American History: Gold, Land Drive Settlers West
The discovery of gold in California helped to speed development of the western United States.
17 March 2010
Gold miners in California
FAITH LAPIDUS: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
Soon after the Civil War ended in eighteen sixty-five, thousands of Americans began to move west to settle the land. The great movement of settlers continued for almost forty years. The great empty West, in time, became fully settled. The discovery of gold had already started a great movement to California.
This week in our series, Robert Bostic and Leo Scully tell about the gold rush and the important part cowboys played in settling the West.
ROBERT BOSTIC: Men had rushed to the gold fields with hopes of becoming rich. A few found gold. The others found only hard work and high prices.
When their money was gone, they gave up the search for gold. But they stayed in California to become farmers or businessmen or laborers.
Some never gave up the search for riches. They moved back toward the east, searching for gold and silver in the wild country between California and the Mississippi river. Men found gold and silver in Nevada, and then in the Idaho and Montana territories. Other gold strikes were made in the Arizona territory, in Colorado and in the Dakota territory.
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