CHAPTER 16
The Conquest of the Far West
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The western frontier has been, and remains, such a powerful influence on American culture and memory that it is important to recall that much of this memory was shaped from romantic myths and seldom-realized ideals. For some, the West was a land of adventure, and there were examples of brave and courageous people who took up a rugged life in hopes of a better future. But the land that was new to thousands of migrants on the overland trails was far from empty and unknown. Major portions of the American West had long been populated by Indians, Spanish, and Mexicans. And the post–Civil War boom of settlement was not just by white Americans, but by people from around the world, many having similar aspirations and finding similar challenges. White settlement followed boom-and-bust patterns in the three industries that came to dominate the region in the second half of the nineteenth century: mining, ranching, and commercial agriculture. Whites, Blacks, Asians, Mexicans, and many others made up the labor force for these three industries. The result was a fluid, racially diverse, and often mobile population beset with terrific prejudice and discrimination. Still, there were many accomplishments.
Earlier in the nineteenth century, the West had been a decidedly underdeveloped region with an almost colonial relationship to the more industrial and populated Northeast and Midwest. Except for a few pockets in the Far West, by 1860 the frontier line of agricultural settlement stopped at the eastern edge of the Great Plains. Plains Indians who waged a fierce fight to stay on their lands, an unfamiliar environment, and the absence of sufficient rainfall combined to discourage further advancement westward. However, by the end of the century, the Indian barrier to white settlement had been removed. A transcontinental railroad now linked East with West. Cattlemen had spearheaded development of Texas and the Southwest. Farther west, gold and silver strikes had convinced thousands to come out in search of wealth. In between were an increasing number of white farmers who used the new railroad branches to reach far-away markets. The economic rewards were sometimes great, but so too were the risks. The competition was intense, and the markets had wide fluctuations in demand and prices. Throughout it all, people came and stayed in such numbers that by the 1890s, the era of the frontier seemed to be ending. Americans, in particular, longed to keep alive this place of their imagination and assumed values. From this grew the iconic West. In art and stories and even reenactments, the Wild West remained, at least in spirit, as the nation progressed toward the twentieth century.
OBJECTIVES
A thorough study of Chapter 16 should enable the student to understand:
1. The cultural characteristics of the varied populations of the West
2. The pattern of settlement on the last American frontier and the significance of the frontier in American history
3. The regional and national impact of the discovery of gold and silver and other minerals in the West
4. The development of the cattle industry in the American Southwest after 1860
5. The powerful influence of the West on American popular culture
6. The methods used by the federal government to reduce the threat of the Plains Indians and the Indians’ ultimate fate
7. The reasons for the transition from subsistence to commercial farming and the effect of the change on the West
MAIN THEMES
1. The varied ethnic and racial cultures that characterized the American West and how Anglo-European settlers came to dominate this part of the country
2. The transformation of the Far West from a sparsely populated region containing Indians and various settlers of Hispanic, European, and Asian background into a part of the nation’s capitalistic economy
3. The closing of the frontier as Indian resistance was eliminated; as miners, ranchers, and cowboys penetrated the West; and as railroads opened the area for general settlement
4. The development of mining, ranching, and commercial agriculture as the three major industries of the West
5. The cultural development of a romantic Western myth as an extension of traditional American beliefs and ideals
6. The opportunities offered and the problems encountered by farmers as the agricultural sector of the West entered boom-and-bust cycles
POINTS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What factors promoted settlement of the West? Why did the unsettled West hold a strong romantic appeal for many Americans? In what ways were the romantic view and the realities compatible? Why has the romantic vision been perpetuated in American popular culture?
2. Describe the development of the cattle industry in the West and Southwest after 1860. Why was the period of the open range relatively short? What was the life of a cowboy like?
3. Explain the cultural system that developed in the American Southwest under Spanish and Mexican rule? What impact did Anglo-American dominance have on Hispanic society?
4. Discuss the impact of Chinese immigrants on the American West. How did Anglo-Americans respond to that immigration? What resulted from that response?
5. Discuss the culture of the Plains Indians and the reasons for Indian conflict with white America. Why was violence so common? Was a peaceful resolution possible? Why or why not?
6. What was the Dawes Act? What does it tell you about white values and intentions? Was it a reasonable alternative to the status quo? What role did it play in the final outcome of the story of the Plains Indians?
7. Describe the pattern of development and decline in the mining industry. What was life like for the men who worked in the mines and the women who lived in the mining camps?
8. Describe the conditions for farming on the Great Plains. What was attractive about it? What special grievances contributed to an agrarian malaise in the latter part of the nineteenth century?
9. What does the actual history of the American West tell us about the significance of the frontier in American history? What was the myth of the frontier? What was the reality of the frontier? Why do you think Americans have been so persistent in maintaining the myths of the West?
MAP EXERCISES
1. Identify the major cattle trails and the states and territories they went through.
2. Note the major cities on the cattle trails and the railroads to them.
INTERPRETATIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON MAPS AND TEXT
1. Why did the long cattle drives originate in Texas, and why did the cattle have to be driven northward?
2. Why did the frontier line stop where it did about 1860?
3. What forces destroyed the system of open range and long drives? What replaced it?
ESSAY QUESTIONS
These questions are based on the preceding map exercises. They are designed to test students’ knowledge of the geography of the area discussed in this chapter and of its historical development. Careful reading of the text will help students answer these questions.
1. Compare and contrast the long-term impact on the West of mining, ranching, and farming.
2. How did the West remain in somewhat of a colonial relationship with the Northeast and Midwest throughout the nineteenth century? What was the long-term significance of this sort of relationship?
3. Consider the major topographical features of the West and explain how they were crucial in shaping settlement patterns, economic development, and cultural characteristics of the West.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ray A. Billington and Martin Ridge, Westward Expansion, 5th ed. (1982)
Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (1970)
William Cronon et al., eds., Under an Open Sky: Rethinking America’s Western Past (1992)
Arnold De Leon, They Called Them Greasers: Anglo Attitudes Toward Mexicans in Texas, 1821-1900 (1983)
Gilbert Fite, The Farmer’s Frontier, 1865-1900 (1966)
Joy S. Kasson, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West: Celebrity, Memory, and Popular History (2000)
Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (1987)
Patricia Nelson Limerick et al., eds., Trails: Toward a New Western History (1991)
Dean L. May, Three Frontiers: Family, Land, and Society in the American West, 1850-1900 (1994)
Janet A. McDonnell, The Dispossession of the American Indian, 1887-1934 (1991)
L. G. Moses, Wild West Shows and the Images of American Indians, 1883-1933 (1996)
Malcolm J. Rohrbough, Days of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Nation (1997)
Lillian Schlissel, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey (1982)
Richard W. Slatta, Cowboys of the Americas (1990)
Mark David Spence, Dispossesing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks (1999)
Ronald Takaki, Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans (1989)
The West, PBS documentary (1996)
For Internet resources, practice questions, references to additional books and films, and more, see this book’s Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/unfinishednation4.
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