Mining and Railroads/Ranchers and Farmers

Question 1

Define cattle drive.

Answer 1

Cattle drives were the movement of herds of cattle on trails over great distances.

Question 2

Define cowtown.

Answer 2

Cowtown is a place where there are many cows. The town forms when cattle trails and railroads intersect.

Question 3

How did the expansion of railroads help to create a successful cattle industry?

Answer 3

Cattle could be sent to markets where people were willing to pay up to 10x more for beef.

Question 4

What contributed to the end of the cattle drives?

Answer 4

Farmers fenced in land, diseases spread through herds (Texas Fever) and communities set up quarantine lines to keep cattle out, and railroad lines extended into Texas

Question 5

Define homestead.

Answer 5

A homestead is a house and other buildings set on acreage that often includes farmed land.

Question 6

Define sodbusters.

Answer 6

Name given to early Great Plains farmers.

Question 7

Define Sooners.

Answer 7

was someone who sneaked into Oklahoma and claimed land before the Oklahoma Land Rush.

Question 8

List at least 3 difficulties faced by Kansas farmers in the late 1800s.

Answer 8

economic depression
harsh climate/weather
lack of water  
expensive supplies
hard for small farms to compete with commercial farms

Question 9

What was the Homestead Act?

Answer 9

The Homestead Act was a law that gave up to 160 acres of land to any head of a family who paid a $10 filing fee and lived on the land for five years.

Question 10

What was the Oklahoma Land Rush?

Answer 10

Competition to gain free land in Oklahoma in 1889.

Question 11

What was the National Grange (a.k.a. The Grange)?

Answer 11

The National Grange was the national organization of farmers. Helps educate farmers and eventually turns into a political group that works to protect the interests of farmers.

Question 12

Define farm cooperative.

Answer 12

A farm cooperative was a way for farmers to pool their money together to buy large amounts of supplies for less money

Question 13

Define subsidy.

Answer 13

Grants of money or land given to groups (businesses) by the government.

Question 14

Define transcontinental railroad.

Answer 14

A rail line that is going across a continent. A rail that is going across a continent connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Question 15

What was a boomtown?

Answer 15

A town undergoing rapid growth due to sudden prosperity. A town that quickly grows up around a mining center.

Question 16

How did the government encourage railroads to expand to the West?

Answer 16

subsidies - the railroads receive grants of land from the government

Question 17

If the building of the first transcontinental railroad started in 1862, which President would have authorized its construction?

Answer 17

Abraham Lincoln.

Question 18

How did mining and railroads draw people to the West?

Answer 18

Mining and railroads drew people to the West because the railroads were connected to cities. People were attracted to the mines because they wanted to strike it rich. Railroads transported the supplies (and the people).

Question 19

How did the expansion of railroads to the west change the United States?

Answer 19

time zones
buffalo almost went extinct
goods could be easily moved around the US
Native American were removed from their land
Landscape changed
People could move to mining centers

Question 20

Who was Fred Harvey?

Answer 20

The person who started the first chain of restaurants.