Glencoe American Vision, Unit 2, Section 4-1 and 4-2

In California, Hispanic landowners who owned haciendas—or huge ranches—clashed with ________________

"Forty-Niners."

Why did the open range disappear?

"Range wars" eventually broke out among ranchers, newly settled farmers, and sheep herders in Wyoming, Montana, and other territories. The open range was soon fenced off. This, along with an oversupply of cattle and blizzards in 1886 and 1887, meant the end of the open range.

What was so important about the Comstock Lode

1.) Because so many people because of this Nevada was admitted as the 36th state. 2.)it generated more than $230 million 3.) Helped the Union finance the Civil War

Arizona's population grew more slowly, but it applied for statehood by

1912

Homesteader

A _____________ could claim up to 160 acres of public land and could receive ownership to that land after living there for five years.

boomtowns

A town that grew in mining areas where there were rushes. These usually didn't last because the gold usually ran out, or there was no gold at all.

dry farming

Farming method that plants seeds deep in the ground where there was enough moisture for them to grow

range wars

Fencing off of areas by sheep herds and farmers. Used barbed wire to mark their land and keep their livestock close to water and food. This ended the long drive.

Homestead Act in 1862

Government supported settlement in the Great Plains region by passing the

American cowhands learned their trade from __________.

Hispanic herders

steam tractors and mechanical reaper

Large landholders invested in _____ _____ and ______ ______ which made it easier to harvest a large crop.

Americans had long believed it was impossible to raise cattle in the Plains. Water was scarce, and the prairie grasses were too tough for cattle from the East to eat. But the ________________, a breed of cattle from Texas, had adapted to life on the Plains.

Longhorn

The Great Plains region receives little rain, and has few trees. In 1819_________________________traveled through the region and declared it to be a desert not fit for settlement.

Major Stephen Long

sodbusters

Many ________ eventually lost their homesteads because of drought, wind erosion, and the overuse of the land.

What work did women do in boomtowns

Many worked in laundries, or as cooks. Other worked in hurdy-gurdy houses where they waited tables and danced with men for the price of a drink. Some women became propert owners and community leaders.

Why did so many of the West's boomtowns become ghost towns?

Mining exhausted the ore deposits, and miners moved on to other strikes.

Operations in mining towns in Colorado yielded how much silver and gold (money value)

More than a Billion dollars. The bonanza spurred the building of railroads through the Rocky Mountains and transformed Denver, the supply point for the mining areas into the second largest city in the West after San Francisco.

Sod

Most of the Plains settlers built their first homes out of ________.

Mechanical reapers and steam tractors made__________________________ .

harvesting a large crop easier

Vigilance Committee

group of ordinary citizens formed by local law enforcement officers and tasked with finding criminals and bringing them to justice.

What made it worthwhile for ranchers to drive the longhorns north to the railroad, where they could be shipped east.

After the war, beef prices shot up. By this time, railroad lines also had reached the Great Plains.

few hundred

Almost overnight Virginia City, Nevada, went from a town of a ___________ people to almost 30,000 people.

The discovery of gold, silver and other minerals did what

Attracted thousands of settlers who established new states on the frontier.

What did the boomtown of go under

Because the mine were used up

Chisholm Trial

Between 1867 and 1871, cowboys drove nearly 1.5 Million head of cattle up ____________Trial.

Texas Longhorn

Bred of cattle that were bred to adapt to the harsh conditions and vegetation of the Great Plains.

During the _________________ War, eastern cattle were slaughtered as food for armies. After the war, beef prices shot up.

Civil

In 1889 the discovery of gold and copper led to the rapid development of the northern Great Plains with which four states being formed

Colorado, Arizona, the Dakotas and Montana.

The Wheat Belt eventually included much of the __________ and the western parts of __________________ and _______________

Dakotas Nebraska and Kansas.

Tenant farmers

If they didn't make payments they lost their land but a third of the farmers leased their old land back and they were called ________

Long Drive

In 1866 ranchers began driving cattle to Sedalia, Missouri where they got 10 times the price they would have got in Texas.

no true frontier

In 1890, the Census Bureau reported that there was _________ left in American, although there was still much unoccupied land.

mortgaging

In the 1890s, a glut of wheat on the world market caused prices to drop, and some farmers tried to make it through lean periods by __________ their land.

How did the mining industry help some territories become U.S. states?

It brought people to the towns in hope of making money in the mines. After people came the railroads followed.

In what way did the Homestead Act support the settlement of the Great Plains?

It provided a legal method for settlers to acquire property rights

Oklahoma Land Rush

On April 22, 1889 government opened the last territories which was known as the ______________.

Homestead Act in 1862

One could file for a homestead, or a tract of open public land, for a $10 fee. A person could claim up to 160 acres of land and would own it after five years

Leadville

One the richest strikes-occurred in the late 1870s in _______ one of the most famous boomtowns of the frontier. Legendary boom town that got its name from lead deposits containing large amounts of silver

In the late 1800s, several factors helped change the Plains' desert image.

Railroad companies sold land along the rail lines that they built through the Plains. They sold the land at low prices, attracting settlers there. Pamphlets and posters spread the news across the United States and Europe that the Plains were a ticket to prosperity. A Nebraskan claimed that farming the Plains would increase rainfall there, a claim seemingly supported by above average rainfall in the 1870s.

"________________" eventually broke out among ranchers, newly settled farmers, and sheep herders in Wyoming, Montana, and other territories.

Range Wars

safety valve of social discontent

Some people believed that the existence of unoccupied land at the frontier had provided a

Who ruled the region now called the American Southwest before it came under U.S. control in 1848.

Spain, and then Mexico

barrios

Spanish-speaking immigrants to Southwestern cities settled in neighborhoods

Area of Great Plains

The Great Plains region extends westward from the 100th meridian, an imaginary line running north and south from the central Dakotas through western Texas

Wheat Belt

The ____________ started on the eastern edge of the Great Plains and included much of the Nebraska and parts of Dakotas and Kansas.

What were the weather conditions in the great plains

The environment was harsh for Plains settlers. Summer temperatures soared above 100°F, and winters brought blizzards. Prairie fires were a danger, and sometimes grasshoppers destroyed crops.

Leadville

The town of __________ yielded one of the richest strikes found in the Colorado mountains.

Describe what life was like in boomtowns

They were rowdy places. Prospectors fought over claims, and thieves haunted the streets and trails. Men usually arrived first at mining towns but usuall followed.

barrios

Throughout the late 1800s, the Southwest also attracted immigrants from Mexico. They often settled in urban neighborhoods

What did hydraulic mining do to the environment?

killed the environment

In the mid 19th century, most Hispanic in the Southwest lived on large ________________ where they worked in the fields harvesting crops or helped tend cattle.

haciendas

Open Range

Vast area of grassland owned by government that spread across the Great Plains so ranchers could graze their cattle free of charge and not having to worry about private property.

______________ became an important crop to the Great Plains

Wheat

bonanza farms

a large highly profitable wheat farm.

quartz mining

a process in which miners are sent down deep shafts to extract minerals

Why was the railroad important to the open-range cattle industry?

because the railroad transported the beef to eastern markets

bonanza farms

covered up to 50,000 acres and yielded big profits

Many Plain farmers eventually lost their homestead throught the combined effects of

drought, wind erosion, overuse of the land

What two factors caused many Plains farmers to take out loans on their property?

droughts and The nation began to face competition from other wheat-producing countries. By the 1890s, an oversupply of wheat caused prices to drop.

Farmers adapted to the harsh weather of the Great Plains by using __________ farming—a method of planting seeds deep in the ground.

dry

Why did Boomtowns not last forever

eventually the mines that supported the towns would be used up. The towns went bust. Some ghost towns were formed this way.

Railroads came to these areas, who followed the railroad

farmers and ranchers followed.

Plains farmers also faced difficulties--name some

long drought that began in the late 1880s destroyed many crops and turned the soil to dust. The nation began to face competition from other wheat-producing countries. By the 1890s, an oversupply of wheat caused prices to drop. To make it through bad times, some farmers took out loans based on the value of their property. If they did not meet their payments, they had to give the land to the bank. Many then worked as tenant farmers for the new owner.

Hydrolic mining

method of mining by which water is sprayed at a very high pressure against a hill or mountain washing away large quantities of dirt, gravel and rock and exposing the minerals beneath the surface

How did early prospector extract deposits of ore?

placer mining

Mechanical binders and threshing machines made ._______________________________

processing the crops easier

New farming methods and inventions helped to make farming on the Great Plains ________________

profitable

The flurry of mining activity throughout the West spurred what

spurred the building of railroads through the Rocky Mountains and turned supply posts into large cities

Henry Comstock

staked a claim in Six-Mile Canyon, near Virginia City Nevada that turned out to be nearly pure silver ore. Frustrated by his failure to find gold he sold his claim a few months later

By the 1860s, farmers were using ____________, __________, and _________________machines. The new machines made dry farming possible

steel plows, reapers, and threshing

Vaqueros

taught American cowhands their trade and enriched the English language with words of Spanish origin.

English speaking ranchers claimed large tracts of land of Mexican origin so they could expand their ranches. In some cases, the Hispanic population fought back, sometimes with violent force. In New Mexico, Hispanics retained their majority in the population and in the state legislature. Throughout the late 1800s, the Southwest also attracted immigrants from Mexico. They often settled in urban neighborhoods called barrios.

the Hispanic population fought back, sometimes with violent force. In New Mexico, Hispanics retained their majority in the population and in the state legislature.

Cattle ranching prospered in the Great Plains during the 1800s partly thanks to what?

the open range

By the 1880s, the Wheat Belt helped to make the United States what??

the world's leading exporter of wheat.

extract

to remove by force. Colorado mountains contained plenty of gold and silver although much of it was hidden beneath the surface.

Placer mining

was a process that used simple equipment such as picks and pans.

Hispanics

were the majority of the population in New Mexico.