“A Trip to the Yo- Hamite Falls” 1855 Thomas Ayers.

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Why West?

A Trip to the Yo-Hamite Falls 1855Thomas Ayers

One mans viewWilliam Gilpin, Governor of Colorado.Feed a population of 1 billion.Rains would turn it to a paradise (very low rainfall area)Become the backbone of the countryJohn Wesley Powell: the head of the US Geologic survey viewed this as folly. The water out west is in such short supply that it would never support that. Technology was needed to move water to the area.Why West?Romantic image of the Frontier.RailCattleGold and miningScienceFarming (Homesteaders)Economic Opportunity

Problems:Great Plains Indian Country by the government in 1834Frontier life