1. American History II
Westward Migration

2. Westward Migration Push Factors- force people to leave an area
Civil War, Immigration, land shortage, Religion
Pull Factors- attract a person to an area
Cheap land, railroads (jobs), opportunity to own private property

3. Trails
Oregon Trail
Santa Fe Trail

4. Mormons Move to Chicago seeking religious freedom
Joseph Smith will lead them to Chicago
Move to Utah for more religious freedom
Led by Brigham Young

5. Acts to Encourage Movement West
Morrill-Land Grant Act
Gave states money to set up college and universities to study mining and farming
Ex- Texas A & M (Texas Agriculture and Mining)
Homestead Act
Cheap land
Must be 21 yrs old and farm for 5 years
Get 160 acres of land

6. Plains Farmers Problems Solutions
No wood, few trees, tough sod, little rainfall, low crop yield, extreme seasons
Solutions
Sod homes- made of mud due to no wood and few trees
Windmills- allow digging of deeper wells
Steel plow- dig through the tough sod
Barbed wire fencing- keep predators out and animals in
Will bring an end to the open range

7. Pictures of Homesteaders

8. Transcontinental Railroad
Provide lots of jobs (especially for Immigrants)
Irish immigrants work in East
Chinese immigrants work in West
2 Railroad Companies Join
Union Pacific- from Nebraska to Promontory Point, Utah
Central Pacific- from California to Promontory Point, Utah
Final stake driven in at Promontory Point, Utah
Result- Transportation quicker, West will grow quicker and divide US into time zones

10. Credit Mobilier Scandal
Credit Mobilier was a construction company given contracts to build railroads
They were owned by Republican Senators
They charged 3x the right amount and kept the extra as profit

12. Destruction of Buffalo
Indians relied on Buffalo for everything
Food, clothing, shelter, tools, weapons
Railroad will take up grazing land for Buffalo
Passengers will hunt Buffalo for sport (their hides were made into coats for wealthy)
Impact
Indians will be forced to change and adapt to life without Buffalo- life on reservations

13. Mining Mining will become another reason people move West
Boom Towns- gold or silver discovered
Create great growth overnight as people move in
49ers- Move to California for Gold in 1849
Denver, CO, Boise, Idaho and Sacramento, California
Merchants will follow miners and shops set up
Ghost Town- after gold or silver gone, people leave and town deserted
Results
West will become populated (states created)
Indians forced to Reservations

14. Cattle Boom Cattle trade and herding will provide jobs
Cattle drives- from Texas to places like Abilene and Wichita, Kansas
Rise of Cowboys
Freedmen who move west after Civil War
Hard work, little pay, long hours
About 1/5 of Cowboys were Mexicans or African Americans

16. Pictures