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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