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The United States Grows
(1865-1900)

Boomtowns

Boomtowns
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.29

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    boomtown, boomtowns, hitching, prospectors, mines, saloon, homesteaders, traditional, provided, outdoor, gunfight, travelers, maintain, prosper, rustlers, traveled
     content words:    OK Corral, Dodge City, Fort Dodge, Santa Fe Trail, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Santa Fe Line

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Boomtowns
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Americans moved West for many reasons. Prospectors hoped to find gold or silver. Homesteaders planned to farm the free land. Ranchers and cowboys raised cattle.
 
2     Soon, a second wave of settlers came along; these business men and women came to make their fortune by setting up shop and selling the supplies and services that the pioneers needed. They sold groceries, fabric, saddles, boots, and other useful items. They operated restaurants, banks, and saloons. They settled into brand new boomtowns that sprang up next to the gold and silver mines or at shipping points along the new railroads.
 
3     Life in a boomtown was a scene right out of a western movie. Tents and outdoor accommodations housed some of the settlers at first. Soon, simple houses with homemade furniture appeared. Many settlers lined their walls with layers of newspaper for warmth. Only the wealthiest would have imported items like fine furniture and wallpaper. Small buildings lined the town's main street. These shops often had large fronts built onto them to make them seem larger and more impressive, giving them the look that you see in a traditional western street scene. The towns had dirt streets and, only later, board sidewalks beside the streets. Where we might have parking spaces today, these boomtowns had hitching posts.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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