The gold seeker
Three routes to the Pacific coast
New discoveries of gold
193. The New West.We have seen how the discovery of gold in the sand near the American River over one hundred miles from San Francisco started the tremendous rush to the Pacific coast. The gold seekerswent by three routes: by ship all the way around the Horn, the longest and stormiest way; by ship to Panama and beyond, a way beset by danger from fever in crossing the isthmus; and by long overland trails on which travelers suffered untold hardships from losing their way on the sandy plains or among the mountains. Many hundreds perished from sickness and hunger. In 1858, ten years later, gold was discovered near Pike's Peak; in 1859, silver was found in what is now southern Nevada. People streamed westward in ever-increasing numbers. Long lines of covered wagons, called "prairie schooners," filled with fortune seekers toiled over the plains and mountain trails. "Way stations" sprang up along the routes of travel, to supply the needs of immigrants. These supply stations soon grew into towns. Then came the discovery of gold in what is now Idaho and Montana, and in the Black Hills of the Dakotas. The westward tide of population broadened. It filled the bounds of the United States from the Dakotas to Texas; but it was the lure of gold and silver that caused all this early development.
194. A Faster Means of Travel.The demand for means of rapid communication with the new West became strong. It was necessary to bind the new country firmly with the old. The "pony express" and the overland stage were too risky and too slow.
California admitted as a state
The number of people in California was increasing steadily. In 1850, two years after the discovery of gold, California with about one hundred thousand inhabitants was admitted as a state. The Homestead Law of 1862, by which settlers could easily obtain land, brought great numbers of farmers to the western plains.
A CALIFORNIA MINING CAMP OF '49
A CALIFORNIA MINING CAMP OF '49
A CALIFORNIA MINING CAMP OF '49
The first railway engine in the United States was builtin 1830. Such engines had been in use in England for some time. The earliest railroads were very short. Seven companies owned the parts of the first line from Albany, New York to Buffalo. Now in the same number of great systems is included two-thirds of the mileage of the United States.
Rapid growth of railroads
On March 10, 1869, the Union Pacific Railway, the first link between the Atlantic and the Pacific, was finally completed. There were then only a few short lines besides, west of the Mississippi. It was hard to find the large amounts of capital needed for railway building. Congress and the states helped the railroads by granting them many square miles of land along their rights of way. After 1869 the miles of railroad in the United States increased over seven times in twenty years. To-day (1920) seven great railways cross the mountains to the Pacific coast.
Farming develops
195. The Growth of Farming.The railroads brought thousands of settlers into the new regions. But it was no longer to hunt for gold. It was to build homes on the rich farm lands of the West.
Miners, cattlemen, farmers, and permanent settlers crowded on the lands of the Indians. The regions occupied by the red men now became smaller and smaller.Nearly all the Indians were placed on reservations on land which the national government does not allow to pass out of their hands.
Irrigation projects aided by the government
The need of more and still more land brought the farmers to the dry slopes and plateaus of both sides of the Rockies. Here were vast regions which water would make productive. The government gave its support to great irrigation projects. Water was brought to the barren deserts and they became vast expanses of waving grain.
Gold becomes more difficult to get
In California the rich gold deposits which lay comparatively free were growing smaller. The gold seekers were no longer able to wash gold from the sands and gravel of the river beds, or to find nuggets in rocky hollows of the hillsides. They had to make a living in some other way. Vast mineral resources were still there, but they could only be reached by mining. Expensive machinery was necessary, and companies were formed to work the deposits.
California a great agricultural state
Then began the real development of California and the great Pacific Northwest. Up to 1875 California had been peopled with prospectors for gold. Now the output of minerals kept increasing, but the farm crops grew still faster in value until in 1920 they were worth many times the mineral output, because of the wonderful climate and the richness of the land.
The leading fruit-growing state
The first product to which the settler turned was wheat. California became one of the leading wheat states of the Union. Then the state discovered its great fruit-growing possibilities, and to-day it raises the largest fruit crop in the nation. People at first became almost as excited about their golden orange crops as they had been over yellow metal.
Great cities develop
Meanwhile great cities were springing up rapidly, and the riches of forest, mine, and stream brought unlimited prosperity and growth. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland have taken their places among the great cities of the Union.
Agriculture on the great plains
From the Mississippi valley to the mountains agriculture and commerce developed with great strides. Enormous elevators were built to handle the vast quantities of grain. Great packing plants were established, where immense numbers of cattle and sheep could be slaughtered and the meat shipped to all parts of the world.