CH 16 - THE CONQUEST OF THE FAR WEST (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 16: The Conquest of the Far West.

Buffalo

The bison of the Great Plains; essential food and material source for Plains Indians; nearly exterminated due to overhunting and expansion, undermining tribal economies and mobility.

Californios

Hispanic/Mexican-descended residents of California; large landholding elite whose status and lands declined after American annexation and new policies.

Long Drive

Overland cattle drives from Texas to railroad depots and markets, especially after Civil War; crucial to the cattle economy but dangerous and short-lived.

Cowboys

Cattle herders on the open range; drew on Mexican vaquero traditions; central to the cattle frontier and Western iconography.

Vaqueros

Mexican cattle-handlers whose methods and culture influenced American cowboys.

Barbed wire

Fence technology (Glidden, 1874) that fenced the open range, ending the era of open-range cattle drives and transforming ranching.

Commercial Agriculture

Market-oriented farming designed for sale and profit, often integrated with railroads and processing networks.

Cattle trails (Goodnight Loving, Western, Chisholm, Sedalia & Baxter Springs)

Routes used to drive cattle from Texas to railheads and markets; facilitated large-scale beef production.

Transcontinental RR

Rail link between Atlantic and Pacific coasts; built by Union Pacific and Central Pacific; completed 1869, spurring settlement, commerce, and time standardization.

Oklahoma Territory

Region opened to white settlement after removal policies; land runs began in 1889; later organized as Oklahoma Territory.

Frederick Jackson Turner

Historian who argued that the American frontier shaped democracy and character; frontier closed with the 1890 census.

Frederick Remington

Artist known for iconic depictions of the American West and frontier life.

Missions and their decline

Spanish missions in California aimed at conversion and control of Indigenous peoples; secularization and decline in the mid-19th century led to loss of mission lands.

Rocky Mountain School

Group of painters depicting the West and the Rocky Mountains in 19th-century American art.

Great American Desert

Term used to describe the arid Great Plains region that was historically viewed as unsuitable for traditional settlement.

Mining frontier

Westward expansion driven by mineral booms (gold, silver); created boomtowns, rapid growth, and environmental/social disruption.

Comstock Lode

Large silver ore deposit in Nevada (1859) that triggered major mining booms and economic development.

Chinatowns

Chinese immigrant urban enclaves on the West Coast and in other Western cities; centers of culture and commerce amid discrimination.

Anti-Chinese sentiment

Nativist hostility toward Chinese workers and communities linked to racial prejudice and labor competition.

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

Federal law prohibiting Chinese immigration for a period of years (renewed); first major U.S. restriction on immigration.

Coolies

Term used to describe Chinese indentured laborers; reflected labor exploitation and racial stereotyping.

Reservations

Tribal lands set aside by the U.S. government; basis for relocation, confinement, and later assimilation policies.

Indian wars

Series of armed conflicts between U.S. forces and Native American tribes during western expansion.

Wounded Knee

1890 massacre of Lakota by U.S. Army; symbolic end of the Indian Wars and a turning point in Native American policy.

Sitting Bull

Sioux leader who resisted U.S. encroachment; key figure at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Crazy Horse

Sioux war leader who played a major role at the Battle of the Little Bighorn; killed in 1877.

Geronimo

Apache leader who resisted Mexican and U.S. encroachment; surrendered in 1886, symbolizing Native resistance.

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce leader who attempted to lead his people to Canada in 1877; famous for his surrender speech.

George Custer

U.S. Army general who led troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn and was defeated and killed.

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 battle in Montana where Custer's forces were annihilated by Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho fighters.

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 attack by Colorado militia on Cheyenne and Arapaho, resulting in significant civilian deaths.

Taos Indian Rebellion

1847 uprising in Taos, New Mexico against American rule; quickly suppressed by U.S. forces.

genizarios (genizaros)

Indigenous or mixed-blood Southwest people who served as laborers and camp followers within Hispanic and later American society.

mestizos

People of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry common in the Southwest.

mulattos

People of mixed European and African ancestry.

Assimilationists

Advocates of integrating Native Americans into Euro-American society through schooling, land policies, and cultural change.

Dawes Severalty Act 1887

Law that divided tribal lands into individual allotments; aimed to promote assimilation and break up tribal landholding, often resulting in loss of tribal land.

Ghost Dance Movement

Spiritual revival movement among Plains Indians in the late 19th century; promised renewal and reversal of white dominance, culminating in the Wounded Knee event.

Indian Reorganization Act 1934

Policy reversing Dawes Act; promoted tribal self-government, cultural preservation, and restoration of some lands.

Concentration policy

U.S. policy to move tribes onto defined reservations and concentrate their lands, often to clear land for settlement.

Homestead Act 1862

Law granting 160 acres to settlers who improved and kept residence on the land for five years; spurred westward settlement.

Mark Twain

Author and humorist who wrote about the American West and frontier life; celebrated and critiqued Western society.

Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor

Nonfiction exposing U.S. government mistreatment of Native Americans; influential in reform debates.