Mining Frontier
Why did some mining towns become known as boom towns?
What are the names of the oceans on the East Coast of America and the West Coast of America?
The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
What natural resource on the Great Plains gave rise to the Cattle Industry?
Grass
When was the Homestead Act signed?
1862
Billy the Kid and Jesse James
What are ghost towns?
Towns with few people or no people and empty buildings.
What were the names of the two companies that built the transcontinental railroad?
The Union Pacific Company and the Central Pacific Company.
What danger did cowboys face on the long drive?
Stampedes
What were the exact terms of the Homestead Act?
Homesteaders got 160 acres of land free. They had to farm and settle the land for at least 5 years.
What did the Census Bureau announce in 1890?
The frontier no longer existed.
Why did mining camps not have official laws, police, and courts?
They emerged in frontier areas where normal systems of government did not yet exist.
Who helped build the transcontinental railroad?
Chinese and Irish immigrants, African Americans, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans.
Why did Texas ranchers want to get cattle to northern railroad cities?
Texas had too many cattle for ranchers to sell them there and make money. They needed to sell their cattle to more distant markets, such as cities in the East. In order to do so, they had to transport their cattle.
What was "Seward's Folly?"
It refers to Secretary of State Seward's purchase of the Alaskan territory from Russia.
Why did boom towns become ghost towns?
Once mineral resources were used up, mining was done more by companies with expensive machinery.
Why did the two railroad companies agree to build the line?
Congress gave each company a gift of land along each mile of track laid.
Why did the cattle kingdom move North?
Why did settlers build their houses out of sod?
There was a lack of wood.
How accurate were the portrayals of the West?
They focused on cowboys, outlaws, and gunfights, but life in the West was really about day-to-day struggles for survival by farmers, ranchers, and Native Americans.
What happened to the Comstock Lode?
Comstock sold the claim to Californian business people. The new owners mined $500 million worth of silver and gold from the claim.
Where did the two lines meet?
Promontory Point, Utah
What happened to cowboys when cattle ranchers moved north and fenced off their lands?
The cowboy became an ordinary ranch hand.
How did settlers get fresh water?
Settlers either dug deep wells or traveled back and forth to nearby streams and ponds.
What benefits did some see in the purchase of the Alaskan territory?
They saw plentiful fish and timber that could become valuable and provide jobs.