American West Key Dates

Fetterman's Trap

1866

Fort Laramie Treaty (2)

1868

Dawes Act

1887

Permanent Indian frontier set up

1834

The Oregon trail opened

1836

The Great Emigration on the Oregon Trail

1843

Donner Party head west but met with disaster and death

1846

Mormons travel to the Great Salt Lake

1846

Gold discovered in California

1848

California Gold Rush

1849

Fort Laramie Treaty (1)

1851

Indian Appropriations Act

1851

Gold discovered in Rocky Mountains

1858-59

Gold Mines opened in Colorado and Nevada

1859

American Civil War

1861-65

Homestead Act

1862

Little Crow's War

1862

Pacific Railway Act passed and work begins on the transcontinental railway

1864

Sand Creek Massacre

1864

Slavery Abolished in America

1865

Goodnight and Loving reach Fort Sumner with a herd of Cattle

1866

Red Cloud's War

1866-68

Abilene becomes the first cow town

1867

The Winter Campaign

1868

First Transcontinental Railroad completed

1869

Cattle Ranching begins on the plains, leading to the 'Open Range'

1870

Timber Cultures Act

1873

Custer leads expedition to the Black Hills

1874

Wind powered water pump introduced

1874

Barbed wire begins to be mass produced

1874

Battle of Little Big Horn

1876

The Great Sioux War

1876-77

Exoduster Movement

1879

The OK Corral

1881

All Plains Indians are resettled on to reservations

1885

Severe Winter leads to the end of the Open Range

1886-87

Wounded Knee Massacre

1890

The US government closes frontier

1890

Johnson County War

1892

Oklahoma Land Rush

1893

What does

Lousy

Soldiers

Ruin

Lives

Willingly

Stand for

The 5 Native American Wars

Little Crow's War- 1862

Sand Creek Massacre- 1864 (+2)

Red Cloud's War- 1866 (+2)

Battle of the Little Big Horn- 1876 (+10)

Wounded Knee Massacre- 1890 (+2 +2 +10)(+14)