Kurzfuehrer_Abt_1_5 1..21 - Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte

8 n Westwards
When the emigrants arrived the American
continent was home to numerous Indian
tribes, and much of it Ÿ by European standards
Ÿ was made up of uncultivated wilderness.
As the immigrants gradually moved
westwards, this wilderness was duly
cultivated Ÿ and the local Indian populations
were usually forcibly expelled or enslaved.
The settlers were helped in their
progress westwards not only by their fierce
determination to survive, but also by
new technology: ever more accurate rifles,
and also the rapid construction of a
railroad network. In 1829 the first stretch
of rail was opened in Maryland between
Baltimore and Ellicot Mills; by 1840 the
track was already 4,500 kilometres long,
and on May 10, 1869 the two huge lines
from the East and West Coasts Ÿ the
Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads
Ÿ finally met up at Promontory in
Utah.
n Um das Pulver für die Steinschlossgewehre trocken zu halten, verwendete man dicht schließende Behältnisse,
die z. B. aus Kuh-Hörnern gefertigt wurden. Auf dem kunstvoll verzierten Horn von Jacob Miller ist in erstaunlich
korrekter Darstellung das Gebiet nordwestlich von New York hinüber zum Ontario-See und hinauf bis Montreal am
St. Lorenzstrom abgebildet.
n Tightly sealed containers made from items such as cow horns were used to keep powder dry for Kentucky rifles.
Powder horn with engraved map, 1760 (Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Foto Jean Christen)
29