The document provides an overview of how mining, ranching, and railroads transformed the American West in the late 1800s. It describes how the discovery of minerals like gold and silver led to mining booms and the growth of boomtowns. Meanwhile, the cattle industry expanded across the Great Plains, relying on cowboys to drive cattle to markets. To facilitate transportation, the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, connecting the eastern and western United States by rail. Western expansion put pressure on Plains Indian tribes, leading to conflicts as settlers encroached on their lands.

1. A Growing America
Unit 6

2. America Moves West
Chapter 18

3. Miners, Ranchers, and Railroads
The Big Idea
As more settlers moved
West, mining, ranching,
and railroads soon
transformed the western
landscape
Key Terms
 frontier
 Comstock Lode
 Boomtowns
 Cattle Kingdom
 Cattle drive
 Chisholm Trail
 Pony Express
 Transcontinental railroad
Section 1

4. Mining Boom Brings Growth
 After the war, population
increases and moves west
 California added in 1850
 Frontier spreads to the
Pacific Ocean
 The western landscape
changes
 Settlement
 Technology
 Natural Resources

6. Mining: Big Business
Comstock Lode
 1859, Henry Comstock
discovers gold and silver in
Nevada
 Caused thousands of
Californians to move to
Nevada
Big Business
 Equipment is expensive, so
large companies buy land
and run the mining business

7. Mining: Danger!
 Mines become bigger and deeper
 Work is dangerous!
Unsafe equipment
 Elevator platforms w/o walls
Environment
 Dark tunnels
 Hot and stuffy air
 Explosions & cave-ins
 Fires
Health
 Lung disease
 Injury & death

8. Mining: Settlers
 Came from all over the
world
 Eastern U.S.
 Europe
 Central & South America
 Asia
 Many Mexican immigrants
were experienced miners

9. Mining: New Towns
 Boomtowns
 Communities that grew
suddenly (“BOOM”ed)
when a mine opened
 General store
 Saloon
 Boardinghouse
 Few women or families
 Women that did move
there helped to make
them into permanent
towns

10. The Cattle Kingdom
 Growing economy +
population = give us the
beef!
 Texas  $3-6
 Kansas  $38
 New York  $80
 Most popular breed was the
longhorn
 Needed little water
 Survive harsh weather
How do you move them from
Texas to the east coast?

11. The Cattle Kingdom
 1867 – Joseph McCoy
builds a cattle pen
 Abiliene, Kansas
 Kansas Pacific
Railroad line
 Ranching expanded
to the Midwest
 Cattle Kingdom –
Great Plains from Texas
to Canada in the late
1800s

12. The Cattle Kingdom –
Importance of Cowboys
 Cowhands/cowboys –
 Workers who took care of
the ranchers’ cattle
 Borrowed techniques
from vaqueros
 Western saddle and
lasso
 Cattle Drive
 Important and dangerous
duty
 Long journey to herd
cattle to market or
grazing

13. The Cattle Kingdom –
Importance of Cowboys
 Chisholm Trail
 San Antonio, TX to
Abilene, KS is one of the
first and most popular
routes
 Cowboy Life
 Can be rowdy, rough,
and violent
 Disorderly behavior

14. The Cattle Kingdom –
End of the Open Range
 Competition lead to a
battle for “open range”
 1874: barbed wire allows for
the cheap fencing off of
land
 1885-1886: DISASTER!
 Cattle overfeed
 Severe winters
 Thousands of cattle die
and many ranchers are
ruined

15. Transportation
 Moving west = greater
need for transportation
 1860: The Pony Express
 Messengers on horseback
relay over 2,000 miles
 Telegraph lines replace
the pony express

16. The Transcontinental Railroad
 Transcontinental railroad
 Railroad that would cross
the continent
 Pacific Railway Acts
 1862, 1864
 Railroads receive loans
and land grants
 Government money in
exchange for U.S. mail
and troop transport

17. The Transcontinental Railroad:
The Race
 Central Pacific vs. Union
Pacific
 Central builds east from
Sacramento, CA
 85% Chinese immigrants
 Paid less, more
dangerous work
 Pacific builds west from
Omaha, NE
 Irish immigrants

18. The Transcontinental Railroad:
The Challenges
 Geographic Challenges
 Mountain ranges
 Snowdrifts
 Company Pressure
 Expected to lay 250 miles
of track in six months
 Employee Relations
 Providing food and
supplies for workers
 Shot 1,000s of buffalo to
feed workers

19. The Transcontinental Railroad:
The Golden Spike
 Promontory, Utah
 Congress requires the two
rail lines to meet
 May 10, 1869, a golden
spike is used to join the
tracks

20. The Transcontinental Railroad:
The Results
 Increased economic
growth and migration to
the West
 Transportation for people
and goods
 Created a more inter-dependent
U.S. economy
 Four time zones are
established in 1883
 Railroads are one of the
biggest industries in the U.S.

21. Wars for the West
Section 2

22. IF you were there…
In your notes, answer the following journal prompt…
 You are a member of the Sioux nation, living in Dakota
Territory in 1875. These lands are sacred to your people,
and the U.S. government has promised them to you. But
now gold has been found here, and the government has
ordered you to give up you land. Some Sioux leaders
want to fight. Others say that it is of no use, that the
soldiers will win.
Would you fight to keep your lands? Why?

23. Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
 Gov. is pressured to “open”
western lands in the mid-
1800s
 U.S. officials are sent to
negotiate treaties with the
Plains Indians
 Apache, Comanche TX,
OK
 Cheyenne, Arapaho
central Plains
 Sioux northern Plains
 All spoke different
languages, but used sign
language

24. Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Hunting Buffalo
 Depended on horse and
buffalo
 Most hunted on
horseback with short bow
and arrow
 Used buffalo for…
 Food
 Shelter
 Clothing
 Utensils
 Tools
 1850: 75,000 N.A. on Plains

25. Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Struggle to Keep Land
 Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)
 1st major treaty with Plains
Indians
 Treaty at Fort Atkinson, NE
 Recognized Indian claims to
most of the Great Plains
 Allowed the U.S. to build
forts and roads across their
homelands
 U.S. promises to pay for any
damage to Indian lands

26. Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Struggle to Keep Land
 Treaties don’t keep the
peace for long
 1861: new treaties create
reservations
 An area of federal land
set aside for N.A.s
 Expected to stay on
reservations
 Settlers cross Sioux hunting
grounds, U.S. gov. builds
forts to protect settlers
 Sioux bring war

27. Settlers Encounter the Plains Indians
Struggle to Keep Land
 Crazy Horse
 Sioux leader
 Ambushed and killed 81
cavalry troops (1866)
 Second Treaty of Fort
Laramie (1868)
 Agree to close the trail
and grant reservation
lands
 1867 Treaty of Medicine
Lodge
 Most southern Plains
Indians agree to live on
reservations

28. Crazy Horse Memorial – Crazy Horse, SD