Summary
Back in the good old days, when America was taking its first steps to being united as one. Lewis and Clark set out on a journey to find the northwest path to the pacific. On the way they made many friends with the natives, and others. Including a sixteen year old girl. Her name was Sacagawea. Surprisingly she was married and had a child; she became Lewis and Clark's translator and guide.
On their journey they also made a discovery that they didn't intend on finding. Many wild creatures like beavers and bears roamed the trails. During the time the fur trade was popular, so this sparked men to hunt them; these men are known as Mountain Men. Mountain men would trap animals for their fur in the fall and sell in the spring. They lived hard lives and usually died young. They choose to live this life for the adventure. After living these lives they would normally become traders, trading goods like furs and meat or guides.
Missionaries like Marcus and Narcissa Whitman came to California to convert the natives to Christianity. After a disease struck the Whitman's were accused of murder, by the natives. The natives had accused them of murder because mostly whites survived. Although the Whitman's treated everyone with the medicine.
Also coming out west were the Mormons. They were normally rejected by their neighbors because of their practices. So they found a place where they could settle and that was Utah. If they could not afford oxen or wagons they would buy hand carts to take.
Women coming out west, after traveling up to twenty miles a day...... Were still expected to cook, clean, wash clothes, and take care of the children.
In 1849 people started to rush to California for the gold, this became known as the gold rush. Before the gold rush started, in 1848 a carpenter named James Marshall, was building a sawmill. He discovered the first of the gold. When word got out thousands of gold miners or forty-niners came to California. During the rush many Chinese immigrants came to get rich. At first they were welcomed but as the gold became scares. They faced prejudice, beatings, whippings, and even the burning of their homes. Through all that most stayed and ended up opening restaurants, laundries, and many other successful stores. Barely any women came during the rush, one woman that did though is, Luzena Wilson. One man even offered her five dollars just for bread made by women. She stayed in Sacramento, and during her stay there she only saw two other women, she was there for six months. By 1852 the gold rush had ended. 250,000 people had come to California seeking gold, only few had gotten rich and now the natives were unhappy. The natives even thought that the east must be pretty empty because so many people had come.
Also Mexicans had come for the gold rush. Americans actually didn’t know much about mining it was Mexicans that showed them the gold pan or “Batea” and the rifle box. In 1859 Henry Comstock looking in his gold pan and saw blue specs then a Mexican looked in and started yelling “mucha plata!” which means “Much silver,” within twenty years Comstock made $300 million in silver and gold. In the 1800’s Americans started to look around for copper, in Arizona; with of course Mexicans to help, In the 1940s the produced $3 billion worth of copper. Without copper today we would not be able to carry electricity which means no electronics! Oh NO!
Other things that Americans adopted from Mexicans were cattle ranching, cowboys (and girls), their language, homes, sheep raising, and fruit.
Cattle raising was a tradition brought from Mexico. The animals adapted very well to the dry climate. Soon millions of cattle roamed the lands of Texas and California. Cattle were and are very dangerous and aggressive; people often dove behind trees or into ditches to escape. Although cattle raising was a good business, Americans learned from Mexican ranchers or rancheros. People would usually ranch for meat, hides, and tallow. Cowboys were usually hired to work (Take care)
the cattle. They were also in charge of branding the cattle, putting a specific mark on them to tell which ranch they belong to.
Americans also adapted a lot of Spanish words, like rancheros….. And many other words. Americans also adopted the adobe homes, because they were perfect for the climate and weather.
Americans seem like they like to take stuff because we also adopted sheep raising. Raising sheep was very important; it clothed, fed, and supported Mexican settlers. There were two types of sheep, pretty merinos they had fine wool, then there was ugly churros they had coarse wool. Mexicans introduced sheep to Americans, well raising them at least; people would have thousands of sheep. They would hire many workers to care for them too. Eventually they cross bred the merino and the churro breeds for better wool.
Finally the Americans adopted the fruits that Mexican immigrants brought. These fruits included grapes, dates, olives, apples, walnuts, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, quinces, and citrus.
In 1521 the Spanish came to Mexico in search of gold but discovered new types of food like corn, tomatoes, and chocolate! Yummy….. And many more yummy foods.
Oh wait I forgot something, once again Americans adapted Spanish ways, the Music! Their music influenced country western music. Americans liked the spirit of Spanish music. Throught out the years much of our cultures combine to where we are today. Who knows where our heritages and culture will end up?
