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The west went through a lot of economical changes throughout half a century that left many impacts in our lives today. There were many people and events that changed the west but three main ideas that I’d like to mention which influenced the West’s development are miners, cattlemen and farmers. All three of these social groups left an impact on the land and the development of the western region. From the 1850’s to 1900, these three groups were vital to the western region. The west gave new opportunities to settlers and Native Americans as well new land for living and animals for food and other valuable items. In 1858, committed miners traveled west, onto the Rockies, when they heard that gold had been discovered. Other groups, such as the “Fifty-niners” spread into Nevada, where they mined gold and silver which was worth almost 350 million dollars. Big ore-breaking machinery was brought over to crush the gold-bearing quartz. This procedure was very expensive and was often only pe