The Mining and Railroad Boom Lesson

The Mining and Railroad Boom

Create a comic strip, using simple sentences, of their journey as a gold prospector in the Wild West.

Language Objectives

Discuss how the boom in gold and silver changed the West

Explain how railroads helped the West develop

Content Objectives

Objectives - SWBAT

Match

Match the following terms to the correct definitions

• lode

• vigilantes

• transcontinental

• prospect

• subsidies

rich vein of gold, silver or other ore

self-appointed enforcer of the law

stretches a continent, coast to coast

person that searches valuable minerals

financial aid from the government

• rich vein of gold, silver or other ore

• self-appointed enforcer of the law

• stretches a continent, coast to coast

• person that searches valuable minerals

• financial aid from the government

​​Henry Comstock

1.The Mining Boom

Fill in the Blanks

Henry Comstock was a

(a person that found gold in the Sierra Nevada)

2.Problems in Mining Territory

Open Ended

Look at the picture - can you describe how vigilantes looked like? Provide 2 to 3 words that best describes them.

​​3.The Growth of the Railroad System

Multiple Choice

Look at the map: which immigrant group worked on the Union Pacific Railroad?

• Italians

• Irish

• Chinese

• Germans

Multiple Choice

Look at the map: Which immigrant group worked on the Central Pacific Railroad?

• Irish

• Chinese

• Germans

• Japanese

Hotspot

Mark the spot where the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific railroad met.

Open Ended

The picture shows Chinese immigrants building the Transcontinental Railroad in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

What do you think were TWO challenges workers faced when building the Transcontinental Railroad?

• ​​Nevada (1864)

• Colorado (1876)

• North Dakota (1889)

• South Dakota (1889)

• Montana (1889)

• Washington (1889)

• Idaho (1890)

• Wyoming (1890)

​More People = New States

Multiple Choice

The reason why so many territories were admitted as states was because of...

• population growth

• population decrease

• a lot of mines with gold and silver

• a lot of boomtowns