Why was the centrality of St. Louis important to the settlement of the western part of the United States? A)the location made possible the first Transcontinental Railroad
B)the location was a major regional center of the Cahokia Mounds
C)the location was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture
D)the location of three major rivers aided in transportation and settlement

Which answer choice best describes “panning” for gold? a.) miners ran iron pans along the rocks near streams. because gold is magnetic, any gold that was present in the rock would attract the pans. the miners would then pick away the surface of the rock to expose the gold. b.) miners ran water through a long, sloping wooden box called a “pan.” wooden bars across the bottom of the pan trapped any gold that was in the water. c.) miners went to places where stream currents slowed. they gathered rock from the stream bed into flat pans. any heavier gold particles would drop to the bottom of the pan. d.) after the most obvious gold had been taken, miners used a rock-crushing machine called the “pan” to search for gold on a large scale.