Life West of the Mississippi

• Lesson 3 focuses on life in the United States West of the Mississippi River.

Content Vocabulary

• Mormon: Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• Dust Bowl: Dust covered areas because of strong winds carrying dry soil away.
• Topsoil: The fertile soil that crops depend on to grow.
• Agribusiness: Firms that rely on machines, advanced technology, and mass-production methods to farm large areas.
• Aerospace: Industry that makes vehicles that travel in the air and in outer space.

The Region's Cities and Rural Areas

• Many western U.S. cities have skyscrapers, highways, and heavy traffic, each has a unique character.
• New Orleans has French influence.
• Santa Fe has Spanish style.
• Denver is mountainous.
• Omaha is on flat plains.
• Most western cities depend on automobiles due to limited public transportation and large distances between cities
• Los Angeles & Long Beach handle over half of all U.S. Pacific imports.
• Other major West Coast ports include San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Tacoma.
• Gulf of Mexico Ports like Houston, Beaumont, and Corpus Christi (Texas) rank among the top 10 U.S. ports for trade.
• Los Angeles is home to 90+ languages and large Latino, Native American, Korean, and Nicaraguan populations.
• Denver grew due to mining and mountain tourism and is now a hub for software, finance, and communications.
• Fast-growing interior cities: Austin, Boise, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Provo, and Riverside
• Texas cities (San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth) are important for trade with Mexico.
• Many rural residents work in farming, fishing, oil drilling, and ranching.
• Technology aids rural jobs; farmers and ranchers use GPS for land management and cattle tracking

Challenges Facing the Region

• Western U.S. states attract people due to mild climate and business growth, increasing the strain on water resources.
• Hawaii - Asian Americans are the majority.
• California, New Mexico, Texas – Large Latino populations.
• Lutherans in the Great Plains.
• Catholics from New Mexico to California.
• Mormons in Utah and neighboring states.
• Aging population increases costs for Medicare and Social Security.

Relations With Neighbors

• NAFTA (1990s): Free trade agreement between U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
• Canada & Mexico are top U.S. trading partners.
• Illegal immigration: U.S. took steps to reduce it; Mexico's improved economy also helped lower numbers.
• Western U.S. gets little rainfall; droughts can cause disasters like the Dust Bowl (1930s-1940s).
• Growing population increases water demand for cities and farms.
• Desalination (removing salt from seawater) is a possible but expensive solution.

Human Actions and the Environment

• Exxon Valdez (1989, Alaska) → 250,000 barrels of oil spilled.
• Deepwater Horizon (2010, Gulf of Mexico) → 5 million barrels spilled, with severe coastal damage.
• Logging leaves slopes bare, causing soil runoff.
• Farming depletes topsoil, affecting crops.
• Volcanoes occur in Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
• Wildfires and mudslides happen in dry and rainy seasons.
• Earthquakes occur along the San Andreas Fault in California.

The Economy

• Great Plains: Major wheat producer.
• Spring wheat (northern) grows in spring and is harvested in fall.
• Winter wheat (southern) grows in fall and is harvested in spring.
• Other crops: Cotton, corn, hay, sorghum, fruit, and dairy.
• California produces fruits and vegetables year-round.
• Agribusiness is replacing small farms with large, technology-driven farming companies.
• There are energy resources of oil & gas from the southern Plains, Wyoming, and California.
• Copper from Montana.
• Uranium is from the Colorado Plateau.
• Timber is from the Northwest.

The Aerospace Industry

• Aircraft & space travel industries developed in Washington, California, and Texas.
• Declining aerospace jobs replaced by computer technology.
• Silicon Valley (California) is an early center for computer manufacturing.
• Other tech hubs: Texas, Washington, New Mexico.

Service Industries

• New industries include finance (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Seattle) and telecommunications (Denver, Dallas).
• Tourism includes national parks, mountains, beaches, and attractions.