-
Economic Depression
The depression meant banks were collapsing, people were losing their savings. wages were lowering and unemployment was at its best -
Great Migration
More than a thousand people migrated west to Oregon. This was the biggest migration towards the west the US had experienced. From that day it was known as the great migration -
Jospeh Smith Killed
The founder of the Mormon religion is killed while imprisoned for destroying printed press -
Mormons move to Salt Lake
Two years after the death of their the Mormon move to Salt Lake as they are fed up of the persecution they faced in the east -
Gold Discovered in California
James Marshall a carpenter hired to build a mill at Sutter's Fort discovers gold. initially the news was kept secret but once it became known people from the east came flooding to California hoping to make fortune -
Homesteaders
The first homesteaders began to move on to the great plains. Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency -
Pony Express
The Waddell and Russell freight company. created Pony Express so mail could be carried across America -
Telegraph
The first telegraph message is sent across America -
Pacific Railways Acts
This act made two companies whose purpose was to construct a railway across America. there were two railways they were called the Union Pacific Railway and the Central Pacific Railway -
The Homestead Act
This act offered 160 acres of land for free to anyone who was ready to live in the west if they built a home and farmed there for at least 5 years -
Cheyenne Uprising
The Cheyenne had agreed with Fort Wise Treaty about settling onto the sand creek. however when they arrived they saw the land was ver poor and that survival was going to be almost impossible for them. fed up of the injustice the Cheyenne began to attack wagon trains and steal food. -
Sand Creek Massacre
Colonel Chivingston led his armed force to attack Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp. the forces motive was punishment for the raids on wagons train. 163 Indian, including women and children were killed and mutilated that day -
Red Cloud's War
The Sioux chief named Red Cloud was furious when white settlers started using the Bozeman trail which passed trough his tribe's hunting ground. this lead to him attacking travelers. His fury became even greater when a line of forts was built to protect the travelers. he increased his attacks due to this. By 1868 the government were forced to redraw the army and abandon the forts -
The Winter Campaign
The army realized that the Indians never attacked during the winter months so they decided to send a campaign to try and catch them by surprise and force them into submission -
Completion of the Railway
The transcontinental railway was completed. This occasion was celebrated at the golden spike ceremony because a golden spike use to relate the East and West railways -
Timber Culture Act
This was an addition to the Homestead Act that said forty of the one hundred and sixty acres that were offers had to have trees -
Gold in the Black Hills
Gold was found in the Black Hills of Dakota which was Sioux territory at the time -
Barbe Wire Invented
F Gildden invented Barbe wire which meant large ares could be fenced for a relatively cheap price -
Desert Land Act
This Act meant farmers could buy 640 acres of land at a cheap price in areas where there was little rainfall or even drought -
General Allotments Act (Dawes Act)
This act split up most of the remaining Indian territory into plots of 160 acres. Some of the plots were given to the Indians but most of them were allocated to white settlers -
Wounded Knee Masscare
A group of soldiers opened fire on a group of Sioux at the Pine Ridge reservation in Wounded Knee Creek killing 153 Indian men, women and children. -
Johnson County War
The Johnson county war was a range war fought by rival ranchers for land and cattle. cattle ranching had been established in Johnson county for twenty years now and many rangers had become rich and influential. the ranchers were becoming more greedy so they went to get other peoples land. Some people would resit they were called rustlers. in 1892 the cattle barons had recruited a vigilante group to get rid of the rustlers once and for all but the rustlers rebelled and this caused the war