For example, corn on a large farm can produce eighteen hundred bushels of corn while a small farm would only produce three hundred bushels a season. The large farm makes six times the amount that the small farm does. The large farm can sell its corn locally for less than the smaller farms because it has more products to sell. So if the small farm sold its corn at two dollars for half a bushel in the local market, the large farm could sell its corn for one dollar. The small farm only makes twelve hundred dollars locally if it can sell all of its corn, while the large farm can make three thousand six hundred dollars if it can sell all of its corn locally. So now with the introduction of railroads the larger farm can start sending most of it's corn to a market further away, when the larger farm sells the corn for two dollars for a half bushel then there is less competition for the smaller farm locally. Now the local buyer is going to buy from the smaller farm, because the larger farm can handle the profit loss as it will make more money from a different market where corn is in more of a demand. So all in all from the railroads both the small and large farms benefit and make a good profit. 4
The railroad was very beneficial for many white farmers and ranchers but there was one group of peoples who were greatly negatively affected by the introduction of the railroad. These peoples were the Native American Indians of the Great Plains. The buffalo is a strong symbol and resource to the Indians because they based most of their ways of living off of the buffalo.5 The Plains Indians had evolved their cultures, and communities around the buffalo. These Indians had knowledge about using the whole buffalo and never wasting a bone or hair. These uses of the buffalo ranged from food and supplies to war and hunting improvements. For example, the hooves were boiled and used as glue. The hump of the buffalos back was very strong so the Indian used this part of the buffalo for making shields. Also the hides of the buffalo were used for making teepees. The buffalo were very