jan 1, 1872 - General Mining Act

Description:

Congress: In hopes of encouraging development of western resources

-allowed those who discovered minerals on federally owned land to work the claim and keep all the proceeds (law still exists today)
-Americans idealized the notion of the lone, hardy mining prospector with his pan and his mule, but tapping deep veins of underground ore required big money.
-consortiums of powerful investors profited the most (New York trading firm Phelps Dodge, which invested in massive copper mines and smelting operations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The mines created jobs in new towns like Bisbee and Morenci, Arizona — but with dangerous conditions and low pay, especially for those who received the segregated “Mexican wage.”)

result of rise in western mining: insatiable market for timber and produce from the Pacific Northwest
- Seattle and Portland grew rapidly as supply centers, especially during the great gold rushes of California (after 1848) and the Klondike in Canada’s Yukon Territory (after 1897).

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