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.