Later Developments in the West Flashcards
All 27 cards in this deck
What was the impact of ploughs with steel ploughshares on Plains farming?
They made it easier to cultivate the tough land, so farmers increased the size of their fields.
What happened in the winter of 1886–87 on the Plains?
A very harsh winter meant cattle could not reach grass; thousands died and many cattlemen went bankrupt.
Why was the open range overstocked by the early 1880s?
Cattle barons over-invested in ranching during the boom, and the drought of 1883 left less grass, worsening it.
How did ranching change after the end of the open range?
Ranchers kept smaller herds on land fenced with barbed wire, breeding pure-breds for high quality meat.
Who were the Exodusters?
African Americans who migrated from the South to Kansas in 1879 to escape racism and poverty and claim land.
What was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1893?
The opening of the Cherokee Outlet in Oklahoma, where settlers raced to claim former Indigenous land.
What was meant by the closure of the 'Indian Frontier'?
By 1890 the census declared there was no longer a frontier line — settlement covered the West and Indigenous peoples were confined to reservations.
Give one reason there was a shortage of reliable law officers in the West.
The areas to police were vast, so marshals relied on deputy marshals and local sheriffs, who were often badly paid.
Why is Billy the Kid significant for law and order in the West?
He was deputised as one of the Regulators in the Lincoln County War (1878) but was later convicted of murdering Sheriff Brady, showing the lack of distinction between outlaws and lawmen.
What was the gunfight at the OK Corral (1881)?
A gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona, in which Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holliday killed three members of the 'Cowboys' gang (Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury).
What was the Johnson County War (1892)?
A planned invasion of Johnson County by cattle barons to kill 70 men accused of rustling; backed by the governor of Wyoming, it failed due to local resistance.
What happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876)?
Custer and all the men of his 7th Cavalry detachment were killed by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
Give one impact of the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876).
The US army and government hardened their policy, hunting down the Sioux and forcing them onto reservations.
What was the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)?
US soldiers killed around 250 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek while disarming them — the end of Indigenous resistance on the Plains.
Give one reason the buffalo were hunted almost to extinction by the 1880s.
A new tanning process (1871) made buffalo hides valuable for industrial leather, so professional hunters killed millions and the railroads carried the hides east.
How did the loss of the buffalo give the US government control over Indigenous peoples on reservations?
With no buffalo to hunt, they became reliant on government supplies, which could be used as a form of control.
Give one consequence of the removal of the buffalo for white settlement of the Plains.
The Plains could be exploited for cattle ranching.
Give two features of life for Indigenous peoples on the reservations.
Land was poor and unsuitable for farming, and they depended on government rations handed out by Indian agents.
How did boarding schools affect Indigenous children on the reservations?
Children were taken to be taught English and white American ways, and were banned from using their own language and customs.
What did the Dawes Act (1887) do?
It broke up communal reservation land into individual allotments for Indigenous families, with the rest sold to white settlers.
Give one consequence of the Dawes Act (1887) for Indigenous land.
Within ten years they had lost half their land, as unallocated reservation land was freed up for white settlers.
What was dry farming on the Plains?
Farming low-rainfall land by keeping as much moisture in the soil as possible, e.g. by ploughing or harrowing soon after rain and leaving fields fallow; it helped make the Plains a leading wheat-growing region.
What was Turkey Red wheat?
A hardy wheat variety brought to Kansas by Mennonite migrants from Russia, which coped well with the dry climate and harsh winters of the Plains.
Why is Wyatt Earp significant for law and order in the West?
He was a lawman in Tombstone, Arizona, who was himself accused of crimes; many residents saw the OK Corral gunfight (1881) and his revenge killings afterwards as murder, showing lawmen could add to lawlessness.
What was the Ghost Dance (1890)?
A religious movement promising that dancing would bring back the dead and the buffalo and sweep white people away; it spread on hungry Sioux reservations, alarmed Indian agents, and the army's attempts to stop it led to Wounded Knee.
Roughly how many buffalo were left on the Plains by the mid-1880s?
Only a few hundred, down from many millions in the 1840s.
Give one way the US government reduced the power of chiefs on the reservations.
Either: from 1871 it stopped making treaties with chiefs; or from 1883 special courts, not chiefs, judged and punished offenders on the reservations.