Go West!
What was the name given to people who moved west to settle new land?
Pioneers
What is a cattle drive?
Moving a large herd of cattle over a long distance, usually to a railroad or market.
What were people hoping to find during the Gold Rush?
Gold
What was the Pony Express used for?
To quickly carry mail and messages across the country.
What were the names of the two companies that built the Transcontinental Railroad?
Union Pacific and Central Pacific
Name one reason many people chose to move west during Westward Expansion.
Possible answers: to get land, find new opportunities, search for gold, start a new life
What was a boomtown?
A town that grew very quickly when many people moved there, often because of gold.
What were people who searched for gold called?
Miners
What invention allowed messages to be sent over wires much faster than by horse?
The telegraph
Which railroad company started building from the West Coast?
Central Pacific
Pioneers traveling west often faced dangerous weather, sickness, rough land, and a lack of supplies. What does this tell us about westward travel?
It was difficult and dangerous.
What was a ghost town?
A town that was mostly abandoned after people moved away.
Why did so many people move west during the Gold Rush?
They hoped to find gold and become wealthy.
What system of dots and dashes was used to send telegraph messages?
Morse code
Which railroad company started building from the East and moved westward?
Union Pacific
Why were sod houses common on the Great Plains instead of houses made mostly from wood?
There were very few trees, so settlers used grass and soil/sod that was available.
Why did farmers and cattle ranchers sometimes have conflicts in the West?
Cattle could wander onto farmland and damage crops, while farmers began fencing off land ranchers had once used for cattle.
What happened to towns when large numbers of people arrived looking for gold?
They grew quickly and often became boomtowns.
Why did the Pony Express become less important after the telegraph was created?
The telegraph could send messages much faster than riders could carry them.
What was one challenge the Central Pacific workers faced while building the railroad?
Building through the Sierra Nevada Mountains / blasting through mountains / difficult mountain terrain / discrimination towards the Chinese immigrants
Why did many settlers believe moving west was worth the risks and challenges they would face?
They hoped to gain land, find new opportunities, and build a better life.
How did barbed wire help change the West?
It allowed farmers and ranchers to fence their land and control where cattle could travel, which helped end the open range.
What could happen to a mining town after the gold was gone?
People could leave, causing the town to become a ghost town.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad change travel across the United States?
It made traveling across the country faster, easier, and more efficient.
How were the Central Pacific and Union Pacific similar even though they started in different places?
Both were building parts of the same Transcontinental Railroad and worked toward connecting the country by rail.