Beyond the Mississippi

Lewis and Clark were not the first white settlers west of the Mississippi River. Spanish and French explorers claimed vast regions of what is now the western part of the United States for their respective countries.

Prior to the introduction of the horse, many tribes worked with the white settlers in numerous ways, one being the middleman for the fur trade industry. Many Mandans would trade for the Indian trappers’ fur and then bargain and barter with the white fur traders. Most of the time this trade was conducted with the French and English in the interior of the country along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Hudson Rivers.

European explorers had a profound effect on the daily life of Native Americans. Horses, which were brought to the New World by the Spanish, were acquired by trade or captured during frequent raids made by the Native Americans. The use of the horse in Native American society covered the western part of U.S. by the mid 1700’s. To the Native Americans, the horse changed many aspects of their society, from their approach to warfare to the division of work between the men and women of a tribe.

With the horse, tribes, which had been more sedimentary, became more nomadic. Nomads were people who continually migrate instead of having one permanent settlement. Using the horse improved the results of the hunting expeditions. As more Indians owned horses, more buffalo could be killed during the annual hunt. The Plains Indians used the buffalo for much more than just food.

Buffalo hair	used to make ropes, pads, and other ornamental and ceremonial trinkets.
Buffalo horns	used to make tools and utensils.
Buffalo bones	used to make soup stock and articles for work and play
Buffalo sinew	used to make sewing thread and even stronger bowstrings for their bows.
Buffalo skins	used to make ropes, shelter, clothing, and shoes
Buffalo meat and intestines	used as food

However, the white settlers only wanted the hide of the buffalo, this led to the near extinction of this magnificent hoofed animal.

Being a nomadic tribe, which followed the game throughout the territory, the status of a successful brave was determined by the following information. HOW MANY HORSES DID ONE OWN OR STEAL, THE SKILLS DEMOSTRATED DURING WARPARTIES AND HUNTING PARTIES led to being chief of the tribe. Males gained their status in the ways discussed before, but how were the women affected in the nomadic society.

Prior to the nomadic lifestyle, the women gained more responsibility on the home front. But as the tribes became more and more mobile, the female roles of influence decreased within the tribe. Her new responsibilities included preparing for the hunt and processing the buffalo carcass. The Native Americans who continued with the agricultural lifestyle saw the role of women remain the same in most cases.

However the stationary tribes were affected in other ways by the arrival of the white settler. Many tribes suffered greatly from the diseases, which were brought by the white settlers, as well as from the hunger for land most of the white settlers had. 40% of the Native American population consisted of the Plains Indians which numbered 75,000 and the 84,000 Indians who were forced to move to the Indian Territory, which is modern day Oklahoma.

Spanish Empire in North America was strong along the West Coast, however, within the interior, the Spanish could not control the Indian tribes. The Pueblo revolted against the Spanish settlers and afterward the Spanish tended to move their settlements along the Rio Grande in what is now Texas. In this part of the southwest, the Spanish attempted to make peace treaties with the Comanche and Apache Indian nations.

In the 1700’s, Spain began building forts or presidios and missions along the California Coast. They numbered 21 missions from San Diego to San Francisco. These California settlements were large and successful with the main goal being the conversion of the natives to Christianity. Monterey was the capitol of the California territory. Other large important settlements included Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Many Native Americans died because of the disease and poor living conditions around the missions.

In New Mexico, the natives and Spanish did not live on small separate farms due to the nomadic tribes’ warrior tendencies. The violent nomadic tribes caused settlers in New Mexico to live in large areas such as Albuquerque.

Women in New Mexico gained a great deal of independence, women were able to run businesses, divorce husbands, own property, and sue in courts of law. Rights of women were reduced when New Mexico became a state in 1848.

Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 after 13 years of rebellion. Rebellion led by a priest, Miguel Hidalgo, spread throughout southern Mexico and was defeated. A military officer began leading the rebels in 1821, when Agustin de Iturbide defeated the Spanish on August 24; Mexico won its independence.

The new government, not liking the Roman Catholic religion, secularized the missions. In other words, the state took control of the missions from the church. Continued poor living conditions and new economic programs increased the differences between the rich and poor of Mexico. However, with these new economic programs trade with the United States was encouraged. One enterprising American took advantage of the trade policies. William Becknell delivered a load of goods from Missouri to Sante Fe, New Mexico. He sold the goods for mules and silver, thus opening the Sante Fe Trail. Many settlers started saying that nary an item sold at the markets of New Mexico came from anywhere but the United States.

Texas, New Mexico, and California were all territories of Mexico. After the trade increased between the U. S. and Mexico, many Americans moved into areas of northern Mexico, New Mexico, and regions of Texas. Stephen Austin received permission to establish a settlement in eastern Texas, in two years the settlement had grown in size to 2,000 people. The Mexican government started passing laws, which encouraged Americans to settle in Texas. The Mexican Colonization Law promised American immigrants cheap land, protection of the Mexican government and a 14-year break on their taxes if they settled in Texas. Just 6 years later, the Mexican government, feeling that they were losing Texas through immigration, passed laws which prohibited the Americans from entering Texas, as well as outlawing slavery in Mexican territory. As more and more Americans entered the area, they wanted more control of the government. Stephen Austin blocked a ban on slavery in the territory, but the Americans wanted more and more freedoms similar to those that they had left behind in America.

Two factions of settlers in the Texas area, Austin who wanted to work within the government of the Mexicans and William Travis who wanted to fight for independence from Mexico. Events leading to the clash of Mexico and the United States included the rise of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who assumed the role of dictator of Mexico. Among his first actions, he removed all of the provisions for self-government from Texas and other areas. This action led to the Texas War for Independence, which began in 1835 and ended in 1836.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO! A cry heard throughout the Texan war for independence. 200 men, women, and children faced a Mexican army, which was 4000 strong. After 13 days, the Americans had lost 180 Texans and then two weeks later, Santa Anna ordered 300 surrendered Texans of Goliad to be shot. After the Texas war for independence ended and Santa Anna signed a treaty which recognized the Republic of Texas, Mexican and U.S. tensions increased due to the western advances of the settlers and businessmen of America.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN, GO WEST. What was the Pacific Northwest? Oregon Country? In the early 1800’s, the northwest including Oregon, Washington, parts of California, and Alaska were claimed by four different countries: UNITED STATES, BRITIAN, RUSSIA, SPAIN. In 1818 with the Convention of 1818, U.S. and Britain agreed to jointly occupy the Oregon Territory. This Convention did not address the issues of the Native Americans of the region. By the mid 1820’s, Spain and Russia had withdrawn their claims due to other events.

Following Lewis and Clark into the Louisiana Territory, men in search of areas to trap, hunt, and live entered the region. These men were known as Mountain Men, adventurers who took on the Indian way of live, as well as Indian brides. Jedediah Smith and Jim Beckwourth were among the best known. The paths these men took to the northwest areas became trails used by thousands as they attempted to cross the plains. Several trails headed to the west: The Oregon Trail, The Sante Fe Trail, and the Mormon Trail. Most of these trails began in Independence, Missouri. A 2000-mile trip on the Oregon Trail took 4 to 6 months and cost between 500 and 1000 dollars. The trip was very demanding, Enoch Conyers, stated that …if there is anything in this world that will bring to the surface a man’s bad traits, it is a trip across the continent with an ox team…. As more and more Americans entered the region, England and the U.S. wanted to come to some peaceful resolution of the joint occupation of the Oregon Territory. The Treaty of 1846 established the northern border of America at the 49^th degree latitude.

New York journalist, John L. O’Sullivan coined the following phrase “ ...it was the nation’s manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty federated self-government entrusted to us...” In order to fulfill this manifest destiny, all foreign countries would have to release their claims to any lands within the continental area of the United States. The Mexican and American war is the only war fought for the sole purpose of increasing the size of the nation.

The Bear Flag revolt was going on in California before the Mexican and American war was declared in May 1846. Within 7 months U.S. forces had taken control of the territories of New Mexico and California. The war ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which contain 4 parts.

1. Mexico gave up claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande has the southern border of Texas.

2. Mexico gave up California and New Mexico (2 fifths of its territory) to the U.S.

Five years later, by way of purchase known as the Gadsden Purchase, the United States acquired the 30,000 square mile area of southern New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico. The total sales price of 10 million dollars was paid to Mexico.

With these new territories, issues had to be addressed. The most important one being the question of slavery in the new territories. A democrat from Pennsylvania, David Wilmot, authored a bill, the Wilmot Proviso, which stated that slavery would not be permitted in any region acquired from Mexico. Every new expansion bill would find this proviso attached to the bill, but Congress never passed it. But it displayed the growing chasm between the north and the south with regards to the issue of slavery.

The Mormons traveled west to escape the persecution of their neighbors. Joseph Smith started the religion in New York in 1830. Wanting to move outside of the U.S. boundaries, the leader of the group, Brigham Young, moved the group to Utah, which was at that time out side of the United States.

More westward expansion, why? 1848, in California at Sutter’s Mill gold was discovered. And the rush was on, THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH 1849. Towns grew rapidly, from 14000 in 1848 to 200,00 in 1852. These “forty-niners” came from Europe, Asia, as well as adventurers from the eastern parts of the United States. Mining frontier had boomtowns and bust towns. The boomtowns were successful towns that sprang up over night, while bust towns fizzled out and became ghost towns.

As the gold rush caused many to cross this vast land, many Native Americans were pushed aside and abused. To help protect the Indians, the government created the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824. Mostly, this bureau attempted to cheat the Indians with treaties, false promises, and payoffs. While many of the eastern tribes succumbed to this treatment, the nomadic tribes of the west fought valiantly to preserve their traditional way of life. Geronimo was one of the most famous Indian outlaws in the southwest. Many Indians were peaceful and helped the white settlers cross the Nation until the 1850’s. From that time until the late 1800’s, the Indians and the military of the United States fought many times for different reasons. The Indians wanted the white settlers to leave the sacred areas of the Indians and wanted other lands returned to their tribes. The United States wanted to provide the white settlers with protection from the Indians as the nation evoked it’s Manifest Destiny.