Miners and Ranchers Chapter 8 Section 1

Growth of the Mining Industry Mining gold, silver, and copper brought the first wave of settlers to the West Placer Mining Early prospectors would extract shallow deposits of ore Quartz Mining After ore near the surface began to dwindle Dug deep beneath the surface

Growth of the Mining Industry The Big Strike in Nevada The Comstock Lode was a rich deposit of silver A cycle of boomtown to ghost town was repeated throughout the West Vigilance committees were self-appointed volunteers to track down and punish wrongdoers Other Bonanzas Leadville Deep deposits of lead that contained large amounts of silver created this legendary boomtown Spurred the building of railroads through the Rocky Mountains

Ranching and Cattle Drives Open Range Vast areas of grassland owned by the federal government By the 1860’s, railroads had reached the Great Plains, allowing ranchers to ship cattle east to market Chisholm Trail Major route north to Abilene, Kansas that cowboys used to drive cattle to a railroad line for sale

Ranching and Cattle Drives The Long Drive Cowboys would round up cattle for ranchers from the open range “dime novels” Cowboys’ exaggerated tales of daring Ranching Becomes Big Business Barbed Wire At first, ranchers saw it as a threat because it kept their herds from roaming freely Caused a transition of cowboys to ranch hands Replaced longhorns with European breeds End of long cattle drives