9/19/16-9/23/16

Monday- Talk about forum, semester test, decades project

Tuesday- Talk about westward expansion, reasons-

cattle ranching

cowboys- moving cattle up from Texas to Kansas/Missouri
didn't have railroads down south- had to drive cattle to where there were cattle towns, such as Dodge City, railroads where cattle could be shipped by train
many cowboy traditions came from Mexico
lonely job. few people to talk to
dangerous job- had to worry about attacks from animals/Native Americans, crossing rivers, floods, etc. stampedes are the worst
When the cowboys came to cattle towns and got paid, they often spent it all in one night - saloons, casinos, prostitution, etc. What happens in Dodge City, Stays in Dodge City

Thursday- Birthday!

Continue cattle ranching and herding

Omaha, St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City stockyard
Long drive and open range lasted only about 15-20 years
After that, railroads started popping up down south, so they no longer needed to drive cattle up north.

Native American Policies

Forced into reservations
Reservation used to be relatively large, but they got smaller and smaller over the years
Destruction of buffalo- not official policy
Dawes Act- 1887- gave land to Native American families to farm, if they accepted this, they would be granted US citizenship. Goal was to "Americanize" Native Americans, ended tribal ownership of land, Native Americans ended up loosing a lot of land. The act wasn't required, but the other option was war. Ended in the 1930's under President Roosevelt's Indian Reorganization Act.
Later, what was once Native American land was sold to settlers

Friday

Struggles on the Great Plains:

Loneliness- often one of the only families in the area- they went to town sometimes
Bad weather- Dust storms, snow, flash floods,
Grasshopper Plagues- hit farms hard in 1870's, locusts became extinct as of 1902.
Hard Work- lots of manual labor
Native American Attacks
Lack of Trees- lived in sod houses
Railroad Prices and Debt- railroads charged farmers high prices due to lack of competition- had to mortgage their farms to buy more seeds and supplies- crop prices fell due to overproduction

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