The American West, c1835-c1895: Development of Settlement, Ranching and the Cattle Industry
The development of settlement, ranching and the cattle industry in the American West took off from the early 1860s, when the US government actively encouraged permanent settlement of the Great Plains. The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of public land free to any settler, known as a homesteader, who lived on and farmed it for five years, while the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 funded the transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, which cut journey times, brought in supplies and settlers and carried farm produce and cattle to eastern markets. Homesteaders faced serious farming problems on the Plains, including a shortage of timber and water, extreme weather and tough, dense sod, and responded with solutions such as sod houses, windmills to pump water, dry farming techniques that conserved soil moisture, and, from 1874, Joseph Glidden's cheap, mass-produced barbed wire, which let farmers fence land without timber. Meanwhile the cattle industry boomed: ranchers such as Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving opened long-distance cattle trails, and Joseph McCoy built stockyards at Abilene, Kansas, creating a 'cow town' where cattle driven up from Texas could be loaded onto the railroad, until the open range system of ranching began to break down in the 1880s.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the terms of the Homestead Act of 1862 precisely: 160 acres of free public land, granted to a settler who lived on and farmed it for five years.
- Learn what the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 funded, and why the transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, mattered: it cut journey times across the country, carried in settlers and supplies, and carried out farm produce and cattle to markets in the east.
- Learn at least three specific farming problems homesteaders faced (e.g. lack of timber, lack of water, tough sod, extreme heat and cold, pests such as locusts) and match each to a specific solution (sod houses, windmills, dry farming, barbed wire).
- Learn Joseph Glidden's barbed wire (patented 1874) as a named turning point: it let farmers fence land cheaply without scarce timber, but it also increasingly fenced off the open range that cattlemen relied on, creating a new source of conflict.
- Learn the cattle industry case studies: Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving, who opened a long-distance cattle trail from Texas; and Joseph McCoy, who built stockyards at Abilene, Kansas, turning it into a 'cow town' where Texas cattle could be loaded onto the railroad for eastern markets.
- For 'explain two consequences' questions on settlement, keep effects on homesteaders (e.g. new farming methods, hardship) separate from wider effects (e.g. growth of towns, conflict with ranchers or Plains Indians, the decline of the open range).
Worked example
Explain two consequences of the Homestead Act of 1862 for the settlement of the Great Plains.
- Identify two distinct consequences: (1) a rapid increase in the number of settlers on the Plains, and (2) new farming problems that had to be solved because the Plains environment differed from farmland in the east.
- Develop consequence one with detail: the offer of 160 acres of free land in return for five years of farming attracted large numbers of homesteaders, including many recent immigrants and freed African Americans, speeding up permanent settlement of areas that had previously been mainly used by Plains Indian bands and cattle ranchers.
- Add a further linked detail: this rapid settlement increased competition for land and water and put further pressure on the buffalo herds and grazing land that Plains Indian bands depended on.
- Develop consequence two with detail: homesteaders on the open Plains faced a shortage of timber for building and fencing, so many built sod houses from cut turf, and later took up Joseph Glidden's barbed wire, patented in 1874, to fence their land cheaply once it became widely available.
Practice questions
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Q1How much free land could a settler claim under the Homestead Act of 1862, and what condition had to be met?Show answer
Answer: 160 acres, provided the settler lived on and farmed it for five years.
Q2In what year was the transcontinental railroad, funded by the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, completed?Show answer
Answer: 1869.
Q3Name one farming problem homesteaders faced on the Great Plains.Show answer
Answer: For example, a shortage of timber and water, or tough, dense sod that was difficult to break up and plough.
Q4Who invented the cheap, mass-produced barbed wire that spread across the Plains from 1874?Show answer
Answer: Joseph Glidden.
Q5Who were Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving?Show answer
Answer: Ranchers who opened a long-distance cattle trail (the Goodnight-Loving Trail) driving cattle from Texas towards railroad and other markets.
Q6What did Joseph McCoy build at Abilene, Kansas, and why did this matter?Show answer
Answer: Stockyards, which turned Abilene into a 'cow town' where cattle driven up from Texas could be loaded onto the railroad for shipment to markets in the east.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE History exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two problems faced by homesteaders farming the Great Plains, and how they tried to solve them.
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Write a narrative account analysing how the cattle industry developed on the Great Plains in the period after 1865. You may use the following in your account: the Goodnight-Loving Trail and Abilene, Kansas. You must also use information of your own.
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