People living in the west used to be really hard working. They had to take care of the animals and do a lot of chores. They also had many problems they needed to overcome.  For example they had to deal with rock hard soil.  The soil made the land harder to farm.  John Deere invented the steel bladed plow, which made farming easier.  How does farm machinery change the way farmers farm today?  Explain.  With all of these new farming products we need steel.  The Bessemer Process was used to make steel.  Are there things you use today because of steel production?  Explain.  Another problem they faced was wandering cattle going into other people’s yards and destroying their crops.  Joseph Glidden invented barb wire fence.  Barbed wire has sharp wire that will poke the cattle as they go by.  The final problem was there was not enough water and water was important because their crops need it to grow.  Farmers began to use dry farming.  In dry farmers they would dig holes about a foot deep next to each row to catch water when it rains.  Then they flip the water to get the water close to the crops roots.  

                              

        There were five transcontinental railroads completed by 1893. These railroads lured people to the West because they created new jobs, such as people worked in mills, produced steel for farm machinery, worked on tracks, and loaded railroad cars.  Railroads also allowed people in the West to get goods from the East.  There were nine new states were added to the Union by 1893 . What do you think it would have been like to ride on the transcontinental railroad?  Explain.

                            

     

    There were many events that helped to open up the west. Comstock Lode in Nevada was land that produced a lot of silver. Abilene, Kansas becomes a cattle boom town. Also Levi jeans were invented by Levi Strauss. They were rugged pants that miners really liked and they became know as blue jeans. A golden spike got hammered into the ground in Promontory Point, Utah. This marked the completion of the railroad that crosses the whole country.