Answer:
Mining is important to the settlement of the West, as it was the reason why people even moved.
The west had very little to provide to any human, and few moved to the west, those usually having a religious issue, or are wanted. However, with the discovery of precious metal, such as gold, it drew a lot of gold prospectors, who wanted to try to strike it rich quickly. This led to large amounts of people moving to the west, generally bringing equipment to find the gold with, or mining equipment. Mining became a large business in the west because of the amount of miners left over from the gold rushes. Those who failed to strike it rich typically stayed over in the west, and led to a expanding population of people who stayed.
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