-
The Louisiana purchase
Do United States doubled in size when Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana purchase land from the French for $15 million. This land consists of Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and more. -
Louis and Clark Expedition
President Jefferson send William Clark and Meriwether Lewis out to explore the area bought in the Louisiana purchase. They continued on after that land more west, towards the Pacific ocean. They were turned in 1806 and reported what they had found on their exploration. -
The Oregon Trail
Almost 1000 people traveled the Oregon Trail by wagons and feet, they traveled past the Rocky Mountains all the way to Oregon. This was about a 2000 mile travel and many people doubted their success. After the travelers landed it encourage more people to follow and thousands more over the next year. -
Texas became a State
Officially Texas became a state in 1845. Texas had a treaty of annexation with the United States which set up the idea of statehood. Texas was an annexed and now is a state. -
California gold rush
In Northern California gold was discovered encouraging thousands of people to travel to California in hopes of finding gold. The population prior to the gold rush was less than 1,000 people, soon after gold was discovered around 100,000 people were there in a year. -
The Homestead act
This act allowed people to claim 160 acres of land in the west. If people lived on the land for five years and created a home or improvements then the land would be given to the people who resided there. Many people were encouraged to move west in order to claim land. Around 500 million acres were handed out under this law for about 42 years. Some of the land was also given to businesses and railroads, minors, etc… -
South Dakota Gold Rush
George Armstrong Custer was a Colonel Who discovered gold in the Black Hills portion of Dakota territory air is now in South Dakota. This was a brand new Gold Rush and many people were intrigued by the idea of finding gold on their own. This populated the area by 10,000 people. -
America was settled
This was the slow down of westward expansion in the United States. People were completed settling and it ends the westward expansion timeline. Many cities had been established and were populated in the west by the 90s.