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.

1. Chapter 13
Settling the West 1865-1900

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