黄金和土地，促使大量的的人涌向西部

1865年美国内战结束后不久，数以千计的美国人开始涌向西部寻找土地，这次大规模的西迁运动持续了近四十年。原本广袤而又荒无人烟的西部很快就成了人们向往之地。金矿的发现已经让人们大量地涌向加利福尼亚，本周，我们就向你讲述美国西部的淘金潮和在西部定居中占有重要地位的美国西部牛仔们的故事。

人们怀着发财致富的梦想涌向金矿，然而，没有几个人发现了金矿，大多数人只发现了艰苦的工作和高昂的物价，当他们身上所携带的钱花没了的时候，他们放弃了继续寻找黄金的梦想，但他们留在加利福尼亚，成为当地的农民、生意人和劳工。也有一些人没有放弃发财致富的梦想，他们掉头向东，在加利福尼亚和密西西比河之间的荒野之地寻找黄金和白银。他们在内华达地区找到了黄金和白银，随后又在爱达荷和蒙大纳地区也发现了黄金和白银。还有一些人在亚利桑那、科罗拉多和达科他地区发现了黄金。

每一次新的淘金潮出现时，都会将大量的人从东部带到西部，于是许多采矿的营地也就迅速发展成为了拥有商店、旅店甚至还有报纸的城镇。然而，绝大多数这样的城镇都因金矿的发现而兴起，因金矿的消失而消失。在一些金矿的中心地区，大型的金矿公司把金矿所在地的土地都从最早声称拥有该地的人的手里买了下来。这些大公司带来了采矿机器，这些采矿机器能够在地下很深的地方进行采矿，并能对矿石进行分选。这些大公司需要大量的装备和配件，于是运输公司也就随之而生了，他们把矿业公司所需要的装备和配件通过大型马车缓慢地运来，于是道路也就随之而建，甚至在一些地方铁路也就随之而建。

从金、银矿中获得大量的财富通常又投资到其他行业，如航运业、铁路业、工厂、商店和土地，因而西部创造了大量的就业岗位，而且西部的生活条件也大为改善，所以，越来越多的人决定离开拥挤的东部而到西部开始新生活。但东部的大城市继续发展，新工厂和工业中心在建，大量的农民离开农场涌向了城市寻找工作。

这些大工业中心的快速发展，引起了对食品，特别是对肉产品的需求，因此，芝加哥也就成为了肉制品的加工中心。通过铁路，将各地的动物运到芝加哥，芝加哥的肉制品公司将肉切割、分装，再运往东部市场去销售。特别是由于火车箱能够使肉制品保持低温，因此，这些肉就是到了市场，也仍然是新鲜的。而且，随着肉品工业的快速发展，对新鲜肉的需求也在快速增长，对牛肉的需求越来越大。

在德克萨斯有数百万头牛，但没有路能够让这些牛运往东部的市场，最近的火车站是在密苏里州的锡代利亚（Sedalia），也有一千多公里。有些德克萨斯的养牛户认为，利用沿路广阔的草地喂养牛，这样一路赶着牛步行到火车站，也许是可能的。在1866年初，一伙德克萨斯养牛户决定一试，他们赶着206000头牛出发到锡代利亚。

在这首次迁牛中，面临着许多问题：农村很荒凉；草地和水有时很难找到；有些地方的农场主将他们的农场用栅栏围起，阻碍了前进的道路；许多牛一路上会走丢。但养牛户们相信，他们能够将牛赶到遥远的火车站，他们认为能够找到一条有大量草地和水的道路通往火车站。

在1866年铁路建设期间，联合太平洋铁路公司已经在内布拉斯加绘制铁路线地图。

这些养牛户们要到堪萨斯，太平洋铁路公司已经将他们的铁路线向西到堪萨斯的阿比林（Abilene）。从德克萨斯到阿比林有一条小路很好走，于是养牛户们就沿着这条小路赶着他们的牛群穿过俄克拉荷马进入堪萨斯州。在阿比林，这些牛被运上火车送往芝加哥。在此后的四年中，有一百五十多万头牛通过奇泽姆小路进入堪萨斯。当铁路越来越伸向西部时，其他一些小路也相继找到。

这样的迁牛一般都从春天开始。养牛户们派出牛仔为他们的牛寻找开阔的草场，当牛带到这开阔的草场里，他们在年幼的牛身上打上标志，这样的标志标明这牛归谁所有，然后，将这些年幼的牛和它们的母亲一起放开，在广阔的乡村放牧一年，其他牛则集中起来沿着小路赶往堪萨斯。通常他们以2500头至5000头牛为一群往前赶，有12至20名牛仔负责将这些牛赶往目的地。

这些牛仔的工作是非常辛苦的，他们必须要确保牛群日夜不受坏人或印第安人的侵扰，必须让牛不能走得太快或者让牛跑起来，如果牛走得太快，那么牛的体重就会下降，这样的话，牛群的主人就不会给这些牛仔更多的报酬。牛仔们赶着这些牛每天只能走二、三十公里，如果遇到好草地，牛走的速度就会更慢，好让牛多吃、吃得更饱，从而增加牛的体重，收益也就更多。

在十九世纪八十年代初，每头牛的价格上涨到五十美元，因而许多养牛户都发了。养牛的生意是如此之好，投入5000美元，在四年内就能挣得45000美元。于是越来越多的人开始养牛了，而且养牛户们养牛的规模也越来越大了。在短短几年内，已经没有足够多的草地来养这些牛了，特别是前往火车站沿路的草地就更少了。昂贵的肉价也开始下跌了。

有两年的冬天异常寒冷，导致数十万头牛死亡，有一年夏天特别干旱，草地无法生长，数以千计的牛被饿死，整个养牛业也到了崩溃的边缘。养牛户还与农民和养羊户发生冲突。来到西部的农民声称对那些喂养牛的草地拥有所有权，他们要把土地围起来了，进行耕种。其他一些定居者则养羊，与养牛的人争夺草地，而在牛与羊争夺草地过程中，通常赢的都是羊，因为当羊吃草时，牛就不吃草。于是暴力也就随之发生了。养牛户为了控制土地而与农民和养羊户发生争斗，结果，养牛户不得不为他们自己确定土地，并围起来，同时，也将他们的大牛群分为小牛群，他们再也不能让他们的牛在公共土地上随意放牧了。

到十九世纪后期，牛仔的岁月结束了，但牛仔们的故事和他们艰苦的生活却无法忘记，即使在今天，我们依然会在电影、电视和书本上看到他们的身影。当一个人想起美国的“荒野西部”时，他可能不会想到打开通往西部之路的矿工们，也可能不会想到为修建横贯美国东西铁路的工人们，也可能不会想到那些不断围起他们的土地，并进而耕种，从而缓慢向西部推进的农民。

而“荒野西部”这个词带给我们的只能是一个标志，那就是牛仔。他们为保护牛群而进行艰苦战斗的故事总是让人激动万分。他们的故事由许多作家所描绘，也许其中最xx的是一位年轻的东方人，他叫欧文.威斯特（Owen Wister），他养了几年牛，后来他在一本名叫《维吉尼亚人》（《The Virginian》）中描写了牛仔的英雄事迹。另一位东方人，他来到了西部是为了了解牛仔们的生活，他是画家弗雷德里克.雷明顿（Frederick Remington）。雷明顿当了两年的牛仔，但他此后的一生都在创作以西部为题材的绘画和写作，他那激动人心的作品使美国西部和牛仔进入从来没有看到过真正牛仔的数百万现代人的生活中。

牛仔们的故事还活跃在音乐中，在歌曲中有牛仔们自己的歌曲，这些歌曲表现了牛仔们面临的问题、希望和他们的感觉。欲知后事如何，请看下周分解。

简评：

什么是经济规律？在经济学家们的口中和笔下，似乎很深奥，其实，如果你看了此篇文章，也许你就能对什么是经济规律有了一个大致的了解。

所谓的经济规律就是一切经济活动，以市场为导向，市场需要什么，人们就生产什么。因为人都是自私的，人所做的一切都是为了利益，如何能够获得{zd0}利益，干什么能够获得{zd0}利益，这是每个人所思考的。正因为如此，整个市场活动才能更好地配置社会各种资源，达到{zd0}的经济效益。

为了土地、为了黄金、为了发财，人们不惜一切从东部向西部迁移，于是，道路也就随之而建了，于是城镇也就兴盛起来了，于是各种为开矿、修路服务的其他行业也就随之产生了，于是人就越来越多了，于是吃的需求也就越来越多了，于是其他的其他，也就不断地涌现，于是经济就这样迅速地发展了。

在这里，我们没有看到政府在做什么，既没有计划，也没有规范，更没有制度。都由市场说了算，有利则干，无利则废。很自然。在市场竞争中，逐渐出现了能够让大家都可以发展的秩序、规范和制度。也就是说，先有市场，后有制度。只有如此，才能获得{zd0}的经济利益。美国的西部就是这样被开发的，就是这样得到快速发展的。而其所用的时间，也不过几十年而已。

于是我就想到了我们的计划和规划。我们的政府一直在做规划和计划，这种规划和计划，不是政府本身工作的规划和计划，而是整个国民经济的规划和计划。政府一直在对经济发展起着主导作用，我们的经济发展一直由政府有牵动，而不是由市场在引导。尽管我们说，我们是社会主义市场经济，然而，现在所做的一切，与真正的市场经济，相距是越来越远。历史已经告诉我们，规划和计划，是不可能解决经济问题的，我们为此已经吞了苦果，然而，我们现在所做的一切，不知不觉正向原先的老路上前进。现在新一轮的规划正在全国各地编制，而且这样的规划已经越来越细，甚至已经赶上了计划。真不知这样的规划，对我国的经济发展是利还是什么。

Gold, Land Drive Settlers West　　

Soon after the Civil War ended in eighteen sixty-five, thousands of Americans began to move west to settle the land. The great movement of settlers continued for almost forty years. The great empty West, in time, became fully settled. The discovery of gold had already started a great movement to California.　This week in our series, we tell about the gold rush and the important part cowboys played in settling the West.　

Men had rushed to the gold fields with hopes of becoming rich. A few found gold. The others found only hard work and high prices.　When their money was gone, they gave up the search for gold. But they stayed in California to become farmers or businessmen or laborers.　Some never gave up the search for riches. They moved back toward the east, searching for gold and silver in the wild country between California and the Mississippi river. Men found gold and silver in Nevada, and then in the Idaho and Montana territories. Other gold strikes were made in the Arizona territory, in Colorado and in the Dakota territory.　　

Each new gold rush brought more people from the east. Mining camps quickly grew into towns with stores, hotels, even newspapers. Most of these towns, however, lived only as long as gold was easy to find. Then they began to die.　In some of the gold centers, big mining companies bought up all the land from those who first claimed it. These companies brought in mining machines that could dig out the gold from deep underground and separate it from the rock that held it.　These companies needed equipment and other supplies. Transportation companies were formed. They carried supplies to the mining camps in huge wagon trains pulled by slow-moving oxen. Roads were built, and in some places, railroads.　

The great wealth taken from the gold and silver mines was usually invested in other businesses: shipping, railroads, factories, stores, land companies. More jobs were created in the West. And living conditions got better. More and more people decided to leave the crowded East for a new life in the West.　But the big eastern cities continued to grow. New factories and industrial centers were built. People moved from the farms to find work in the cities.　

The growth of these industrial centers created a big demand for food, especially meat. Chicago quickly became the heart of the meat industry. Railroads brought animals to Chicago, where packing companies killed them and prepared the meat for eastern markets.　Special railroad cars kept the meat cold, so it would remain fresh until sold. As the meat industry grew, the demand for fresh meat increased. More and more cattle were needed.　

There were millions of cattle in Texas, but no way to get them to the eastern markets. The closest point on the railroad was Sedalia, Missouri, more than one thousand kilometers away. Some cattlemen believed it might be possible to walk cattle to the railroad, letting them feed on the open grassland along the way.　Early in eighteen sixty-six, a group of Texas cattlemen decided to try this. They put together a huge herd of more than two hundred sixty-thousand cattle and set out for Sedalia.　

There were many problems on that first cattle drive. The country was rough; grass and water sometimes hard to find. Bandits and Indians followed the herd trying to steal cattle. Farmers had put up fences in some areas, blocking the way.　Most of the great herd was lost along the way. But the cattlemen believed they had proved that cattle could be walked long distances to the railroad. They believed a better way to the railroad could be found, with plenty of grass and water.　

archives.gov

Union Pacific Railroad officials have their picture taken in Nebraska Territory, 1866, during railway construction　

The cattlemen got the Kansas Pacific Railroad to extend its line west to Abilene, Kansas. There was a good trail from Texas to Abilene. Cattlemen began moving their herds up this trail across the Oklahoma territory and into Kansas. At Abilene, the cattle were put on trains and carried to Chicago.　In the next four years, more than one-and-a-half-million cattle were moved north over the Chisholm trail to Kansas. Other trails were found as the railroad moved farther west.　

Trail drives usually began with the spring "round-up."Cattlemen would send out cowboys to search the open grasslands for their animals.　As the cattle were brought in, the young animals were branded -- marked to show who owned them. Then they were released with their mothers to spend another year in the open country.　The other cattle were put together for the long drive to Kansas. Usually, they were moved in groups of twenty-five hundred to five thousand animals. Twelve to twenty cowboys took them up the trail.　

The cowboys worked hard on a trail drive. They had to keep the herd together day and night and protect it from bad men and Indians. They had to keep the cattle from moving too fast or running away. If they moved too fast, they would lose weight, and their owner would not get as much money for them.　The cowboys would walk the cattle only twenty to thirty kilometers a day. The cattle could feed all night and part of the morning before starting each day. If the grass was good, and the herd moved slowly, the cattle would get heavier and bring more money.　

In the early eighteen eighties, the price of cattle rose to fifty dollars each, and many cattlemen became rich. Business was so good that a five thousand dollar investment in the cattle industry could make forty-five thousand dollars in four years.　More and more people began raising cattle. And early cattlemen greatly increased the size of their herds. Within a few years, there was not enough grass for all the cattle, especially along the trails. There was so much meat that the price began to fall.　

There were two severe winters that killed hundreds of thousands of cattle. An extremely dry summer killed the grass, and thousands more died of hunger. The cattle industry itself almost died.　Cattlemen also had problems with farmers and sheepmen. Farmers coming west would claim grassland used by the cattle growers. They would put up fences and plow up the land to plant crops. Other settlers brought huge herds of sheep to compete with cattle for the grass, and the sheep always won. Cattle would not eat grass where sheep had eaten.　Violence broke out. Cattle growers fought the farmers and sheepmen for control of the land. The cattlemen finally had to settle land of their own, putting up fences and cutting the size of their herds. They no longer could let their cattle run free on public lands.　

By the late eighteen hundreds, the years of the cowboys were ending. But the story of the cowboy and his difficult life would not be forgotten. Even today, the cowboy lives in movies, on television, and in books.　When one thinks of the "Wild West" of America, he does not think of the miners who opened the way to the West. Nor does he think of the men who struggled to build the first railroads across the wild land. And one does not think of the farmers who pushed slowly westward to fence, plow, and plant the land.　

The words "Wild West" bring to mind just one character: the cowboy. His difficult fight to protect his cattle on the long trail was an exciting story. It has been told by many writers. Perhaps the best-known was a young easterner, Owen Wister. He worked as a cattleman for several years, then wrote about the heroic life of the cowboy in a book called "The Virginian."　Another easterner who came west to learn about the cowboy was the artist Frederick Remington. Remington was a cowboy for only two years. But he spent the rest of his life painting pictures of the west and writing about it. His exciting works made the west and the cowboy come to life for millions who never saw a real cowboy.　

The cowboy has also lived in music. He had his own kind of songs that told of his problems, his hopes, and his feelings. That will be our story next week.