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Growth of New Towns and Cities to Support Cattle, Mining, and Farming Industries
New towns and cities were being populated due to the growth of people that were becoming farmers, miners and those who helped with cattle drives. In California and the surrounding states, more and more people were settling and creating new towns and cities due to the rush for gold and silver, and for years people had been settling in new states in the west with fertile grounds for farming, and new towns were even being made to be cattle towns. -
Shift from "Long Drive" to "Cattle Ranching"
In the 1800's the switch from the "Long Drive" to "Cattle Ranchin" wsa taking place. Cattle ranching is raising cattle to sell later. many cattle ranchers have over 1000 cattle. All throughout the 19th century cattle ranching was becoming popular in the west. Cattle ranchers still today sell them for meat, and a large portion of todays beef comes from the Great Plains. -
Extinction of Buffalo in 1800s
As more people moved out west, the trade for the fur, meat, and skin of the American Bison began, and the population decrease was also encouraged by the U.S. government as a means of starving and flushing out the Native Americans. Once the number of Bison was in the hundreds of millions in North America, but by 1890, the population had decreased to less than a thousand. Thanks to the efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt and the U.S. government, there are now over 500,000 buffalo in America. -
Transcontinental Railroad System
In 1830 the first steam locomotive began running. In the mid 1800’s Railroads were becoming a large method of transportation. Railroads reduced the cost of traveling by a large amount. for example, before railroad it costed about $1000 to travel across america. As railroads were gaining popularity, to travel across the country it only costed around $150. -
Discoveries of Large amounts of Gold and Silver
In 1848, James Marshall discovered the first gold (that was heard of) at Sutter’s Mill in California. When the news spread, people from all over came rushing to California to find some themselves, starting the California Gold Rush, and the extreme search for gold in some surrounding states. About ten years later, there would be new discoveries of silver buried in Nevada. The discoveries helped populate cities and would lead to railroads and other transportation methods spreading out West. -
Homestead Act of 1862
President Lincoln signed the Homestead act of 1863 on May 20, 1862, which encouraged settlement out West. It provided new landowners in the west with 160 acres of land, that became theirs after living there for 5 years. The people who claimed the land had to pay a fee and use the land in cooperation with the governments requests. -
Barbed Wire
In 1864 Michael Kelly made a barbed wire fence, different from the modern one, but it did not have enough advertizing, and never became popular or patented. Lucien B. Smith had the first barbed wire patented in 1867, but soon thereafter new more modern barbed wire inventions came out becoming more popular than Smith’s fence made of iron wire. On November 24, 1874, Joseph F. Glidden's invention of a fence with twisted wires was patented. This fence was basically pieces of wire twisted together. -
The Death of Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, and was the most well-known member of the James-Younger Gang. He was a celebrity when he was alive, but he became a legendary figure after his death. Jesse and his brother Frank James were most active with their gang from about 1866 until 1876, when their attempted robbery of a bank in Minnesota ended with the capture or deaths of several gang members. He died on this date, when he was murdered by a member of his own gang. -
Wild West Shows
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody opened the Wild West show in Omaha, Nebraska on this date, and soon it would become a popular form of entertainment, helping launch outdoor entertainment in the U.S. To bring in a crowd, Buffalo Bill advertised the event, and gave the show a dramatic narrative structure. The Pony Express, wagon train, battle scenes with skill acts such as sharp-shooting, roping, and riding were featured in the show. The circus band and narrator helped create describe the scene. -
Dawes Act of 1886
The Dawes Act of 1886 (1887) was approved on February 8, 1887. It was named after the author of it, Henry Dawes, senator of Massachusetts. The Dawes acts addressed the way indian tribes should be treated, as individuals, not foreigners, and there should not be segregation.
