Chapter 14: The Western Crossroads

Chapter 14: The Western Crossroads Section 4: The Mining Boom Pages: 455-459

The Mining Boom • Western Mining: (455-456) • The economic impact of mining changed the face of the West • Miners raced across the continent, hoping to be the first to strike it rich. • Mining opened many new regions in the West to settlement

The Mining Boom • Western Mining: (455-456) • Gold and Silver: (455-456) • The first promising mining discoveries after the California Gold Rush took place in Colorado. • Prospectors found gold near Pikes Peak in late 1858; thousand of people flock to Colorado. • The Carson River Valley in present-day Nevada was another center of frantic activity in 1859. • In addition to Gold, the area contained the famous Comstock Lode, one of the world’s richest silver mines • Hispanic miners introduced mining methods that originated in Mexico and South America. • These methods included a mill that separated gold from quartz and the patio process – which used mercury to extract silver from ore

The Mining Boom • Western Mining: (455-456) • Northern Ventures: (456) • Russia, which owned Alaska, offered to sell Alaska to the United States • U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward, negotiated to purchase Alaska in 1867. • Seward believed the price, which came out to less than two cents an acre, was a good deal • Many Americans, however, considered Alaska worthless, ridiculing the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Ice Box.” • In 1896, prospectors discovered gold in the Klondike district of Canada’s Yukon Territory – this discovery launched the Klondike Gold Rush • Gold discoveries in Alaska in 1898 and 1902 attracted even more settlers

The Mining Boom • Life in Mining Communities: (457-458) • Mining camps sprang up overnight wherever news of possible wealth brought prospectors together. • Most camps were almost entirely male

The Mining Boom • Life in Mining Communities: (457-458) • The Settlers: (457) • Mining camps drew a wide range of settlers: Californios, Chileans, Mexicans, and Peruvians. Also English, Irish and Chinese immigrants • At first, life in the mining camps was crude, and comforts were few. Atmosphere in camps was intense competition. • Some competition led to discrimination. • Most Chinese miners left the Rocky Mountain camps because of such hostile treatment

The Mining Boom • Life in Mining Communities: (457-458) • Instability: (457-458) • Western mining camps were some of the most violent places in the United States during the late 1800s • Tensions between ethnic groups led to fighting • Gamblers and swindlers swarmed in, and conflicts over claims set off brawls • The absence of law enforcement sometimes led people in mining camps to form vigilante committees to combat theft and violence. • Stability came to the mining camps as they grew into towns. • The camps attracted a host of businesses eager to feed and clothe miners.

The Mining Boom • Life in Mining Communities: (457-458) • Instability: (457-458) • The few children living in the camps had unique opportunities to earn money: hunted for gold dust, sold fresh food to miners. • One brother and sister earned $800 one summer selling butter and bacon to local miners • With the arrival of more families, many camps turned into permanent communities. • Prosperity brought law and order and the establishment of churches, newspapers, schools, and even theaters and music groups.

The Mining Boom • Mining as Big Business: (458-459) • Mining ore deposits deep below Earth’s surface required resources and technology far beyond the means of the average prospector. • As a result, mining became dominated by large, well-financed companies • Mining companies relied on technological know-how rather than on guesswork or luck.

The Mining Boom • Mining as Big Business: (458-459) • To reach the ore companies used one of two methods: • Hydraulic mining: water shot a high pressure ripped away gravel and dirt to expose the minerals beneath. This process devastated the environment. The displaced soil choked rivers and caused flooding • Hard-rock mining: involved deep shafts to obtain ore locked in veins of rocks

The Mining Boom • Mining as Big Business: (458-459) • New technology changed the working conditions in the mines. • Laborers: built the tunnels, drilled, and processed ore. The work was dirty. Temperatures deep in the mines sometimes got to 150 degrees • There were: cave-ins, rock falls, and the use of explosives such as dynamite sometimes caused injury or death • William Kelley: was blinded in a mining accident. The Montana Supreme Court ruled that the mining company did not have to pay for William Kelley’s blindness

The Mining Boom • Mining as Big Business: (458-459) • Miners grew dissatisfied with wages and working conditions. • In some communities, miners formed unions. • Unions helped injured miners and the families of miners who had been killed on the job • Unions negotiated with or battled against owners who tried to cut wages.

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Chapter 14: The Western Crossroads