Mining, Ranching, and Farming

Transcription

1 Mining, Ranching, and Farming Mining Moves Inland In 1859, rumors of gold everywhere you stick your shovel at Pikes Peak, Colorado, brought on a stampede of wagons painted with the slogan Pikes Peak or Bust! The rumors turned out to be exaggerated. But later that year, one of the biggest strikes ever, Nevada's Comstock Lode, sent prospectors converging on the ore-laden western mountain ranges. Over the next 30 years, the Comstock Lode would yield $400 million in gold and silver. Almost simultaneously, a gold strike west of the little town of Denver, in what was then Kansas Territory, threw open the gates to the American interior. By 1861, the swarm of settlers caused the federal government to carve out Colorado Territory from western Kansas. Homestake Mine, opened in 1877 in the Black Hills of Dakota, was possibly the richest single mine ever uncovered in the world, producing a billion dollars' worth of ore. One miner, William Parsons, perceived the national significance of the gold rush: The Atlantic and Pacific coasts, instead of being, as they are now, divided countries, will become parts of a compact whole, joined and cemented together by bonds of mutual interest. Early Mining and Mining Towns At first, miners searched for metal in surface soil or in streambeds. The simplest tool was a shallow pan in which the miner scooped dirt and water, and then swished it around. Lighter particles washed over the edge while the gold stayed in the bottom of the pan. A technique called placer mining used this method on a larger scale. Miners shoveled loose dirt into boxes and then ran water over the dirt to separate it from gold or silver particles. (The word placer, of Spanish origin, rhymes with passer.) These methods could be used by individuals, small groups of men, or even families. People came at the first whisper of a new strike, and tent communities popped up almost overnight. Larger strikes led to settled towns, even cities. Merchants, farmers, and other entrepreneurs came to supply miners' needs. The easily gathered precious metal was skimmed off quickly. By the late 1850s and early 1860s, most of the precious metals that remained in the West lay locked in quartz and deeply buried. At that point, many prospectors straggled home, leaving mining settlements deserted ghost towns. The large, deep veins of ore attracted the money and sophisticated technologies of large corporations. Using large work crews, they diverted streams and dug into the exposed beds. Workers tunneled into mountains and plunged into rickety mine shafts that sometimes became their graves. Huge drills replaced pickaxes. Hydraulic pumps pounded mountainsides with water. With the arrival of dynamite in the 1870s, miners blasted ore out of hillsides. Like other industries, mining had become the realm of big business. Demand Spurs Growth Several changes launched the West's legendary cattle industry. During the Civil War, many Texans left their ranches to serve in the Confederate army. They returned home to find up to 5 million cattle roaming wild in the grasslands, making available ample supplies of beef.

2 Prior to the war, pork had been Americans' meat of choice. But when cookbooks began snubbing pork as difficult to digest and unwholesome, the nation went on a beef binge. Cattle that had sold for only $3 to $6 a head in Texas at the war's end now brought $40 a head in Illinois and $80 in New York. Soon, however, consumers began to complain about the tough beef from the Texas longhorn, known as the butcher's nightmare: eight pounds of hamburger on 800 pounds of bone and horn. Breeders then began importing eastern purebreds to make a better-quality longhorn. Shipping the live cows to the East by rail was expensive. But with the invention of refrigerated railroad cars in the 1870s, animals were slaughtered before shipping. This development cut transportation costs in half. New Technology Eases Farm Labor The dry climate in parts of the West greatly reduced the land's productivity. In response, farmers practiced water conservation techniques called dry farming. These techniques included planting crops that do not require a great deal of water, such as sorghum, keeping the fields free of weeds, and digging deep furrows so water could reach the plant roots. Farmers welcomed any machines that would save time and effort. During the 1870s, improvements in farm implements multiplied. Soon farmers were riding behind a plow that made several furrows at once. Other inventions included harrows, implements with spring teeth to dislodge debris and break up the ground before planting, and automatic drills to spread grain. Steam-powered threshers arrived by 1875, and cornhuskers and cornbinders by the 1890s. Knowledge of farming techniques improved during this period as well. In the 1880s and 1890s, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which was created under the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act, collected statistics on markets, crops, and plant diseases. The USDA provided information on crop rotation, hybridization (cross-breeding plants), and soil and water conservation.

3 INTERPRETING CHARTS An agricultural revolution took place in the late 1800s with the introduction of farm machinery and new growing techniques. While it took a farmer an average of about 61 hours to harvest an acre of land by hand, a farmer with a machine could do it in about 3 hours. Drawing Conclusions Choose one of the items in the chart and describe the effect it might have had on a farm family on the plains. Farming Becomes Big Business New farm machines and techniques increased farm output enormously. Owners of large farms hoped to reap a bonanza by supplying food to growing eastern populations. They applied to farming the organizational ideas taking hold in industry. As one observer noted:

4 It is no longer left to the small farmer, taking up 160 acres of land. Organized capital is being employed in the work, with all the advantages which organization implies. Companies and partnerships are formed for the cultivation precisely as they are for building railroads, manufacturies, etc. Commercial and Financial Chronicle, 1879 The result was bonanza farms, operations controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, and raising massive quantities of single cash crops. The farms' huge output caused problems, however. When the supply of a crop rose faster than the demand, prices fell. To make up for falling prices, farmers produced ever larger quantities of the product, adding to the oversupply.

5 Reading Comprehension 1. What technologies gradually replaced placer mining? 2. Why did cattle ranching become so successful after the Civil War? Critical Thinking and Writing 3. Analyzing Information Describe the impact of new technologies and other factors on small entrepreneurs in mining, ranching, and farming. 4. How did large mining, ranching, and farming industries evolve in the West?

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