American History Unit 2: Lesson 2 - Settling the Frontier

15) What was the purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862?

The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to buy land provided they followed certain provisions. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed families to buy 160 acres of public land with the provision that the applicant live on the land for a period of time and build a house. Many people took advantage of this law to purchase land in the newly opening West.

20) Fill in the missing information.

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19) What crop became popular in the northern part of the Great Plains, especially along the rivers?

wheat The dry climate of much of the prairie meant that farmers had to find new methods for growing crops. They had to choose varieties of crops that were suitable to dry conditions. Wheat became a favorite staple crop, and many people in the Great Plains became successful wheat farmers.

1889

Washington

5) Miners had a strong sense of ______ and formed committees to maintain _________.

1. justice 2. order Most miners had a strong sense of justice. They desired fairness in their dealings along with law and order in their towns. Where there was no official law enforcement, the men created communities to maintain order. These committees often carried out swift justice to outlaws or the criminal element who stole money from others.

18) What two sources of land were available to settlers?

1. land through the Homestead Act 2.land purchased from the railroads When the Great Plains became civilized, farmers moved there from nearby farming states and others came from the Deep South. Some new arrivals were recent immigrants from European nations. These new farmers applied for land under the homestead laws and others bought land from the railroads.

1912

Arizona

1876

Colorado

1) The Great Plains region was once called the _______.

Great American Desert The central part of the United States is a great prairie, bounded on the east by the Mississippi River valley, on the west by the Rocky Mountains, on the north by Canada, and on the south by Mexico. This area had been called the Great American Desert by early explorers, but it is in fact better titled the Great Plains.

8) _______ mining involved digging deep into ore-bearing rock.

Hard rock The majority of the gold was deep within the earth in the form of gold embedded in quartzite rock. A hard rock mine involved drilling, blasting, and removing gold ore. Many of the hard rock mines of Colorado and the Rockies continued to produce gold-bearing ore for as long as a hundred years.

1890

Idaho

11) What were the cities with important rail yards for cattle in the 19th century? Select all that apply.

Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) Topeka, Abilene, Wichita, Ellsworth, Dodge City, Kansas Denver, Colorado Cheyenne, Wyoming.

9) What was a good source of meat for growing Eastern cities?

Longhorn cattle The nation's growing cities demanded new sources of meat. The answer lay in the millions of cattle living wild in Texas. The longhorn cattle were hardy and able to adjust to the difficult conditions of the prairies and had multiplied into vast herds across southern Texas.

1889

Montana

1867

Nebraska

1864

Nevada

1912

New Mexico

1889

North Dakota

1907

Oklahoma

13) What was the major difficulty of raising cattle in the Great Plains?

Scarcity of water was a major difficulty of raising cattle in the Great Plains. The lands were public lands owned by the government. Cattle could be grazed without charge on the public range. The only difficulty with the open range involved the scarcity of water, and this shortage sometimes caused conflict between ranchers.

1889

South Dakota

10) Where did longhorn cattle originate?

Spain The longhorn cattle descended from cattle brought to the New World by Spanish explorers and colonizers. The longhorn cattle were hardy and able to adjust to the difficult conditions of the prairies and had multiplied into vast herds across southern Texas.

Describe the mutually beneficial economic relationship between cattlemen and the railroads.

The railroads provided a way for cattlemen to get their livestock to market while the cattle industry provided incentive for railroads to build out west.

16) What caused the range wars?

The range wars were caused by cattlemen of the open range coming into conflict with homesteaders who sought to protect their property from cattle. The homesteaders coming to the prairie led to a tense and dangerous time. The ranchers had been using public lands as an open range. Homesteaders began claiming these lands. The homesteaders put up fences to keep cattle from ruining their crops and gardens. The ranchers resented the loss of the range, adjacent public lands, and water sources.

14) Why did many cattle ranchers go out of business?

They lost too many cattle during dry seasons. A year or two of drought would create conflicts among the cattle ranchers. Cattle ranchers with water would charge high prices for access. Some ranchers went out of business because they lost so many cattle during dry seasons.

12) Why did cattlemen build ranches in the Great Plains?

They wanted to be closer to the rail yards and cow towns. By the 1880s, cattlemen were raising cattle throughout the Great Plains, closer to the rail yards and the cow towns. They were trying to improve the breeds and create heavier cattle with better meat.

17) What event caused an end to the range wars?

Two terrible winters were marked by blizzards and hard freezes. The winters of 1885-1886 and 1886-1887 were very severe. The winters were marked by a succession of blizzards and hard freezes. This two-year period had devastating results on the cattle industry. Almost all of the cattle on the range died. Eventually, this led to the range finally becoming civilized.

1896

Utah

1890

Wyoming

4) Mining communities, called _______, sprang up almost overnight.

boom towns The mining communities, called boom towns, sprang up almost overnight, reaching populations of 5,000 or more. These mining towns started as tent cities and soon changed to wood shanties. The town life was rough and dangerous.

7) In time, most mining claims belonged to mining _______.

corporations Most mining claims were consolidated into holdings belonging to large mining corporations. Miners either went to work for the corporations or left to prospect in other areas.

3) Miners who came to Colorado for the gold strike in 1858 were called "________."

fifty-niners The discovery of gold in Colorado in 1858 brought thousands of miners to the frontier even before the arrival of the railroads. California had its "forty-niners," and Colorado experienced the same thing with the arrival of the "fifty-niners" (most participants came in 1859).

6) The regulations passed by citizen committees became the foundation for _______ in the western states.

mining codes Committees established local governments and elected town officials. They passed laws and developed procedures for staking claims and settling disputes. The regulations passed by these committees became the foundation for mining codes in the western states.

2) The discovery of gold, _______, and other minerals brought thousands of miners to the West.

silver The railroad changed the Great Plains forever. With the ease of traveling through the Great Plains, thousands of settlers came to the area. Gold, silver, and other minerals brought miners. The grasslands beckoned cattlemen, wheat farmers, and homesteaders.