westward expansion

great plains

grasslands extending through west-central portion of the U.S.

Treaty of Fort Laramie

where Sioux agree to live on a reservation along the Missouri River

Sitting Bull

rejected the treaty and continued using traditional hunting grounds

George A. Custer

colonel in the U.S. Army who attempted to enforce the Treaty of Fort Laramie but was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn

Dawes Act

a law passed to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up reservations into family sized farms

Battle of Wounded Knee

slaughter of unarmed Sioux by the U.S. Army that marked the official end of the Indian Wars

Longhorns

cows which were accustomed to living off of dry grasslands of Spain

Vaqueros

ranchers from Mexico who heavily influenced cowboy clothes, foods, vocab

long drive

the overland transportation of animals which lasted for months

manifest destiny

the idea that the U.S. was destined to rule from the East Coast to the West Coast

transcontinental railroad

trains that connected the East Coast to the West allowed for more settlers west

homestead act

offered 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to live on the Great Plains for 5 years

exodusters

African Americans who moved from the Jim Crow south under the Homestead Act

soddy

freestanding houses made from stacking prairie dirt

closing of the frontier

end of widespread land in the west for settlement