Government Assistance to Railroads
Examine the “U.S. Western Railway Land Grants” and “Millions of Acres” documents. The map shows the land that was given to the railroad companies by Congress, and the poster is an announcement for the sale of railroad lands. After examining each document carefully, answer the following questions in a Microsoft Word document. Print your answers and submit them to me.
1.
a. Print the document titled "U.S. Western Railway Land Grants."
b. Using Google Maps, locate and label on your document the following cities:
i. St. Louis, MO ii. Kansas City, MO iii. Minneapolis, MN iv. Fargo, ND
v. Helena, MT vi. Denver, CO vii. Salt Lake City, UT viii. Albuquerque, NM
ix. Los Angeles, CA x. San Francisco, CA xi. Portland, OR xii. Seattle, WA
c. What do you notice? Do the cities seem to land inside of the areas where the RR companies were located? Why do you think this is so?
2. What incentives did the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company offer to potential land buyers? Why do you think the company chose to use the poster as a marketing device? Why might prospective settlers at that time found this offer appealing?