Moving West Advantages

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What were the major advantages of moving west? The West contained vast, wide open spaces, which provided easily and available land for agriculture and settlement for the White Settlers. Cities with large and growing populations were formed including; San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Salt Lake and San Antonio cities. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, joining the Union Pacific and Central Railroad in 1869, made the West more accessible and settlers moved in record numbers. Natural minerals majorly Gold and Silver were an attractive pull factor for moving to the West. The search for sudden wealth led to formation of Boom towns. These were towns of up to 5000 that would develop overnight in close proximity to a gold or silver mine. Mining of…show more content…
The West although prosperous, the Settlers were faced with a lot of problems both naturally and human caused. Constant violence erupted between the White Settlers and Indian groups. Local militias took matters into their hands. A case of Colorado militiamen that located and attacked a community of Cheyenne at Sand Creek, a peaceful tribe was described as. “They were scalped, their brains knocked out; the men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the head with guns, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of the word.” Federal troops had to be placed throughout the West to keep order. However the Federal Soldiers were constantly defeated by the Indian warriors in case of both 1866 in Colorado and Custer’s Last Stand defeats. The Western frontier was harsh for the White Settlers. They encountered diseases such as Cholera and Mountain Fever with inadequate medical supplies. Many lost their lives on their journey west. Harsh weather conditions and Prairie Winds claimed thousands of lives as they moved to settle in the west. Food shortage loomed all over the West for both poor White Settlers and the Native

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