Tessa: #7--The question was too long to fit in the title bar! Ha!--Mostly the Great West

7. The myth of the Wild West. Cattlemen and farmers, the mining boom, the destruction of the Plains Indians. Closing of the Frontier and Turner's Frontier Thesis.

A general outline for the topic from a textbook source other than our book:
http://apusnotes.nfshost.com/outline/mpecot/27

The Wild West

I. Cattlemen and farmers
--During this period of time people with nothing to lose and a wisp of hope traveled to the Great West and became farmers and raised cattle. These people became reffered to as 'sodbusters'. There was a massive amount of space and open land to settle on.

http://learning.loc.gov/learn/collections/amwest/history1.html

The American Pageant-
Chapter 26 - pages 601-04

II. Mining Boom
--The coming of the railroad and new settlement and expansion westwards brought on the onset of the mining booms. Discoveries of gold brought in "fifty-niners" and "Pike's Peakers". People were attracted to California, Colorado and even Nevada (Comstock Lode). Some 'lucky strikes' brought miners to Montana, Idaho, and other western states; but unfortunately, there were more miners than there were minerals to offer.

The American Pageant-
Chapter 26 - page 600--Mining: From Dishpan to Ore Breaker

III. Destruction of the Plains Indians

As people came to inhabit the West, the Plains Indians were constantly being displaced. Their way of life was utterly shattered when they were moved into reservations and were forced to cease their nomadic ways of life and start anew as farmers, or be forced to slowly fade away.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWplains.htm

The Ammerican Pageant-
Chapeter 26 - pages 590-596

IV. Closing of the Frontier

The 'closing' of the frontier was really defined as the point when the line between the civilized parts of America and the 'Great West' was no longer discernable. This inturn showed that a substantial portion of the Frontier had been settled.

http://www.landandfreedom.org/ushistory/us17.htm

V. Myth of the Wild West
--The Wild West, from the outside looking in, appeared to be a picture of 'rugged individualists who tamed the wild regionwith grit and brawn'. In reality though, this was a myth; the government owned most of the land and did most of the work in terms of breaking new ground and conducting major projects

The American Pageant-
Chapter 26 - page 603--Myth and Reality in the West

VI. Turner's Frontier Thesis:

Turner's Frontier thesis says that up until 1893 when Frederick Jackson Turner made the comment, that American history was largely defined by the expansion into the Great West.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/turner.htm

The American Pageant-
Chapter 26 - page 590

Essay Question:

Turner's Thesis states that: '..American History has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great West..'How strongly do you agree with this statement? Support your answer.