Ch. 6 Sec. 3 Transforming the West

Individuals or Pairs Individuals or Pairs Panning for gold – easy, quick Panning for gold – easy, quick Small mines – 2 to 3 people Small mines – 2 to 3 people More difficult, some dynamite More difficult, some dynamite Commercial Mining operations Commercial Mining operations Big business investment Big business investment

Mining towns Mining towns Reputation for lawlessness Reputation for lawlessness Very few women Very few women Often violent, ethnic rivalries Often violent, ethnic rivalries Often became ghost towns quickly Often became ghost towns quickly Some developed into normal communities Some developed into normal communities

Mining Towns Spring Up Mining camps were built to house 1000s of people who came looking for gold Mining camps were built to house 1000s of people who came looking for gold More communities were built More communities were built Stores were built to supply food, clothing, and supplies to miners Stores were built to supply food, clothing, and supplies to miners Vigilantes punished lawbreakers Vigilantes punished lawbreakers Became ghost towns once the gold/silver was gone Became ghost towns once the gold/silver was gone

Large Companies Make Mining Big Remaining minerals were deep underground Remaining minerals were deep underground Large companies bought equipment to drill deep into mine shafts Large companies bought equipment to drill deep into mine shafts Workers worked in dangerous underground conditions Workers worked in dangerous underground conditions Mining helped fuel the nation’s industrial development Mining helped fuel the nation’s industrial development

Building the Transcontinental Railroad Central Pacific Central Pacific eastward from California eastward from California Chinese workers Chinese workers Union Pacific Union Pacific westward from Nebraska westward from Nebraska Irish immigrants Irish immigrants Congress supported the RR by providing loans and land grants 2 tracks met at Promontory Summit, Utah Congress supported the RR by providing loans and land grants 2 tracks met at Promontory Summit, Utah

Railroads Intensify Settlement RR tied people together RR tied people together Moved products and people Moved products and people Increased industrial development Increased industrial development Encouraged growth of towns and cities Encouraged growth of towns and cities

Vaqueros and Texas Longhorns Texas longhorn roamed freely in Texas Texas longhorn roamed freely in Texas Owners branded their cattle Owners branded their cattle Open-range system- property not fenced in Open-range system- property not fenced in Ranchers knew their boundaries and cattle from any ranch grazed freely across boundaries Ranchers knew their boundaries and cattle from any ranch grazed freely across boundaries Cowboys would round-up cattle in the spring Cowboys would round-up cattle in the spring Mexican vaqueros’ rounding up skills were learned by the cowboys Mexican vaqueros’ rounding up skills were learned by the cowboys

Cowboys and Cattle Drives Cowboys would do cattle drives to take the animals the railroad that would take them to market Cowboys would do cattle drives to take the animals the railroad that would take them to market Cowboys were a mix of white, Mexican, and African Americans Cowboys were a mix of white, Mexican, and African Americans

The Cow Towns Cow Towns Cow Towns Example- Dodge City, Kansas Example- Dodge City, Kansas Where cattle were sold Where cattle were sold Cowboys were paid Cowboys were paid Rodeos took place Rodeos took place

The End of Open-Range Ranching Barbed wire made it possible to fence in boundaries Barbed wire made it possible to fence in boundaries Price of beef dropped Price of beef dropped Extreme weather in the 1880s killed many cattle Extreme weather in the 1880s killed many cattle

Difficulties of living on the Great Plains Difficulties of living on the Great Plains Rocky Mountain Locust Rocky Mountain Locust Weather – blizzards, lack of rain, tornadoes Weather – blizzards, lack of rain, tornadoes Soil quality Soil quality Isolation Isolation Adapting to life on the Plains Adapting to life on the Plains Steel plow Steel plow Sod homes Sod homes

One eyewitness account of the interaction between the homesteaders and the locusts comes from Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie series which chronicles life in the mid- 1880s on the Great Plains. In her book On the Banks of Plum Creek, she describes the intensity of these locust swarms: “... A cloud was over the sun. It was not like any cloud they had ever seen before. It was a cloud of something like snowflakes, and thin and glittering. Light shone through each flickering particle. There was no wind. The grasses were still and the hot air did not stir, but the edge of the cloud came across the sky faster than the wind. The hair stood up on Jack’s neck. All at once he made a frightful sound up at that cloud, a growl and a whine. Plunk! Something hit Laura’s head and fell to the ground. She looked down and saw the largest grasshopper she had ever seen... The Cloud was hailing grasshoppers. The cloud was grasshoppers. Their bodies hid the sun and made darkness. Their thin, large wings gleamed and glittered. The rasping whirring of their wings filled the whole air and they hit the ground and the house with the noise of a hailstorm.

The largest of the swarms covered a “swath equal to the combined areas of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont” (Riley et, al., 1880). Video

The banner headline in the on 13 January edition of the Denver Evening Times read: "An Awful Blizzard — The Worst Storm of the Season in the North — Grown Men Lost in the Storm — Little Children Herded with Ropes — Terrible Degree of Cold."

Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a temperature drop from a few degrees above freezing to −20 degrees Fahrenheit (−40 °F in some places). This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy snow. The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory from midmorning to early afternoon, and reached Lincoln, Nebraska at 3 p.m.

Farmers Move to the Plains Homestead Act- Gov offered plots of 160 acres to anyone willing to live on land, farm, and build a road for 5 years Homestead Act- Gov offered plots of 160 acres to anyone willing to live on land, farm, and build a road for 5 years Some of the new farmers were blacks Some of the new farmers were blacks Exodusters- black farmers who planted crops and founded all black towns in Kansas and Oklahoma Exodusters- black farmers who planted crops and founded all black towns in Kansas and Oklahoma

Closing the Frontier last major land rush last major land rush Opened Oklahoma Territory Opened Oklahoma Territory April 22- boomers gathered along the boarder April 22- boomers gathered along the boarder Sooners staked their claim to land before the official opening Sooners staked their claim to land before the official opening no longer a square mile of the United States that did not have at least a few white residents no longer a square mile of the United States that did not have at least a few white residents

Oklahoma Land Run