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Chapter 19

Opening the West

Lesson 1

Mining and Railroads in the West

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Gold, Silver, and Boomtowns

  • California Gold Rush over by 1850s
    • “Gold Fever” remained
  • Prospectors found other areas
    • Colorado
  • Most gold in the form of ore
    • Mining ore required machines
    • Manpower
  • Large companies rather than individuals could extract ore

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Boom and Bust

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  • 1859 - Comstock Lode
    • Rich silver deposit in Nevada
    • Few miners made profit
  • Gold and silver strikes created Boomtowns
    • Lively and lawless
    • Violence was common
    • Vigilantes punished wrongdoers
    • Mostly men
  • Boomtowns went bust when ore was gone - ghost towns

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Westward Growth

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  • As gold and silver disappeared
    • Other metals-zinc, copper, lead
  • Thousands of settlers continued to head west
    • Farmers
    • Opened businesses
  • New states by 1890
    • Colorado
    • North Dakota, South Dakota
    • Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

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Railroads Connect East and West

  • Mining needed transportation
  • Boomtowns needed supplies
  • Nation’s railroad system grew rapidly between 1865-1890
    • 35,000 miles of track to 150,000 miles of track

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The Government Helps

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  • Government gave subsidies to railroad companies to encourage construction
    • Land grants and money
    • 130 million acres of land
    • Land for tracks and strips alongside tracks
  • States and local gov. also gave subsidies
    • Communities thrived near railroads

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Spanning the Continent

  • 1850s-search for a transcontinental route
  • North and South wanted it
    • During Civil War, northern route chosen
  • 1,700 miles
    • Hot plains, mountains, rivers

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Spanning the Continent (Cont.)

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  • Two companies accepted
    • Central Pacific
      • East from Sacramento
    • Union Pacific
      • West from Omaha, NE
  • They raced to lay as much track as possible - subsidies
  • Hired thousands of people
    • Central-Irish, African Amer.
    • Union-Chinese

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Spanning the Continent (Cont.)

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  • Blasted through mountains
  • Cleared forests
  • Dealt with Native Americans
  • Central laid 742 miles
  • Union laid 1,038
  • Met at Promontory Summit, UT
  • Golden Spike-Leland Stanford
  • Telegraph lines spread the news

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Effects of the Railroad

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  • Many more line built
  • Enormous economic impact
  • Thousands moved west
  • Need for steel improved industry
  • Coal, construction, railroad cars
  • Towns grew up along lines
  • Railway Association created time zones
  • United Americans from different regions