Chapter+4-+Opening+the+West

Maura, Kevin, Anthony, Eric January 12, 2012 Grade 8 Social Studies Chapter 4 Section 1 The Mining Booms  One of the world’s largest deposits of silver bearing ore was found near Nevada’s Carson River. This discovery created boom towns overnight because of how many people moved into the area. With mining towns came vigilantes, who ran them. They would be the law makers since there were no official law makers in boom towns. There were women, who ran schools, churches and businesses. And lastly there were men to work the mines. Even when gold and silver deposits started to disappear, miners started to mine for other minerals.  The Comstock Lode shut down a lot of the mines across California. All the miners rushed to Comstock, Nevada to mine the huge silver deposits. A good supply of gold was found here but the main mining substance was silver. This rush to Comstock, Nevada was a huge part in Nevada becoming a state. To help move the mined gold and silver to the more populated cities along the east coast and to transport people and goods to the miners a transcontinental railroad was needed. The building of this railroad began in the 1860’s and finished in 1869. This railroad was built by two companies, Union Pacific and Central Pacific. They competed to see which company would be the one who laid the most tracks. In the end the Union Pacific laid the most tracks. 

Section 3 Native American Struggles As the Whites moved further into Native American land the Native Americans faced many challenges. One of these challenges includes the whites killing off large supplies of buffalo, which are the Native Americans main food supply. Some other thing they did is try to convert them to their religions and bring new diseases out west. The government tried to get Native Americans onto reservations. They wanted them to live there to get them out of their way. They promised them that life on these reservations would be good but this was a lie. Some went to the reservation willingly thinking that they will have a good life as promised, but after staying there awhile they realized that the things that they were promised weren’t going to be fulfilled. The Native Americans left the reservations but this only led to conflict. Native Americans started to burn and loot houses of settlers that took their land. They also stole the wagons and horses of miners. About two hundred settlers died in this conflict and when the government heard this they promised the Native Americans food and shelter. This did not stop all fighting though; the battle of Little Bighorn was brought on by whites trespassing on to Native American land. Another battle was the Apache Wars but that was the last armed battle between whites and Native Americans.



Sections 2 & 4 Ranchers and Farmers The early ranchos in the Rio Grande were established at a price: among many other hardships, the settlers had to make a new life in the west under constant threat of attack by Indians. Early cattle drives headed west to the California gold mines after 1850. Most drives to California took five or six months. Texas was a perfect location for raising Spanish longhorns and other cattle. The climate was perfect, and the land was just right for raising cattle. In fact, it was so good that, by the 1800's, there was more beef than the people of Texas knew what to do with. The price of cattle began to drop. After the Civil War there was a great demand for meat in the northern and eastern parts of the U.S. The development of railroads was one of the most important phenomenas of the Industrial Revolution. In 1869, a gold spike linked the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah. Railroads opened up profitable new markets for beef in the North and East. Ranchers herded their cattle to railroad towns and shipped them to new markets in the North and East. Ranching spread from Texas to the Northern Plains. Cowhands and ranchers lived difficult lives on the plains. Cowhands herded cattle from Texas on long drives. The “Cattle Kingdom” ended when a surplus of cattle caused prices to fall. The Homestead Act attracted thousands of settlers with the promise of free land on the Great Plains. Also new farming methods brought many settlers to the Great Plains. New groups formed to help farmers but it was separated by race and the groups came together. Free silver was an idea that the Populist Party had along with other ideas this helped William McKinley win the election by a landslide.