During the time period between 1840-1890, immigrants were crowding into our nation, causing a population boom, especially in urban areas. Our nation was growing, industry was improving, and transportation, especially through railroads, was progressing rapidly. Following the Civil War, many settlers, including immigrants and freedmen, were moving west to begin a new life farming. But, the United States was wastefully granting the railroad companies fertile lands which were more suitable for agriculture.

With the arrival of thousands of immigrants each year into the United States

Some may believe that other methods should have been enacted in setting up the western frontier, but by further examination they appear inferior to agriculture. Mining did not inhabit the same areas as farming, so essentially it could have been initiated before it, but it would not have provided the nation with the food that was needed. Ranching and allowing cattle to roam free across the fertile lands would have been wasting the resources and, overall, prosperous harvesting. Allowing the Native Americans to spread themselves out across the expansive land also would be a waste, because of the potential for minerals and farming that the Natives did not have the technology to take advantage of. Ultimately, farming was the best way to begin to settle the western frontier.

With the profit gained from such a prosperous agricultural region, the government could have then funded other areas of westward expansion, such as railroad construction. Once the boundaries were created and farms were stable, the railroads could have then been built through the less fertile lands, such as the deserts in the Southwest. This metho

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