1. Mountains
 2. Rivers
 3. Deserts
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
The Gateway to the West

The pioneers first traveled by
stagecoach and wagon. It was
dangerous, took a long time, and was
expensive. The train made travel
quicker, safer, and less expensive.
The Great American Desert.
 The Breadbasket is what it was called
once the steel plow and mechanical
reaper were used to cut through the
grass and they revealed rich farmland.






1. Rocky Mountains
2. Colorado River
3. Columbia River
4. Mississippi River
5. Snake River

Winter- snow storms, cold, blizzards, frozen
water, lack of food, cold

Spring- floods, tornadoes, lightning, storms

Summer- swarms of insects, dust storms, hot, fires

Fall- fires, insects, drought

They had to live on the land for 5
years. It cost $10.00 and gave
people the rights to land.
Approximately 160 acres.
**Refer back to your map notes for help- a blank map like this will be on the test**
Rocky Mountains
Columbia River
Colorado River
Snake River
Mississippi River

The population decreased greatly.
The buffalo were killed by pioneers
moving west and by riflemen on the
trains hired by the railroad. The
buffalo were the main source of
food for the Native Americans and
this impacted their lives greatly.

The railroad brought people to the
west and they built towns and cities.
The trains helped trade by
transporting goods faster and
cheaper.

The railroad DID impact the
environment by changing the
landscape. It also polluted the air
and water due to the smoke. It
increased coal production and
caused more mining.
The cowboys worked for the ranchers
to take their cattle to the market.

Cowboys and farmers did not get
along because the cowboys
wanted to cross the farmlands with
all their cattle and it would ruin the
farmers crops.
Asian Immigrants
 European Immigrants
 Native Americans
 Mexican Americans


**Mainly most Asian Immigrants who
were nicknamed Coolies*
They 1st came in search of gold and
silver and then later worked on the
building the Transcontinental Railroad.
Irish Immigrants built from east to west
 Chinese Immigrants built from west to
east.


When gold was found in the black hill
reservation they were forced off their
land.
Custer’s
Last Stand.

It created public support for the U.S.
army to crush the Native American
resistance in this area.
SS textbook pg. 157

They tried to flea to Canada but they
were surrounded and sent to a
reservation in Oklahoma.

The Native Americans believed the land
belonged to the GROUP, and not
individual people like the whites
believed.

Native American children were taken to
boarding schools like the Carlisle School
in Pennsylvania and they were forced to
change their culture. For example, they
were forced to farm and wear white
people clothes.