How did new railroads help to create a cattle boom?
The railroads helped to create cattle kingdoms in the southwest because cattle could be shipped all over the country. Raising cattle in the southwest provided the ranchers with lots of land and grass to feed the cattle.
Why did the Donner party find the need to eat each other?
When the Donner Party was trapped at the beginning of November 1846, they had very little food. They slaughtered their cattle and put the meat in the snow to preserve it. Some of the emigrants had more than the others. When the meat was gone, they ate boiled oxhide and bones. They also ate their dogs. Finally, at the end of February 1847, some of the emigrants had nothing at all left to eat, so they started to eat human flesh. They didn't kill each other for food, they only ate the dead.
Which community is most likely going to be a ghost town mining town or railroad town?
Mining town. The railroad brought prosperity to towns on railroad routes, while miners struggled to survive as the price of ore fell.
What did the donner party eat?
The Donner Party ran out of food and were trapped by a winter storm. Cannibalism was unheard of in civilized societies, so this was met with horror! The survivors weren't exactly welcomed neighbors.
What factors ended the cattle boom?
Corporate structure and frenzied investment/speculation, insufficent grass to support long drives, ranges were shrunk by railroads, severe weather in 1885-1887
The cattle frontier ended because barbed wire was invented, which replaced the need for cowboys. Weather also influenced the downfall, as blizzards trapped herds and droughts caused fire. These disasters destroyed land, and many animals were lost.
Why was water so important to the West?
I'm assuming you've never been to the west!
Most of the Southwestern United States is a harsh, desert and mountain area. Water is scarce and traveling was dangerous, living there even more dangerous. A constant source of water, albeit, a spring, a lake, or a river was vital for civilization to occur. Towns that popped up far from water had to either have it pumped in via pipeline or hauled in via railroad or wagon!
What name was given to railroad towns for markekting and shipping cattle?
Either cow towns or stockyards.
Why were railroads and cow towns important?
The cow towns were at the railheads where cattle could be loaded and shipped on trains rather then having to drive them. The cattle buyers for eastern slaughter houses set up business there. In Kansas the progress of the railroads to the west was important because Kansas farmers feared the larger Texas cattle Ticks, so they legally blocked herds coming further east the farthest railhead.
How did they farm in the late 1800s?
Water and weather. The plains doesn't get a lot of rain and the winter months can be brutal with snow. In the 1860's it was worse than normal for rain because the plains had a long term drought.
What mountain range did the Donner Party get stuck in for the winter?
48 of 87 pioneers survived the trip. Near Truckee Lake, Northwest of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the border of North California and Nevada, the Party could go no further. Most survived by cannibalizing their family members and others who died of starvation in what is now known as The Donner Pass.
What challenges would the Donner party face on their trip?
1) desert
2) ran out of water
3) ran out of food
4) blizzard began
Why do you remember the Donner Party?
The Donnor Party happened during a very important part of American History. It was the journey west to expand the countries boundries, and explore new land. The Donnor Party was doing something that has been an obsession of human kind as long as we have existed. We want to discover and explore as far as possible. The reason they stand out from other pioneers' is because the cannibalism that occured during their entrapment in the Sierra Nevada's. But that is just the faucet to the story. The story of canabalism pulls people in, but they real story of how many people suffered and fought for their lives against mother nature is what keep the story present in our history. The Donnor Party is an interesting study because so many factors caused the story to unfold and events to occur. There is also a mistery about what actually happened, and they unknown is very appealing to human kind.
How did the story of The donner Party help to strike down the myth of frontier idealism?
The Donner Party revealed what could happen, if things went wrong. Previous stories were always about the wonderful things that could happen when settlers went west, such as adventure and the possibility of finding one's destiny. The story of the Donner Party showed the dark side. The tale of cannibalism, and the loss of nearly half the party, took much of the glamour away from going west.
Why did cattle ranching spread to the plains?
Because there was lots more grass to graze than in other areas. Cattle could the stocked more on the open plains than in forested or very hilly areas.
Also, the expansion of railroads helped the cattles move west.
Why did fur trappers journey west into Mexican California?
They were looking for more animals to trap. The Northeast had been trapped out. People like Jed Smith also wanted to explore and it was natural for him and others to go to areas less populated. Many became the guides for wagon trains as the move west began to take hold.
Why did Americans expand west?
No other direction was available. British held Canada was to the north and resisted American incursions during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The Atlantic Ocean was to the east and south. Travel to the moon as well as building large underground cities is not feasible even today That left west as the only available option. Even the large chunks of Mexico taken in a few wars were to the west.
The original contributor has a great sense of humor. As noted by trips to the moon & underground cities. Also the Atlantic Ocean was amusing as well. The answer as to why America expanded to the West had little to do with Canada & the British.
But yes the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War, along with the Louisiana Purchase, greatly increased the size of American territory. A few reasons as to why, also involve the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental railway which linked the Eastern part of the USA to the West coast. The Federal government encouraged the railroads with generous land lease deals to increase the entire USA railway system. This helped improve access to the western plains and the west coast. Previously wagon trains were the best and slowest way to reach new areas and form new communities. With help from the US Army, settlers breached American Native treaties and the rich and fertile western lands were available.
Who were the Donner Party members?
George, 60, brought his third wife, Tamsen, 45, their three children, Frances, 6, Georgia, 4 and Eliza, 3, and George's two daughters from a previous marriage, Elitha Cumi, 14, and Leanna, 12.
Jacob Donner, 56, and his wife Elizabeth, 45, brought their five children, George, 9, Mary, 7, Isaac, 5, Samuel, 4 and Lewis, 3, and Mrs. Donner's two children from a previous marriage, Solomon Hook, 14, and William Hook, 12.
The Reed family consisted of James Frazier Reed, 46, his wife Margaret W. Reed, 32, and their three children, Martha (called Patty), 8, James Jr., 5, and Thomas, 3. Also part of the family was Mrs. Reed's daughter from a previous marriage Virginia Backenstoe Reed, 13, and Mrs. Reed's mother Sarah Keyes, 75. Accompanying the family were five employees: a servant, Eliza Williams, 25, her half-brother Baylis Williams, 24, and three teamsters: Milford (Milt) Elliott, 28, Walter Herron, 25 and James Smith, 25. Hiram Miller also travelled with the Reeds as an employee.
The Breen family consisted of Patrick Breen, 51, his wife Margaret (Peggy), 40, and their seven children: John, 14, Edward, 13, Patrick, Jr., 11, Simon, 9, Peter, 7, James, 5, and Isabella
William Eddy, 28, was a carriage maker from Belleville, Illinois. With him was his wife Eleanor, 25, and their two children James, 3, and Margaret, 5. The Eddys had one wagon.
Lavinia Jackson Murphy, 50, widow of Jeremiah Burns Murphy of North Carolina, travelled with her seven children. Five were young: Landrum, 15, Mary, 13, Lemuel, 12, William, 11 and Simon, 10. The two eldest were married with children of their own: Sarah, 23, and her husband William Foster, 28, had a son George, 4. Harriet, 21, and her husband Willam Pike, 25, had two children, Naomi, 3, and Catherine, 1. The Murphys had two wagons.
Lewis (or Louis) Keseberg, 32, and his wife, Philippine, 23, left their Ohio home with a daughter, Juliane (called "Ada"), 3. Their son, Lewis, Jr., was born on the Trail.
A man named Wolfinger, about 26, and his wife Doriss, 19, had one wagon. Perhaps travelling with the Wolfingers, or perhaps travelling in their own wagon, at least for part of the journey, were two partners Augustus Spitzer and Joseph Reinhardt, about 30.
William McCutchen, 30, from Jackson County, Missouri, was travelling with his wife Amanda, 30, and their daughter Harriet, 1
Franklin Graves, 57, from Sparland, Illinois, and his wife Elizabeth, 47, travelled with their nine children. The eldest daughter, Sarah, 22, was with her husband Jay Fosdick, 23. The other children were Mary, 20, William, 18, Eleanor, 15, Lovina, 13, Nancy, 9, Jonathan, 7, Franklin, Jr., 5, and Elizabeth, 1. The Graves had three wagons, one driven by their teamster John Snyder, 25
Charles Stanton, 35, was born in Pompey
Luke Halloran, about 25, was a merchant from Missouri. Halloran was suffering from consumption, and had been put out by his former companions. He approached the Donners at the Little Sandy River in Wyoming, and rode in their wagons.
Somewhere along the trail Antonio, about 23, a shepherd from New Mexico, joined the Donners.
At Fort Bridger, the Donners hired Jean Baptiste Trudeau, 18, as an additional hand
Why did the Donner Party end in disaster?
They tried to take a shorter route to California but instead it took longer and was more difficult and that was their downfall. As Virginia Reed who survived advised - "Don't take no shortcuts and hurry along as fast as you can."
After famously killing outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882, Ford was the subject of at least one revenge attack. But it was not until June 8, 1892, ten years later, that he was shot to death by Edward O'Kelley in Creede, Colorado. O'Kelley managed to serve only 8 years for the killing, and died January 13, 1904 while trying to kill police officer Joe Burnett in Oklahoma City.
How did the growth of the railroad help the cattle industry?
Refrigerated railroad cars could take the processed meat to the East.
Actually the railroads enabled ranchers to drive their cattle shorter distances to the trains that came to their most local cow-town.
The railroads allowed cattle to be transported long distances, quickly and efficiently to distant markets. This meant that herding of cattle on foot over long distances, using much man power, would eventually be consigned to the western cowboy movies.