Legendary Frontier, The: Unique Developments in Western Agriculture
Farm life on the Great Plains is different than farming in the Midwest or points east. Western farmers build sod houses, design steel plows uniquely shaped to cut through the sod, and develop barbed wire to keep grazing animals away from crops. Alth...
Legendary Frontier, The: Government Policies Undermine Indian Way of Life
The United States Indian policy is never genocidal; in fact government officials want them to survive but on their terms, abandoning tribal identify and assimilating. As the Western territory becomes more populated there is greater pressure to open ...
Legendary Frontier, The: Decline of the Western Farmer
Worldwide overproduction leads to a drop in prices for most agricultural products in the late 1880s. Farm families are painfully aware that something is wrong, but instead of blaming the glut of products on the market they tend to blame the railroad...
Legendary Frontier, The: Rapid Agricultural Growth in the Plains Region
The arrival of the miners, the empire building of the cattle ranchers, the dispersal of the Indian tribes--all serve as a prelude to a massive movement of farmers into the plains region. There is rapid agricultural growth in Great Plains and West be...
Legendary Frontier, The: Changing Western Economy, The
The events that transforms the far West and its economy begin in the mid 19th century with the discovery of gold in California. A second major economic surge occurs with the emergence of the cattle industry, but like the mining industry, the early e...
Legendary Frontier, The: Myth of the Cowboy and a Culture of Violence
The life of the cowboy is part of the legend of the West. Although not all of it is quite as it is portrayed, elements of the cowboy myth are based on reality. It is a difficult, monotonous, and poorly-paid life. When cowboys reach town after a long...
Legendary Frontier, The: Myths and Myth Makers
By the end of the Civil War, the West is already legendary. It is looked upon as a "frontier" rather than the great American desert, an empty land awaiting settlement and civilization, a place for fresh beginnings and bold undertakings. The great my...
Manifest Destiny?: Mine Workers Face Discrimination and Exploitation
Laborers are urgently needed to support this new mining enterprise in California. Young men from as far away as China look upon this as a golden opportunity and begin to emigrate in large numbers. But when they arrive they face violence at the hands...
New Corporate Order, A: Plight of the Worker, The
The industrial revolution creates many factory jobs, most of which are occupied by unskilled laborers. These men, women and children earn a very low wage, work long hours and in deplorable conditions. The result is a poor, uneducated working class w...
Manifest Destiny?: California Gold Rush, The
In January of 1848, gold is discovered in Northern California on land owned by Swiss immigrant John Sutter Before news spreads and the rush of people arrives in 1849, experienced miners--Californios, Native Americans, and people from nearby areas--d...