1. Miners and Ranchers By Mr. Bruce Diehl

2. I. Growth of the Mining Industry A.The growing industries in the East needed the West’s rich mineral deposits. 1.Early prospectors found gold, silver, and copper. 2.These deposits brought settlers to the West’s mountains states.

3. B.Placer and Quartz Miners. 1.Placer Mining - Prospectors used simple equipment like picks, shovels, and pans to mine the shallow deposits of ore by hand.

4. 2. Quartz Mining - Corporations dug deep beneath the surface to mine the deposits of ore in a process known as quartz mining

5. C.The Comstock Lode 1.In 1859 prospector Henry Comstock staked a claim for a silver mine in Six- Mile Canyon, Nevada. 2.This caused Virginia City, Nevada, to go from an outpost to a boomtown almost overnight. 3.Several years later, the price of silver dropped,and the boomtown became a ghost town. 4.The cycle of boom and bust was repeated through out the mountainous West.

6. D.Vigilante Justice 1.During boom times, crime was a serious problem. 2.Vigilance committees formed to track down and punish wrongdoers.

7. E.Mining helped the growth of Colorado, the Dakota Territory, and Montana. 1.Mining in Colorado spurred the building of railroads through the Rocky Mountains. 2.Denver became the supply point for the mining areas and the second largest city in the West after San Francisco.

8. II.Ranching and Cattle Drives After the Civil War, many Americans began building large cattle ranches on the Great Plains.

9. A.The Open Range 1.The cattle ranching industry grew in part because of the open range vast areas of grasslands owned by the federal government. 2.Cattle raisers could graze their herds free of charge and without boundaries.

10. B.Rising Beef Prices aided cattle ranchers 1.During the Civil War, large numbers of eastern cattle were slaughtered to feed the Union and Confederate armies. 2.After the war, beef prices soared. 3.Eastern cattle could not survive in the harsh climate of the arid plains 4.The Texas longhorn was a breed of cattle that could survive the harsh climates of the plains 5.Rising prices made it worth while to round up the longhorns.

11. C.Cattle Driving 1.Cattle driving was moving cattle from open ranges to areas where railroads could move the cattle east. 2.The first long drive in 1866 across the Great Plains to the railroad in Sedalia, Missouri. 3.It proved that cattle could be driven north to the rail lines and sold for 10 times the price they could get in Texas.

12. D.The Chisholm Trail was the major route for moving cattle that went from Texas to Abilene, Kansas.

13. E.Long Drive 1.A long drive began with the spring roundup to collect cattle from the open range. 2.The cattle were divided and branded. 3.Then cowboys moved the herds of cattle along the trails to the rail lines. 4.Most cowboys were former Confederate army soldiers 5.A few were Hispanic, and many were African American.

14. F.The end of the Long Drive for several reasons 1.Farmers, settlers and ranchers fenced off land with barbed wire. 2.Investors from the East and from Britain put money into the cattle business, causing an over supply of animals on the market. 3.Prices for cattle greatly dropped. 4.Many ranchers went bankrupt. 5.Also, the harsh winters of 1886- 1887 killed many cattle.