During the Civil War the Federal Government could spare few soldiers to station in the West. With Federal resources focused on waging the war farther east, both native tribes and the Confederacy attempted to claim lands west of the Mississippi. The Federal government's response included The Homestead Act and the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The goal was to encourage settlement, solidify Union control of the trans-Mississippi West (territory west of the Mississippi River), and further marginalize (lessen) the physical and cultural presence of tribes native to the West. Write a topic sentence for the paragraph above.