=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Gold seekers reached the Pacific coast
by three routes: by ship around Cape Horn; across the Isthmus
at Panama; and over trails across the mountains. _2._ With new
discoveries of gold and the increasing population on the Pacific
coast, means of rapid communication were urgently needed. _3._
In 1869 the Union Pacific Railway was completed. _4._ Settlers
in large numbers entered the new West; agriculture on the great
plains developed rapidly. _5._ Farmers crowded on the dry slopes
and plateaus and irrigation projects were aided by the government.
_6._ In California, when free deposits of gold became hard to find,
the gold seekers became farmers. _7._ First a leading wheat state,
California then became the leading fruit-growing state. _8._ Great
cities grew up along the coast.
_9._ The Spanish-American War brought home to Americans the urgent
necessity for a short route by water between the east and the west
coasts. _10._ The United States took up the work of building a
canal at Panama, buying the rights of a French company which had
started the work and had failed. _11._ George Washington Goethals
given position of chief engineer. _12._ Educated at West Point,
Goethals served as chief of engineers in the Spanish-American
War. _13._ The Canal was completed in 1914 and Goethals was
appointed first governor of the Canal Zone, a strip of land ten
miles wide along the course of the Canal. _14._ The Panama-Pacific
International Exposition was held at San Francisco in 1915 to
celebrate the opening of the Canal.
=Study Questions.= _1._ How did the gold seekers reach the Pacific
Coast? _2._ What demand did the increasing population in the West
bring? _3._ What was the name of the first railway across the
mountains to the Pacific coast? _4._ How many railways cross the
mountains to-day? _5._ What did the railways bring about? _6._ How
did this affect the Indians? _7._ How did the government aid the
farmers in the dry areas? _8._ What happened in California when the
free gold deposits gave out? _9._ What great cities grew up along
the Pacific coast? _10._ What was happening in the plains east of
the Rockies? _11._ What first brought home to Americans the urgent
need of a canal across the Isthmus? _12._ Who began a canal at
Panama? _13._ Why did the French not succeed? _14._ Who was put in
charge of the work of the Americans? _15._ Where did Goethals study
engineering? _16._ In what war did he serve? _17._ When was the
Canal completed? _18._ How was the event celebrated?
=Suggested Readings.= Wright, _Children's Stories of American
Progress_, 268-298; Brooks, _The Story of Cotton_ and _The Story of
Corn_; Nida, _Panama and Its "Bridge of Water,"_ 63-187.