Mining Ranching Farming Ch 7 Section 3 n

Mining, Ranching & Farming Ch. 7, Section 3

n Largest finds n Comstock Mining Load = $400 m. in gold and silver n Homestake Mine = +1 billion worth in ore n Types of mining n Shallow pan & streambed n Placer mining n Drills, Hydraulic Pumps, and… DY-NO-MITE!

Placer Mining

Hard Rock Mining

Cattle Boom n n Beef becomes the “new” meat choice after cookbooks dub pork as “unwholesome” Cattle ranching became possible when Indians and buffalo were removed “Cow Towns”: town built specifically for receiving cattle From Kansas, railroads carried cattle to cities of the East (Cattle bought by herders for $7 each, sold for $60 -70 at railheads) n n n Abilene, Kansas Cheyenne Dodge City

Little violence in cowtownsonly 5 or 6 murders a year

A Cowboy’s Life n n Chisholm Trail: Texas – Ft. Worth – Red River – Indian Territory – Kansas Americans, Indians & Immigrants African Americans and Mexicans (vaqueros) n Trail Names – Ex. “Busted Snoot Johnny” & “Teddy Blue” n n The Long Drive: herding thousands of cattle to railway centers (both boring and tense at the same time)

Joseph G. Mc. Coy started Cattle Drives in 1867

Texas Longhorns driven to railheads in Kansas

The Cowboy Mastercard Ad n No-frills cowboy outfit cost $77 Pony, $25 n Leggings, $5 n Saddle, $25 n Saddle Blankets, $5 n Spurs, bridle, and rope, $5 n Revolver, $12 n Being in the saddle for 18 hrs. a day, priceless n

Cattle Barons n Charles Goodnight & Oliver Loving n Success depended on ownership of water sources and plenty of land n Owned +100, 000 heads of cattle n Goodnight-Loving Trail ran from Palo Duro Canyon to Cheyenne, Wyoming

Homesteaders n n n Farmed claims under the Homestead Act Homes “Soddies”: sod home; structure w/walls and roof made of blocks of sod Sodbusting – backbreaking labor Could cost up to $1, 000 to create a livable homestead Settlers relied heavily on each other, for support, supplies, and socialization

Sodbusters

Timber so scarce, homes built of sod

Battle of the Sexes n Men’s work: sodbusting, planted, hoed, harvested (very labor-intensive work) n Women’s work: raised and schooled the children, cooked, cleaned, made and washed clothes, preserved food, raised food crops, made soap and butter, raised chickens, milked the cows, spun wool for sale, and managed the money

New Farming Technology n n Mechanized Reaper, Barbed Wire, Dry Farming, Steel Plow, Harrow, Steel Windmill, Hybridization, Improved Communication, Grain Drill New machines saved time and effort New machines and techniques increased farm output Bonanza Farms: operations controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, raised massive quantities of a cash crop

Farming

Barbed wire invented by Joseph Glidden in 1874

Hand Vs. Machine Labor on the Farm, 1880

Frontier Myths n n The Open Range – In actuality, by 1890 the frontier had ended Frederick Jackson Turner – claimed frontier had played a key role in forming the American character (he didn’t even mention the massacre of Native Americans or the giving away of land) Stereotypes: “American Cowboy; ” romanticized image of cowboy life, no mention of the hard life that they lived Entertainment: Dime novels, wild west show (Buffalo Bill), Plays (Oklahoma), and Western Movies (John Wayne

Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show included Sitting Bull

Populism Ch. 7, Section 4

Farmer’s Complaint n n n Government rarely intervened to stabilize nation’s economy Tariffs on imported goods discourage people from buying = encourages the sale of goods produced at home Problem: This encourages American firms to raise their prices (just under the imports price)

n Tariffs hurt most farmers in 2 ways: n Raised the price of manufactured goods (Ex. farming machinery) n Manufacturing nations in Europe to retaliate by placing tariffs on American crops = Thus, tariffs indirectly reduced the demand for American farm products n Farmers viewed tariff increases as proof that the government favored eastern manufacturers over western farmers

Farmers Favor Inflation: when there is an increase in the supply of money, the value of money decreases (Price goes up, value goes down) n Inflation helps farmers because it raises the prices of goods they sell n

Organizing Farmers Protest n The Grange – “Patrons of husbandry” n Helped farmers form cooperatives, were able to buy goods in large quantities at lower prices n Pressured government to regulate businesses that the farmers depended on (railroads and grain storage operators)

Farmers’ Alliances n Wanted federal regulation of the railroads, more money in circulation, creation of state departments of agriculture, antitrust laws, and farm credit

Government Response n n President Grover Cleveland said, “though the people support the government, the government should not support the people” – basically, there is no government support for farmers Interstate Commerce Act: regulated the prices that railroads charged to move freight between states, requiring rates to be set in proportion to the distance traveled

n Platform: n An Populist Party increased circulation of money n The unlimited minting of silver n A progressive income tax, in which the percentage of taxes owed increases with a rise in income. (Would create burden for wealthy industrialists) n Government ownership of communications and transportation systems n Eight-hour work day (In hopes to gain support from urban industrial workers. )

1896 Election n Republican: William Mc. Kinley (wins) n n Gold-standard platform Democrat: William Jennings Bryan Free-silver platform n Powerful speaker – “Cross of Gold” Speech n