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Western Expansion 1870-1900. Moving West and the Closing of the Frontier. Why did they want to come west? Lands for settlement Money from precious metals Changes in farming, ranching and mining Advances in communication to the west. Reason #1 Western Land for Settlement .
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Moving West and the Closing of the Frontier. Why did they want to come west? Lands for settlement Money from precious metals Changes in farming, ranching and mining Advances in communication to the west
Reason #1 Western Land for Settlement Morill land grant act (1862). Federal government gives state governments millions of acres of land to sell. With proceeds of the sale the states establish the land grant universities. • OSU
Railroad Land Grant During the construction of western railroads the government gave railroad companies construction loans + land grants. To pay the loans many railroad companies offered settlers land at great bargains.
Better Sooner Than Later. The Oklahoma Land Grab A government-sponsored race on April 22, 1889, in which some 50,000 home seekers rode or ran to claim land in what is now Oklahoma.
Homestead Act • Signed by president Lincoln the act: • Offered 160 acres of land to anyone who: • Was at least 21yrs old or the head of the family. • Was an American citizen. • Had the $10 registration fee. • Settlers had to build a home and live on the claim for at least 6 months a year. • Settlers had to farm the land actively for 5 consecutive years before they got ownership.
Holy Cow! We Got Us Some Settlers. • By 1900 600,000 families filed claims settling over 80 million acres of land. But not without some issues…
Many couldn’t meet the laws requirements. Many who moved from the cities had no farming experience. Many were unable to last the 5 yrs. Many were unable to economically survive. Like And as with the times fraud was always a problem.
Land Grant Fraud • Many land speculators wheeled cabins for plot to plot filing claims for the land. • Of the 500million acres of land dispersed between 1862-1904, only 80 million went to homesteaders. • Most land went to speculator, cattlemen, and railroads.
Reason #2 ‘There's Gold in Them There Hills’ • Gold and silver rushes 1855-1875
Sutter’s Mill In January 1848, a carpenter by the name of James Marshall was fixing a watermill belonging to John Sutter of Sutter's Fort,near the small town of San Francisco in California. He saw something shining in the stream - it was GOLD! James Marshall
News Spreads & People Head West • News of this discovery spread like wildfire and was another big 'PULL' for people to head west. • By the end of the year there were over 10,000 men digging for gold. San Francisco went from a sleepy village to a major city-port, rivalling New York.
Colorado Gold RushPikes Peak Many 49er’s passed over more lucrative gold fields while on route to Sutter’s mill. By 1859 rumors of gold “everywhere you stick your shovel” at pikes peak brought a stampede of “pikes peak or bust wagons”.
Attracting Forces • Reason #1 Western Land for Settlement • Morill land grant act (1862). • Railroad Land Grant • Oklahoma Land Grab • Homestead Act • Reason #2 ‘There's Gold in Them There Hills’
Nevada Mining becomes big business in Nevada at the Comstock load.
