1. The Western Frontier

2. VISIONS OF THE WEST Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long call what they see
( HOW PEOPLE SAW THE WEST DURING THE 19TH CENTURY)
Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long call what they see
on their explorations the “Great American Desert”
*This initially discouraged settlement…

3. Native Americans saw the west as a bountiful
natural world - and their home

4. White settlers - saw the west as a land
of opportunities (OR & CA first, then the
Rockies, and lastly the plains)
(*Painting of, and actual settlers on, the Oregon Trail)

5. Horace Greeley Manifest Destiny – the mindset of many Americans
as the 19th century progresses to expand westward and control
North America from “sea to shining sea”
* Regardless of any other claims to the land (Indians, Spanish, Brits, etc.)
Horace Greeley
Eastern newspaper editor credited with saying “Go west young man”, encouraging western settlement

6. MINING Sutter’s Mill 1849- Sutter’s Mill on the American River in CA
1850’s & 1860’s:
NEV- Comstock Lode (Gold as well, but a huge Silver find)
COL- Pike’s Peak, Denver
MT- Bannock (Grasshopper Creek), Virginia City (Alder Gulch), Helena (Last Chance Gulch)
*And so many, many more…

7. Placer Mining Mining on or near the surface – above the bedrock.
Exs. Panning, sluice box, rocker box or cradle, hydraulic.
*Often boom towns to ghost towns.

8. Hard Rock Mining Underground, requiring heavy equipment & investment.
*lent itself to more permanent cities.

9. Life in a Mining Camp Bars, gambling, prostitution, etc.
General store, assay office.
Later: schools, churches, “society”, etc.

10. General Store
Assay Office

11. “Road Agents” - Highwaymen or robbers
Vigilantes – men who took the law into their
own hands to end robberies, murders, etc.
Miners courts – dealt primarily
with claim disputes
“Road Agents” - Highwaymen or robbers

12. Territorial courts – eventually bringing a legal justice system and
replacing vigilantism

13. Mining’s legacy:
Pro – settlement & economic development
Mining’s legacy:
Con – environmental controversies
& loss of land for Native Americans

14. TRANSPORTATION WAGONS REGISTER ROCK CHIMNEY ROCK
Conestoga - too big & heavy for cross-continental travel vs
Prairie Schooner – this style was used much more often
REGISTER ROCK
CHIMNEY ROCK

15. STAGECOACH
Companies or stage coach lines included Wells Fargo, Butterfield, etc.
Missouri to California in approximately 20 days

16. Pony Express (1860-62) St Louis to San Fran in 10 days (2,000 miles!)
Cost of mail – as high as $10 an ounce

17. Steamboats Rivers were the nations early highways
Eastern rivers – ran deep & wide vs
Western rivers - shallower
Hazards -
Negatives or limitations -

18. Railroads Land grant RR’s where the gov’t offered financing
incentives to encourage
building in the vast west
1860’s Transcontinental race:
> Central Pacific from
Sacramento CA eastward
>Union Pacific from
Omaha NE westward