American West Dates

Indian Removal Act ~ forces 46,000 Indians in Eastern states to move west of the Mississippi River

1830

The Pinkerton Detective Agency were founded

1850

Sitting Bull was forced to return from Canada + surrender due to food shortages

1881

Indian Trade and Intercourse Act ~ sets out permanent Indian frontier between USA and Indian territory

1834

US victory in the Mexican-American war

1848

Indian Appropriations Act ~ reservations set up in modern day Oklahoma

1851

Jedediah Smith shared discovery of South Pass through the Rocky Mountains

1825

The 1st migrants to travel the Oregon Trail arrived at their destination

1836

Financial crisis caused economic depression

1837

Government-funded expedition mapped the Oregon Trail + published guide books

1841

Gold discovered in the Rocky Mountains

1858 - 1859

General George Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills

1874

Boom years

1830s

Gold discovered in California

1848

Hundreds of thousands migrated to California

1849

Only 5,000 people used the trail to California

1836 - 1846

Famine in China meant 20,000 Chinese people migrated to California

1852

300,000 had migrated to California (total)

1855

The Donner Party left Missouri for California with 60 wagons + 300 people

May 1846

Rescue parties found the 45 surviving members of the Donner Party

January 1847

Book of Mormon

1830

Mormons in New York

1823 - 1831

Mormons in Kirtland, Ohio

1831 - 1837

Mormons in Independence, Missouri

1837 - 1838

Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois

1838 - 1846

Joseph Smith killed

1844

Brigham Young lead the Mormons to Utah

1847

70,000 Mormons followed the “Mormon Trail”

1847 - 1869

Fort Laramie Treaty

1851

San Francisco had grown from 1,000 to 25,000 people

1849

Gangs had formed in San Francisco, which set up a vigilance committee in response

1851

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854

American Civil War

1861 - 1865

Lincoln freed the slaves

1863

Homestead Act

1862

Over 6 million acres of federal land homesteaded by the Homestead Act

1876

End of the Homestead Act (over 80 million acres homesteaded total)

1930s

Southern states temporarily left the Union

1861

Pacific Railroad Act

1862

1st Transcontinental Railroad completed at Promontory Point

1869

Joseph Glidden invented barbed wire

1874

Timber Culture Act

1873

Desert Land Act

1877

The Southern Confederacy surrendered to the Union

9th April 1865

Quarantine laws block Texan cattle from Missouri cattle

1855

Quarantine laws block Texan cattle from Kansan cattle

1859

Texans fight for Confederacy and herd run wild

1861 - 1865

Beef in high demand in northern towns + cities, but drives to Sedalia blocked by Texas Fever

1861 - 1865

5 million cows were running wild

1865

Railroad reaches Abilene, in Kansas ~ Joseph McCoy sets up the first cow town + 35,000 cows are driven up to Abilene

1867

“Beef bonanza”

1870s

The Goodnight-Loving Trail reached Fort Sumner and 800 cows were sold for $12,000

1866

Goodnight’s trail extended up to Colorado + Wyoming, to the Union Pacific Railroad

1868

Denver, Colorado was joined to the Union Pacific Railroad

1870

John Iliff began ranching near Denver

1866

Iliff had a herd of 26,000 cattle on a ranch stretching over 16,000 acres

1870

There were 130,000 cattle in the West

1860

There were 4.5 million cattle in the West

1880

Gold Rush in the Rocky Mountains

1859

Fort Wise Treaty ~ due to discovery of gold in Rocky Mountains, Cheyenne + Arapaho give traditional hunting ground to gov. in return for $30,000 a year

1861

Sand Creek Massacre

1864

Gold Rush in Montana

1863

Red Cloud’s War

1866 - 1868

2nd Fort Laramie Treaty

1868

President Grant’s Peace Policy

1868

Little Crow’s War

1862

Santee Sioux crops failed due to cutworms + government annuity didn’t arrive

1861

Little Crow attacked the agency running his reservation in Minnesota

August 1862

Most Santee Sioux had surrendered or been captures

October 1862

Colonel Chivington lead a dawn raid on Sand Creek

29th November 1864

The government opened talks with Red Cloud

1866

Fetterman and 80 men were massacred by the Lakota Sioux

December 1866

303 Santee Sioux had been sentenced to death by General Sibley

5th November 1862

38 Santee Sioux were executed, 3 of whom were innocent due to mistaken identity

December 1862

The self-regulating windmill was developed

1854

Powerful wind pumps had been developed that didn’t need constant repairing or oiling (by this year)

1880s

A coating had been applied to barbed wire that made it stronger + techniques had made it cheaper (by this year)

1880s

Drought lead to less grass for cattle grazing

1883

Over 15% of cattle died due to the temperatures and snow

1886 - 1887

A rumour spread that the federal government had given Kansas to ex-slaves, triggering the movement of 40,000 from the South to Kansas/other western states

1879

Mass migration ended but 43,000 had already settled in Kansas

1880

The government opened 2 million acres of the middle section of Indian territory in Oklahoma

22nd April 1889

The last Oklahoma land rush, with 88,000 acres opened

1895

The largest Oklahoma land rush, with 8 million acres opened

1893

Billy the Kid became involved in the Lincoln County War between cattle baron John Chisum + smaller ranchers

1878

Billy the Kid was shot by Pat Garret

1881

Wyatt Earp had moved to the mining town of Tombstone

1879

Rich businessmen hired Earp to end the fight vs. McLaurys and Clantons

1880

Earp + his brother killed 2 McLaurys and 1 Clanton at the OK Corral

26th October 1881

Earp + his brothers left Tombstone

1882

Only 9,000 US citizens lived in Wyoming

1870s

10,000 acres of Wyoming had been homesteaded + barbed wire was a big problem for ranchers

1884

Bothwell + his men hanged Ella Watson + Jim Averill

July 1889

The invaders of the Johnson County War were surrounded after being held up by Nate Champion

9th April 1892

The Sioux were given 60 days to return to their reservation

December 1875

Sitting Bull + Crazy Horse defeated General Crook at the Rosebud River

17th June 1876

General George Custer attacked the Indian camp at the Little Big Horn + was badly defeated

25th June 1876

Sioux rations were cut + a drought meant their crops failed when the Ghost Dance reached them

1890

A Paiute holy man named Wovoka had a vision that the Ghost Dance could help the Great Spirit bring back the dead + the buffalo herds and send a great flood to get rid of whites

1st January 1189

Snow + pneumonia slowed down Big Foot’s band + the army caught them

28th December 1890