How can the
government entice
people to move to
the Great Plains?
Essential Questions
1. Who migrated West and what
problems did they experience?
2. How did the migration of people
bring about change in the West?
Key Tensions
Native
Americans
Cattlemen
Ranchers
Buffalo Hunters
Railroads
U. S. Government
Sheep Herders
Farmers
Key Tensions
Ethnic
Minorities
Nativists
Environmentalists
Lawlessness of
the Frontier
Big Business Interests
[mining, timber]
Local Govt. Officials
Farmers
Buffalo Hunters
“Civilizing” Forces
[The “Romance” of the West]
• Essential Question: Who migrated to
the West and What problems did they
experience?
Railroad Construction
“The Big Four” Railroad Magnates
Charles Crocker
Collis Huntington
Mark Hopkins
Leland Stanford
Promontory Point, UT
(May 10, 1869)
• Railroads opened up opportunities for more
people to move west
• Encouraged the building of towns and cities
• Provided a way to move goods to and from
Eastern Cities
• Farmers hated the railroads because they
charged super high shipping and storage rates
(monopoly)
Pacific Railway Act
• Analyze the Pacific Railway Act by answering
the questions provided.
"Wherever we put
them, we found them
good," Crocker
recalled, "and they
worked themselves
into our favor to such
an extent that if we
found we were in a
hurry for a job of
work, it was better to
put Chinese on at
once."
The “Chinese Question”
 Exclusion Act (1882)
- Oriental Exclusion Act
- Chinese Exclusion Act
How did the Transcontinental
Railroad Change America?
• What should we put in our introduction?
• Fill in the required information on your Essay
Outline.
• Is there other information you want to include?
– Make a note of that information.
Economic Opportunities for Farmers
• Problems:
– Great Plains known as the Great American Desert
– Not fit for anyone except the Native Americans
• Federal Government passed the Homestead
Act
– Gave 160 Acres to any individual for $10
registration fee
– Had to live on and work the land for 5 years
Homestead Act
• Analyze the Homestead Act by answering the
questions provided
Land Use: 1880s
Frontier Settlements: 1870-1890
Overcoming Problems
• John Deere – Steel Plow
• Cyrus McCormack – mechanical reaper
• Dry Farming – plant seed deep in ground were
there was moisture
• Sod busters lived in Sod Houses – no trees
• Effects
– Made the Great Plains the most productive wheatgrowing region in the world
1887
Land
Promotion
Poster
for the
Dakota
Territories
Homesteads From Public Lands
New Agricultural
Technology
Steel Plow [“Sod Buster”]
“Prairie Fan”
Water Pump
What is the Message of this Picture?
The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, SD