The development of settlement in the West Flashcards

All 9 cards in this deck

What did the Pacific Railroad Act (1862) do?

It chose a route linking the eastern railroads at Omaha to California and gave the job of building it to two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, funded by government loans and land grants.

When and where was the First Transcontinental Railroad completed?

In 1869, when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met at Promontory Summit, Utah, connecting the East and West coasts.

How did the railroad companies use their land grants to encourage settlement?

They advertised in Europe and the East for migrants and sold the granted land cheaply to settlers, helping to fund construction and creating new towns along the routes.

What did the Homestead Act (1862) offer settlers?

160 acres of government land for a small filing fee, which became theirs if they lived on and farmed it for five years.

What did the Timber Culture Act (1873) allow homesteaders to do?

Claim a further 160 acres of land, provided they planted trees on 40 acres of it.

Which new technologies helped homesteaders farm the Great Plains? Give two.

Barbed wire, which cheaply fenced crops against buffalo and cattle, and metal wind pumps, which made reaching deep water affordable. (Also ploughs with steel ploughshares.)

What was a US marshal?

A federal law officer appointed by the President for each territory, who, with deputy marshals, enforced federal law over a huge area.

Give one reason many claims under the Homestead Act (1862) were never 'proved up' (completed).

A 160-acre plot was too small to make a living from on the dry Plains, so many families gave up; around 60% of claims were never completed.

What was the role of a county sheriff in the West?

A locally elected officer who enforced the law in a county for a two-year term and could call on local men to form a posse to chase lawbreakers.