Conflicts and conquests 1876-95

• Solving problems with farming on the plains - dry farming

  1879

  Ploughing the ground deeply, so that it trapped water in the soil
• solving problems with farming on the plains - metal windmill

  replaced wooden windmills

  were stronger

  had more depth

  required less maintenance
• solving problems with farming on the plains - barbed wire

  was developed that was cheaper and less prone to rusting

  increasingly used by ranchers in the 1880s
• Solving problems on the plains - mechanical inventions

  Stronger ploughs and seed drills

  Made farming faster and more efficent

  Allowed farmers to farm larger areas and expand their homestead
• end of open ranching - victim of own success

  as there was sos much cattle the Plains became overstocked and there was not enough grass for cattle to feed on

  the price of cattle fell as there was so much available
• end of open ranching - great die up

  bad winter in 1886-67

  temperatures fell as low as -55c

  15% of the cattle on the plains died

  the huge open ranges were hit the hardest, since it was almost impossible to manage thousands of cattle

  many cattle barons went bust as a result
• impact of end of open range

  After 1887

  Ranchers kept small ranches with cattle fenced in

  Smaller herds are easier to look after, especially during droughts and winters

  Having fewer cattle increased prices of cattle again

  ranchers also focused on producing high quality meat from pure blood cows
• impact of end of open range ranching - cowboys

  Lives on the smaller ranchers were more mundane

  Were now farmhands who looked after the animals, mended fences and patrolled the boundary of the ranch ( riding the line )
• exodusters 1879 - beginning

  despite the freeing of black slaves at the end of the civil war 1865

  racism against black pplt continued in the south

  therefore black Americans moved west in order to start a new life
• exodusters 1879 - middle

  in 1879, 40,000 black Americans migrated to the western state of Kansas

  after a false humour that the state was being giving to ex slaves
• exodusters 1879 - end

  they were encouraged by Benjamin Singleton, a former slave who settled in Kansas where former slaves could start a new life
• impact of exoduster movement

  thousands of black people settled in Kansas

  they were still poorer than settlers and often had the poorest farming land ( hardest to farm )

  Kansas Government provided funding ( small amount )

  many realised Kansas wasn't as great as they hoped so moved to Oklahoma and Nebraska
• Oklahoma land rush 1889-95

  by 1880s most of america had been settled

  expect Oklahoma

  land was given away in a series of land rushes

  thousands of hopeful settlers lined up at the edge of native territory

  when a signal was given they rushed to claim a section

  there was 7 land rushes in total

  largest was 1893 , 8 million acres opened up
• problem with law and order - billy the kid

  famous outlaw in the west

  grew up in a mining camp in new Mexico

  he began with thieving and cattle rustling

  famous for breaking out of prisons

  1878- involved in a range war - Lincoln county war

  was hunted down by Sheriff Pat Garret

  caught Billy, however he escaped, the second time Garret shot billy dead
• impact of billy the kid

  seen as an exciting figure who stood up to businessmen

  he is significant as he is an example of how powerless the legal system was
• Wyatt Earp

  was a duty marshal in a mining town in Arizona with his brother virgil and Morgan as they were seen as strong lawmen

  the brother clashed with ranching families of clantons and McLaurys

  resulting in the gun fight at OK corral

  30 seconds gunfight

  Earps killed 3 ranchers

  in 1882 Morgan was murdered by a cowboy

  Wyatt organised a posse to kill him

  forced to leave Tombstone
• Wyatt Earp significance

  example of how law enforcements were taken advantage due to weak Government system

  Earps’ tough approach to law only made more conflict and made things worse
• Johnson county was 1892

  When ranchers and famers clashed on the plains, their arguments often developed into a long term feud called range wars

  Most famously the Johnson county was in Wyoming
• what caused the Johnson county war - start

  rich cattle ranchers owned a lot of land in Wyoming and controlled local politics. saw homesteaders as a nuisance

  Accused homesteaders as cattle rustling

  Big ranches particularly bitter due to great die up
• what caused Johnson county war - middle

  frequent violence between small and big ranchers

  In 1889 Averill and Watson were hung by local cattle rancher who then took their land

  Rich ranchers belonged to a group called WSGA which held a round up each spring to claim any unbranded cattle

  1892 , homesteaders held a round up before the wsga
• what happened at the Johnson County war

  Ranchers were furious and hired 22 gunman to invade Johnson county in Wyoming to kill 70 settlers who they accused of cattle rustling

  Ranchers raised $100,000 to cover legal fees and promised gunmen $50 per murder
• johnson county war - failure

  the gunman failed as held up by 2 men on their hit list Nate Champion and Nick Ray

  county sheriff organised a posse to stop them which was supported by many local ppl

  gunmen surrounded by 300 angry locals

  had to be rescued by army
• aftermath of the Johnson county war

  gunmen went to trial but weren't punished as they had good lawyers from the £100,000 fund

  had powerful friends, including the judge and state governor

  they dragged the trial out until homesteaders could no longer afford legal fees
• why is Johnson county was significant

  showed the west relied on vigilante justice

  how lawless the west could be

  killing planned by the rich and got a way with the murders
• battle of little bighorn 1876 


  another conflict between the natives and settlers

  however the natives were victorious
• causes of the battle of little bighorn

  in 1874, Cluster led an expedition in the Black hill (sacred land for Sioux)

  Cluster was breaching the 1868 second fort Laramie treaties, which promised to protect sacred lands

  Government did nothing and offered to buy the black hills for $6 million, which Sioux refused
• causes of battle of little bighorn pt 2

  sioux could not trust the government

  Thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne left their reservations to support sitting bull and crazy horse

  Set up more than 7000 camps and prepared for war

  President gave them 60 days to return to reservations
• events of battle of little bighorn

  1876, general cluster scouts spotted a camp of 2000 natives

  instead of waiting for back up

  cluster went and attacked the natives with just 200 men

  cluster and all his troops were killed
• impact of battle of little bighorn

  amercians were outraged by the events

  therefore Government policies became more hostile

  felt natives must “assimilate or die“

  forced to return to reservations

  previous treaties ignored

  sioux forced to give up land

  took away natives horses and weapons
• wounded knee massacre 1890

  the natives became desperate

  stuck on reservations and had little food

  totally depended on the government

  in 1890 a native called wavoka had visions telling him that if they preformed a ghost dance all the dead would come back and carry away settlers

  deemed as natives only hope and quickly spread through reservations

  misunderstanding as settlers saw it as a rebellion and ordered army to stop it
• events of wounded knee

  us army opened fire on a group of natives as they danced the ghost dance

  250-300 died

  half women and children
• significance of wkm

  widely supported by Americans

  saw it as revenge for clusters death

  last major conflict between natives and government
• Extermination of buffalo

  Natives way of life depended on buffalos

  Beginning of 1870s buffalo Hunting became very popular

  Killed more than necessary

  Much of buffalo went to waste

  Government encouraged the hunting as believed it would force the natives to give up way of life

  Even had trips where trains would take hunters to kill buffalo
• impact of extermination of buffalo

  natives forced to farm

  didnt have the skills or experience

  many starved or died of diseases

  removal of settlers made it easier for settlers to move west
• life on reservations

  made reservations even smaller

  decisons were made by corrupt Government officials

  natives now had to live by American law

  native children sent to military schools

  brought up as Christian

  forced to abandon way of life

  social issues like depression and alcoholism
• dawes act 1887

  agreed that reservations should be phased out

  expensive to run and allowed natives to live a traditional life

  reservations were broken up

  each family given 160 acres of land

  any left overs to settlers

  most had no experience of farming so farms failed and sold their land
• Significance of Dawes act

  Destroyed natives traditional society

  Made lives harder

  Brought more settlers to plains
• closure of indian frontier 1890

  which divided the west and amercia

  they felt America had been conquered and civilised

  no part belonged to natives

  manifest destiny was achieved