Moving West : The Western Frontier Essay

The idea of moving West started in the mid-nineteenth century. Editor Horace Greely said “Go west, young man” which encouraged many people to move west. The Journey Westward was hard on many families. They were being uprooted and leaving their homes. They sold their farms and homes in the east and packed wagons with enough supplies to travel for about 6 months. In 1869 alone, an estimated 50,000 people migrated to the new territory. Many women felt that their husbands were on “a wild goose chase” and could not understand why they were being moved to this land.

How does Turner explain the recurring need for communication and transportation along the American frontier?

In the mid-1800s, many Americans began to move westward, with a variety of motivations. Farmers were drawn west by all of the fertile, open land in the west, offered to them cheap by the Homestead Act. The California Gold Rush was another reason many moved west. Gold was discovered in California, and miners flocked there, hoping to strike it rich. Additionally, cattle ranchers were attracted to the west because their beef cattle thrived on the abundant grasses and open range of the Great Plains. Later on, newly built railroads, including the first transcontinental railroad, made transportation of people and goods west much more feasible, and opened the West to rapid settlement (History Alive). Although Westward Expansion was a time of full

I believe the government is primarily responsible for continued westward expansion during the 1800s. Westward expansion or “Manifest Destiny” is the idea of moving west after the Civil War in 1865, Many people felt it was their “God-given right” to do so, also the encouragement of the government. The reasoning behind this is the extended land in the west with the Louisiana Purchase and the law of the Homestead Act which allowed anyone to own land, in which the U.S. government both passed. Also with the U.S. government setting policies with unclear directions about moving westward and the insensitive acts towards the people who were currently living in western areas.

In the Southwest, (south of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountains) American colonists were

Have you ever been in a place of green with forests and animals everywhere? Well, where some of the Native Americans lived, there were such things. Native American tribes such as the Crow lived in the Great Plains. The Crow tribe of the Great Plains were nomadic and followed the buffalo migrations which provided their food. This tribe spent a good part of the year living in camps that could easily be dismantled and moved to follow the buffalo migrations. Other tribes of the plains were more sedentary. These tribes lived in permanent villages year round.

1)Paleo-Indians, the first Americans lived in bands of fifteen to fifty people, and traveled within their territory to hunt. Archaic Indians experienced a warming climate. One of the results of the warming climate was better hunting. Forest grew larger with a greater variety of plants and animals. The changes allowed some Indians to reside in permanent homes. The ample supply of food allowed more peoples to live on less acreage. The weather also allowed for specialization of caring for plants; this was the beginning of controlling crops to better supply the people.

The American territory was sprawling across the Mississippi River and into new Native American territory. The Great Plains and far West were occupied by both Indians and Hispanics whose custom and way of live were distinct in language religion and kinship and governance. The white settlers and hunters were a threat to the resources in which they used for survival.

The landscape of the West was one without trees and other natural markings, water was scarce, and unpredictable weather changes often made life on the frontier difficult. Emigrants were often ignorant of the climate and made the voyage anyway, as seen in document C. The journey west was made by wagon. Food shortages and disease often plagued the emigrants. Also the unpredictable climate cause more hardships. The emigrants chose areas that they thought had the best land. The settlements were concentrated mostly along the coast because the middle was dessertious, as seen in document a. As a result of this picking and choosing of lands, families were often isolated, where the nearest family was often miles away. The natural environment determined what type of people settled in which places. Families looking to settle permanently and plant roots settled on the land best fit for farming. Young and adventurous emigrants looking to make a quick profit from speculating the land or mining it settled and developed quick cities.

After the War of 1812 much of America's attention turned to exploration and settlement of its territory to the West, which had been greatly enlarged by the Louisiana Purchase.

Westward expansion during the 19th century had several far reaching effects on many people. During the period of Manifest Destiny Indians were forced onto reservations, deprived many of their resources,and most of their land, and of course, their culture. At the start of the twentieth century, there were approximately 250,000 Native Americans in the USA – just 0.3 per cent of the total population. The United States’ Indian removal policies, laws, and acts changed many Indians’ lives for the worse. During the 19th century, the removal of Indian tribes had many negative environmental, social, and cultural effects on Native Americans.

Then the trail itself had been routed and mapped out by multiple groups. One of the first people to contribute to the land route to Oregon was Lewis and Clark on their expedition between 1804 and 1806. Trying a route through the Rocky Mountains at first but discovered to difficult so on the way back tried and alternate route. The next contributor of the Oregon Trail was the men of the Pacific Fur company. A fur trader by the name of John Jacob Astor. When following the trail set by Lewis and Clark Astor veered south due to the fear of Native American Tribes. This route was along the Snake River. This expedition by Astor was in the year 1810 to Oregon. Later in 1811 a partner of Astor named Robert Stuart with a total of six other men began this journey back to St. Louis in doing this they hoped to retrace the path. The path following the Columbia and Snake River. However they were forced farther south due to threats and fear of Indian attacks. Then after this long journey trying to retrace the steps of previous travelers the reached St. Louis. Then May 15, 1813 Gazette Published “American Enterprise” an interview of Stuart describing the journey. While the trail had been developed in the year 1813 it wasn’t for many years the families used it to settle in the far

The three most important causes in the closing of the frontier were the end of the Civil War, the mechanization of agriculture, and the Industrial Revolution. Leading up to the Civil War, the rise of industry began to challenge the notion that the small farmer was the backbone of America. The Jeffersonian belief in working and owning your own small plot of land gave way to the rising system of industry that was allowed to freely flourish once the Civil War ended. The end of the conflict freed up a large amount of resources that helped contribute to the Industrial Revolution and allowed America to become the largest industrial power the world had ever seen. Mechanization of agriculture reduced the amount of workers needed and thus helped fuel urbanization which contributed to the closing of the Western Frontier.

Each of the tribes specifically mastered many different skills and ways of life. For example, the Anasazi tribe mastered the techniques making of pueblo built homes. Still today, you are able to see the work they put into their homes and towns that have been preserved all these years. According to “Lister’s Those Who Came Before (1983), the Anasazi group is the most studied and researched Native American tribe in the entire United States. (Heartland of the Southwest, Ch. 4) Another example would be the Hohokam tribe, who were great at constructing irrigation systems coming from the Salt, Gila, and Verde River valleys. (Gawronski, 14) This tribe built some of the most voluminous canal systems ever made in their time.

American Indians is a native American inhabitants of North America. Paleo-Indians are the person who originally entered America and settled and they mainly lived in Mexico and South America. The three important things we need to know about American Indians prior to European invasion are the culture of Maya, Aztec, and the Anasazi.