Transforming the West (1863-1890) Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, legislation, and developments during the period of Transforming the West (1863-1890).

Vigilantes

Individuals who take law enforcement into their own hands in rapidly expanding towns, operating without specific outlines, codes, or laws that citizens can understand.

Wyatt Earp

A top cop and police marshal in Dodge City hired to keep peace as western towns grew and evolved.

Boomtown

A town that sprang up rapidly due to the gold rush, complete with schools and churches, which usually vanished once the gold dried up.

Surface mining

The act of mining the soil for goods, which was largely completed by the 1870s before big businesses took over using deep mine shafts and giant drills.

Central Pacific Company

A railroad company that built the transcontinental railroad moving eastward (left to right), relying heavily on recruits from China.

Union Pacific

A railroad company that built the transcontinental railroad moving westward (right to left), using mostly Irish immigrants to lay the foundations.

Eminent Domain

A legal authority where the government is allowed to take private property if it is needed.

Promontory, Utah

The location where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 with a ceremonial golden strike driven into the final rivet.

Open-range system

A system developed by Mexican farmers allowing cattle to roam freely across the plains in the winter for better grazing, using branding to identify stock.

Cowboy

A figure that grew out of the open-range system to comb hundreds of miles where cattle roamed and return them to the farmer.

Dodge City, Kansas

A famous railroad town where cattle drives ended, cowboys showcased skills in rodeos, and figures like Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and Jesse James spent time.

Homestead Act of 1862

An act passed by Congress providing land to settlers on the condition that they live on the land for 5 years, dig a well, and build a road.

Benjamin Singleton

A leader who organized former slaves, known as 'exodusters', seeking a new life on the Great Plains.

Exodusters

A group of former slaves who moved to the Great Plains seeking a new life, organized by Benjamin Singleton.

Steel plow

An invention created to make sod farming simpler for settlers facing the difficulties of Great Plains living.

Morrill Act

An act passed by Congress that allowed for the establishment of farming schools and colleges.