Chapter 6: Westward Expansion
Chapter 6: Section 3
 Transforming the West
Chapter 6: Section 2
 Westward Expansion and the American Indians
Reasons for Westward Expansion
Gold & Silver
Employment Opportunities
Railroads
Farming
Cattle Industry
Open Land due to immigration/urbanization
The Cowboy & the Cattle Boom
The construction of the transcontinental railroad created a
variety of employment opportunities for Americans willing
to move west.
1.) Railroad workers
2.) Farmers
3.) Cowboys
The solution was simple:
Hire “Cowboys” to deliver cattle to the railroads for two
reasons:
1.) provide food for the railroad workers
2.) ship meat to eastern markets
Why were the
long horned
cattle chosen?
Could travel great
distances with little
food & water
Maintained their
weight
The Open Range enabled the distribution of cattle to
take place in the first place
A
vast area of grassland on which long horned
cattle grazed freely during their trips to the CowTowns
How bout them
cowboys?
Ex- Confederate Soldiers
African American (1 in 7)
Mexicans (1 in 5)
The Cowboys Journey – “The Cattle Drives”
2-4 months to reach destination
16 -18 cowboys for every 3,000 cattle
$40 / month
18 hour days
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Cow – Towns:
Dodge City, KS
Abilene, KS
View Dodge City video:
List 3 negative characteristics of Dodge City
or any of the cow-towns
The End of the Open Range
1. Weather (Blizzards / Drought)
2. Establishment of Private Property
End of the Open Range…Continued
The Homestead Act
Government offered 160 Acres of land to anyone
willing to cultivate the land
Exodusters
 African Americans who migrated from the South
to the West in the years following the Civil War
Hardships for Farmers
Weather
Lack of
Water
Problems
Lack of
Trees
Locusts