The Homesteaders

1
The Homesteaders
How did the Homesteaders live on the Great Plains?
How did the Homesteaders farm the Great Plains?
Who were the Homesteaders?
What was the role of the railroads?
How did the Government help the Homesteaders?
2
Farming on the Great Plains
What were the problems of farming the Great
Plains?
Go back to start
3
Living on the Great Plains
What were the problems of living on the Great
Plains?
Go back to start
4
The role of the Railroads
Why did the railroads have land to sell to
Homesteaders?
How did the railroads attract Homesteaders to the
Plains?
How did the railroads help the Homesteaders?
Go back to start
5
The people
American Homesteaders
Black Homesteaders
European Homesteaders
Religious groups
Go back to start
6
The US Government
The Homestead Act 1862
Indian Treaties
The Timber Culture Act 1873
The US Army
The Desert Land Act 1877
Manifest Destiny
Go back to start
7
The problems of farming on the Great Plains
Ploughing the land
Fire
Growing crops
Water
Protecting crops
Insects
Size of landholding
Extremes of weather
Farming machinery
Go back one slide
8
Ploughing the land
Before it can grow crops land has to be ploughed.
Until the arrival of the homesteaders in the
1860s however, the soil on the Plains had never
been cut by a plough. The Prairie grass that
covered the Plains had thick deep roots of up to
10cm. These roots grew in dense tangled clumps
that were difficult to cut. The first
homesteaders that arrived on the Plains brought
their iron ploughs from the Eastern USA. These
could cut through the previously ploughed soft
soils there, but they broke when used on the
Great Plains.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
9
The lack of water
Although Stephen Longs 1827 description of the
Great Plains as The Great American Desert was
an exaggeration of their climate, the Plains were
not ideally suited to agriculture. The annual
rainfall on the Plains averaged 38cms. Rain
usually fell during the hot summer and the sun
soon evaporated the standing water. Without water
to irrigate their crops the homesteaders could
not succeed. There were no lakes rivers to
provide water for irrigation. Digging a well was
impractical as the work was expensive and would
often fail to find water anyway.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
10
Homesteads were too small
The Homestead Act of 1862 gave the homesteaders
160 acres of land each (a quarter square mile
plot). Although this much land was enough for a
family in the fertile lands of California and
Oregon, it was insufficient on the Plains.
Homesteaders were unable to support their
families with only 160 acres. The lower yields of
crop caused by the harsh climate and lack of
water meant that many thousands of homesteaders
simply gave up their plots.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
11
Crops failed to grow
The homesteaders planted the crops of maize and
wheat that they brought with them from the
Eastern states. These were suited to the mild and
damp climate there. However these crops did not
grow well on the dry hot Plains. If the
homesteaders could not grow their crops, then
their life on the Plains would be impossible to
sustain. No crops meant no food for the
homesteaders. Even if they could grow enough to
eke out a living, they could not grow a surplus
to sell. Without a surplus the homesteaders had
no income, and could not pay for supplies or
machinery for their farms.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
12
Crops were trampled
The homesteaders needed to mark out their claims
to protect them from other homesteaders. A
homesteader could not afford to lose any land
because of a disputed boundary. Cattle and
buffalo were also a problem. The homesteaders
often farmed near to the vast cattle ranches, and
the cows would stray off the ranches and trample
the homesteaders crops. Buffalo were simply
roaming wild, still in large herds until the
1870s. The lack of trees on the Plains meant that
there was no material to build adequate fences.
Some homesteaders tried to use the prickly Osage
tree to make hedges, but this was only a short
term solution.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
13
Fires
The dry Plains were provided the perfect
conditions for fires to start. The long hot
summers left the Prairie Grass and the
homesteaders crops bone dry. Accidental fires
started by a spark or a bit of broken glass lying
on the ground and reflecting the sun were a
disaster for the homesteaders. Unless the fire
could be stopped quickly by beating, it soon
spread. Without any water to put out the fire,
the homesteaders were forced to hide in their sod
houses until their crops were destroyed and the
fire died.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
14
Plagues of insects
Plagues of grasshoppers visited the Plains in
1871, 1874 and 1875. The swarms contained
millions of insects, and covered hundreds of
miles of the Plains at a time. They devoured
everything the homesteaders possessed. The
grasshoppers could eat a homesteader familys
entire crop in a few hours, leaving them with
nothing to eat or sell. The grasshoppers ate
boots, tools, clothes, even the wooden door frame
of the sod house. After a visit from
grasshoppers, the a homesteader could be left
penniless and without any means of survival.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
15
Extremes of weather
The Plains experienced massive variations in
temperature as part of their normal temperature.
Winters were long with freezing temperatures and
snow. Summers were extremely hot. This made it
difficult to grow most crops in a normal
year. The Plains were also regularly struck by
dust storms. The vast open spaces of the Plains
encouraged high winds and tornadoes. All of these
could do great damage to crops.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
16
Lack of machinery
To begin with the homesteaders had to do almost
everything by hand. The work was physically hard
and never ending. The homesteaders were too poor
to afford the machinery that could help them
farm. Even if they could afford new machinery,
there was little technology in the 1860s and
1870s that could work on the Plains. Broken
machines and implements were also a problem at
first. Replacement parts were expensive and
difficult to obtain from often distant towns or
suppliers in the East.
Go back to problems
What was the solution?
17
Sodbuster
To cut through the soil of the Plains the
homesteaders needed a much stronger plough. In
1830 an Illinois blacksmith named John Deere had
made a steel plough for one of his neighbours, in
order to solve the same problem the homesteaders
faced. This Sodbuster plough was soon adopted
by the homesteaders and provided them with the
means to plough their land. Steel is a much
stronger metal than iron, so the plough did not
break.
What was the problem?
18
Dry Farming Wind Pumps
The homesteaders needed a way to trap the
rainfall in the soil before it was lost. They
used a method known as Dry Farming. Every time
it rained or snowed, the homesteaders ploughed
their land. This left a thin layer of soil on top
of the newly fallen rain which was trapped
underneath. The water was then available for use
when the new crop was planted in the spring. In
1874 Daniel Halliday perfected wind pump
technology suitable for the Plains. A well was
dug with a high powered drill to reach the water.
This could be anything from 30 to 120 feet. A
windmill was then built above the well to pump a
constant supply of water for the homesteader.
Although too expensive at first, the price fell
to 25 by 1890.
What was the problem?
19
Government Acts
The government eventually recognised the problem.
In 1873 it passed the Timber Culture Act. This
gave homesteaders another 160 acres of land. To
get this extra land the homesteaders had to plant
40 acres of trees. In 1877 the homesteaders were
offered more land in the Desert Land Act. This
allowed them to claim 640 acres of marginal land
where it was available. They had to irrigate it
and after three years could buy it for 1 an
acre. So by 1877 homesteaders could own up to 960
acres of land. This was enough for most to
survive on the Plains.
What was the problem?
20
Turkey Red Wheat
The homesteaders needed to recognise that they
could not grow crops that were unsuited to the
climate of the Plains. They needed crops that
could cope with the extremes of temperature and
the lack of rainfall.In 1874, Russians started to
move onto the Plains. They brought their crops
such as Turkey Red Wheat with them. This wheat
grew in the harsh conditions of Russia, a very
similar climate to that of the Plains. Although
the hard Turkey Red Wheat could not be ground by
American mills at first, by the 1880s mills were
built that could cope with it. The homesteaders
at last had a crop that would grow successfully
in the climate of the Plains.
What was the problem?
21
Barbed Wire
In 1874 Joseph Glidden invented Barbed Wire. This
was a cheap and simple method for the
homesteaders to fence their land. Barbed wire
allowed homesteaders to overcome the shortage of
trees on the Plains. They were able to clearly
mark the boundary of their claim, and to keep
stray cattle and buffalo off. Barbed wire did
cause conflict with the ranch owners however as
it often cut off precious water supplies from
their cows.
What was the problem?
22
Care!
The only solution to the problem of fires was to
be careful. Some homesteaders tried to stop fires
from spreading by leaving gaps in their crops.
However the shortage of land made this a measure
that was impossible for most to contemplate. Even
if a break was left, the high winds of the Plains
spread the fire quickly, even across gaps. Until
the development of major towns with a road
network and an infrastructure including a fire
service in the 20th century, this remained a
major problem.
What was the problem?
23
Pesticides
There was no solution to the problems of
grasshoppers and other insects until the early
years of the 1900s. After 1900, chemical
companies started to mass produce effective
pesticides to kill the flies that lived on the
Plains. Homesteaders could pick the insect larvae
off their crops, but this was ineffective against
a plague swarm. Until these were available
however, the homesteaders lived in fear of a
plague of grasshoppers, as they knew the effect
it would have and knew they were powerless to
protect their crops.
What was the problem?
24
No solution!
Until they could grow trees of a significant
size, the homesteaders had no defence against the
weather on the Plains. The storms just had to be
ridden out in the sod house, hoping that the
crops would not be destroyed. The homesteaders
were initially fooled by a series of unusually
wet and mild years in the 1860s on the Plains.
Many claimed that the climate had been changed by
their presence. However the extreme weather
returned in the 1870s and remained a problem from
then on.
What was the problem?
25
New inventions and the railroads
The railroads spread across the Plains during the
1870s and 1880s. They acted as cheap and fast
transport from the Eastern states to the Plains.
This enabled suppliers of tools, spare parts and
machinery to send their goods to the homesteaders
for relatively low prices. The spread of towns
encouraged by the railroads allowed the
homesteaders to get hold of the parts and
machines they wanted. New machines such as
reapers, binders and threshers made farming the
Plains much easier. Homesteaders could farm more
land and harvest more crops. The price of this
new machinery was relatively low and affordable
for the homesteaders.
What was the problem?
26
The problems of living on the Great Plains
Building a house
Extreme weather
Staying healthy
Fuel
Indian attacks
Isolation
Pests
Keeping clean
Water
Go back one slide
27
A shortage of materials
The homesteaders arrived on their land needing to
build a house. However the traditional building
material of wood was not available to them. The
Plains are vast open space with very few trees.
The homesteaders would have to find something
else to build their houses from. The homesteaders
could not get supplies of wood from the East as
it would be too expensive, and a lack of money
was one of the homesteaders major problems.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
28
A lack of fuel
The homesteaders required fuel to burn in large
quantities. They needed to heat their houses
against the cold Plains nights and freezing
winters. They also needed fuel for their
ovens. The lack of tress on the Plains meant that
wood was not available to them. The homesteaders
had to find an alternative material. The soil was
not boggy peat, so the peat stoves used in
countries such as Ireland in the 19th century
were not an option.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
29
Dirt was everywhere
The Sod Houses that the homesteaders built were
continually dirty. The sods of earth cracked and
flaked in the heat of the Plains summers,
leaving dirt in the house. During the rains and
winter, the sod houses leaked dirty water into
the living accommodation. The floors were dirt.
The wind on the Plains stirred up dust, often in
great storms and this got into the sod houses.
Farming was a dirty job, so the homesteaders
returned home after a days work dirty to a house
that was potentially just as dirty.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
30
Life was unhealthy
The Homesteaders lived hard and tiring lives.
With constant struggles to keep clean, warm and
fed, the toll of their health was often great.
Their diets were often poor in years of low
harvests. Disease was common for those living in
sod houses, especially amongst children. With no
opportunity to visit a doctor, the Homesteaders
found it difficult to stay fit and healthy.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
31
The Indians were still undefeated
When the Homesteaders moved on to the Great
Plains from the early 1860s, they faced the risk
of Indian attacks. Although many tribes had moved
on to reservations following the 1851 Fort
Laramie Treaty and later agreements, the
reservations did not provide them with enough
food or supplies. They could not hunt Buffalo or
follow their traditional migration
patterns. There were periodic outbreaks of
violence in the Plains Wars in the 1860s and
1870s, including Little Crows War, Red Clouds
War and the Great Sioux War. During Little Crows
War, over 700 Homesteaders were massacred by
Santee Sioux warriors.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
32
The supply of water was limited
Homesteaders were very lucky if they lived a
short distance from a river or lake on the
Plains. Most lived a long walk from the nearest
water source. This made water a precious
resource. Water for washing clothes and the
homesteaders bodies had to be used sparingly as
it replacing it was hard work. The problem was
not easily solved by the digging of a well as
might have been done elsewhere. Water could be
anything from 30 feet to 120 feet deep, too deep
for the homesteaders to dig by hand.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
33
The climate was difficult
The Plains experienced massive variations in
temperature as part of their normal cycle.
Winters were long with freezing temperatures and
snow. Summers were very hot. This made the Plains
an extremely unpleasant and dangerous location in
which to live. It was difficult to keep warm in
winter and impossible to keep cool in the
summer. The Plains were also regularly struck by
dust storms. The vast open spaces of the Plains
encouraged high winds and tornadoes. Such storms
did severe damage to the homes and equipment of
the homesteaders.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
34
Homesteads were far apart
Homesteaders lived on their 160 acre plots, often
isolated from other people. Each plot covered a
quarter of a square mile, so homesteaders were
not even close to their nearest
neighbours. Homesteaders were usually miles from
the nearest town. As a result they lacked other
people for company and social activities.
Homesteaders were cut off from their families
back in the East or in Europe, so felt even more
isolated due the their situation on the Plains.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
35
Insects came in plagues
Plagues of grasshoppers visited the Plains in
1871, 1874 and 1875. The swarms contained
millions of insects, and covered hundreds of
miles of the Plains at a time. They devoured
everything the homesteaders possessed. The
grasshoppers could eat a homesteader familys
entire crop in a few hours, leaving them with
nothing to eat or sell. The grasshoppers ate
boots, tools, clothes, even the wooden door frame
of the sod house. After a visit from
grasshoppers, the a homesteader could be left
penniless and without any means of survival.
What was the solution?
Go back to problems
36
Sodhouses
To overcome the lack of timber to build their
houses the Homesteaders used sods of earth cut
from the Plains as bricks. They built their
houses out of this earth and called them sod
houses. Many sod houses were huge affairs, with
many rooms, but they all suffered from the same
problems. They were dirty, drafty and leaked
whenever it rained. The walls and floor were
infested with lice, which crawled over the
Homesteaders as they slept. Mud fell off the
ceiling into the Homesteaders cooking pots, and
germs were rife. Despite this, many Homesteaders
were proud of their first soddy and often lived
in them for decades.
What was the problem?
37
Buffalo dung
Before the arrival of the Homesteaders, the
Plains Indians had used Buffalo dung as chips for
their fires. The Homesteaders simply copied this
idea. The collection of the Buffalo chips was the
job of women on the Plains. The chips had to be
collected from the open Plains, and brought back
to the Homestead in a wheelbarrow or a cart. The
Buffalo dung was a relatively inefficient fuel,
and had to be collected on a continual basis.
Until the trees the Homesteaders planted
following the Timber Culture Act of 1877 grew to
maturity there was no other source of fuel.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the
Homesteaders were able to buy coal from the
railroad.
What was the problem?
38
Constant hard work
The only effective solution to the dirt problem
for Homesteaders was to constantly work at
keeping clean. Regular sweeping out of the sod
house, as well as the removal of fallen lumps of
mud. This was a tiring and dispiriting process
that was the responsibility of women
Homesteaders. Some Homesteaders whitewashed their
walls, but this was only ever a temporary
solution and although it looked smarter than the
mud, the sod house still leaked.
What was the problem?
39
Home cures
The Homesteaders had to rely on their own
medicine when they were sick. Women were
responsible for this. Popular cures included
applying warm manure to an arm for a snakebite.
Other cures used were eating a roasted mouse for
Measles and pouring warm urine into the ear for
an Ear Ache. Women worked together in a community
when sickness was present to ensure that people
were cared for. Expertise was shared and passed
down from mother to daughter.
What was the problem?
40
Hope and the US Army!
The Homesteaders could simply hope that they
would not suffer attacks in their homes, but this
was not the most effective defense! The US Army
proved to be their saviour in the long run. In
the series of conflicts known as the Plains
Wars during the 1860s and 1870s, the US Army,
led by Generals Sheridan and Sherman, defeated
all of the tribes of the Plains. This involved
massacres such as Sand Creek and the River
Washita, as well as forcing the Indians to sign
treaties giving up their rights to tribal lands.
Once the Indians had been defeated in the 1870s
and 1880s, the Homesteaders were safe from attack.
What was the problem?
41
Long journeys or Wind pumps
Without water the Homesteaders could not survive.
Some were lucky enough to have a stream, but most
did not. In the early days of a Homestead, the
Homesteaders had to travel to a local water hole
or stream and collect water in a bucket by hand.
This process was a daily occurrence. The journey
could be many miles. By the 1870s, wind driven
pumps were available to the Homesteaders for only
25 each. These could drill down the up to 120ft
needed to reach water, and use the ample supplies
of wind power to pump a continuous supply of
water for the Homesteaders.
What was the problem?
42
No quick solution!
In the first two decades of Homesteading on the
Great Plains (1860s and 1870s), the climate was
especially wet and mild, and the Homesteaders
thrived. However this was a false impression, and
led to more problems later. When the normal
weather patterns returned in the 1870s and 1880s,
the Homesteaders found themselves unable to cope
in the worst areas such as Montana. Even with the
use of dry farming techniques and Turkey Red
Wheat, some areas of the Great Plains could never
be farmed by Homesteaders.
What was the problem?
43
Community involvment letters
Living on their isolated Homesteads the
Homesteaders had to find their own ways of
entertaining themselves and overcoming their
boredom. Cut off from their families in the East
and in Europe the Homesteaders wrote regular
letters home, and waited anxiously for news from
their families and friends. This allowed them to
keep in contact with their old lives. On the
Plains, the Homesteaders kept in close contact
with their neighbours, helping each other in
times of crisis. Women worked as midwives and
teachers, and church or community groups
organised social functions.
What was the problem?
44
Insectisides
Homesteaders had no way of fighting the swarms of
insects that attacked their crops in the 1870s.
Many were left penniless and forced to appeal to
the State Governments for help. In the early
years of the 20th century chemical companies
began to mass produce effective and cheap
pesticides to kill off the insects that attacked
the Homesteaders crops. However until this time
the Homesteaders just had to hope that insects
did not come.
What was the problem?
45
The government gave it to them
One of the terms of the 1861 Pacific Railways Act
that led to the construction of the
Transcontinental Railroad was that the government
gave the railroad companies 6 400 acres of land
on the Great Plains for every mile of track
built. This was part of the payment deal for
building the railroad. The land cost the
government nothing. The government continued to
grant land on the Plains to the railroad
companies as they built more transcontinental
railroads in the 1870s. In total the US
Government gave the railroad companies 155
million acres on the Great Plains. This was
valuable land - that was why the railroad
companies took it.
Go back one slide
46
Advertising
To sell their land the railroad companies
launched huge campaigns across American and
Europe. They sent agents to encourage people to
buy their lands. Posters and newspaper adverts
referred to the Plains with such phrases as The
Golden Belt of Kansas and The Best Prairie
Lands (Iowa and Nebraska. The land was sold
relatively cheaply with the railroad companies
offering loans over up to ten years. Many of the
adverts were gross exaggerations of the quality
of the land, with one company claiming that
winter in Nebraska lasted less than one month,
and that the growing season was over nine months
long. Despite this the railroad companies
adverts succeeded in bringing hundreds of
thousands of homesteaders to the Plains.
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47
Transporting their goods
The railroads spread across the Plains during the
1870s and 1880s. They acted as cheap and fast
transport from the Eastern states to the Plains.
This enabled suppliers of tools, spare parts and
machinery to send their goods to the homesteaders
for relatively low prices. The spread of towns
encouraged by the railroads allowed the
homesteaders to get hold of the parts and
machines they wanted. New machines such as
reapers, binders and threshers made farming the
Plains much easier. Homesteaders could farm more
land and harvest more crops. The price of this
new machinery was relatively low and affordable
for the homesteaders.
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48
White Americans from the East
The majority of the homesteaders were white
Americans who saw the Plains as offering the
opportunities that were unavailable to them in
the Eastern USA. There were two main factors that
made them leave the East. The first was the
shortage of farmland. The Eastern states had been
overcrowded in the 1840s when many left to go to
California and Oregon. By the 1860s, the
situation was worse still, Young people seeking
land for their families were unable to afford it
in the East, the Plains offered them lots of land
very cheaply. The end of the Civil War left
hundreds of thousands of ex-soldiers looking for
a new challenge. They could find little
opportunity to get on in the East or South and
moved to the Plains for a new start. The Plains
were a new region of settlement, and Americans
believed they could make something of themselves
that they would never be able to in the East.
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49
Former black slaves from the South
One of the results of the defeat of the
Confederate South in the American Civil War was
the abolition of slavery. Black Americans found
themselves no better off economically as free
people, and often faced persecution from whites.
The Plains offered a chance to get land as
American citizens, and to escape the prejudice
and persecution of the Southern states. Tens of
thousands of ex-slaves went to the Plains for a
new start in life. In 1879 40 000 black ex-slaves
went to Kansas, the main destination for black
Americans. A famous example of a black community
of homesteaders is the town of Nicodemus in
Kansas.
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50
European immigrants to America
The railroad companies concentrated their efforts
to sell the land they had been given by the
government on Europe. Settlers arrived from
Europe in their hundreds of thousands after 1870.
They came to escape the poverty and inability to
gain more land in their native lands. Emigrants
were attracted by the inflated promises of the
railroad land agents. Settlers came from Britain,
Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway,
Holland, France and Russia. In 1875 half of the
population of Nebraska was made up of European
homesteaders and their families. In the 1870s the
Santa Fe Railroad Company brought 60 000 German
homesteaders to the Plains.
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51
Religous groups seeking freedom
The Plains offered the chance for persecuted
religious groups to build new communities on the
Plains. The Mennonites were an originally German
sect that was suffering persecution in Russia
during the 1870s. The Santa Fe Railroad sent Carl
Schmidt to Russia in 1874. Schmidt convinced the
Mennonites that America would offer them the
freedom and safety that they could not get in
Russia. So thousands of Mennonites moved to the
Plains in the 1870s and 1880s in search of
religious freedom. Other groups of
German-Russians such as Hutterites and Amish also
moved to the Plains in the 1870s seeking freedom.
It was these settlers who brought the Turkey Red
Wheat that grew so well on the Plains.
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52
The Homestead Act 1862
The 1862 Homestead Act was the first act passed
by the US Government to help the homesteaders to
settle on the Great Plains. The US Government
wanted settlers to move onto the Plains in huge
numbers. However speculators were claiming vast
areas of land and then trying to sell the land to
potential homesteaders. The prices put settlers
off going to the Plains. To avoid this the
government stated that all American citizens were
entitled to 160 acres of land on the Plains for a
fee of just 10. They had to live on the land for
five years, and then it was theirs permanently.
The five year term was designed to stop the
speculators from claiming the land. With the low
cost of the land, the government hoped that
homesteaders would have enough money to start
farming on the Plains.
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53
The Timber Culture Act 1873
The government decided to give the homesteaders
more land in the Timber Culture Act of 1873. This
recognised that the 160 acres given under the
Homestead Act was not enough. So the Timber
Culture Act gave each homesteader another 160
acres of land for free. In return the
homesteaders had to plant 40 acres of trees. This
would eventually provide them with wood for fires
and building. It would also reduce the problems
of wind by acting as a wind break for the
homesteaders. By giving the land for free the
government recognised the poverty of most
homesteaders.
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54
The Desert Land Act 1877
In 1877 the US Government passed the Desert Land
Act to give the homesteaders access to more land.
Under its terms homesteaders could claim a
further 640 acres of marginal land that was unfit
for immediate farming. The homesteader had to
irrigate the land and after three years could buy
it for the low price of 1 an acre. This act was
not as important to homesteaders as the Homestead
Act or the Timber Culture Act, as the land it
offered was only available in certain places on
the Plains. Also much of the land available under
the act was bought by the big ranches, even
though most failed to actually irrigate it as
required. However for those homesteaders who
could benefit from the Desert Land Act, they
could claim up to 960 acres by 1877.
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55
Treaties with the Plains Indians

• The US Government signed a succession of treaties
  with the Plains Indians from the 1830s onwards.
  Each treaty reduced the amount of land available
  to the Plains Indians, and granted more to the
  American settlers. Notable examples of treaties
  include
• 1st Fort Laramie 1851
• Medicine Lodge 1867
• 2nd Fort Laramie 1868

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56
The Plains Wars
During the 1860s and the 1870s the US Army fought
a series of wars with the Plains Indian
Tribes. US Army leaders such as General Sherman,
Colonel Chivington and General Custer led the USA
to victory. Sometimes the two sides fought in
proper battles, but in others the US soldiers
were accused of massacring innocent women and
children. By the end of the 1880s the Plains
Indians had been totally defeated and the US Army
had moved them off their lands onto the
reservations leaving the land free for the
Homesteaders to settle and farm.
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The promotion of Manifest Destiny
The phrase Manifest Destiny was first used to
describe the spread of the USA across the West by
journalist John L OSullivan in 1845. Although he
was describing the flood of settlers to
California and Oregon, the idea took hold and was
applied to the homesteaders of the 1860s. The US
Government wanted total control over the land of
the USA, and so encouraged settlement of the
Plains. The Acts it passed and the actions of the
US Army in the Plains Wars all made it easier for
the nation to fulfil its Manifest Destiny of
taking over the whole continent. The US
Government encouraged the homesteaders to believe
that their sacrifices on the Plains were part of
the nations work towards its Manifest Destiny.
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