#separator:tab #html:false #tags column:4 Manifest Destiny 1840s belief that the US was meant to spread across the continent us-westward-expansion Oregon Trail Overland route of about 2,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon, used by wagon trains us-westward-expansion Wagon train A group of covered wagons traveling west together us-westward-expansion Prairie schooner Nickname for a covered wagon us-westward-expansion Pioneers People who settled new lands ahead of others us-westward-expansion Independence, Missouri A common starting town for the Oregon Trail us-westward-expansion Santa Fe Trail Trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico us-westward-expansion Mormon Trail Route Brigham Young led members of the Latter-day Saints to Utah in 1847 us-westward-expansion Brigham Young Led the Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley us-westward-expansion Texas Revolution (1835-36) Texans fought to break away from Mexico us-westward-expansion The Alamo (1836) Mission in San Antonio where Texan defenders fell after a 13-day siege us-westward-expansion Sam Houston Led Texans to victory at San Jacinto and became president of the Republic of Texas us-westward-expansion Republic of Texas Independent nation from 1836 to 1845 us-westward-expansion Texas annexation (1845) Texas joined the United States as a state us-westward-expansion Mexican-American War (1846-48) War between the US and Mexico over Texas and western lands us-westward-expansion Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) Ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico gave up California, Nevada, Utah and more us-westward-expansion Mexican Cession Land the US received from Mexico in 1848 us-westward-expansion Gadsden Purchase (1853) US bought a strip of land from Mexico for a southern rail route us-westward-expansion Oregon Treaty (1846) Agreement with Britain that set the northwest border at the 49th parallel us-westward-expansion Gold Rush (1848-49) Gold found at Sutter's Mill in California drew about 300,000 people us-westward-expansion Forty-niners Gold seekers who came to California in 1849 us-westward-expansion James Marshall Found gold at Sutter's Mill in January 1848 us-westward-expansion Prospector A person who searches for valuable minerals us-westward-expansion Boomtown A town that grows suddenly, often near a gold or silver find us-westward-expansion Ghost town A town left empty after the mines or railroads moved on us-westward-expansion Comstock Lode Huge silver discovery in Nevada in 1859 us-westward-expansion Pony Express (1860-61) Rider relay that carried mail between Missouri and California in about ten days us-westward-expansion Telegraph Machine that sent messages by electric wire; it ended the Pony Express in 1861 us-westward-expansion Homestead Act (1862) Gave 160 acres free to settlers who farmed it for five years us-westward-expansion Homesteader A settler who claimed land under the Homestead Act us-westward-expansion Sod house Prairie home built of cut blocks of grass and soil us-westward-expansion Exodusters Black families who moved from the South to Kansas in the 1870s us-westward-expansion Transcontinental railroad Rail line across the US, completed in 1869 us-westward-expansion Promontory Summit, Utah Site where the two railroads joined in 1869 with a golden spike us-westward-expansion Union Pacific Railroad company that built west from Nebraska us-westward-expansion Central Pacific Railroad company that built east from California us-westward-expansion Chinese railroad workers Thousands of immigrants who did dangerous work building the Central Pacific us-westward-expansion Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) Law that banned most Chinese immigration for ten years, then longer us-westward-expansion Cattle drive Moving herds of cattle on foot to railroad towns us-westward-expansion Chisholm Trail Route cattle drovers used from Texas to Kansas us-westward-expansion Cowboy A worker who tends cattle on ranches and drives us-westward-expansion Vaquero Mexican horseback herder whose methods shaped cowboy life us-westward-expansion Buffalo (bison) Large grazing animal of the plains that Plains peoples depended on us-westward-expansion Great Plains Wide grassland region in the middle of North America us-westward-expansion Plains Indians Nations such as the Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche and Crow who lived on the Plains us-westward-expansion Lakota Sioux Plains nation of the northern plains and Black Hills us-westward-expansion Black Hills Lakota sacred lands; gold found there in 1874 led to conflict us-westward-expansion Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) Promised the Black Hills to the Lakota; later broken us-westward-expansion Sitting Bull Lakota leader who resisted giving up Plains lands us-westward-expansion Crazy Horse Lakota war leader who fought at Little Bighorn us-westward-expansion Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) Native warriors defeated Custer's troops in Montana us-westward-expansion George Custer US Army officer killed at Little Bighorn us-westward-expansion Wounded Knee (1890) Tragic killing of many Lakota people by US soldiers in South Dakota us-westward-expansion Reservation Land set aside by treaty or law for Native nations to live on us-westward-expansion Dawes Act (1887) Law that split reservation land into private plots, shrinking Native holdings us-westward-expansion Indian boarding schools Schools that took Native children from families to change their culture us-westward-expansion Chief Joseph Nez Perce leader who led a long retreat in 1877 and said he would fight no more forever us-westward-expansion Geronimo Apache leader who resisted US forces in the Southwest us-westward-expansion Cherokee removal Forced move of the Cherokee from their southeastern homes in the 1830s us-westward-expansion Donner Party California-bound pioneers trapped by winter snow in 1846-47 us-westward-expansion Whitman Mission Missionary settlement in Oregon Country involved in tragic conflict in 1847 us-westward-expansion Lewis and Clark Explorers of the Louisiana Purchase 1804-1806 who opened interest in the West us-westward-expansion Louisiana Purchase 1803 land deal from France that opened the West us-westward-expansion Frontier Edge of settled land, where few people lived us-westward-expansion Frederick Jackson Turner Historian who argued in 1893 that the frontier shaped American life us-westward-expansion Annie Oakley Sharpshooter famous in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show us-westward-expansion Buffalo Bill Cody Showman whose Wild West show toured the US and Europe us-westward-expansion Laura Ingalls Wilder Author of the Little House books about prairie childhood us-westward-expansion Mountain men Trappers who lived in the Rockies and traded furs us-westward-expansion Jim Bridger Mountain man and guide who knew the Rockies well us-westward-expansion Kit Carson Scout and guide in the West us-westward-expansion Rocky Mountains Mountain chain that wagon trains crossed through passes like South Pass us-westward-expansion South Pass Wide Rocky Mountain gap in Wyoming used by the Oregon Trail us-westward-expansion Fort Laramie Fort in Wyoming that served as a stop on the Oregon Trail us-westward-expansion Statehood for California (1850) California entered as a free state after the Gold Rush us-westward-expansion Utah Territory Settled by Mormon pioneers around Salt Lake City us-westward-expansion Land rush (1889) Settlers raced to claim free lands in Oklahoma us-westward-expansion Oklahoma Territory Opened to settlers by land runs beginning in 1889 us-westward-expansion Barbed wire Cheap fencing that let ranchers and farmers close off land in the 1870s us-westward-expansion Steel plow John Deere's plow that could cut through tough prairie sod us-westward-expansion Windmill Tool that pumped water for farms and ranches on dry plains us-westward-expansion