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Comstock Lode
A miner named Henry Comstock owned the land where his partner struck gold in Sierra, Nevada. Comstock claimed and said the mine was his and so was the lode. Comstock had one of the richest silver mines in the world. Many people moved near the mines and the towns were called Boomtowns. When the silver was gone, the people move away and the towns became Ghost Towns. -
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The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad connected the East to the West. It allowed a faster route to transport goods. This railroad had two parts. The first part was the Union Pacific, which started in Omaha and ended in Promontory Point. The second part was called the Central Pacific and it started in Sacramento and ended in Promotory Point. The Chinese helped in the making of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Transcontinental Railroad was funded by the Government. It helped the world expand west. -
Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a cattle trail. It was made by Jesse Chisholm and became very famous. It was a trail that started in Texas and ended at the Kansas Pacific Railroad. The route passed by water holes and all the best places needed for survival purposes. People carried goods on wagons when using this trail. It was very beneficial because of all the places it stopped. Many cattle were hearded across this trail -
Barbed Wire Invention
The invention of the barbed wire ended the Cattle Kingdom. Farmers began fencing in their fields with barbed wire. Barbed wire kept cattle and sheep from trampling the plowed fields. Yet, When people tried to heard their cattle, they would just run into fences no matter what way they turned. There was so many fences and land covered, the lands for railroads was very limited. -
Exodusters Movement
The Exodusters were a group of African Americans who moved to Kansas. They called themselves the Exodusters after the Exodus, after the book in the Bible that tells about the Jews escaping from slavery in Egypt. These African Americans moved to Kansas because the freedom of Blacks was slipping away. They wanted to escape from their area to be able to keep the freedom they had and not go back to the old ways of life before Reconstruction. -
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Cattle Kingdom
In 1886, Texas Ranchers drove heards of cattle to graze on open ranges. They then would sell the cattle to the market for food. It was very profitable but hard work for the cowboys. In the 1870's farmers began to fence their fields with barbed wire, and open range began to disappear. Soon, there was not enough grass to feed the cattle and there was too many fenced in areas to heard westward. Winters also killed many cattle heards. -
Oklahoma Land Rush
The Oklahoma Land Rush gave land seekers the opportunity to claim free land. There was sectioned off pieces of land and people lined up to race to get a section. Once they were allowed to run for a section of land, there was much fighting and killing to get to the pieces of land first. By the government giving out this free land, many people came to get it. This caused many more people to expand out towards the West and help to farm it. -
Wounded Knee
During this battle, the United States soldiers fought the Native Americans. The U.S. did not only kill the soldiers, but they killed any men, women, and children as well. During war, soldiers are only supposed to target each other. This war was different. By the end of the shootings, about 300 people had been killed.
