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Transportation And Technology's Influence On The Settlement Of The Great West

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During the nineteenth century, just after the lure of the Western Frontier had become a thing of great interest to Americans, advances in transportation and technology began to impact the settlement of the Great West. Transportation was the biggest hurdle to jump over when moving west until 1869 when the Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promontory Point, Utah. The railroad became a crucial factor in the settlement of the west, helping with the spread of white agriculture across the Great Plains. Along with white agriculture came modern day farming tools and soon thereafter barbed wire was invented. Joseph H. Glidden and I. L. Ellwood were two Illinois farmers who needed a cheaper way to fence around their land which lead to the

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