River valley civilization or river culture is an agricultural nation or civilization situated beside and drawing sustenance from a river. A "civilization" means a society with large permanent settlements featuring urban development, social stratification, specialization of labour, centralized organization, and written or other formal means of communication. A river gives the inhabitants a reliable source of water for drinking and agriculture. Additional benefits include fishing, fertile soil due to annual flooding, and ease of transportation. The first great civilizations, such as those in Mesopotamia and Egypt, all grew up in river
The history of the bonanza
farm started with the arrival of the railroad, as with the history of America’s
westward expansion. A group of entrepreneurs dreamed of building a railroad
across the northern territory to the Pacific Ocean during the mid-1860s. The
newly-formed Northern Pacific Railroad began construction with financing from
Jay Cooke and his banking institution, as well as the millions of acres in
government land grants. Entering present-day North Dakota., the NP has
traversed the Red River by 1872.
<span>The NP and the entire
country was in a financial panic since Jay Cooke went bankrupt a year later. The
NP allowed stockholders, who were holding deflated stock, to purchase huge
tracts of land at a cost comparable with land sold by the government, in order
to raise money that was needed to continue the railroads construction.</span>
The need for Canada to populate the land with people loyal to them and to have them send western resources east.
