White settlers

• • 1862 Homestead Act gave 160 acres of land in the West, as long as they farmed it for five years
  • 1873 Timber Culture Act gave 160 acres of land, as long as 1/4 was planted with trees
  • 1887 Dawes Act gave away Indian owned land
• • Manifest Destiny was the God-given belief that white Americans expand West and take over the whole of America, spreading Christianity
  • This was published in a newspaper by a man called John O'Sullivan in 1845
• Mountain men created trails that passed through the Plains in order to hunt in the rocky mountains in the early 1800s.
• • Gold discovered in California in 1849 meant that groups of people travelled there. These groups were called the 49ers.
  • There was an increase in crime, alcohol, gambling and prostitues as a result of this
• Mormons: aimed to escape persecution and sought religious freedom

  • Mormons were driven out of Kirtland due to economic failure of Mormon banks.
  • in Missouri, they faced persecution from non-Mormons.
  • In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith was arrested and murdered due to his law of polygamy.
• • Mormon prophet Brigham Young led the Mormons to the 'promised land' in Salt Lake Valley (1846-47)
  • They were successful due to Young's leadership and new irrigation schemes
  • Their beliefs in polygamy, proselytization, and public ownership allowed them to prosper
• The Donner Party 1846:

  • 80 people led by George Donner followed trailblazer, Hastings, west.
  • the group took 'Hastings cutoff' (a shortcut that would save 400 miles).
  • they faced problems taking the cutoff: extreme weather conditions, Indians attacking them, starving and so turning to cannibalism. Only 46 survived.
• The Great Plains had extreme climates, dry soil and little resources, so when Homesteaders moved there, they faced many problems:

  • made sod houses out of mud
  • created windpumps for water
  • red turkey wheat from Ukraine suited the dry climates
  • barbed wire created by Glidden
  • sod busters
• 1869, Transcontinental Railroad:

  • after the Civil War, the Pacific Railroad Act, 1862, allowed private companies to build the first transcontinental railroad
  • the federal government gave lots of money to support this