Go West with Merchants and Traders

Go West with Merchants and Traders book cover — Contents What Are the Prospects 4 Meet the Folks 6 Where in the West 8 Let’s Get Going 10 The Natural Setting 12 Working with the Environment 14 Making Money 16 Friends and Neighbors 18 Hot Off the Telegraph 20 Bed and Board 22 Risks and Robbers 24 Take It Easy 26 Legacy of the West 28 Glossary Timeline 30 On the Web Books 31 Index 32

Go West with Merchants and Traders — page 1 — What Are the Prospects By 1848 the United States had gained control over Mexican and British territory in the West Settlement soon followed and more settlers meant more business opportunities µµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµ did you know East Meets West µ East supplies the West µ West feeds the East During the 1800s industry grew quickly In the East manufacturers mass-produced goods in factories Meanwhile the West had many natural resources such as minerals timber farmland and oil As settlers moved west they began trading to supply eastern industries with materials In turn eastern factories made clothing farming equipment and other materials western settlers needed The hunters who killed buffalo on the plains wanted the animals skins But US manufacturers soon realized that buffalo bones were also useful They could be processed to make sugar or fertilizer Manufacturers also ground up buffalo hoovess and horns to make glue The First Boom µ Fur trade expands west µ Trading posts open for business The first valuable trade in the West was based on fur from beavers otters and seals In 1670 Britain formed the Hudson’s Bay Company to trade furs It was the first company in North America As the West was opened up the company opened trading posts such as Fort Edmonton in Alberta Canada The trade involved First Nations and Europeans In 1808 John Jacob Astor set up the American Fur Company Astor established Astoria right in Oregon It was the first permanent US settlement west of the Rocky Mountains 4

Go West with Merchants and Traders — page 2 — Mountains of Metal Above Steam engines pulled long wagons full of borax from the bottom of Death Valley µ Minerals discovered µ Mining frenzy begins In 1848 the discovery of gold in California began a gold rush Later gold prospectors found rich deposits of silver in the Rockies The West also had supplies of copper lead and zinc A prospector in Death Valley found borax a mineral used to make ceramics glass and detergent These minerals were valuable for growing western industries Western traders also made money selling them to eastern industries µµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµ µµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµµ Buffalo hides piled up on the plains Where the Buffalo Roam µ Wild beasts killed for hides µ Hunters rake in money By the 1870s buffalo hunting on the Great Plains was a popular sport among white Americans It was also big business Traders sent thousands of hides to cities in the East and to Europe Manufacturers used the hides to make belts to drive machines in their factories Train companies bought buffalo robes or cured hides to make seats for railcars The US Army made coats out of buffalo hide for its soldiers By the end of the century the buffalo was almost extinct WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS 5

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