Key Events in The Wild West and The Gilded Age

California Becomes a State

California entered as a free state in 1850.

Indian Appropriations Act

Law relocating Native Americans to reservations in 1851.

Pike's Peak Gold Rush

Gold discovery in Colorado attracted thousands in 1858.

Sand Creek Massacre

U.S. soldiers killed over 200 Cheyenne in 1864.

Cattle Industry

Cowboys herded cattle to railroads for beef sales.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California for gold in 1849.

Comstock Silver Load

Major silver discovery in Nevada in 1859.

Apache Uprising

Resistance by Apache against U.S. forces in 1860.

Homestead Act

160 acres of free land for settlers in 1862.

Dakota Uprising

Sioux rebellion due to unmet government promises in 1862.

Lakota Uprising

Native resistance during Red Cloud's War in 1866.

Battle of Little Bighorn

Sioux victory over Custer's troops in 1876.

Statehood for Dakotas and Montana

North and South Dakota, Montana became states in 1889.

Arizona and New Mexico Statehood

Last contiguous states joined the Union in 1912.

Charters for Corporations

States allowed formation of corporations in 1830s.

First Oil Well

First oil drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859.

Transcontinental Railroad

Completed in 1869, linking East and West coasts.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Banned Chinese immigration in 1882.

Sherman Antitrust Act

First law against monopolies passed in 1890.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Legalized segregation under 'separate but equal' in 1892.

Coal Strike of 1902

Miners demanded better conditions, Roosevelt intervened.

IWW Founded

Industrial Workers of the World established in 1905.

IWW Textile Strike

Massachusetts workers protested in 1912 for better wages.