Chapter 12 key terms

joint occupation

the possession and settling of an area shared by two or more countries

mountain men

a frontiersmen living in the wilderness, as in the Rocky Mountains

rendezvous

a meeting

emigrant

a person who leaves a country or region to live elsewhere

Manifest Destiny

the idea popular in the United States during the 1800s that the country must expand its boundaries to the Pacific

Tejano

a Mexican who claims Texas as his home

empresario

a person who arranged for the settlement of land in Texas during the 1800s

decree

an order given by one in authority

annex

to add a territory to one’s own territory

rancho

huge properties for raising livestock set up by Mexican settlers in California

ranchero

Mexican ranch owner

Californios

Mexicans who lived in California

cede

to give up by treaty

forty-niners

people who went to California during the gold rush of 1849

boomtown

a community experiencing a sudden growth in business or population

vigilantes

people who take the law into their own hands