. THE WEST & POPULATION
G
PERIOD 6
A.G.
.
(A P U S H)- AP United States History
Abbreviation Key:
CW = CIVIL WAR
;
A
● What factors led to the settlement of the West during the Gilded Age (1870-1900)?
After the CW, the area of the West Mississippi River was settled by miners, ranchers and farmers
○ Settlers didn’t really understand how to use the land
○ The Homestead Act began to help people decide to settle in this middle area
Mining was the first industry to attract settlers to the West after the CW
○ After the Act gets passed a gradual wave of people moved out West
○ The first wave included miners and there was an increase in gold finding (After the California
Gold Rush) there was the Cornstock Lode
Panning was the best method to mine alone (used expensive hydraulic mining techniques); they would use mercury to help
.
mine in the waters and it eventually ended up poisoning the water, symptoms included teeth falling out, hair, dying, etc.
○ Mining towns would start off as camps then towns
Creation of the “Ẅild, Wild West”- still must follow US rules, but very few federal security
○ Cowboys seen in these towns
○ Cowboys were told to be perceived as white, but they are really Mexican and some
G
African Americans.
○ People would come to the West to escape the Jim Crow laws in the West
○ Mostly located in Texas (protect the cattle)
.
Cattle $4 To Texas (3 months driven), then to Western towns including Dodge City and increased to $40,
then shipped to Chicago (Cattle divers led new town in the West)
○ Stopped being so open range by the 1880 (closed farmers used barbed wire fencing to close
off their farms)
○ Glory days were over for cowboys in 1900 (A constant effort to get rid of any competition)
A
Homestead Act passed in CW; Congress passed
○ Had to live on land for 5 years (for 160 acres of free western land)- the problem was that a
lot of people didn’t know how to farm in this land because there is not as much water being
provided
○ Hundred moved into the Great Plains for farming land Homestead life was difficult on the
○ Great Plains
G
PERIOD 6
A.G.
.
(A P U S H)- AP United States History
Abbreviation Key:
CW = CIVIL WAR
;
A
● What factors led to the settlement of the West during the Gilded Age (1870-1900)?
After the CW, the area of the West Mississippi River was settled by miners, ranchers and farmers
○ Settlers didn’t really understand how to use the land
○ The Homestead Act began to help people decide to settle in this middle area
Mining was the first industry to attract settlers to the West after the CW
○ After the Act gets passed a gradual wave of people moved out West
○ The first wave included miners and there was an increase in gold finding (After the California
Gold Rush) there was the Cornstock Lode
Panning was the best method to mine alone (used expensive hydraulic mining techniques); they would use mercury to help
.
mine in the waters and it eventually ended up poisoning the water, symptoms included teeth falling out, hair, dying, etc.
○ Mining towns would start off as camps then towns
Creation of the “Ẅild, Wild West”- still must follow US rules, but very few federal security
○ Cowboys seen in these towns
○ Cowboys were told to be perceived as white, but they are really Mexican and some
G
African Americans.
○ People would come to the West to escape the Jim Crow laws in the West
○ Mostly located in Texas (protect the cattle)
.
Cattle $4 To Texas (3 months driven), then to Western towns including Dodge City and increased to $40,
then shipped to Chicago (Cattle divers led new town in the West)
○ Stopped being so open range by the 1880 (closed farmers used barbed wire fencing to close
off their farms)
○ Glory days were over for cowboys in 1900 (A constant effort to get rid of any competition)
A
Homestead Act passed in CW; Congress passed
○ Had to live on land for 5 years (for 160 acres of free western land)- the problem was that a
lot of people didn’t know how to farm in this land because there is not as much water being
provided
○ Hundred moved into the Great Plains for farming land Homestead life was difficult on the
○ Great Plains
