Conditions of the plains Donner party 1846-47 Reasons for white migration west
Semi arid Group of men, women and children who set off in wagon train from push pull
Enormous size Independence, Missouri in 1846, hoping to make it Cali before winter. They took exploration • 1837, economic • Jebediah Smith spoke of easy
Lack of trees California Trail but took Hastings Cutoff (untested shortcut). Became lost for economic crisis in east – 25% pass) to go to Oregon in 1825
Unpredictable weather month; reached Sierra Nevada Mts when winter was close. Snow came early social unemployment, made journey in 1836
Wolves, locusts & (mid-December), became stranded Truckee Lake. Food supplies low, sent to find banks collapsed, • 1842, Pre-Emption Act allows
grasshoppers help through mts – 7 of 17 made to Cali but resorted to cannibalism on route. lost savings and (if lived on for 14 months
Flat and featureless areas Help arrived for Donner Party in Feb, has cannibalised dead (45 of 81 survived) • 1861-65 Civil War in acre
Ferocious winds east (N vs S), 620k • 1843, largest group made to W
men died, leaves safely (900 people), led by W
Plains Indians
South in poverty • 1846, Oregon part of US (from
horses Currency, hunting buffalo, travel quickly (following buffalo), gifts (e.g., in marriage), allowed nomadic with Northern • 1848, America won Mexican-
lifestyle, joy of riding, carry belongings, trade and sell troops patrolling millions of acres of land in We
streets • 1849, gold discovered Califor
buffalo Uses: hides (tipis, clothes), meat, chips (poo, used for fire to cook and for warmth), organs (bag, • Old religious Oregon Trail, 49ers or prospe
waterskins), fur (clothes), bones (knives), horns (cups and decorations) divides from • By 1855, California pop. 300k
Buffalo hunts – 2 to 3x a year, warriors gained honour and prestige from skill of kill (marked arrows). Europe spread to entertainment and resources
Butchered by women and children. Buffalo dance to show and respect and thanks for giving its life America e.g., • 1862, Homestead Act, farmer
Mormons, acres free if promised to farm
war Raids occurred when needed resources for buffalo items, horses and weapons. Didn’t conquer land Jehovah’s • 1869, 1st Transcontinental RR
(believed no one could own land as it was their mother and had created them, nomadic). Took scalps to Witnesses, Jews quicker, safer and cheaper
ensure victim didn’t go to Happy Hunting Ground (heaven). Individuals went to war to prove their bravery etc. • Traders and fur-trappers (Mo
and skill in fighting to join brotherhoods. ‘counting coup’ – enemies would try to touch each other in battle • Taxes increasing in travelling W for yrs, bought b
without getting injured East as state govs land and exotic animals
needed funding for • Manifest destiny – belief that
beliefs THE SPIRIT WORLD – naturalistic belief – Great Spirit (Wakantanka) created world and all life. Everything army, ports, law should populate US coast to c
has spirit. and order, and about religion and civilisation
SPIRIT QUEST – male youths go alone or pray, fast and sit in a sweat lodge with medicine man who would goods from
give them their adult name. women could easily make contact to spirit world through period (receive adult overseas
name upon first menstruation) Pioneer problems (including DonnerParty)
VISIONS – ceremonies and dances e.g., Sun Dance. Experience visions (on spirit quest)
LAND – no one could own it, no one should farm it (was their Mother and had created them). Some land weather Heavy rain (flooding, slow, mud), heat (mosquitoes, illness
was sacred e.g., the Black Hills where many experienced visions and buried their dead
Plains Kill pioneers (dangerous to camp, fear), toll to use bridges
structure TRIBES – made of united bands, approx. 100 people, if several tribes of same beliefs joined together they indians
formed a nation e.g., Sioux Nation 7000+ supplies/ Lack of animal feed (weak,slow), empty wagons before mt
BANDS – 20-30 people, mostly lived together, each had band chief chosen to guide band in finding enough resources worse)
to eat and protecting from danger
CHIEFS - leaders of Plains Indian society, always men, each tribe could have many chiefs (war chief, spiritual health Mosquitoes (fever), childbirth (unhygienic, not safe for new
chief and chief to negotiate with other tribes), no single system to choose spread, lack of medical supplies)
COUNCILS – made of band chiefs and elders, negotiate and declare war/make peace with other tribes, terrain Mud (stuck, slow down), rivers (pay for ferry but poor, oxe
everyone listened to them and gave their opinion before a decision was made slow), rocky and mountainous (wagons tip, slow, injuries)
, Movement of mormons Salt lake for mormons
Joseph Smith – teenager, religious experiences, angel telling him to dig up 2 buried plated, released Why was it unwanted? Mexico, desert, salty, next to mts, challenging to farm (salt soil), Plains India
writing on plates as Book of Mormon in 1827. faced hostility due to polygamist, community living
and slavery beliefs, moved from NY to Kirtland, Ohio The plan 1. Brought oxen, food and equipment during winter (and built wagons)
2. Built chain of rest camps (to repair wagons and plant crops), sent ah
Kirtland: Smith told follower (1k) to built church for second coming, built church and bank, intense 3. Chose route on north side of Plate River so they could avoid conflicts
rivalry with gentiles, 1837 economic crisis, blamed Mormons and their bank; decided to move W 4. Pioneer Band chose trial that was suitable for wagons, constructed f
across others, planted food crops
Missouri: slave state (anti-slavery Mormons), sympathetic to Indians, locals feared they would unite;
5. Built new ferry and charge non-Mormons to use it
riots, governor of Missouri used troops to restore order, Mormons blamed and leader in prison,
6. Travelled in large groups (about 100 wagons)
released, moved again
BUT at Winter Quarters 700 Mormons died from disease and starvation, ev
Nauvoo, Illinois: allowed to build own city state, more converts arriving, 35k, own defence force (4k fallen ill when he reached Great Salt Lake Valley
men), more women – 1844 Smith announced man could have more than one, wife, Mormons and
Brigham Young’s Share land fairly with every person given plot of land, build fresh water syst
gentiles were shocked, critics called Smith ‘false prophet’ in local news (Smith had printing press
promises out missionaries back east to persuade people to join Mormons, set up fun
destroyed), fear of Mormon pop. explosion, smith said running for President in 1844, imprisoned
Fund) to give money and equipment to people wanting to join Mormons at
and then killed by mob who broke into jail, Mormon homes attacked in Nauvoo, new leader stepped
travellers who passed through area, build temple at city centre
forward: Brigham Young. Moved to Salt Lake
Gold rush events Consequences of transcontinental RR 1862-69
Plains • Plains Indians hunting grounds divided by track and buffalo killed by labourers
1848 – gold discovered in Cali, by 1849 Gold Rush in full flow with pop. Growing from 15k to 25k. Indians • Plains Indians forcibly moved to reservations for ‘protection’ e.g., 2nd Fort Laramie
49ers mostly arrived across Great Plains. Equipment = pick, shovel and washing pan, later cradle • Plains Indians attacked labourers & surveyors for destroying their land, leading to c
invented. Hard, tedious, little money, 500 saloons in San Francisco by 1853.
Many Chinese people arrived due to turmoil of Taiping rebellion and famine in 1852, arrive by Credit economic • Movement from E to W became cheaper and easier
Ticket System (companies San Francisco would pay for tickets from US to Hong Kong and labourers • Telegraph wires hung at same time as track
work from then in return for specified time). Hostility (racial) due to diversity – Chinese, ex slaves, ex • Huge economic growth with settlers being able to order things from other states, t
convicts (from Australia), Californian Indians, Hispanics. towns sprung up along the tracks and 1000s of new jobs created
• Gov gave RR companies 45m acres of land to sell alongside tracks
Mining towns, no organised law and order, area under military control from 1848 Mexican-American • Bureau of Immigrations set up by each company to encourage immigrants to buy la
War had to settle own disputes over claim, vigilante punishment and gangs. Prostitution, robbery, on it
alcoholism and murder everyday occurrence • By 1880, over 200 m acres of land settled by companies making it more successful
1862
Later, gold could be blasted from ground in mines when most surface gold dried up, miners moved
• Growth of cattle industry (cows fed on Plains then transported E for slaughter in m
on to other strikes e.g., gold in Colorado (1852), Montana (1860s)
Consequences of gold rush Reno gang Bleeding kansas reconstruction Impact on AA
Group of deserting soldiers from Civil Series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas
Gold tech, saloons, vigilantes, gangs, lack of After civil war (1861-65), Reconstruction end 1877, racist view
War who terrorised people in W, did (1854-59) based on debate if slavery should be
law and order, opportunities for ex-slaves and train robbery in 1866, got $16k from reconstruct politics, gov and (corruption), murder, lynch, discrimin
legal in Kansas (e.g., in town of Lawrence where
ex-convicts, greater diversity, economic failure safe, owners of safe hired Pinkerton ruined south. Free black people sharecroppers (rent land & equip from
200 died). 1854 Kansas Nebraska Act (opened up
(for most, economic success (for few), racial Detective Agency who captured John focus on Christianity, funded but continuous debt. Escape racism, v
Reno (but not whole gang), whole land for settlers) – people rushed there hoping
discrimination, increased crime (prostitution, others would share views on slavery (decide free schools and enter politics (600+ issues, 1870s many move to Kansas (f
gang struck again in 1867& 68, got
robbery, murder), increase Cali pop, migration $96k, all captured but vigilante group state or not). By 1856, 2 diff govs with diff views. in state gov, aim to reduce leaders (e.g., Benjamin Singleton) in E
West, boom towns, alcoholism lynched gang Federal gov step in, declared free state discrimination’s effects)
