Resources in the West
Mining & Cattle
Miners & Ranchers
Mining Settlements
• Treasure Seekers created Boom Towns
• 49ers – CA; Comstock – NV
• 3 Arizona cities exist because of
population boom from mining towns
– Tombstone – silver
– Globe – silver & copper
– Jerome - copper
Challenges from Mining
• “Cages” – elevators that rode down
underground; had no walls – slight move and
you could be pinned
• Power drills – caused dust which produced lung
problems
• TNT – unexpected explosions also creating
poisonous gas and fires
• Hot underground air filled with toxic gases
• Cave-ins and floods from underground springs
The Cattle Kingdom
http://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=V
g5cwSBnyQU
• Cattle came from Spain and was
brought to CA & TX
• these cattle mixed with English
breeds to create Longhorns
• Longhorns were tough and resilient
to the cold and disease
• Workers taking care of the cattle
became known as “Cowboys”
Ranching the Great
Plains
• Sheep (sheepherders),
cattle
• RR encourage settlement
• Problems:
– Native Americans – fighting for their home
land
– Farmers – sharing the land
– Miners – blowing up the land & scaring the
wild life
Farming the Great Plains
• Homestead Act – gave
govt. owned land to small
farmers; this led to tons of
people migrating west
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxaJY8UZxn4
Farming the Great Plains
•Challenge of farming on the Plains:
•The environment – the freezing winters, scorching summers;
blizzards, tornadoes, different land: couldn’t plant the same
crops
•Lumber shortage – few wood sources for home building or heating
•Grasshoppers – ate crops, food, and clothes
•Sod houses – made bc of good insulation & cheap but they
disintegrated; wood framed homes prevailed
SUMMARY
• QUIZ TIME
• 1. What are boomtowns?
• 2. Name the genetically bred cow that
was used in the Wild West as a tractor?
• 3. Name the law that encouraged
settlement in the west to dominate the
land.
• 4. Name one major challenge to farming
on the Great Plains.