Outline & |
Key Points |
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People
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Buffalo Bill Cody Annie Oakley Joseph Smith Brigham Young |
Frank & Jesse James
The Dalton Gang ‘Billy the Kid’ ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok Wyatt Earp Doc Holiday |
Chief Red Cloud
Crazy Horse George A. Custer Sitting Bull Geronimo Chief Joseph |
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Events Geography Indian Tribes
California Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush Alaska Purchase Comstock Lode Laramie Treaty Transcontinental Railroad Gadsden Purchase |
Rockies & Sierra Mts.
Black Hills, SD Virginia City, NV Abilene, KS Dodge City, KS Tombstone, AZ Promontory Point, UT |
Sioux
Cheyenne Dakota Osage Nez Perce Comanche Omaha |
Terms
placer miner
hydraulic-mining hard-rock mining boom town ghost town cattle towns |
cowboys
long drive maverick open range longhorns barbed wire |
dime novels
vaudeville Pony Express Union Pacific Central Pacific time zones |
ghost dancing
assimilation Populism gold standard soddy Seward's Folly |
Timeline for Western Expansion
1767: Daniel Boone explores Kentucky for the first time.
1803: Louisiana Purchase - President Thomas Jefferson buys the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. This doubles the size of the United States and provides a large area to the west of the country for expansion.
1805: Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean - Explorers Lewis and Clark map out areas of the Louisiana Purchase and eventually reach the Pacific Ocean.
1830: Indian Removal Act -The Indian Removal Act grants President Andrew Jackson the funding and authority to remove the Indians residing east of the Mississippi River, a goal he pursues with great zeal. Congress passes a law to move Native Americans from the Southeast to the west of the Mississippi River.
1836: Battle of the Alamo - Mexican troops attack the Alamo Mission killing all but two Texans. This spurs the Texans on in the Texas Revolution.
1838: Trail of Tears - The Cherokee Nation is forced to march from the east coast to Oklahoma. Many thousands die along the way.
1841: Oregon Trail - People begin to travel west in wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. Around 300,000 people would take the trail over the next 20 years.
1845: Manifest Destiny - Journalist John O'Sullivan first uses the term "Manifest Destiny" to describe the westward expansion of the United States.
1845: Texas becomes a U.S. State - Congress Passes a Measure to Annex Texas after James K. Polk becomes President of the United States in January, Congress passes a measure approving annexation, trusting Polk to oversee Texas' admission more effectively than John Tyler would have.The United States officially claims Texas as a state, eventually leading to the Mexican-American War.
1846: Brigham Young leads 5,000 Mormons to Utah - After experiencing religious persecution, the Mormons move to Salt Lake City, Utah.
1846-1848: The Mexican-American War - A war fought over the rights to Texas. After the war, the United States paid Mexico $15 million for land that would later become California, Texas,Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of several other states.
1846: Oregon Treaty - England signs the Oregon Treaty handing over the Oregon Territory to the United States.
1848: Gold Rush begins - James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill. Soon word is out and people rush to California to strike it rich.
1849: Around 90,000 "Forty-niners" move to California to find gold.
1850: Compromise of 1850- California is Admitted to the Union Under the Compromise of 1850, engineered by Henry Clay, California is admitted to the Union as a free state.
1860: The Pony Express begins to deliver mail.
1861: The First Transcontinental Telegraph line is finished. The Pony Express shuts down.
1862: Pacific Railroad Act - The United States government agrees to help fund a railroad from California to Missouri.
1862: Homestead Act - The U.S. government offers up free land to farmers who agree to live on the land for five years and make improvements to the land. Many people rush to places like Oklahoma to claim their land.
1868: The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868)
was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota, and Arapaho Nation[1] signed at Fort Laramie in theWyoming Territory, guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War.
1869: The Transcontinental Railroad is completed - The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory, Utah and the railroad is completed.
1872: Yellowstone National Park is dedicated as the nation's first national park by President Ulysses S. Grant.
1874: Black Hills Gold - Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
1874: Barbed wire invented - Ranchers can now use barbed wire fences to keep their cattle from ranging free.
1876: Wild Bill Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota.
1876: Battle of Little Bighorn - An American Indian army composed of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapahoe defeat General Custer and the 7th Calvary.
1887: The Massacre at Wounded Knee After an excited Native American fires a rifle shot, US Army troops massacre 300 Indians, including seven children. The massacre is the symbolic final step in the war for the West, and after Wounded Knee the Indians succumb to the wishes of the federal government, resigning themselves to reservation life.
1887: The Dawes Severalty Act is Passed The Dawes Act calls for the breakup of the reservations and the treatment of Indians as individuals rather than tribes. It provides for the distribution of 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land to any Indian who accepted the act's terms, who would then become a US citizen in 25 years. The act is intended to help the Indians to integrate into white society, but in reality helps to create a class of federally dependent Indians.
1890: The U.S. Government announces that the Western lands have been explored.
1912: Arizona is Admitted to the Union Arizona, the last of the 48 contiguous United States, is admitted to the Union, completing the century-long process of conquering and organizing the American West.
1803: Louisiana Purchase - President Thomas Jefferson buys the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. This doubles the size of the United States and provides a large area to the west of the country for expansion.
1805: Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean - Explorers Lewis and Clark map out areas of the Louisiana Purchase and eventually reach the Pacific Ocean.
1830: Indian Removal Act -The Indian Removal Act grants President Andrew Jackson the funding and authority to remove the Indians residing east of the Mississippi River, a goal he pursues with great zeal. Congress passes a law to move Native Americans from the Southeast to the west of the Mississippi River.
1836: Battle of the Alamo - Mexican troops attack the Alamo Mission killing all but two Texans. This spurs the Texans on in the Texas Revolution.
1838: Trail of Tears - The Cherokee Nation is forced to march from the east coast to Oklahoma. Many thousands die along the way.
1841: Oregon Trail - People begin to travel west in wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. Around 300,000 people would take the trail over the next 20 years.
1845: Manifest Destiny - Journalist John O'Sullivan first uses the term "Manifest Destiny" to describe the westward expansion of the United States.
1845: Texas becomes a U.S. State - Congress Passes a Measure to Annex Texas after James K. Polk becomes President of the United States in January, Congress passes a measure approving annexation, trusting Polk to oversee Texas' admission more effectively than John Tyler would have.The United States officially claims Texas as a state, eventually leading to the Mexican-American War.
1846: Brigham Young leads 5,000 Mormons to Utah - After experiencing religious persecution, the Mormons move to Salt Lake City, Utah.
1846-1848: The Mexican-American War - A war fought over the rights to Texas. After the war, the United States paid Mexico $15 million for land that would later become California, Texas,Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of several other states.
1846: Oregon Treaty - England signs the Oregon Treaty handing over the Oregon Territory to the United States.
1848: Gold Rush begins - James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill. Soon word is out and people rush to California to strike it rich.
1849: Around 90,000 "Forty-niners" move to California to find gold.
1850: Compromise of 1850- California is Admitted to the Union Under the Compromise of 1850, engineered by Henry Clay, California is admitted to the Union as a free state.
1860: The Pony Express begins to deliver mail.
1861: The First Transcontinental Telegraph line is finished. The Pony Express shuts down.
1862: Pacific Railroad Act - The United States government agrees to help fund a railroad from California to Missouri.
1862: Homestead Act - The U.S. government offers up free land to farmers who agree to live on the land for five years and make improvements to the land. Many people rush to places like Oklahoma to claim their land.
1868: The Treaty of Fort Laramie (also called the Sioux Treaty of 1868)
was an agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota, and Arapaho Nation[1] signed at Fort Laramie in theWyoming Territory, guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War.
1869: The Transcontinental Railroad is completed - The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory, Utah and the railroad is completed.
1872: Yellowstone National Park is dedicated as the nation's first national park by President Ulysses S. Grant.
1874: Black Hills Gold - Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
1874: Barbed wire invented - Ranchers can now use barbed wire fences to keep their cattle from ranging free.
1876: Wild Bill Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota.
1876: Battle of Little Bighorn - An American Indian army composed of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapahoe defeat General Custer and the 7th Calvary.
1887: The Massacre at Wounded Knee After an excited Native American fires a rifle shot, US Army troops massacre 300 Indians, including seven children. The massacre is the symbolic final step in the war for the West, and after Wounded Knee the Indians succumb to the wishes of the federal government, resigning themselves to reservation life.
1887: The Dawes Severalty Act is Passed The Dawes Act calls for the breakup of the reservations and the treatment of Indians as individuals rather than tribes. It provides for the distribution of 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land to any Indian who accepted the act's terms, who would then become a US citizen in 25 years. The act is intended to help the Indians to integrate into white society, but in reality helps to create a class of federally dependent Indians.
1890: The U.S. Government announces that the Western lands have been explored.
1912: Arizona is Admitted to the Union Arizona, the last of the 48 contiguous United States, is admitted to the Union, completing the century-long process of conquering and organizing the American West.