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The west vocabulary

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Term
Definition
frontier   unsettled or sparsely settled area of the country occupied mostly by the native americans  
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great plains   the area from the missouri river to the rocky mountains  
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comstock lode   location of the mine of valuable minerals next to virginia city, nevada  
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ghost town   a once thriving community in which the population has left  
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vigilantes   people that took the law into their own hands due to the lack of law enforcement  
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exodusters   freed slaves that fled the south after the reconstruction and settled in the west  
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wyoming   the first state to give a women the right to vote  
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transcontinental railroad   a railroad that would span the continental connected the east with the west  
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union pacific   railroad company that began in omaha and build track going west on the great plains  
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central pacific   railroad company that started in california and went east, blasting through the sierra nevada mountains  
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golden spike   event in which the union pacific and central pacific met in promontory summit, utah in 1869; completed the first transcontinental railroad  
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long drive   a 2-3 month trip in which cowboys led the cattle to the cow towns along the railroad  
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open range   unfenced land on the great plains in which cattle were allowed to graze  
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vaquero   the first cowboys that came from mexico and settled in the southwest  
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cowhand   cowboys that took the cattle from texas to the railroads on the great plains  
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sitting bull   sioux chief and medicine man that led native forces at the battle of little bighorn  
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crazy horse   sioux chief and warrior that fought at the battle of little bighorn and was known for his bravery  
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geronimo   apache chief that fought mexican and US forces in the southwest, surrendered to the us gov't in 1887  
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chief joseph   chief of nez perce tribe; led them in daring escape to canada fighting off the us army  
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reservation   an area of land set aside for native americans to live on  
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battle of little bighorn   battle in which the US 7th cavalry was massacred by sioux, cheyenne, and arapaho warriors  
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george custer   leader of the us 7th cavalry known for fighting native americans; was defeated and killed at the battle of little bighorn  
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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  
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dawes act   US law that forced the natives to assimilate by making them farmers and sending native children to boarding schools in the east  
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buffalo soliders   regiment of african american cavalry that gained fame by fighting native americans in the west  
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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  
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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 5 years  
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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  
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windmills   technology that helped homesteaders adapt to the great plains; pumped water from the ground  
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boomtown   a town that has a sudden burst of economic or population growth  
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