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The short lived Pony Express was established as the most direct means of east–west communication before the telegraph was established
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The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged 600,000 families to travel westwards by giving them land (usually 160 acres) almost free
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The first transcontinental railroad is completed when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads join their tracks at Promontory Point, Utah. The railroad rapidly affects the ease of western settlement, shortening the journey from coast to coast, which took six to eight months by wagon, to a mere one week's trip.
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The Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion Painting called American Progress "Spirit of the Frontier" was painted by John Gast
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Yellowstone National Park is dedicated as the nation's first national park by President Ulysses S. Grant.
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Gold is discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
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Barbed wire invented - Ranchers can now use barbed wire fences to keep their cattle from ranging free.
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Native American warriors led by Sitting Bull defeat General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn
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Wild Bill Hickok is shot and killed while playing poker in Deadwood, South Dakota.
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U.S. troops capture Apache chief Geronimo after four years of warfare with his band on the
Mexican border.
