Chapter11 Sec 1 Joe & Jayvon Miners & Ranchers

The Spread of Western Mining

Mining ● Young, single men ● Desire to strike it rich ● They hoped to find gold, silver, and other minerals

The Mining Frontier ● Some small prospectors made fortunes ● Most money was made by large mining corporations. ● Mining towns had high populations of foreigners. ● There was environmental destruction due to blasting, chemicals, and water pollution.

Mining’s Economic Impacts ● They added gold and silver – Boosted U.S. economy – Increased foreign investment – Stimulated U.S. involvement in global economy

Henry Comstock ● Was a prospector that staked a claim in Six-Mile Canyon. ● Located near Virginia City, Nevada. ● Comstock thought he would find Gold there but ended up finding Silver Ore instead. ● Comstock sold his claim not realizing what the blue- gray clay was. ● News of this brought prospectors to Virgina City.

Henry Comstock ● So many people came, that they had to admit Nevada as the 36 th state in 1864

Ranching ● Open Range provided Ranchers to graze their herds free of charge and unrestricted by private properties. ● Ranchers did not make much money selling their cattle to markets. ● Ranchers looked for a way to make more money by selling their cattle to eastern businesses. ● In 1866, Ranchers started to move the cattle as far as the railroads went, and made huge profit and shipped east to market

Chisholm Trail ● It was one of the most used trail that they used to move cattle. ● Between 1867 and 1871 they had moved about 1.5 million herd of cattle. ● This trail was used from southern Texas to Abilene. ● Open Range ended when they invented the barbed wire, to keep the cattle in one place

The Cattle Trails

Longhorn Cattle The type of Cattle they used was the Texas Longhorn Cattle

Texas Longhorn Cattle ● Tough ● Durable ● Ornery ● Good sense of smell - could locate sources of groundwater

The End