western migration

In our class we just got done talking about western migration. There were many different opportunities for moving west, such as mining, ranching, and farming. However with these advantages there is always a down side. In the mining business there was risk of dieing. In order to mine you have to blow up the inside of a rock. To get the dynamite in there someone has to physically put it there. In some instances people didn't make it out in time.


The mining communities were very poor. These communities had different kinds of people. Everyone depended on each other to survive, so whatever feelings anyone had toward a certain or immigrant had to be put aside or life wouldn't be that long for them. Other than mining there was farming.

People moved west for land. To obtain this land they had to put a ten dollar payment on it and farm or ranch for five years and the land is theirs. This was called the homestead act. It sounded like a good deal but when other people came there came competition. When there is competition prices drop and that presents a problem. The farmers were selling their goods for less than it cost to produce them.


When this problem arose the farmers came together as one. These farmers set one price for their goods so there would be no competition. With no competition all the farmers were making money. However the framers next obstacle was transporting the goods to the east. Thats when they decided to transport by train. But soon that became a problem.


The railroad industry was good money. Especially when it came to transporting crops. The railroads also came together and set one price on the transportation of crops. These railroads were charging regular passengers a fair price to ride, but were charging farmers oober amounts of money to send crops east. If they were smart they would own the railroad, the farm and pocket all the profits.