CLAIMING THE WESTApril 30, 2010

MYTHS VS. REALITY

Throughout the history of the Old American West, several myths were created and inspired to encourage settlement, or create a romantic picture of the west

MYTH #1: THE GARDEN PARADISE

American west originally seen as the “Great American Desert”

“Experts” offset this myth by claiming that planting trees and crops would bring more rainfall.

“Rain follows the plow”

Unusually heavy rainfall in some parts of the west made this seem possible

MYTH #1: THE GARDEN PARADISE

Reality:

Wet weather was only temporary Real weather was extremely hot summers,

brutal winters, and 1/3 the rain as in the East.

Many farers moved back east in the late 1880s.

Other farmers coped by digging deep wells for water and

MYTH 2: FREE LAND

Homestead Act, 1862- 160 Acres land for settlers if they cultivate it for 5 years for $10

Was to help farmers work the territory in the West

MYTH 2: FREE LAND

Reality:

Land speculators took advantage of this system by paying friends or relatives to lays a few logs on the ground and scatter some corn to “improve” the land.

Houses were the be built 12x14 – but the law failed to specify whether that was feet or inches

Best land, near rail lines, was owned by the railroad companies

The Grange

1867 – Notional Grange of Patrons of Husbandry formed

Farmers organization that tackled 2 main threats to farmers’ existence: Railroads and Grain merchants

Established co-op stores, represented farmers in court, and operated grain elevators.

MYTH #3: COWBOYS

People in the East read about cowboys in dime novels

Ideas portrayed were that cowboys were: Glamorous life Men White Wore “cowboy” attire Rode on the same horse

all day

^Traditional view of the West

MYTH #3: COWBOYS

Reality: Many cowboys were African American, Chinese,

or Mexican

MYTH #3: COWBOYS

Reality: Hard work – long 18-hour days and often very

long and boring treks Women were often ranch hands Many horses were used for different purposes Although there was “cowboy attire”, people were

generally not wealthy and wore whatever they could get

THE CATTLE INDUSTRY

Started in Texas – Skilled ranchers came from Mexico

Cattle Drives – Ranchers would have to take cattle up north from Texas to the rail line to ship meat east. Routes became known as trails.

Chisholm trail from San Antonio to Abilene, Kansas

THE CATTLE INDUSTRY

Cattle Herds: Might have totalled 2,500 cows with 8-10

cowhands, a trail boss, and wranglers (people who cared for the horses)

DANGERS OF THE CATTLE INDUSTRY

Any problems arose for cattle: Go blind from drought Drown in flash floods Die in stampedes Get an infection – Texas fever

Decline of the industry Overproduction drove prices down Bad weather in the late 1880s made it

impossible to heard cattle Cow herding turned into Cattle Ranches

THE BUFFALO

Bison was the main source of food for Plains natives

Hunted for sport, later for industry – Robes and mechanical belts

People would shoot at them from trains for sport

Population Statistics: 20-30 million before Europeans arrived Fell to 12 million by 1860s 1886 – Only a few hundred bison left, most in

Canada

^Hunting for sport

^ Buffalo skulls

WOMEN OF THE WEST

As a class, read “Women of the Wild West” Answer questions 1 and 2 in your text. (taken

up in 15 min)

Mining the West

After the California Gold Rush, prospectors went east to the Rockies and the plains to find gold and other resources: Gold in Colorado and South Dakota Copper in Montana Silver in many other places

Led to mass migration and towns being sprung up overnight

^Guthrie, Oklahoma, built in a day

^Ghost town in Utah

Mining the West

Wide variety of people lived in these make-shift towns: Chinese, British, Mexicans, and Americans

traveled to the west Women worked in these towns providing

services for miners

VIGILANTE JUSTICE IN THE WEST

Policing was sparse in the West – no way of enforcing the law

Vigilante Committees – Self-appointed volunteers to provide law and order in the mining towns.

^Hanging of a cattle thief in Montana

Jessie James

Guerilla fighter for the South in the Civil War

From Missouri After the war for 15

years, he and his gang (the Younger brothers) robbed trains, banks, and stagecoaches

Was well-liked by locals Gang dispersed in

1876, he was killed in 1882 for a $10,000 reward

Billy the Kid (Henry McCarthy)

Born in New York, raised in Indiana, Kansas, and New Mexico.

Participated in the Lincoln War (range war in New Mexico) where he killed several men

Captured in 1880 but killed to guards and escaped.

Captured and killed in July of that year (age 21)

Became legendary as a cold-blooded killer and a romantic as well

Wild Bill Hickok

A scout, frontier lawman, and gambler

Alleged to have killed at least two dozen men during his career as a scout and marshal

Town Marshall in Abilene, Kansas (Cow town)

1876 – shot in the back of the head while playing cards in a saloon

Wyatt Earp

Buffalo hunter and gambler, and then a peace officer in Kansas (Tombstone)

OK Corral – Gunfight where he killed 3 rustlers

John H. (Doc) Holliday Close friend of Wyatt

Earp Was a dentist in the

East, but, for unknown reasons, went west and abandoned his previous lifestyle

Was a gambler and a shooter, but made his living off of gambling

Lived in Tombstone, Ka with Earp and was in the OK Corral gunfight

Wyatt Earp Clip

Settling Tombstone, AZ and the gun fight at the OK Corral (Chapter 4 & 5) 15 min

http://video.pbs.org/video/1390089466/