Ch. 2 Test: Moving West

In the early 1800s, Americans did not think cattle ranches on the Great Plains were practical because

• eastern cattle could not survive on tough prairie grasses.

• there was no demand for beef in the eastern states.

• there was not enough grass to support large cattle herds.

• wagon trains had stripped the land of needed resources.

The “long drive” was when

• cowboys herded cattle hundreds of miles to a railroad line.

• Lewis and Clark mapped their journey to the Pacific Ocean.

• Native Americans traveled on their forced westward migration.

• wagon trains traveled through the Rocky Mountains.

What effect did the use of barbed wire to fence off land on the open range have on  cattle ranching?

• It blocked cattle trails, making it difficult to get cattle to market.

• It harmed cattle, reducing the number that made it to market.

• It prevented cattle from finding food, reducing the number of cattle that survived each year.

• It required too much effort to maintain, so ranchers abandoned their ranches.

The Dakota Sioux uprising occurred as a result of

• poverty, caused by annuity payments that were not received

• greed, caused by an outlawed Native American group.

•  jealousy, caused by anger at the presence of white settlers.

• fear, caused by the continued loss of buffalo herds

Threshing machines were used for

• clearing homesteads. 

• harvesting wheat.

• improving irrigation.

• planting crops.

In the 1890s, some farmers tried to survive by mortgaging their land because

• a glut of wheat on the world market caused prices to drop.

• a series of floods destroyed several years of crops.

• prices for wheat dropped when demand for corn grew.

• they needed money to grow cotton instead of wheat.

After ore deposits near the surface dwindled, mining corporations began using

• placer mining. 

• strip mining.

• hydraulic mining. 

• tunnel mining.

One approach to farming on the Great Plains was “dry farming,” in which farmers

• cooperated to build community irrigation ditches.

• dug out depressions to create ponds for irrigation.

• grew crops that could withstand long periods without rain.

• planted seeds deep in the ground.

The Homestead Act gave land to homesteaders if they __________ for five years

• cut down trees on it 

• planted crops on it

• lived on it

• fenced it off with the new barbwire fence.

Early prospectors would extract shallow deposits of ore by

• hydraulic mining

• placer mining

• quartz mining

• tunnel mining