What Are the Prospects 4 Meet the Folks 6 Where in the West 8 Let’s Get Going 10 The Wagon Trails 12 Settling on the Plains 14 Farming the Plains 16 Friends and Neighbors 18 Bed and Board 20 Many Dangers 22 Take It Easy 24 Native Americans 26 The Legacy of Settlement 28 Glossary Timeline 30 On the Web Books 31 Index 32
What Are the Prospects The American West was a place of opportunity It promised new settlers land to farm and the freedom to build their own communities µ Native peoples first Spanish and Mexicans later The first inhabitants of the West were Native peoples For many centuries the region was home to peoples such as the Apache and Navajo in the south the Sioux on the plains the Nez Percé near the Rocky Mountains and the Haida on Canada’s Pacific Coast Spanish settlers from Mexico arrived in the 1600s in California the Southwest and Texas When settlers came from the East in the early 19th century they also claimed land that traditionally belonged to Native peoples Above Choctaw men play a ball game in a painting by George Catlin from 1834 How the West Was Won µ Enlarging the United States µ Treaties and war Spain Britain and France claimed land in the West American president Thomas Jefferson left bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 In 1846 the United States added Oregon in a treaty with Britain Two years later the United States won the war with Mexico gaining California land in the Southwest and complete control of Texas 1846 1848 The US government encouraged its citizens to move to the new territory even though parts of it were occupied by Native peoples and Mexicans 4
µ Government offers free land µ Settlers take advantage Most settlers were attracted to the West by the promise of land From early in the 19th century land could be claimed by anyone prepared to work it In 1862 the Homestead Act allowed settlers to stake a claim to 160 acres 65 hectares of land Many farmers headed west in search of better land and new money making opportunities in the American West The Canadian government passed the 1872 Dominion Lands Act making the same promise of land to citizens and immigrants settling in the Canadian prairies did you know Many people came to the West seeking religious freedom Many settlers were Mennonites from Europe They wanted to be able to practice their faith freely The Mormons an American religious group also headed west to build their own community in Utah To early settlers the landscape of the Great Plains of the West seemed too harsh to live in µ The Great Plains not so great for living The United States acquired the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River as part of the Louisiana Purchase Early settlers thought these Great Plains were uninhabitable with few trees and little water They passed through them on the way to California and Oregon Settlers eventually learned that the prairies could offer good farming and ranching Imagine you were thinking about moving to start a new life Using information on these pages do you think you would choose the West as your destination 5
