Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

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Law and Order Problems - 1862-1876

Law enforcement continued to be a huge problem throughout this period in the American West.

The Civil War

620,000 soldiers died in the American Civil War.
Over 1 million soldiers were severely injured in the war.
The average age of Unionist soldiers was 25.
So after the war, the US government had to deal with 1 million, young, injured, unemployed people. And it had to deal with men who had fought for the Confederacy (the South) and lost. These people resented the US government.

“Hell on Wheels” towns

Towns close to the railroad stations became to be known as 'Hell on Wheels' towns.
Local cowboys and people whose jobs were tied to the railroads would flock to Hell on Wheels towns to drink, gamble, sleep with prostitutes and fight.
These towns often had no sheriffs and no way of keeping law and order.

Solutions

As more miles of telegraph wires were laid, communications improved.
As more miles of railroads connected more places, communications improved.
However, both railroads and the telegraph were slow means of communications.
Law and order still relied on local sheriffs to be good fighters with strong moral principles.
Some people turned to private companies for personal security or law and order. Abraham Lincoln used the Pinkerton Detective Company for his private security. In the 1890s, the Pinkertons had thousands of detectives and over 25,000 'reserves'. This was more detectives than the number of soldiers in the American army.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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