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Unit 13 The West
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Frontier | Unsettled or sparsely settled area of the country occupied mostly by native americans |
| Great Plains | the area from the missouri river to the rocky mountains |
| Comstock Lode | location of a mine of valuable minerals next to virginia city, nevada |
| boomtown | a town that has a sudden burst of economic or population growth |
| ghost town | a once thriving community in which most of the population has left |
| vigilantes | people that took the law into their own hands due to the lack of law enforcement |
| exodusters | freed slaves that fled the south after reconstruction and settled in the west |
| wyoming | first state to give women the right to vote |
| transcontinental railroad | a railroad that would span the continent and connect the east and wesst |
| union pacific | railroad company that began in omaha and built track going west on the great plains |
| central pacific | railroad company that started in california and went east, blasting through the sierra nevada mountains |
| golden spike` | event in which the union pacific and central pacific met in promontory summit, utah in 1869, completing the first transcontinental railraod |
| long drive | a 2-3 month trip in which cowboys led cattle to the cow towns along the railroads |
| open range | unfenced land on the great plains in which cattle were allowed to graze |
| vaquero | the first cowbooys that came from mexico and settled in the southwest |
| cowhand | cowboys that took the cattle from texas to the railroads on the great plains |
| sitting bull | sioux chief and medicine man that led native forces at the battle of little bighorn |
| crazy horse | sioux chief and warrior that fought at the battle of little bighorn and was known for his bravery |
| geronimo | apache chief that fought mexican and US forces in the southwest, surrending to the US government in 1887 |
| chief joseph | chief of the nez perce tribe, led them in a daring escape to canada fighting off the US army |
| reservation | an area of land set aside for native americans to live on |
| battle of little bighorn | battle in which the US 7th cavalry was massacred by sioux, cheyenne, and arapaho warriors |
| george custer | leader of the US 7th cavalry known for fighting Native americans, was defeated and klled at the battle of little bighorn |
| wounded knee | event in which a group of US soldiers massacred a camp of 300 sioux men, women, and children in 1890; marked the end of all armed resistance in the west |
| dawes act | US law that forced natives to assimilate by making them farmers and sending native children to boarding schools in the east |
| buffalo soldiers | regiment of african american cavalry that gained fame fighting Native Americans in the west |
| barbed wire | invented by joseph glidden; it was cheap and allowed homesteaders to fence in their property; helped to close the open range to cattle grazing |
| homestead act | federal law passed in 1862 to encourage americans and immigrants to settle the west; gave free land to anyone that would live on it for five years |
| sodbusters | farmers that lived on the great plains; built their homes out of sod, which is the top layer of prairie soil thickly packed with grass roots |
| windmills | technology that helped homesteaders adapt to the great plains; pumped water up from the ground |
Created by:
nielsgav000
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