Farming, Mining, and Ranching

Angela Brown

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Early-Model-John-Deere-Tractor-Posters_i145594_.htm

Bellringer: Discuss the gold rush

and how the discovery of precious metals would change the West.

Objectives: List the changes that

transformed farming on the great plains.

Explain the changing mining industry in the west.

Describe the growth and decline of the cattle industry.

Farming Dry Farming-

planting crops that do not require a great deal of water and keeping fields free of weeds

http://www.solpass.org/7ss/Images/steelplow2.jpg

Improvements in farm implements multipliedPlow that made several furrowsHarrows with spring teethAutomatic drills to spread grainSteam-powered threshers 1875Cornhuskers/cornbinders 1890

http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/districts/images/5370.h6.gif

Federal Department of Agriculture 1862

1880-1890s gathered statistics

Then spread information on new techniques

http://www.spain-lanzarote.com/media/lanzarote-pictures/06-PIC00001.jpg

Bonanza Farms farms controlled by large businesses and

managed by professionals applied same organizational ideas as in

industry sometimes oversupplies equaled dip in

market Debt was a constant worry for farmers

due to machinery and land speculation.http://www.mnstate.edu/heritage/BaggFarm/HistoryBonanza.jpg

Mining Place mining –

(panning) – shoveled loose dirt into boxes, ran water over it, causing heavy minerals to sink to the bottom

http://www.boulderpatchmines.com/aboutus_images/elis_placer.jpg

All loose minerals were gone by the early 1860s

The rest lay locked in quartz deeply buried

Rough mining towns soon became ghost towns leaving only the shop keepers better off

Mining then became the realm of big business

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~gtusa/photos/co/st-elmo-01.jpg

RanchingLearned cattle ranching ways of

MexicansEnd of Civil War, cattle $3 to $5 a

head in Texas brought $30 to $50 a head in the meat markets of Chicago and St. Louis

First drove Northward through open range

http://www.earthandskyphoto.com/images/storm_on_the_open_range_web.JPG

“Cow Towns” Abilene, Kansas

1867 by J.G. McCoy

(towns built specially for shipping cattle)

Also Cheyenne, Wyoming; Dodge City and Ellsworth, Kansas

http://www.flahum.org/images/sections/publications/forum/issues/winter_2006_cowmen_herd.jpg

Long Drive – transporting cattle from ranges to cow towns – 18 hours a day in the saddle, thieves, stampedes

http://icons.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/m/myrtlebeach/100.jpg

End of the Open Range The cattle boom ended in 1880s Joseph Glidden’s 1874 invention of

barbed wireOverstocked the marketsOvergrazed, damaged prairie grass

http://www.brandonstone.com/photos_generated/barbed_wire_fence-750x600.jpg

Winters of 1885-1887 (85% cattle froze/starve) individuals and large companies went out of business

Cattle continued on a smaller scaleNew breeds replaced Texas

Longhorns

http://www.costumenetwork.com/albums/album77/longhorn.sized.jpg

Textbook Resources:1. Read Mining Wealth on page 170 in your text and answer

the Thinking Critically questions. Why do you think towns developed in mining regions? How did the discovery of natural resources contribute to

the settlement of the West?2. Study the map of Economic Development of the West on

page 173 in your text and answer the map skills questions. Locate Promontory, Helena, Montana & Chisholm Trail Explain how the location of these cities enabled them to

become centers of economic activity: Denver, Virginia City, Abilene & Omaha

How did the railroads contribute to the growth and prosperity of the West?

Exit Slip: