2. Mining Placer mining – mining for the shallow ore at the earth’s surface. (Individuals) Quartz mining – corporate mining using heavy equipment to dig deep in the earth. www.worldofrockhounds.com

3. The Rush for Gold Ever since the conquest of Mexico in 1521, people looked for their golden fortune. –Georgia 1828 –California Gold Rush- one of the largest migrations in the history of man.300,000 people migrated to California to enjoy the wealth.

4. Getting to California

5. First Miner’s Panned the Rivers – Individuality. Everyman for himself. Individual fortunes

6. The Comstock Lode 1859 Large silver strike in Nevada This strike financed the Civil War and the laying of the Transatlantic cable. At the peak, population 30,000. When mines petered out ghost towns “Boom and Bust”

7. Corporate Mining Quartz mining took mass amount of capital. Miners became wage earners rather than independent workers as the ore became deeper.

8. Comstock Mine

9. Other Mining Discoveries Over $1,000,000,000 ore (gold and silver) mined in Colorado during the 1870’s. Gold in the Black Hills of Dakota 1876 Copper in Montana and Arizona

10. Worker Exploitation The Corporate owners set wages and hours for the miners. Safety was lax Benefits did not exist Formation of the Western Federation of Miners. Led to confrontations between miners and the states.

11. The Ranchers Spanish and Mexican heritage to run cattle on the open range. During the Gold Rushes, cattle drives began to move cattle from the plains of Texas to the camps. http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.co m/cattle.html

12. Cattle Culture Developed from Hispanic heritage. Words such as lariat, lasso, stampede Old saying “American cattlemen walked to Texas in moccasins but left wearing boots on horseback”

13. Supply and Demand Industrialization of the North after the Civil War led to the cattle drives from the Texas. Cattle in Texas $3 a head; $10 - $40 a head in the North. No railroads in Texas connected to Northern markets.

14. The Era of Big Ranches The cattle prices led to corporate ranches being developed Examples: King Ranch and XIT Ranch in Texas; The TA and KC Ranches in Wyoming.

15. Replacement of American Cattle Land bought cheap and fenced off ending the open range. Market oversaturated with beef thus lowering the price of beef Blizzards European stock brought in to create new beefier breeds.

16. The Farmers Farmers passed the Great Plains area during the first westward movement. U.S. maps labeled the Great Plains as the “Great American Desert”. Oregon Territory was considered the land of opportunity. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/oregonterritorydef.htm

17. Homestead Act of 1862 Passed to give the idea of the Yeoman farmer a chance to own land. Gave 160 acres of land to a person 21 years or older that would make improvements on the land and build a permanent house within 5 years. Why did it pass in 1862?

18. Morrill Act Sets up land grant colleges in the U.S. to teach agriculture and engineering courses. Military courses were mandatory. What two Texas colleges were land grant colleges? What other colleges in the U.S. do you think started this way?

19. The Great American Desert? Railroads moved West and received large land grants from the Federal government. Sold land to settlers for low prices and with extended credit. A wet decade produced lush grass on the plains during the 1870’s. People adapted to the area.

20. Hardship on the Plains Harsh summers and winters Water in deep aquifers Grass Fires Insect swarms (grasshoppers, locust)