Transcript Document

Mining and Ranching
The Main Idea
Many people sought fortunes during the mining and cattle
booms of the American West.
Reading Focus
• How did mining lead to new settlements in the West?
• Why did mining become big business?
• How and why did the cattle boom come to an end?
Striking Gold and Silver
• Discovering gold and silver
– After the California gold rush, Colorado was next. Most
who went there were disappointed, but the silver in the
Comstock Lode in Nevada lasted for more than 20
years.
• The Klondike gold rush
– The Yukon Territory was the site of a huge gold rush, but
getting there was treacherous. Canadians required
miners to bring a year’s worth of supplies with them, and
that was a difficult task. Reports of “gold for the taking”
were false.
Development of Communities
• Mining camps and towns
– Thousands of men poured into mining areas. Camps
were hastily built and had no law enforcement. Vigilante
justice was used to combat theft and violence.
• Camps become towns
– Some camps developed into towns, with hastily
constructed buildings of stores and saloons.
– As towns developed, women and children came to join
the men, making the towns more respectable.
Townspeople established churches, newspapers, and
schools.
Mining as Big Business
Placer mining allowed individuals to pan for gold, but soon
equipment was needed to dig deeper within the earth.
Large companies were formed to invest in hydraulic
mining and hard-rock mining. Prospectors became
employees, working dangerous jobs for these companies.
Miners began to organize unions to negotiate safer working
conditions and better pay. Mining companies resisted, and
violence broke out. At Cripple Creek, Colorado, the Western
Federation of Miners faced off against the corporate mining
interests. When it was over, 30 men were left dead and the
union was defeated.
The Cattle Boom
Origins of
ranching
Demand
for beef
Ranching
as big
business
The Spanish were the first ranchers in the West,
raising cattle under dry and difficult conditions. They
bred the hardy Texas longhorn and started sheep
ranching. Grazing lands were needed for both.
Growing populations in the East needed food. The
age of the cattle drive had arrived. Cowboys drove
the cattle to towns with railroads to be shipped to
meatpacking centers such as Chicago. One of the
most famous cattle trails was the Chisholm Trail.
Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire, allowing
ranchers to enclose grazing lands. Privately owned
ranches spread quickly, and investors transformed
the cattle business into big business. Two years of
severe winters brought huge losses to the industry.
Cowboy Songs
• Buffalo Gals
• Home on the Range
• Get Along Little Doggies
• Streets of Laredo
• You are my Sunshine