Westward Movement, The (1941)

the United States since winning its independence 13 Federated States along the Atlantic Sea has spanned the continent it has spread Westward 3,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the 49th parallel on the North to the rail Grand on the south the peopling of this region was the greatest migration of mankind in all history by the year 1790 the people on the Atlantic coast had begun turning their thoughts to the West the coastal plane had been occupied Pioneers had passed the first R to settle the fertile valleys Beyond to the West the alagan range formed a more difficult barrier to the known productive lands in the Basin of the Ohio here west of the mountains conditions were familiar to men from the Atlantic coast fertile soils and adequate rainfall would assure abundant crops Forest could provide Fuel and a supply of logs and lumber for building homes and rails for fences the first important Gateway of westward migration was through the Cumberland Gap next the bradoock and Forbes routes which converged on the Ohio at Pittsburgh the path up the Mohawk Valley was blocked by the iray Indians until about 1800 travel Westward was facilitated by the completion of the Cumberland Road with its masonry bridges in 1818 and the Erie Canal in 1825 from Pittsburg settlers floated down the Ohio in flatboats to find new homes along the Ohio's many tributaries the muskingham the scota the Miami and the Wabash the Mississippi River was the natural outlet for their flower bacon and tobacco canals were built to extend cheap Transportation by connecting the many inland waterways but these improved waterways were soon followed by railroads which by 1850 connected many of the principal cities through the mountain gaps 300,000 people had streamed by 1800 to settle in the region south of the Ohio River each dot represents 100,000 people then migration through Pittsburgh and down the Ohio settled the land north of the Ohio as far Westward as the Mississippi River then a tremendous surge along the Mohawk route and up the Great Lakes filled in the northern and western portions of this section this Great Migration had carried settlers well to the west of the Mississippi River by 1850 when one of the new territories attained a certain degree of settlement the territorial assembly would petition Congress for admission as a state congress after adjusting many conflicting interests would Define its boundaries and Grant admission always on a basis of equality with the original states 17 new States had been added to the original 13 by 1848 further Beyond there remained the Western portion of the United States which exhibited extreme contrast in topography and climate first there were broad flat Plains which rose to dry plateaus and the Majestic Rocky Mountains Beyond a high Basin another range of mountains then a low fertile Valley and finally a coastal range descending to the Pacific cargos from the East to the Pacific coast had to be carried by boat either by Portage across the ismos of Panama or around Cape Horn explorers in the west soon discovered the South pass through the Rocky Mountains in 1843 Farmers started through this pass Bound for the fertile wamit Valley in the Oregon Country then the Mormon Tre on the way to Utah by 1849 the South pass swarmed with covered wagons Bound for the California goldfields the California Gold Rush led to the discovery of gold or silver in one place after another veteran Prospectors joined by new Seekers of Fortune rushed out with news or rumors of every new strike cities sprang up and grew to have thousands of inhabitants in a few weeks were abandoned as quickly as they were built While others indicated here by stars remained as the nuclei for more permanent settlements as we have seen the Great Plains were first passed over it seemed an inhospitable land to people familiar with the wooded Hills and moist climate of the eastern states and of Europe on the Great Plains rainfall was uncertain no forests for logs firewood or rails wellwater for man Beast pumped by windmills wire now instead of rail fences a new way of life was necessary for a generation the Cattleman took possession of the great PLS the cattle originating in Texas were driven on Long trails to shipping points along railroads in the north the range country shifted and centered in Nebraska and Wyoming later in Dakota and Montana successive towns became shipping centers as the range cattle industry was pressed Westward certain cities nearer to markets became packing centers short lived Stage Coach routs were chartered to carry mail and the Western Union Telegraph line was erected then finally railroad construction was stimulated with grants of land to the railroads by the federal government the railroads and the liberal land policy under the Homestead Act were influential in opening the great PLS to settlers new methods of Agriculture made farming profitable on the Great Plains people flocked in land hungry peasants from Europe sons of earlier Pioneers in the middle west unemployed Factory workers in the East Millions every decade by covered wagon by railroad into Minnesota Nebraska and Kansas quickly across the fertile prairies then more slowly into the Great Plains and over into The Valleys of the mountain regions the good free land was virtual by the end of the century many prospered some failed but few returned from when they came the mecca was ever Westward into the mountains and onto the Pacific coast a continent had been spanned after 1850 states were being admitted into the Union in Rapid succession on the Pacific coast on the Great Plains in the mountain areas and finally the Southwest there were 48 states embracing every bit of territory in the continental United States by 1912 in 1790 the United States was largely a band of settlements along the Atlantic coast and extending up the fertile river valleys expansion during the next three decades was due mainly to increase of native population then immigrants began arriving in ever increasing numbers 100,000 a year by 1842 a quarter of a million by 1847 the country was gradually filling up in all parts but with much greater concentration in the Middle Atlantic region the Midwest and the Pacific coast a million immigrants a year by 1900 5 followed by a sharp drop due in part to restricted immigration the great surge of immigration and migration of people was over in a century and a half a frontier people had remade a continent virtually all productive land had been put to the plow a free and independent way of life prevailed and individual Enterprise was rewarded Ed the Trees of the forests were cut and sawed into lumber for millions of homes the riches underground were tapped for metals to equip a nation and for fuels to turn its Wheels the energy of water was early harnessed for power and vastly extended after man gained control of electricity factories were built to supply machines for America and for the world to carry the products of a Nation canals were dug and rail roads were built to the extent of 250,000 Mi Pioneers built cities in great numbers where Wilderness prevailed only a few years before The Westward Movement was like a great tidal wave first sweeping Westward past the Mississippi River after this there were many secondary waves flowing out into isolated centers the odd Corners were rapidly engulfed until all the more productive areas had been occupied this land after a little more than a century and a half had become a great nation the United States of America