Short answer
answer the following question in complete sentences.
8. why did ranchers kill their herds instead of selling them for food?

Answers:

Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act to aid in the construction of the railroad and the U.S. government through the congress awarded land and money to the two companies that built the railroad.

The U.S government play a great role in the building of the first transcontinental railroad by passing the Pacific Railway Act that authorized the construction of the railroad building.

In addition, the congress passed this act in 1862, which establishes the U.S federal government to give assistance through land grants and money, that helped companies finance the construction of the first transcontinental railroads that was completed on May 10, 1869.