Wild West

Henry Comstock (Lode)

Canadian miner who founded the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada which was the richest silver mine.

Jesse Chisholm (Trail)

Famous cattle trail (from Tx to midwest).

Wyatt Earp

Famous marshall in the west who served in Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone.

Sitting Bull

Leader of the Hunkpapa lakota tribe known for his resistance against US gov't policies that regarded land cessions and reservations. Fought in Battle of little bighorn and defeated Custer's 7th cavalry.

Black Kettle

Leader of the Cheyenne.

William F Cody (Show)

Buffalo Bill; created a show that advertised the wild west and its aspects especially 'cowboys.'

George A Custer

Lost Little Big Horn.

Sand Creek Massacre

Where: Colorado; What: Cheyenne and Arapaho; NA leader: Black Kettle; American Commander: Chivington; NA were massacred who were on their way to a reservation.

Battle/Massacre at Wounded Knee

Where: South Dakota; What: Lakota; NA leader: Black Coyote; American: Colonel James Forsythe & Spotted Elk; Ghost dance to bring back bison that had disappeared.

Treaty of Fort Laramie

Established the great sioux reservation, including the black hills, as the exclusive territory of the sioux nation. Broken because white settlers wanted more land.

Homestead Act

Gov't offers free land; Settlers moved on to the Great Plains Region.

Dawes Act

Provided each NA Family w/ 160 acres of farming land and 320 of grazing land; AKA allotment act; Failed: the NA way of life rejected the idea so the US gov't gave all that land away.

Pacific Railway Act

Gov't gives land to railroad companies to offset costs.

Morrill Act

States sell land (create agricultural colleges).

Mining (Placer vs Hydraulic vs Hardrock/Quartz)

Placer: shallow deposits (cheap); Only on the surface; Hydraulic: wash earth away (costs more); High powered water tools; Quartz: deep mining shafts (big business investments).

Long Drive

The west had more room for railroads.

Longhorn & Maverick

Texas longhorns provided a lot of meat during the cattle bonanza; Mavericks were unmarked cattle.

Brand

How ranch owners distinguished their cattle for other farmers'.

Sodbuster

Farms that grew mostly wheat.

Assimilation

Educate children.

Boomtowns

Places where the population increased because of the discovery of gold, silver, etc. Examples include Virginia City, Nevada; Deadwood, South Dakota; Leadsville, Colorado; Tombstone, Arizona; Silver City, Idaho.

Towns full of gold, silver, tin, & copper

Infamous for being lawless

Vigilante justice

Chaos led to vigilante justice and Marshall Earp

Railroads

Allowed the transportation of crops and other goods; made life in the west profitable and livable

Native American land exploitation

Native American land was exploited for gold

Ghost Dance

NA would do the Ghost Dance as a ritual to get rid of white people and bring back their buffalo

1871 treaty system end

In 1871 the gov't ended the treaty system that benefited the NA and their land

Dawes Act

The lands set aside for the NA were given to individual families instead of tribes

Assimilation of Native Americans

Indian children were taken from their families and 'taught' to be civilized

Carlisle PA

Most famous school for the assimilation of Native Americans

Mining Madness

Discovery of gold was in 1849

Economic growth from settlement

Settlement led to economic growth in other industries such as railroads, saloons, hotels, food, etc.

Mining Law of 1866

Rights to stake claims to extract gold, silver, cinnabar (mercury), and copper.

General Mining Act of 1872

Set the price for land at $5 per acre and $2.50 for additional land.

Preemption Act

Allowed squatters that lived on land owned by the federal government to purchase 160 acres of land for a really low price.

Rowdy Ranching

The west being settled filled a lot of demand for meat as the east needed it and would pay top dollar for it.

Cowtowns

Popular towns that developed as cattle were driven to railroads for shipping.

Bonanza

Creates a surplus which lowers the price due to competition.

Weather impact on cattle

Weather killed off cattle during 1886-87.

Barbed wire

Used during range wars between ranchers and farmers to prevent animals from trampling crops.

The Real McCoy

A livestock trader from Chicago who built a hotel, stockyard, office, and bank to connect cattle trails to the railroads.

Long drives end

Competition, bad weather, farming, and extension of railroads ended long drives.

Problems Farmers faced in the west

Farmers faced debt from buying expensive machinery, rising costs in shipping grains, droughts, and flat land in tornado valley.

New Technology - Barbed wire

Prevented animals from trampling crops and wandering off.

New Technology - Reaper

Saved crops from inclement weather.

New Technology - Steel plow

Made planting more efficient in root-filled soil.

New Technology - Steel windmill

Prevented crop dehydration.

Native Americans

Lived nomadic lifestyles and faced conflicts with the Sioux, Lakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Nez Perce.

Treaty of Fort Laramie

Was broken, leading to conflicts with Native American tribes.

Little Big Horn

A battle where Custer and the US Army lost against the Cheyenne and Sioux, known as 'Custer's last stand.'

Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse

Leaders of the Cheyenne and Sioux during the Little Big Horn battle.