Discuss How The Converging Interests Of Farming Ranching And The Railroad Contributed To The Closing Of The Frontier And The Rise Of Conflicting Interests That Would Strengthen Populism And Lead To Attempts To Address The Abuses Of The Railroads.

the united states was going through an era of development in which it was industrializing and upsizing its agricultural industry. this progressive era led to the closing of the frontier, ending an iconic era in United States history. The government was ending its land granting system, and settlers were starting to build up a modern life there

The most obvious issue that led to the closing of the frontier, was the physical one. land was being given away in parcels, these parcels were picked up by would be settlers, and taken out west. once in the west the people claimed their stake in the land. the first problem arose. for the time before that, land was not so much communally shared, but borders were assumed more than they were defined. life grew accustomed to it. fences were brought up, but didn't do much, as said before they were just to mark the border of ones property. there was no intent to fence things in or out of it. in the 1880s that all changed. a new invention had come about, barbed wire. the barbed wire revolutionized the frontier. farmers used it to prevent roaming cattle from entering and destroying their crops. it was said to have been what killed the cowboy. cattlemen used to drive cattle from the south up north to the markets and butcheries, now there was no way to pass through. the barbed wire prevented any movement through the land. in return, the cattle of the north, suffered. just as birds did, when winter came, they simply shifted south. but when the barbed wire was brought into play, there was no where for them to go. this had a devastating effect on the cattle stock. cattle were dying from the harsh winter. there was no food, no water, and no shelter. many just froze and dropped dead. this outraged the cattlemen, and a new solution had to be found.

Butchers needed their cattle, and if they couldn't get hand delivered, an alternate method had to be explored. enter our second character in the great frontier opera. Railroads were a new recent development. they were promising, offering reliable, steady travel from point a - b in a relatively short time period. now how was it that this