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.
Focus:
1. 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
economy
2. 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
3. The development of mining, ranching, and commercial agriculture as the three major industries of the West
4. The cultural development of a romantic Western myth as an extension of traditional American beliefs and ideals
Task One: Presentation
Task Two: Westward Bound Simuation
Task Three: Watch this video on the Heartland
HOMEWORK: Skim Ch. 16 pgs. 402- 425
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