Homestead Act of 1862 allowed unmarked women to homestead on their own

Sparked a change in attitude in woman

Sought more independence, opportunities, and adventure

Able to get an education, run a business and make own money

Became providers instead of just housewives

Jobs included: teachers, missionaries, farm laborers, nurses, bakers, midwives

Had opportunity to enter fields such as law and medicine

No longer needed a man
Less of a hurry to marry
Wanted more of an equal role in marriage

Fiction: The Old West was a place of murder and chaos.

Fact: The Old was a generally peaceful place

People were willing to compromise and cooperate with the law

Agencies were set up to solve disputes

Law enforcement agents kept people under control to prevent violence

Main source of violence was between the white settlers and the Plains Indians

With the expansion of the US to the west came conflict with Native American Tribes already inhabiting the land

US Army began to wipe out Native Americans that stood in their way

US Marshal Service created by the Judiciary Act of 1789

Jobs include handling prisoners, issuing subpoenas and warrants, making arrests, and handled the courts, and protecting the borders

"Justice, Integrity, and Service" is their motto

Symbols of the Wild West due to the need for law in the emerging frontier towns such as Deadwood, Tombstone, and Fort Smith

Most famous deputies served under Judge Isaac Parker in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Importance of Marshal Service declined over time as the US moved into the 20th century

Located in the Northwest corner of the state near Oklahoma

Originally a military outpost

Judge Isaac Parker was famous judge during the time of the old west

Sent multiple men to hang

Setting of True Grit

Character Rooster Cogburn a deputy under Parker

Quantrill: former teacher from Ohio; joined the Confederate army during the Civil War but soon left and led a group called Quantrill's raiders

Raiders were a group of men (primarily outlaws) that supported the south during the war

Generally found near Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma

Used banditry, torture, and murder of both union soldiers and civilians

Massacred and burned multiple towns