The American West Part II

I. The Cattle Kingdom Open Range Ranching  Railroads opened the eastern market for beef  Ranchers bought land adjacent to water, let cattle roam on public land  Open range ended in 1880’s  Barbed wire allowed farmers to fence off land  Harsh winters of  Overproduction drove down prices Day of the Cowboy  Tended the herds on long drives  Roundups delighted easterners with colorful images of western life  25% were African-American  Most were ordinary wage-earners, the myth of freedom and individualism, known as “Wild West” lived on.

II. Building the Western Railroads Sioux called it “Iron Road.” Pacific Railroad Act of 1862  Central pacific built east from Sacramento  7,000 chinese built tracks  Union Pacific built west from Omaha  Used primarily Irish workers  May 10, 1869 railroad met at Promontory, Utah Effects of the Railroad  Boosted the need for steel  Spawned new industries: coal, depot construction, passenger-freight- car manufacture  Introduced a standard time zone

III. The Mining Bonanza Discovery of gold in California (1849) and Colorado (1858) prompted an influx of people to those regions. Discovery of gold led to a rise in towns with saloons, casinos, etc. most went bust

IV. Farming the Plains Homestead Act of 1862  Settlers bought plots of land  160 acres  Occupy 5 years and make improvements Plains Life  Sod houses  Open prairies contained little lumber and fuel  Climate and terrain undesirable  Machinery expensive  Social isolation Last major section of West settled was Oklahoma in 1889.