Technology and the West

1. Technology and the West

2. Need for a Transcontinental Railroad • To connect East Coast to Oregon and California • Would reduce travel time from months to days • Would lead to growth along the rail line • But where should it be built? • Southerners wanted a route out of New Orleans, which required purchase of land from Mexico (Gadsden Purchase) arranged by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis • Northerners wanted a route out of Chicago, but Southerners blocked their efforts in hopes that they could barter the route for an expansion of slavery

3. Pacific Railway Act • 1862 • Provided for construction of a transcontinental railroad as a joint effort between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads • Both companies were given land along the right-of-way to encourage competition and rapid construction

4. The Union Pacific • Led by Grenville Dodge, former union general known for his organizational and managerial skills • Started rail line heading west out of Omaha Nebraska in 1865

5. Union Pacific Workers • Civil War vets • Irish immigrants • Bankrupt miners and farmers • 10,000 men living in camps along the tracks and in rolling dorms • Lots of rough living – gambling, drinking, fighting

6. The Central Pacific • Organized in California under 4 investors, including Leland Stanford, future governor of California and founder of Stanford University • Hired 10,000 Chinese laborers • Had drawback of having to have all equipment for railroad and for construction brought by ship

7. Promontory, Utah 1869

8. Time Zones Introduced • Time had been measured purely by the sun’s position, so what time it was determined locally • 1883: American Railway Association divided nation into 4 time zones to ease railroad scheduling and improve safety by eliminating wrecks caused by discrepancies in how time was measured

9. Standardization of Trains • Hundreds of railroads consolidated into just 7 major companies, increasing efficiency, lowering shipping and travel costs, and allowing the development of improved technologies which further increased efficiency • Railroads tied America’s regions together after the war, helping end sectionalism

10. The Land Grant System • Federal government gave land to railroad companies alongside their rail lines to encourage development • Railroads sold this land to settlers to raise the capital needed to build the railroad • Over 120 million acres of public lands were given to rail companies in mid-1800s

11. Plow Technology • Jethro Wood patented an iron-bladed plow in 1819 • John Deere patented a steel-bladed plow in 1837 that could cut through tough sod of the Great Plains • Steel plows were the only way for “sodbusters” to farm the prairie, but also led to the breakdown of prairie soils and loss of topsoil to wind & water erosion

12. Mechanical Reaper • Developed by Cyrus McCormick in 1834 • Machine pulled by a horse could harvest far more grain than a man swinging a scythe, led to farmers planting more acreage and an increase in grain production

13. Dry-farming • Plant seeds deep in the ground where there is enough moisture to allow them to germinate • Doesn’t require surface watering or depend as heavily on regular rainfall • Mainly used for wheat and corn farming in the Great Plains

14. The Wheat Belt

15. Range Wars • As farmers moved onto the plains, they needed to define and enclose their fields • As sheep ranchers moved in, they needed access to water and pastures • Both groups were in conflict with the cattle ranchers who depended on the open range to graze and move their herds • Brief but violent range wars became common

16. Barbed Wire Ends the Open Range Era • Invented by Joseph Glidden in 1874 • Allowed huge areas of land to be fenced off cheaply and easily • Allowed farmers and sheep ranchers to fence in the prairie and shut down routes (like the Chisholm Trail) for driving cattle • Forced cattle ranchers to change their practices, organize defined, enclosed ranches

17. Farmers Fall on Hard Times • In 1880s, a serious drought struck • In 1890s, excessive wheat production caused prices to drop • Farmers mortgaged their land to banks to survive, but often lost their land when they couldn’t meet their mortgage payments

18. Commercial Farming • Practiced mechanized farming • Usually 50,000+ acres • Called “bonanza farms” • Massive investment was required in land and equipment • Required hired laborers (most regular farms were family worked)