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Nat Love grew up in slavery in Tennessee, and eventually left home to become a cowboy. Nat Love was a well-known cowboy that had been in the industry since he was fifteen years old. He was originally inspired to be a cowboy when a group of cowboys noticed him and challenged him to ride a very wild horse to prove himself. He was able to control the wild horse, Good Eye, and from that day on, he knew he was a cowboy. He grew up to be a major cowboy and inspired thousands to become a cowboy just like him. Eventually, towns and farms grew over the land cowboys used to drive cattle. This led Nat Love and many other cowboys to retire and pursue a new life.

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Theodore Judah was a college engineer who grew up in New York. He originally began designing railroads when he was still a teenager. In 1861, when Judah was in California, he began reasoning about a transcontinental railroad that connected the east and the west. He directly said, "It will be built, and I am going to have something to do with it." No one believed him. They thought it would be impossible to be able to build tracks over the jegged slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. In fact, they thought his idea was so ridiculous that they started to call him "Crazy Judah." Despite all of this doubt and lack of certainty from the public, Judah still began mapping and planning his huge vision. His wife, Anna, helped by making drawings and paintings of the route. All of Judah's work began to pay off when a group of local business owners agreed to invest in his idea. The business owners began funding the railroad east out of Sacramento. Theodore Judah never did live to see the finished product of the transcontinental railroad, but it was complete, and it was a major advance towards westward expansion.

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Promontory Point Utah was the place in which the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific met their railroads together to connect the transcontinental railroad. This place is significant because it marks the start of the westward expansion, leading the United States and its people to believe they had advanced towards the future. Building through rough terrain, such as the sharp slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains or through harsh Native territory, the transcontinental railroad was built. Thanks to many hard-working Chinese individuals and incredible labor workers, the transcontinental railroad was here, and marked a symbol of hope for the future of the United States. When the two companies met, they threw a huge party, marking the date of the day the transcontinental railroad was complete, helping transport goods, drive cattle, and many other achievements.

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The Golden Spike was placed down on a sunny spring morning of May 10, 1869, Promontory Point, Utah. The word spread about the last Spike being placed down for the transcontinental railroad, and people gathered that morning to watch it unfold. It went as far as newspaper reporters showing up to mark the event in their journals (which isn't surprising since the last Spike being placed down was kind of a big deal). Funny enough, the entire Union Pacific almost missed the party since a few of their bridges had already collapsed from poor construction. In the end, though, everyone was there (civilians, reporters, and almost everyone involved in the construction of the transcontinental railroad). Then, everyone gathered around to watch Leland Stanford slam the hammer into the Golden Spike to secure the transcontinental railroad. "Leland Stanford lifted the heavy hammer over his shoulder," suspense was building up, and......he completely missed the target of the spike and slammed the hammer against the rail. Then, Thomas Durant was given the honor of securing the last Spike of the railroad. Ironically, he missed as well. Everyone got a kick out of this. Eventually, though, a telegraph reporter got tired of waiting and tapped the spike into the ground of the railroad. The Golden Spike was the last Spike placed down on the rails of the transcontinental railroad. Spikes were placed all along the entire transcontinental railroad to secure railroad ties to the steel rails along the ground. They were all gray and pure metal, but the last one placed is different because it marks the end of a new beginning for the future of the West. The Golden Spike symbolizes how far the transcontinental railroad had come and all of the hard labor and workshop had been involved.

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Horses were a very essential 'items' involved in WWTTWW during the 1800's. The first reason being that they were used to help cowboys herd cattle from place to place. Cowboys rode on horses, driving large herds of cattle across pastures. This was a major help for cowboys to have a job and pursue something they loved. Horses made the job far more efficient than if cowboys were to drive cattle by foot. Unfortunately, this method of using horses was eventually out of business because trains were able to drive and herd cattle. However, this method was used for a very long time, and marked the symbolism of cowboys and horses. Another reason why horses were a major help during the 1800's is because of the Pony Express. The Pony Express was a method of transporting mail across large, large acres of land. This was done by draping saddlebags (to hold the mail) up and over the horse and then riding the horse from station to station. Once a jockey got to a new station, they gave the mail to another jockey who then drove to the next station, and this was repeated until said mail was delivered. This was a dangerous trek, however, because of the harsh terrain jockeys travelled through to get to the next station. As a result, this method was only used for about 18 months before the stations and horses were getting too costly to maintain. Yet again, trains were able to transport mail across larger distances in shorter times, putting the horses out of business again. In conclusion, horses were a very reliable animal to be able to advance as a civilization in the 1800's across the West.

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Image of the Gold Rush in Sacramento, California.

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During the 1800's, one man named John Sutter discovered so much gold it made him unbelievably rich. This struck what is known as the Gold Rush. This of course took place in Sacramento, leading thousands of people coming from all over the world to start mining and planning for gold. The Gold Rush was a huge deal, driving people from all over the globe to come to Sacramento and try to get rich. Sacramento became so popular, it kept driving more and more people over to California. Some people got so addicted and determined to strike rich, people in the 1800's invented a new phrase: gold fever. This was essentially just used to describe how someone had gotten so determined to find gold and get more money than they would ever know what to do with. This time period lasted a long time, but eventually wore out, sending many people back home with way less money than they arrived with. Few people ever did make some real money.

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William Sherman was a major general that had a huge involvement in the Wild West. The specific quote about Sherman I will be talking about is when buffalo were being heavily killed and over-hunted. Sherman had an interesting take on this whole situation. He believed that killing buffalo was a way of defeating Plains Indians. Sherman directly stated that. "Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated. It is the only way to bring peace and allow cavillation to advance." In this context, "them" meant all of the people killing buffalo in any form. This quote means that the over-killing of buffalo should be taken into action and it is the only way to allow society to advance. This proved to be a harsh strategy, but it worked. Buffalo had become so scarce in fact that each herd had no more than fifty buffalo. This quote is important because it represents how the buffalo were killed off and what influenced it to happen. Of course, Sherman was not the only one who had the take on severely wiping out the buffalo, but he was one that many looked up to, so people followed in his footsteps and stood by what he said. This may have meant that if Sherman had a different take, others may have refrained from eliminating so many buffalo.

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Mary Lyon was young farmer who grew up in the Great Plains in 1874. During this time, crops were thriving in the warm climate. However, this could not last for so long. One day, the bright and sunny sky seemed to resemble a blizzard covering the sun. It turned out not to be a blizzard but instead millions of individual large grasshoppers flying high in the sky. "It seemed if we were in a big snowstorm. The air was filled with enormous sized flakes." This sparked the beginning of the year of the grasshopper. Grasshoppers fell from the sky in groups of thousands. They covered the ground, making it impossible to walk without killing dozens with each step. This went on for months, causing a huge problem for farmers. The main reason why the grasshoppers were a problem was because they ate all of the crops the farmers grew. They ate all of it, and after they consumed all of the plants, they began eating bark off of trees. This was eventually resolved, but it was never forgotten. Although no individual is too relevant in this quote, it creates the idea of how hard of a life grasshoppers made it for farmers.