Railroad

What event marked the beginning of veterans becoming railwaymen, cowboys, and settlers across the frontier?

• The end of the American Civil War

• The signing of the Declaration of Independence

• The Battle of Gettysburg

• The discovery of gold in California

How long was the transcontinental railroad that President Lincoln green-lighted?

• Over 2,000 kilometers

• Over 4,000 kilometers

• Over 1,000 kilometers

• Over 3,000 kilometers

Who was called 'Crazy Judah' and was responsible for plotting a way through the Sierra Nevada's mountains?

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Theodore Judah

• Abraham Lincoln

• George Washington

What was the main obstacle in building the railroad across the Sierra Nevada's?

• Opposition from Native American tribes

• Lack of manpower

• Financial constraints

• The mountains of the Sierra Nevada's

How were the railway companies incentivized to build the transcontinental railroad?

• With bonds

• With cash payments

• With federal land

• With gold

What was the fate of the buffalo herds by the 1870s due to the railroad and hunters?

• Their numbers increased

• They were relocated to reserves

• They were domesticated

• Their numbers drastically decreased

What did the Homestead Act offer to settlers moving West?

• A job on the railroad

• Free land

• Protection from Native Americans

• A share in the railroad companies

Who were the primary laborers that built the longest tunnel on the transcontinental railroad route?

• Native Americans

• Chinese laborers

• Irish immigrants

• African American freedmen

What natural disaster frequently hit the Great Plains, affecting settlers like the Oblinger's?

• Earthquakes

• Tornadoes

• Volcanic eruptions

• Tsunamis

What invention by Joseph Glidden changed the landscape of the West and ended the era of open range cattle drives?

• The steam engine

• The telegraph

• Barbed wire

• The plow