Life in the West

Growth in the West1860-1900

Chapter 19, Section 3

Essential Questions:

• How were women's contributions similar and/or different than men's in the West?

• What factors led to an increasing number of states admitted into the Union?

• What opportunities did African Americans have in the West?

Abigail Scott Duniway• A Woman Settler Who

Moved to Oregon in 1851

• In 1871, Started a Pro-Suffrage Newspaper for Women’s Rights

• Founded the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association

• Was Oregon’s First Woman Voter Ever!

Homestead• A Piece of Land

with a House on it in the West

• Quite Often Miles & Miles Away from Neighbors

• Quite Lonely!

• Like My MTV Crib?

Types of Jobs for Women Out West on the Frontier

• Women Were Responsible for Just About Everything Out West:– Family Doctors– Cooks– Teachers– Servants– Sheriffs– Gamblers/Outlaws– Ran Dance Halls &

Boarding Houses

Women Get Rights Out West!

• Women Were Given the Right to:–Own Private

Property–Own Their

Own $$$–Right to Vote!

Hmmm…..?

• Why do YOU think women were given these rights and respect in the West during the late 1800’s BEFORE the women in the East?

Esther Morris

• Led the Women’s Suffrage Fight in Wyoming

• Fought for Women’s Right to Vote!

• Suffrage = Right to Vote!

First 4 U.S. States To Grant Women’s Suffrage• Wyoming Was the 1st

State EVER to Allow Women the Right to Vote (WHY? Get it?)

• Colorado, Utah, & Idaho Followed

• What Did Wyoming Tell Congress When Congress Told Wyoming They Can’t Be Part of the U.S. with a Women’s Rights Laws?

Gold Rush of 1849• San Francisco Gold

Rush of 1849

• Thousands of Miners & Speculators Rushed Out to Buy Land

• San Francisco Became a Boomtown Overnight

• Over 25,000 People Migrated There in 1 Year– Led to Statehood (CA)

Boomtowns:• The Linking of the

Transcontinental Railroad to these Cities Helped Them Become Boomtowns:– Denver, Colorado:

Pikes Peak Gold Rush

– Omaha, Nebraska: Meat Packing Industry

– Portland, Oregon: Fish, Grain, & Lumber

Mexicanos• Mexicans Who Lived

in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona & California Before The Mexican-American War

• However, the Annexation of Texas & the Mexican Cession Brought That Territory Under U.S. Control

• Mexicans Became Americans (Mexicanos)

Racism Towards Mexicanos

• As American Settlers Went Out West for Mining, Ranching, & Farming, they Claimed Land that Belonged to Mexicanos

• When Mexicanos Went to U.S. Courts Claiming it was Given to them by Mexico, U.S. Would NOT Recognize Those Claims!

• Any Idea Why???

The “Myth” of the Wild West

• Most Americans Thought the Wild West was Full of Adventure/Excitement & Great Wealth

• Novels Were Written of Miners, Ranchers, Farmers, Law Officers & Outlaws

• Stories Were Often Exaggerated/Not True

• Truth is, the West was a Most Difficult Place to Live & Survive!

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

• William “Buffalo” Cody (Buffalo Bill) Created a Wild West Show

• Created Reenactments of Frontier Life in the West

• Show Played in the United States & Europe!

Wyatt Earp

• Frontier Peace Officer

• Gunfighter

• Gambler

• Famous in Towns of Dodge City, Kansas & Tombstone, Arizona

Hollywood’s Wyatt Earp

“Billy the Kid”

• Henry McCarthy “Billy the Kid”

• Outlaw & Hired Gun

• Killed at 21

Calamity Jane

• Woman on the Frontier

• Wagon Driver, Scout, & Wild West Performer

Hollywood’s Calamity Jane

Owen Wister

• Novelist Who Wrote, The Virginian (1902)

• Wrote About Wyoming Cowhands

• Exaggerated the Truth of the Wild Wild West

Buffalo Soldiers

• African Americans Serving in the Army Out on the Frontier

• Made Huge Contributions by Providing Law & Order

• Protection from Native American Attacks As Well!

• Mrs. Legendre’s Grandfather was a Buffalo Soldier

Buffalo Soldiers

Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier”

How Did the U.S. Assist Settlers Going Out West?

• U.S. Government Used the Army to Protect Settlers from Native Americans

• U.S. Also Assisted with the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad

• Gave Away Free Land (Native American Land) to Settler to Come Out & Settle the West

Essential Questions:

• How were women's contributions similar and/or different than men's in the West?

• What factors led to an increasing number of states admitted into the Union?

• What opportunities did African Americans have in the West?