Westward Movement Why did Americans moved West 1.Mining: California Gold Rush 1849, other areas experienced rushes like Silver in Nevada. Mining was the biggest factor in people moving west 2.Homestead Act: 160 acres of free land 3.Mormons: moved to Salt Lake, Utah to avoid religious persecution. Brigham Young was their leader 4.Railroad Construction jobs 5.Morrill Land Grant Act: Federally funded Agricultural and Technical Colleges Texas A & T, North Carolina A & T Chinese and Irish Immigrants were hired to work on the railroads Union Pacific and Central Pacific joined at Promontory Point to create the Transcontinental railroad Railroad Land Grants and Standardized Time Zones Problems They Faced : No trees for building homes Tough Sod Arid conditions very little rainfall No wood for fencing Solutions They Faced : Sod Homes Steel Plow John Deere Deep wells and windmills Barbed wire fencing Great Plain Farmers Mining Boom Towns Towns grew almost overnight Lawless and dangerous conditions led to vigilantes (citizens who took the law into their own hands) Many boom town turned into ghost towns when the ore ran out Mining became BIG BUSINESS in the West Cattle Trails Cattle were driven from south Texas to the Kansas railroad lines Many cowboys were Mexicans, and African Americans Barbed wire fencing ended the open range Mormon Migration to Salt Lake, Utah Mormons led by Brigham Young built a religious community in Utah. Utah remains largely populated by the Mormon Church. Polygamy was practiced until 1890s. Oregon Trail: Blue used for settlers migrating to Oregon and California Santa Fe Trail: Black mostly used for trade Trails to the American West