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Fort Laramie Treaty
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations. The treaty sets forth traditional territorial claims of the tribes as among themselves. The Indians guaranteed safe passage for settlers on the Oregon Trail in return for promises of an annuity in the amount of fifty thousand dollars for fifty years. -
Homestead Act
The intent of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to liberalize the homesteading requirements of the Preemption Act of 1841. Leading advocates were Andrew Johnson, George Henry Evans and Horace Greeley.The "yeoman farmer" ideal of Jeffersonian democracy was powerful in American political history, and during the 1850s, politicians believed a homestead act would help increase the number of virtuous yeomen. -
Chivington Masacre
The settlers struck back.
In 1864, Colonel John Chivington led his militia against a Cheyenne village whose leaders had come to a fort asking for proteccion. -
Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the late 19th century to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River, to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas. -
National Grange Created
The Grange is often considered an agricultural family fraternity. Historically, it has promoted building rural America through grassroot activities. The organization grants each member a voice within his or her local unit and subsequently the opportunity to impact national policy making. -
Barbed Wire Invented
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand(s). It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare. A person or animal trying to pass through or over barbed wire will suffer discomfort and possibly injury. -
Beattle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Native Americans involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. -
Exodusters Movement
The Exodus of 1879 (also known as the Kansas Exodus and the Exoduster Movement) refers to the mass movement of African Americans from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, and was the first general migration of blacks following the Civil War. One of the most important figures of the Exodus was Benjamin "Pap" Singleton. -
Dawes Act
The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry Laurens Dawes of Massachusetts. The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society. Individual ownership of land was seen as an essential step. The act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land "excess" to that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians. -
Oklahoma Land Rush
In 1889 the opening to white settlement of a choice portion of Indian Territory in Oklahoma set off one of the most bizarre and chaotic episodes of town founding in world history. A railroad line crossed the territory, and water towers and other requirements for steam rail operation were located at intervals along the tracks that connected Arkansas and Texas. Two places--Oklahoma Station and Guthrie Station--seemed particularly well located for eventual urban development. -
Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890,near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. -
Populist Party
In 1892, farmers and labor unions joined together to form the Populist Party. At their first national convention, the Populist demanded that the goverment help to raise farm prices and regulate railroad rates. The final decision was left to the Supreme Court. On Saturday, February 25, by a partisan vote of 2 to 1, the court found in favor of the Republicans. On Monday,the Populists went to Representative Hall to assume their position as minority party in the Douglas house. -
1896 election
The United States presidential election of November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by historians to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history. Economic issues including bimetallism, the gold standard, free silver, and the tariff, were crucial. Republican campaign manager Mark Hanna pioneered many modern campaign techniques, facilitated by a $3.5 million budget.
