Miners expanded westward through placer and quartz mining, helping drive expansion. Ranching also grew on the open ranges of the Great Plains, with longhorn cattle herded by cowboys. As more settlers arrived, land disputes arose over ownership models between Native Americans and newcomers, leading the government to restrict tribes to reservations. The settling of the West was challenging for both homesteaders and Native Americans, with many struggling against the difficulties of the land and changes to their traditional ways of life.
2. Miners
Placer mining-used simple equipment like picks,
shovels and pans
Quartz mining-dug deep beneath earths
surface..usually done by corporate mining
companies
Mining led to the expansion of the West
Nevada, Colorado, Montana and the Dakota
territory
3. “English” land ownership
Native Americans had no formal “land ownership”
When Europeans arrived this posed a problem between
the two cultures
The “English” land ownership model was as follows:
•
•
•
•
Crown (King-Queen)
Feudal Lords
Lesser Lords
Commoners and peasants
4. American Land ownership
In the United States we use a type of English format with
the Western Territories
• Government
• Land companies/Railroads
• Homesteaders-ranchers
5. Ranching
Great Plains became areas for grazing cattle
Longhorn cattle handled the environment
Hispanic cowhands taught many cowboys
techniques and showed them tools for ranching
Open range-land owned by the govt. that could be
used for grazing
Long drive-process of taking cattle from TX to
Kansas for shipment east
7. Ranch wars
Different groups of cowboys fought over trail
routes
Mavericks—stray calves with no brand
Barbed wire-material that allowed hundreds of
square miles to be fenced off cheaply and easily
8. Settling the Great American
Desert
Homesteads—land given by the govt for settlement after 5
years title would be given to the Homesteader
Dry farming—planting deep enough for moisture
Homesteaders fought against many odds:
Nature
Lack of resources
Hard economic times
10. Native Americans
Most were nomads following buffalo
Later many were restricted to reservations
Annuities were supposed to be paid by the govt
for land take from the Native Americans
Lack of these led to uprisings
Little Bighorn
Dawes Act
Tried to Assimilate Native Americans
12. Reasons for Failure of Native
Americans and reservation life
Most Native
They were dependent
Americans had very
little training in
farming or ranching
The allotments they
were given were too
small to be profitable
on buffalo for their
life
Many struggled with
their new ways of life
and wished to remain
in their traditional life