Unit 2 History Test

Placer Mining

Placer Mining

Extracting minerals by hand using simple tools

Quartz Mining

Using tools to dig deep for minerals

Vigilance Committee

Law enforcement volunteers who tracked down criminals

Open Range

Vast grassland owned by the government

Long Drive

The movement of cattle north to rail lines

Chisholm Trail

Popular cattle trail from Texas to Abilene, KS

Maverick

Stray calves with no identifying symbols

Barbed Wire

Invention that enabled farms to be fenced off cheap and easily

Great Plains

Area of land from 100th Meridian to the Rockies

Homestead Act

1862 law that allowed settlers to gain a tract of land for $10

Dry Farming

Planting seeds deep in the ground to get moisture

Sodbuster

People who planted the soil of the Great Plains

Wheat Belt

Area that encompassed the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas

Bonanza Farm

Wheat farms that covered up to 50,000 acres

Nomad

People who roamed the land following buffalo

Annuity

Payments to reservation residents

Indian Peace Commission

Government agency that created two large reservations on the plains

Ghost Dance

A native ritual that celebrated a return of the native way of life

Assimilate

Being absorbed into American society

Allotment

Parts of reservations given to individuals

Dawes Act

1887 law giving each native household 160 acres for farming

Henry Comstock

Discovered a large silver mine in Nevada

Nat Love

Former slave who moved west to work cattle

Stephen Long

Explorer who called the plains the "Great American Desert"

Red Cloud

Sioux chief who defeated the U.S. army in Wyoming

Crazy Horse

Sioux warrior who led the defeat of Federman's troops

Sitting Bull

Sioux chief, religious leader

George Custer

Commander of the 7th cavalry, lost the Battle of Little Bighorn

Chief Joseph

Leader of Nez Perce, he surrenders and is exiled to Oklahoma

When and why did cattle ranching become profitable in the west?

In the 1850's beef became popular

2 examples of cattle trails

Chisholm Trail and Great Western Cattle Trail

2 reasons the open range ended

Overgrazing and the invention of barbed wire

2 reasons American west settled quickly

Gold rush and land

What were some hardships faced by frontier settlers?

Droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, locust plagues

2 examples of technology that helped farmers in the west

Steel plow and barbed wire

How did the destruction of buffalo affect the Native Americans?

Starvation/lack of food, illness, disease

Battle of Wounded Knee

150-300 Lakota Indians were killed by U.S. troops in southwestern South Dakota

Positive impacts of the Homestead Act

Allowed people to seek freedom and a better life in the west, gave them up to 160 acres of public land.

Negative impact of the Homestead Act

They had to provide their own farming tools

What was the importance of the Ghost Dance to Native Americans?

They believed it was used as a social dance and used for healing practices as well.

The Indian Peace Commissions was an act of congress formed in these two states:

Oklahoma and South Dakota

Where did the Chisholm Trail end?

Albilene, KS

Nebraska's 3 main reservations

Ponca, Winnebago, Sante Sioux

2 reasons ranchers drove cattle north

Railroads and cattle was worth more

He was the first commercial seller

Richard Sears

This was invented to coordinate deliveries on the railroad

Time zones

Boom towns in the west grew fast and soon turned to what?

Ghost towns

African Americans who moved south from Kansas looking for land

Exodusters

What 2 animals helped the plains Indians survive?

Buffalo and horses

2 reasons why African Americans moved west

New opportunities and chief land

Final plains Indian war

Battle of Wounded Knee