US History: Topic 1

Sand Creek massacre

1864 incident in which Colorado militia killed a camp of unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians

Sitting Bull

Sioux chief respected as a fighter and spiritual leader

Battle of the Little Big Horn

1876 battle in which the Sioux defeated U.S. troops led by Colonel George Custer

Chief Joseph

leader of Nez Perces who surrendered after trying to lead a group of Indian refugees to Canada

Wounded Knee

1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and the Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance in the Ghost Dance War

assimilate

to adopt the culture and civilization of the dominant group in a society

Dawes General Allotment Act

1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots

vigilante

self-appointed law enforcer

transcontinental railroad

rail link between the Easter and western United States

land grant

land given by the federal government for building railroads

open-range system

in which ranchers did not fence their property, allowing cattle to roam and graze freely

homestead act

1862 law in which the government offered farm plots of 160 acres to anyone willing to live on the land for five years, dig a well, and build a road

exodusters

african Americans who migrated from the south to the west after the civil war