In the early 1800s, the United States needed room to grow. The problem was most people lived in the East. The cities were crowded. New land was expensive. Young families couldn’t afford to buy farms.
Then, as a solution, the United States government purchased land from France. The government also acquired land from Mexico. Soon the country stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean. People looked to the setting sun with outstretched arms and said, “Go west!”
Settlers rode in wagons or on horses. They followed long, dusty trails across hot plains for thousands of miles. There was no shelter. People slept in tents on the ground. They had to watch out for wild animals like wolves and snakes. The trip west could take months.
Then a railroad was built that stretched from the East Coast almost to the West Coast. The railroad made travel faster. More people poured into the new lands. The settlers quickly built small towns where the farming, fishing, and mining were good.