The Epic Tale Of How The Desolate West Became An Irrigational Mecca For The United States Of America

Long ago, the middle of the North American continent was a treeless prairie covered by tall grasses and roaming buffalo. When European settlers came, they called this area the Great American Desert. Today, this "desert" is covered with fields of wheat, corn, and alfalfa made possible by center-pivot irrigation. My grandfather used to sell center-pivot systems and when my family drove to my grandparent's home in Nebraska, we would count how many "sprinklers" were watering each section of land. At the time, I didn't know that this water was being pumped from somethng called the Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground water supply. Throughout the years, this aquifer has made the Great American Desert one of the best farming

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

The American West is one of the most famous and important part of the American history. The American West or another name the American Frontier started off in the late-1700 and ended in mid-1940. Although that part of history ended, but the influence and the old west culture is still around today. So let get into the history of the American West, of what made the West what it is and how all the forces molded the West.

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

In the third section of John McPhee's Encounters with the Archdruid, the author observes the discourse between conservationist David Brower and Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Floyd Dominy, on the merits of dams in the southwestern United States. Brower "hates all dams, large and small," while Dominy sees dams as essential to our civilization. The Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, which Dominy created, are the main issue of debate between the two men.

"The Frontier in American History" was one of the most famous essays by Frederick Turner in the nineteenth century. In this essay, Turner expressed his thoughts about how the frontier set up and created unique American characteristics. He explained the idea of American exceptionalism, which states that America is different than other nations in the world. The development of America included many significant events, and our nation 's identity was made up by many factors, not just only the frontier. Nowadays, the America defines itself as a large and powerful country in the world. We are all proud to be an American. Thus, the stress on a distinct national identity is appropriate within an increasingly diverse nation-state and an ever globalizing world.

I will be talking about the era of the American West in the middle and late 1800s and the differences and similarities of primary sources and the textbook HIST4. Chief Red Cloud’s Speech, the Sandy Creek Massacre from the Rocky Mountain News Editorial and Helen Hunt Jackson’s Account of Sandy Creek, Nannie Alderson, from the book called A Bride Goes West, Epitaph on a Tombstone, and Bill of sale for a Chinese Prostitute. For anyone wanting to know and read more about the American West you could attain more comprehension read a book about HIST4 or any other books by Kevin M. Shultz or by reading primary sources dating by the time.

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the role of the water in the American society was significant. The countries were seeking measures and instruments that would allow them to expand the existing territory in order to gain more access to the rivers and oceans. In this paper, I will try to explain the importance of water as a viable resource for the American people in colonial America, and the lengths it went to in order to obtain it.

Intro: The irrigation of Yuma County Arizona has helped the people out so much with the way they live, especially in some areas. There for it actually saved a lot of people time and money and even some lives. Before the dam it was hard to keep control of the water and the ground around it would erode around it so you could not build or grow there. But once they got the dam up they could start more growing food and more homes and it actually brought more people around. So there are a few ways that helped Yuma Arizona and made it a little more better. But there was only one downside to it, the steamboats could not be used anymore.

The west is a vast of lands west of the Mississippi river. Before white people came to the land, it was inhabited for centuries by tanned skinned Native Americans whose ways of living are far different from the foreign people. For centuries big colonial empires tried various ways to claim the west until it became a part of United States of America. However, many Natives sacrificed their lives to protect their land, yet in the end their arrows cannot match the power of the foreigner 's guns and cannons. The west is not only abundant in terms of resources, but also in folklore, history, and became the birth of the modern American culture. Furthermore, PBS provided a helpful links in order to understand and appreciate the stories about the stories about how the west became the frontier of United States. These links are "The People" and "Empire upon the Trails" which gave some interesting facts about the beginning of the West.

The American West was shaped by various aspects. Southerners we're devastated by the effects of the Civil War on the infrastructure and many moved West for a new change in life. The homestead act offered a chance of a new life for many people and families to pursue their dream. The goldRush of 1849 would promote the idea of a chance to become wealthy to the average American immigrant. As the Western expansion grew the transcontinental railroad would promote economic success in the West.  There were Dawes General Allotment Act that passed in 1887saying the land was held by tribes had to divide and sell the land because of the government. The government held the land for 25years and then they could have the title to the land and become U.S. citizens.

By 1600, England’s feudal system was nearing extinction, as a new family (Tudor’s) came to power and wanted support from the middleclass and the establishment of new liberties for Englishman (i.e. trial by jury and no arrest without a warrant), which resulted in a large amount of local and self initiative to prosper in the community: yet many beggars now existed, culminating in an increased need for colonial expansion both for personal prosperity and more space for the existing population.

Western, a genre of short stories that are set in the American west, primarily in the late of the 19th century (“Western” 598), and still being told until today by films, televisions, radio, and other art works. The major of moving to the west was because of the Homestead Act, 1862 (“U.S. Statues at Large” 392) which would give lands to people who stayed there for five years. This lead to a huge wave of immigrants moved to the West, and they had to face to many hardships and conflicts such as Indian attacks, tornadoes, blizzards, and illnesses.

Economic relations and resource management, 2. Ideology and culture including the way people think about the environment and water rights, 3.political agents like the state, transnational actors and organizations involved in water disputes and trade 4.the transnational social movements which endorse and resist water privatization, and 5.the power relations which engender unequal access to safe water (Bywater, 2008).