The american west
The american west13.2 Mining and Ranching
My feet are sore, my heels are blistered, my legs sore and lame,
my hands, neck, shoulders, sore and chafed from rope. But boys,
dont think Im discouraged . . . There is a golden glimmer in the
distance. Fred Dewey, ProspectorJournal Jogging your memoryWhy was
the destruction of the buffalo significant to the lives of Native
Americans on the Plains?
Why did Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce hope to reach Canada?
Black Elk spoke of a beautiful dream which died at the Wounded
Knee Massacre; in your opinion, what was that dream?
DiscussionStriking gold and silverIn 1849, mining strikes
inspired thousands of Americans to rush to the West in search of
fortune
With each new discovery, miners raced from one location to
another in hopes of striking it rich
Idaho, Montana, the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory,
Arizona, Cripple, Creek, Colorado, and of course - California
The comstock lodeAfter the California Gold Rush was well
underway, the first promising mining discovery occurred in 1858 in
Colorado prospectors found gold near Pikes Peak
Thousands flocked to the area, most left disappointed
In 1859, prospectors found silver in the Carson River Valley of
present-day Nevada
Thousands of miners rushed to the mines which became known as
the Comstock Lode
Over the next twenty years, miners took about $500 million worth
of silver.
The klondike gold rushOccurred in Canadas remote Yucatan
Territory near the Alaskan border
Led to the discovery of gold on the Alaskan side of the border
as well
Over 100,000 Americans stampeded to the Klondike in search of
riches; however, getting to the Klondike was treacherous
Canadian officials required miners bring enough provisions for a
year nearly a ton of goods! Gold, Gold, Gold!- The Seattle Post,
1897
Who were these prospectors?Mostly men
Came from all over the United States and, sometimes, from other
nations
MexicoEnglandIrelandChinaEtc.
Mining campsAs soon as gold was discovered, the regions would
become swamped and mining camps would be set upOften, these mining
camps were little more than groups of tents or hastily built
shacksMost camps had no law enforcementIntense rivalries and
competition led to frequent violence
boomtownsSome of the sprawling mining camps turned into
towns
As towns sprung up, more women and children came to join the
menThe arrival of families often turned these rough and tumble
communities into respectable communities
These early towns had:
Dirt streetsWooden sidewalksHastily constructed buildingsStores
and saloonsChurchesSchools NewspapersOpera houses
Why do you think they were called Boomtowns?The evolution of
miningTypes of miningIncorporization of miningPlacer mining
Minerals are found in loose sand and gravel
Hydraulic mining Used water under high pressure to blast away
dirt, exposing the minerals underneath
Hard-rock mining Required cutting deep into solid rock to
extract the oreMiners became employees of mining companies rather
than lone prospectors
They began to dig mine shafts, build tunnels, and drill for
ore
This was extremely dangerous and resulted in many deaths
Miners began to organize unions to negotiate for better
pay/working conditions which the corporation fought bitterly
This resulted in the deaths of at least thirty miners and the
dissolution of the Western Federation of Miners (a union)The cattle
boom -the rise of another business . . .Because the buffalo had
been hunted to near extinction, the lush prairie grasses were now
open for their own form of lucrativeminingCattle Ranching
The origins of cattle ranchingThe first ranchers in the West
were Spanish; and brought cattle to the New World from Spain in the
1500s
The Spanish, and later the Mexicans, became adept at raising
cattle under dry and difficult environmental conditions
These ranchers interbred Spanish and English cattle to develop a
new breed that thrived on the Plains the Texas Longhorn who
were:
HardyCapable of traveling long distances without waterAble to
live on grass aloneImmune to Texas fever; a disease which was
deadly to other cattle breeds
A growing demand for beefAfter the Civil War, cities in the East
clamored for beef to feed their growing populations
By 1866, a steer that might sell for as little as $4 in Texas
could bring as much as $40 in the North
Ranchers hired cowboys to drive the cattle to railheads, or
towns with railroads, where the cattle could be shipped to
meatpacking centersCattle trailsThere were many different cattle
trails that ran from cattle country to major rail centers
Chisholm Trail began in San Antonio, ran through Fort Worth, and
ended in Abilene/Ellsworth, KS
By 1861 as many as 600,000 cattle traveled along the Chisholm
Trail in a single year
The drive usually lasted three months
About two-thirds of the cowboys on the trail were white teenage
boys between the ages of 12-18, but substantial numbers of
African-American and Hispanic young men worked as cowboys as well .
. . even a few women usually disguised as men rode the trails as
well.
Another big businessCattle owners often had trouble keeping
track of their herds on the open range
This led to the invention of barbed wire and privately owned,
enclosed cattle ranches spread quickly across the open plain
The Big Tie-Up wooden fences
Activity -westward expansion: analyzing song lyricsForm groups
of three or four
Read and analyze songs from the period of western expansion
Look for common themes
Write your own song exploring the same or other similar themes
from the section either from the perspective of the settlers or the
Native Americans
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