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
Meet the Folks Many different people settled the West Some included freed black slaves from the South Mormons Europeans Chinese workers and young Americans seeking fortune and adventure Imagine you were a former slave from the South Using information on the previous pages and these pages do you think you might have moved west Give your reasons µ Former slaves head west then west again Many settlers who headed west were former slaves seeking a chance to make a new life Some joined the California Gold Rush or worked as cowboys Many arrived in the late 1870s after political changes in the South led to them losing many of the freedoms they had gained after slavery ended in 1865 More than 15,000 African Americans moved to the plains of Kansas but some found the climate there too hard to stay They returned home or moved farther west Some moved north where they settled in the western provinces of Canada In 1874 for example African Americans from Dakota Territory moved north to help settle Emerson the first city in what is now Manitoba µ Travel by ship or take a ride The first American settlers from the East headed to the West by sailing around the bottom of South America Later adventurers created trails over land Settlers traveled west by covered wagon in groups called wagon trains It took six months to cross the continent from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast 6
µ Chinese workers arrive µ Good habits help survival Chinese workers arrived in North America in large numbers after 1848 They came to join the California Gold Rush or to help build the railroads They ate a healthy diet of fish rice and vegetables and drank herbal teas They also bathed daily which was an uncommon practice but helped prevent them from getting sick When the Gold Rush was over and the railroads were built many Chinese workers settled in Western towns They found work as cooks or opened businesses but they often faced prejudice and harrassment Right Chinese miners carry their possessions on poles balanced across their shoulders Who Moved Where µ Diversity in the West µ Settlers stick together Immigrants from Europe were a large part of the newcomers in the West These settlers mostly formed communities with people from their own country They continued to speak their own languages and kept the traditions of their homelands Scandinavian settlers went to Minnesota Germans settled in North Dakota and Russian Mennonites settled on the Great Plains Immigrants from these groups also settled in Manitoba Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada did you know The Mormons were not popular in the eastern United States In 1847 the Mormon leader Brigham Young led his people west Over the next 20 years thousands of Mormons took the Mormon Trail to the Great Salt Lake in Utah 7
