If you lived in 1840’s what would you have done? You may have gone looking for gold, building railroads, or even farming on 160 acres of free land. Though there was also some downsides like pushing Native Americans of their land and forcing them onto dry useless land in reservations.

In the year of 1848 gold was found at Sutter’s Mill by James Marshall and news of this spread like wildfire, which lead to the gold rush. The miners became known as 49er’s for the year they came.  Each miner hoped to find gold and “strike it rich.”  Whenever gold was found a boom town popped up very quickly full of people who wanted to take the gold. After gold was found somewhere else people would get up and move leaving a ghost town in their wake. If you were a miner during this time would you move in an out of a town quite often as gold was discovered in other places? Why or why not? Very few miners found gold, but ended up happy in the west. Would you be willing to go west to find gold even if the chance of it was small? Explain.

                                 

    Later people looked around the Great Plains and saw a land of opportunity. They began to farm under the Homestead Act of 1862. The act said that if you farmed on 160 acres of land for 5 years you could have all the land for free. That means if you moved off the land after 4 years you would lose all of it. Would you have taken 160 acres of free land and farmed it for 5 years or keep looking for gold? Explain.  As people kept taking land in the Great Plains, Native American were forced off their land. I bet you can tell what happens next. The Natives got angry and fought back. Then treaties were made that said people would stop moving onto Indian land and and the Indians wouldn’t fight back. It took a long time for news to get around in during this time, so settlers kept moving in.  The settlers either didn’t know about the treaty or just didn’t care. The Natives anger turned into hatred as they were pushed farther and farther of the land they had for generations. They lashed out at the settlers and fought many battles such as the Battle of Little Bighorn. General George Custer and all his men were killed by the natives being lead by Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. However, this was the last big victory for the Indians before they were forced onto reservations by greedy white men.  In the end the army came and slaughtered Tenton men, women, and children. After that most Native Americans, in shock, went to reservations.If you were a Native American at this time would you have fought to keep the land you and your people had live on for centuries or give in to reservations? Please explain.

                                        

          When white people took the land in the west, Native American land, they decided to build a transcontinental railroad. That means settlers could link goods from the east to the west. This created a lot of jobs for many people to make railroads. Thousands of people had to work day and night to finish the job. Finally, the two railroads, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, were complete. They connected at Promontory Point, UT where the governor of CA was to drive a golden spike into the ground to symbolize the linked railroads. The first swing he missed completely but the second hit perfectly. Everybody in the USA cheered.  Would you have cheered for the linked railroads? Why or why not? From then on the East and West  were able to send goods back and forth.

          If you decided to move west during this time what role would you have played?  Would you be a miner, rancher, or farmer?  Would you be an American soldier trying to help move the Native Americans to reservations?  Please explain.  

  

The West

The three frontiers in the west were mining, farming, and ranching. The mining frontier was when people started moving west for gold. These people were called forty-niners.  The farming frontier came after there was no gold left and people needed to farm. The ranching frontier was made to herd cattle in open fields and was at the same time as farming. The farming and ranching frontiers were only possible because of the railroads.  Railroads allowed for the transfer of goods.  Which of these three frontiers was the most important in the west?  Why?

The settlers kept moving on the Indian’s land and the government tried to make treaties with them. However, the treaties didn’t work because people didn’t know about them or didn’t care.  Since we took the Native American land they were put on reservations, which were on dry desert land. So they had battles with settlers. The last great victory for the Indians was the Battle of Little Bighorn where General George Custer lost all of his men and was killed by chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. After that the Americans won and forced Indians onto reservations. The Massacre of the Wounded Knee stopped the war because lots of Indian women, men, and children were killed.  If you were working in the government how could you try to help the Indians?  Explain.

Farmers in the west had to deal with cattle destroying their crops.  Then Joseph Glidden invented the barbed wire to stop that. Barbed wire is wire that has sharp points every few inches and after cattle are scratched a couple of times they will eventually stop.  Water was also scarce in the Great Plains so farmers used dry farming.  Dry farming is when farmers dig small ditches to collect rain and after it rained farmers would flip the soil to get the water closer to the roots.  Which of the inventions listed above is the most important?  Why?

The people in the west were hard working and do it yourself people that did everything by hand and with family and sometimes friends. For fuel because the didn’t have a lot of wood for fuel so they used cow chips as fuel and cow chips are dried cow poop. There wasn’t a lot of rain either so the farmers took up dry farming which was making a one foot hole in the ground and they planted crops and when they did they had to turn the soil so the water could get to the crops and they would have food. Would you move back to the cities where others were or would you stay in the plains? Why?

When the First Transcontinental Railroad was finished people that lived in the great plains could have lumber to make houses instead of living in a soddie or a dugout. Nine new states joined the Union. There were new jobs opening and they were train conductors, miners, industrial workers that helped make steel plated plows introduced by John Deere and tools and making barbed wire introduced by Joseph Glidden and steel drivers for train tracks. If you could have any one of those four jobs which one would you have and why?

The west opened up when people wanted to get away from it all and they got 160 acres of land in the Homestead Act, they had to live there for five years or they had to pay for it hundreds of dollars because it was $12.25 an acre. Before they had trains the ranchers would have to go on cattle drives that took almost a year to get to the place they were selling the cattle at and when the railroads came cattle drives were barely done anymore because now the ranchers could get their cattle to the market in two or three days. If you could get 100 acres of land but you had to live there for five years would you? Why?

                       

        People living in the west used to be really hard working. They had to take care of the animals and do a lot of chores. They also had many problems they needed to overcome.  For example they had to deal with rock hard soil.  The soil made the land harder to farm.  John Deere invented the steel bladed plow, which made farming easier.  How does farm machinery change the way farmers farm today?  Explain.  With all of these new farming products we need steel.  The Bessemer Process was used to make steel.  Are there things you use today because of steel production?  Explain.  Another problem they faced was wandering cattle going into other people’s yards and destroying their crops.  Joseph Glidden invented barb wire fence.  Barbed wire has sharp wire that will poke the cattle as they go by.  The final problem was there was not enough water and water was important because their crops need it to grow.  Farmers began to use dry farming.  In dry farmers they would dig holes about a foot deep next to each row to catch water when it rains.  Then they flip the water to get the water close to the crops roots.  

                              

        There were five transcontinental railroads completed by 1893. These railroads lured people to the West because they created new jobs, such as people worked in mills, produced steel for farm machinery, worked on tracks, and loaded railroad cars.  Railroads also allowed people in the West to get goods from the East.  There were nine new states were added to the Union by 1893 . What do you think it would have been like to ride on the transcontinental railroad?  Explain.

                            

     

    There were many events that helped to open up the west. Comstock Lode in Nevada was land that produced a lot of silver. Abilene, Kansas becomes a cattle boom town. Also Levi jeans were invented by Levi Strauss. They were rugged pants that miners really liked and they became know as blue jeans. A golden spike got hammered into the ground in Promontory Point, Utah. This marked the completion of the railroad that crosses the whole country.

The people living in the west during this time were hard working and invented many new things to make their life easier.  In the Great Plains the cattle kept getting away and it was hard to keep them together.  The cattle would destroy crops.  So farmers tried to plant bushes to keep the cattle together, but the cattle stomped them down. In 1874 Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire. If you were a farmer during this time what would be the positives to having barbed wire? What would the negatives be  Why?  Water was scarce in the Great Plains.  Water was important to farmers because they needed it for their crops to grow.  Therefore, farmers began dry farming. This is where you farm with little water.  You make a little ditch and collect water when it rains. The last problem farmers had to deal with was the rock-hard soil because a wooden plow would not work.   John Deere invented the steel- bladed plow instead. Would you use the steel-bladed plow instead of the wood plow? Explain.

  By 1893, there were five transcontinental railroads, which opened a door to a frontier.  Now there were nine new states added to the Union. Railroads also created many new jobs such as, building the railroads and mining in the west. Would you like to build railroads? Why or why not?

There were many different reasons why the west was opened.  Abilene, Kansas became the ‘‘Cattle Town’’.   More and more cattle were transferred out of Abilene to the east.  At Comstock Lode, in Nevada,  three men found blue rocks that had bits of silver in the them but they did not know it.  They sold the land to some Californians for a couple thousand dollars but they were cheated.  The land ended up being worth millions of dollars. In Promontory Point, Utah a golden spike was driven into the ground to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad which crosses of the country. What would it have been like to be the person who got to drive in the golden spike?  Explain.

The Wild West

Native Americans have a rough life, between 1868 and 1875 the Native Americans and soldiers fought 200 battles. On June 25, Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse fought General Custer at the Little Bighorn River. Custer and all his men were killed. This was known as the Battle of Little Bighorn. Little Bighorn was the last big victory for the Native Americans. Why do you think this was the last big victory and how did Americans change after that?

In 1877 more and more Native Americans were giving up the fight to white settlers. That year the great Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph laid down his weapons. By 1885 almost every Native American had been forced onto a reservation. A reservation is a place where Native Americans were forced to live by white settlers.  The land were reservations was often bad land not suitable for farming.  If you were an Indian would you fight to save your land or would you go to a reservation? Why?In 1886 the Apache leader Geronimo was captured by white settlers, which lead to his tribe heading to reservations as well.

In 1890 the Massacre of Wounded Knee in South Dakota occurred. Army soldiers killed hundreds of Teton men, women, and children. It was the last time the Plains Indians would fight. From then they have always lived on reservations or tried to adapt to white society. The Americans took away everything they had. Their old way of life would never be the same again. It was called a massacre because the Teton Indians were surprised and weren’t ready for the attack.  It is also a massacre because they  didn’t have their weapons ready and women and children were killed. If you were a member of the Teton tribe would you run and hide or try to fight back once the white settlers began attacking? Why?

When people lived in the west they had to live in soddies, homes made from sod, or dugouts, homes dug into the side of a hill.  In the west began to spring up and one room schools were built.  More people started to invent things like the telegraph.  The telegraph allowed messages to get from people in the east to people in the west.  Some major problems for farmers were tornados, grasshoppers, and drought. What do you think would be the biggest problems for farmers? Why?

Moving westward and Moving Native Americans

    The two deadliest conflicts between Americans and the Native Americans were the battle at Little Bighorn and the Massacre at Wounded Knee. At the Battle at Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse, the leader of the Cheyenne tribe, and Sitting Bull, the leader of the Lakota Sioux tribe, were fighting General George Custer and his American forces. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse killed Custer and his whole army. The Battle at Little Bighorn was the Native Americans last great victory over the Americans. The Massacre at Wounded Knee was probably the saddest thing Americans did to the Native Americans. On the morning of December 29, 1890, in South Dakota, a lot of Teton men, women, and children were killed by American soldiers. Most of the time people wouldn’t kill women or children because they had nothing to do with the war. I think they killed women and children to make them scared. This would be the last time Native Americans would fight Americans. If you were an American soldier at this time would you be that desperate to kill women and children?

    I bet you're wondering why there were so many battles between the Native Americans and the Americans. Well it all started when the Americans were trying to move west. Americans were killing the animals Native Americans depended on. They left the dead carcass lay on the ground. The Native Americans use the whole animal so when you leave it there it rots and they can't use it. The American wanted to make treaties because all they wanted to do was take their land. The treaties were unsuccessful because people in the west didn't hear about them for months. In the 1860s reservations were set up to move the Native Americans so we could take their land. If you were an American in the 1800s would treat the Native American in this same way?  Would you kill their animals and take their land?  Why or why not?

For people living in the west there were two kinds of houses they could live in.  You could either build a soddie (made of chunks of grass and mud) or a dugout (whole dug into a hillside). Would you live in a dugout or a soddie? Why? When more people started to move near the same area a town would spring up. The children went to one room schools. As time passed railroads would begin to run through towns and would ship goods from the east. If you were a settler at this time how would your life change once railroads came through your town?   Settlers could now send messages with a telegraph to the family they had back east. The change of the west affected everyone differently.  

     The challenges farmers in the west had to face could be devastating.  Tornadoes were dangerous because their was no safety shelter and they destroyed crops. They also had to deal with grasshoppers. Grasshoppers can wipe out your entire crop in a short period of time. However, drought was the biggest problem farmers had. Drought killed crops because they had no water and crops need water to live. What impact do tornados, grasshoppers, and         drought have on farmers living in the Great Plains today? Why?

Whether you were a Native American or a settler you dealt with a lot of changes living in the Great Plains.  

The Old West!

The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.  The railroad shipped goods from west to east and east to west.  Now farmers and ranchers were able to transfer their crops and cattle to the east.  How would life have been different in the west if the first transcontinental railroad wasn’t completed?

Railroads helped make the life of ranchers easier.  No longer did ranchers have to risk their cattle on long cattle drives in order to sell them.  Cattle drives could be dangerous or risky because of the long journey they have to take.  Railroads allowed ranchers to ship their cattle to east much faster.  The Great Plains was called the Cattle Kingdom because of the large number of cattle there.  

The Homestead Act of 1862 provided a lot of farmland for people in the Great Plains.  A person would earn 160 acres for free if they lived on it and farm it for five years.  If you do not farm it for five years you lose it to someone else.  Since there was so much wheat grown in the Great Plains it was called the Great American Breadbasket.  Do you think you could live on the land for five years to get it free or would you leave early and lose the land?  Explain why?

If you lived in the west during this time would you rather be a farmer or a rancher?  Why?

The Rail of a Road

The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The west benefited from railroads because they could now get goods and other things they needed from the east.  It also helped people in the west because farmers and ranchers were now able to send their crops and cattle to the east for sale.  The two companies responsible for building the railroads.  The first was Central Pacific, which began in Sacramento,California and headed east. The other company was Union Pacific, which started in Omaha,Nebraska and went west. In May of 1869 the two sets of tracks met in Promontory,Utah thus completing the first transcontinental railroad.  

The railroads were very important to the Ranching Frontier. Cattle drives of the past would last for several months and were dangerous.  Once railroads came cowboys loaded their cattle on the trains headed east for sale.   Cowboys no longer had to do long cattle drives. If you were rancher in the west how would your life be different when you no longer had to do cattle drives because of the railroads?  Would you like to be a rancher?  Why or why not?

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave people get 160 acres of land free if they lived on it and farmed it for five years. President Abraham signed the Homestead Act of 1862 into law to encourage others to move west. If you didn’t want to wait five years to get the free land you could buy plots of land for $1.25 an acre after living on it for only 6 months. To get land you had to be a United States citizen and 21 years old. The act took 20 years to get the act passed.

It was hard to farm in the in the “Great American Desert”. It did not have enough rain and the tough prairie  grass made it hard to plow. Kansas and Nebraska mostly planted wheat. The Great Plains were called the ‘’Great American Bread  Basket, because so much wheat was grown there.  Would you have like to be a farmer in the west? Why or why not?  Would you rather have the 160 acres of free land but have to live there for five years or would you rather pay the money to have the land after six months? Why? If you lived during this time would you rather be a farmer or rancher?  Why?

Back in 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. It linked the east to the west. It was very important and played a big role in the farming and ranching frontiers. It brought furniture to the west from the east and brought crops and cattle to the east from the west to be sold. Without the transcontinental railroad the farmers and ranchers would have a much harder time selling their crops and cattle.  How would life be different for farmers and ranchers if the transcontinental railroad was not completed?  Would you rather live in the west or the east? Why?

The ranching frontier was all about cattle and cattle drives. The transcontinental railroad made cattle drives easier because ranchers only had to drive their cattle half the distance. The Great Plains at that time was known as the Cattle Kingdom because there were a lot of cattle there. The cattle in the west were very important because they helped to feed the people in the east.  Many cattle herders were Mexicans and were called vaqueros. Unfortunately the winter of 1885-1886 was harsh and was followed by two dry summers. As a result 80 to 90 percent of all cattle in the Great Plains died. This put an end to the Cattle Kingdom of the past.  Would you like to be a rancher in the west?  Why or why not?

The farming frontier was positively impacted by the transcontinental railroad because it allowed the farmers to ship crops to the east. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed qualified people to receive 160 acres of free land if they farmed it and lived on the land for five years. This act caused many people to flock to the west.  Between 1862 and 1900, more than 400,000 families lived on the Great Plains. Due to the amount of wheat being grown in the Great Plains this area became known as the Great American Breadbasket.  About a third of the families struggled to farm the land for various reasons.  With little rainfall, farmers had to dig really far underground to get water. They used windmills for pumps and used the water to irrigate their fields. They also relied on steel plows to break through the tough soil.  Would you like to be a farmer on the Great Plains?  Why or why not? Would you rather be a farmer or rancher? Why?