Farming, Mining, and Ranching Angela Brown http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Early-Model- John-Deere-Tractor-Posters_i145594_.htm

Bellringer: Learning Targets: Discuss the gold rush and how the discovery of precious metals would change the West. List the changes that transformed farming on the great plains. Explain the changing mining industry in the west. Describe the growth and decline of the cattle industry.

http://www.solpass.org/7ss/Images/steelplow2.jpg Farming Dry Farming- planting crops that do not require a great deal of water and keeping fields free of weeds

Improvements in farm implements multiplied Plow that made several furrows Harrows with spring teeth Automatic drills to spread grain Steam-powered threshers 1875 Cornhuskers/cornbinders 1890 http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/ districts/images/5370.h6.gif

Federal Department of Agriculture 1862 1880-1890s gathered statistics Then spread information on new techniques http://www.spain-lanzarote.com/media/ lanzarote-pictures/06-PIC00001.jpg

Bonanza Farms farms controlled by large businesses and managed by professionals applied same organizational ideas as in industry sometimes oversupplies equaled dip in market Debt was a constant worry for farmers due to machinery and land speculation. http://www.mnstate.edu/heritage/ BaggFarm/HistoryBonanza.jpg

Mining Place mining – (panning) – shoveled loose dirt into boxes, ran water over it, causing heavy minerals to sink to the bottom http://www.boulderpatchmines.com/ aboutus_images/elis_placer.jpg

All loose minerals were gone by the early 1860s The rest lay locked in quartz deeply buried Rough mining towns soon became ghost towns leaving only the shop keepers better off Mining then became the realm of big business http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/ ~gtusa/photos/co/st-elmo-01.jpg

Ranching Learned cattle ranching ways of Mexicans End of Civil War, cattle $3 to $5 a head in Texas brought $30 to $50 a head in the meat markets of Chicago and St. Louis First drove Northward through open range http://www.earthandskyphoto.com/images/ storm_on_the_open_range_web.JPG

“Cow Towns” Abilene, Kansas 1867 by J.G. McCoy (towns built specially for shipping cattle) Also Cheyenne, Wyoming; Dodge City and Ellsworth, Kansas http://www.flahum.org/images/sections/publications/ forum/issues/winter_2006_cowmen_herd.jpg

Long Drive – transporting cattle from ranges to cow towns – 18 hours a day in the saddle, thieves, stampedes http://icons.wunderground.com/data/ wximagenew/m/myrtlebeach/100.jpg

End of the Open Range The cattle boom ended in 1880s Joseph Glidden’s 1874 invention of barbed wire Overstocked the markets Overgrazed, damaged prairie grass http://www.brandonstone.com/photos_generated/ barbed_wire_fence-750x600.jpg

Cattle continued on a smaller scale Winters of 1885-1887 (85% cattle froze/starve) individuals and large companies went out of business Cattle continued on a smaller scale New breeds replaced Texas Longhorns http://www.costumenetwork.com/albums/ album77/longhorn.sized.jpg

Textbook Resources: 1. Read Mining Wealth on page 170 in your text and answer the Thinking Critically questions. Why do you think towns developed in mining regions? How did the discovery of natural resources contribute to the settlement of the West? Study the map of Economic Development of the West on page 173 in your text and answer the map skills questions. Locate Promontory, Helena, Montana & Chisholm Trail Explain how the location of these cities enabled them to become centers of economic activity: Denver, Virginia City, Abilene & Omaha How did the railroads contribute to the growth and prosperity of the West?

Exit Slip: Create a summary pyramid for the information regarding farming, mining, and ranching.