Journey West Continued

Watch School House Rock intro video found at:

http://youtu.be/FfoQBTPY7gk

Cattle Becomes Big Business•Ranching became a profitable investment in the Great Plains.

•Vaqueros taught white settlers how to care for the cattle, brand them, and round them up.

•After the Civil War – the demand for beef skyrocketed.

•Chisolm Trail – major cattle route from Texas to Kansas.

•Also used trains to ship cattle.

A Day In The Life of a Cowboy

A Day In The Life of a Cowboy

A Day in The Life of a Cowboy

End of the Open Range

•Overgrazing of land, extended bad weather, and the invention of barbed wire led to the end of the open range.

Settlers Move West

• From 1870 – 1900, 400 million acres was settled.

• Main reason – completion of the transcontinental railroad

The Lure of Gold and Silver

• 1858 – Gold was discovered in Colorado

• Drew tens of thousands of miners to the region

• Mining towns and tiny frontier towns began to boom.

Homestead Act• Federal government

offered 160 acres of land free to any citizen who promised to settle the land.

• 1862 – 1900 – over 600,000 families took advantage of this offer

• 1889 – Oklahoma Land Rush – over 2 million acres of land was settled in less than a day.

Oklahoma Land Rush

Far and Away clip: http://youtu.be/jFrVoG-edFc

Life on the Plains

Farmers Problems Continue…

• New farm machinery was expensive – had to borrow money to buy it – crop prices fell and many could not repay their loans.

• Trapped in a vicious economic cycle – prices of crops were falling, farmers mortgaged their farms to buy more land to produce more crops.

• Railroads were taking advantage of farmers by charging excessive prices for shipping and storage.

“American Progress”

• In groups of 2 analyze the following cartoon.

• Be prepared for a group discussion in 10-12 minutes.