinery to get
the gold inside quartz
Led to rise of the mining industry
o Mining industries had corporations with machines and engineers.
o Hired workers; just like wage workers
Mining industry led to popularity of the West
o Gold helped finance CW, railroads, but made Indian-US conflict worse.
o More gold led to return of the Specie circular, and talk of silver
Cattle population grew on Texas after Civil War
o Wasnt useful for anything but hide b/c no transportation before
o But railroad helped that, b/c the cattle ranch meatpacking factory
(rise of) East Coast
o Cowboys walked herds over to railroad terminals (cow towns) the Long
Drive
However, the long drive didnt last long because:
o Sheepherders/homesteaders fenced off their lands so herds couldnt pass
o Very cold
o Overgrazing

Homestead Act: Settler could have up to 160 acres of land if they lived on it for 5
years and cultivated it.
o An attempt to give a home to the empty lands
o Also tried to make the family farm the backbone of democracy
o Many people took advantage of it, but many more actually purchased the
land
o However, 160 acres was not enough in the dry Plains. It was too dry to
grow crops
- Corporations tried to seize the most fruitful lands
o Railroads tried to sell their unused lands
- People thought that the soil was unusable at first, but after breaking through the
sod layer, there was very healthy soil underneath
o Led to Sodbusters coming to the Plains.
- Settlers pushed westwards bc wheat was becoming expensive
o An imaginary line separated the well watered (east) and the dry (west).
o Yet, people ignored that the west was dry and settlers came in.
o But a drought crushed all hopes, killing many people.
- However, dry farming was developed, but it led to the Dust Bowl.
o People also tried growing weather-resistant wheat.
o Many dams and irrigation systems were developed
- Many western states admitted into the Union (ND, SD, MT, WA, ID, WY)
o Attempt to get more republican votes.
o Utah, Oklahoma, NM and AZ were left
- Fed gave westeners fertile Oklahoma land
o Many people flooded in illegally before it was open.
o 89ers rushed in the day it opened, Oklahoma eventually became a state.
- The frontier eventually disappeared because so many people came to the West
o The Significance of the Frontier in American History
- The disappearance made people realize that the land was not endless, started
creating National Parks (Yellowstone)
- People thought the unemployed would move to the West to take up farming, but
they didnt.
o People actually went to western cities when they failed at life (safety
valve)
FARMERS
- Farmers used to make everything on their own, but they now had to buy
everything
o They would specialize in cash crops to raise money to buy supplies
- Large-scale farmers needed to be a part of business to acquire all of the expensive
machinery they needed.
o At first they suffered many losses because they were not experienced in
the world of business
- Mechanization of agriculture: Industrial farmers took the lead
o Farm became the Factory mass production
o Bonanza farms crazy big wheat farms

o Wheat or corn
But bankruptcy was upon the farmers.
o Extremely competitive due to worldliness of wheat: If wheat is successful
in other countries, Western farmers would go out of business.
o Low prices + deflation put farmers out of business.
o There was not enough money, so everything decreased in value.
o Creating more grains increased the supply, making it lose value which
made the farmers situation worse.
o Interest put on mortgages
o Led to more farmers sharecropping.
More problems for the farmers
o Grasshopper swarms, floods, droughts,
o High taxes + tariffs
o Farmers relied on the corporations that had their capital
o Shipping it via railroad also cost fortunes
o Farmers were independent, so they didnt really form unions
Farmers wanted inflation w/ paper money
o The Grange created by Kelley, an attempt to make social activities for the
lonely farmers (self improvement)
o Started working on collective improvement, not just self
Started co-ops and worked together
Politics to make economic change, but didnt end well
o Greenback Labor Party: Improving labor + more inflation
Had power in the government
o Farmers Alliance: Socialized, and tried to break the
railroads/manufacturers by working together.
However, they ignored the tenant farmers, black farmers
Peoples Party formed (Populists): Hated Wall Street
Wanted government to take charge
Wanted silver to become part of the currency
Democrats and Republicans were scared because Populists were
starting to have strong role in government.
Farmers thought to ally with the discontented unemployed factory workers
o Jacob Coxey led a movement to fix the government so they could create
inflation
o Violence in Chicago. The Pullman strike, where Eugene Debs led a revolt
against the railroad companies after wages were cut.
o Troops were mobilized against the Pullman revolters
The election of 1896 faced decisions of monetary policy (inflation)
McKinley ran for republican, friends with Marcus Alonzo Hanna who was an
important business dude
o Wanted hard money
o Hanna fueled his campaign
Cleveland liked hard-money, William Jennings Bryan stepped in his place

o Bryan wanted silver

o Many democrats split on the silver issue
o Silver = inflation
o Democrats and Populists joined forces
Hanna had a shit ton of money to support McKinley so he parachuted into the
White House
Bryan didnt appeal to anyone other than the indebted farmers
o Urban workers didnt need inflation because they were wage earners
anyways
Republicans took control of government for a long time
o The central issues became industrial and labor stuff, not farming and
money
o Less voters
o High tariffs
o Eventually inflation came because a lot of gold was found.