Final answer:
The statement is true; there were significant mining booms in the West that attracted thousands of prospectors and led to the development and later abandonment of many towns as ores were exhausted.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that thousands of people rushed west to cash in on the mining booms in places like Idaho, Montana, the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory, Arizona, and Colorado is indeed true. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 ignited a series of subsequent gold and silver rushes across the western United States. These events attracted thousands of miners in search of quick riches. The California Gold Rush of 1849, the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada, and other mining booms in places like Arizona and Montana not only led to a rapid influx of people looking to make their fortunes but also resulted in the creation of boom towns that often turned into ghost towns once the ores were exhausted. The push for wealth from precious metals and subsequent mining operations set the stage for the expansion of the United States territory and the Western Migration. Over time, as individual prospectors' opportunities vanished due to depletion of accessible minerals, larger businesses took over, bringing infrastructure, investment, and eventually a more stable, family-centric community life to these Western regions.