Westward Movement

During the westward migration of the U.S. after the Civil War, there were many hardships that settlers had to endure as they traveled. The west first had to be bought from different countries, before American settlers took to settle in it. Once the land was bought, the U.S. government left it open for anyone that had $10 (for a filing fee), and they received 160acres of land. But once there, getting the land wasn’t too much of a hassle, but it was the journey to get to the land that was. By having to cross dry vast deserts, disturbing Native American tribes (who in turn were not too happy about settlers moving on their land), and then trekking over large mountain peaks and steep valleys.
A crucial part in moving west, was the fact that settlers had to go through Native American tribes, and the natives were not happy about that, one bit. Settlers would often be wasteful in using either land or animals that the natives used. For instance buffalo, natives would use every single part of the buffalo, while settlers would only use the fur or eat the meat, and leave the rest. This made the natives furious, and they started to often retaliate against settlers. There was a tension build up between settlers and natives, and the way that the U.S. government often handled this, was my pushing the natives further west, by building cities and railroads. Good relations between natives and settlers weren’t just hard to make, but rare to even come by.
As settlers would move further west, they would come to realize that the Midwest and West is pretty much nothing but plains and deserts. Most of the south west was indeed desert, and it didn’t take long for settlers to realize that it wasn’t easy to get past. The deserts in the west have little to no water, unless settlers would dig deep enough to hit water, but for the most part the water would only be on the surface for a few hours, and then it was gone. It didn’t take long for settlers to realize that they needed to find an easier way across the west, to their surprise they found another route, but it wasn’t so much of being easy.
Finally, after running through the natives, and barely surviving the desert, settlers saw mountains in which they would try to climb over. At first it may have been a little simple, but soon it got harder. Often the mountain tops would fill with snow, making it almost impossible to travel with a horse and wagon through it. Also, there were steep ridges and long falls in mountains. Mountains were the final obstacle in the settler’s way, when they tried to move west, once they got over the mountains, it was time to make a home, and then farm.
Westward migration was indeed one of the most hardest things that the early American had to deal with. But, by finding newer and faster ways to travel west, such as the train, getting past natives, dry deserts, and mountains were no longer much of a hard task. As the settlers traveled, they had the opportunity to pay a $10 filing fee, and they would receive 160 acres of land from the U.S. government, that was one of the main reasons that settlers headed west.