Sitting Bull
This leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux never signed the Treaty of 1868. He
helped to defeat the U.S. Army at the
Little Bighorn, toured in
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for awhile, encouraged the Ghost Dance
movement,
and was eventually killed during an attempt by
reservation police to arrest him .
Red Cloud
He was the first American Indian in the West to win a war against the United States.
Dawes Act
Also known as the General Allotment Act, the law authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals
assimilation
This was supposed to "Americanize" Native Americans by
encouraging in them the desire to own property
and to farm
reservation land distributed to Native American families.
Great Plains
The vast grassland extending through the west-central portion of the United States.
Ghost Dance
A ritual to restore the Native American way of life.
Chisholm Trail
The major cattle route from San Antonio, Texas, through Oklahoma to Kansas.
George A. Custer
This colonel's bad judgment in attacking Native American warriors at
the Little Bighorn River resulted in his
death and that of all
his troops.
Sand Creek Massacre
This resulted when the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho were attacked
without warning by the U.S. Anny.
Over 150 inhabitants were
killed, mostly women and children.
Battle of Wounded Knee
This resulted when the U.S. Army fired cannons on 340 starving, freezing Sioux; within minutes, 300 of them were dead.
William J. Fetterman
was an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War. Fetterman and his command of 80 men were killed in the Fetterman Fight.
Homesteader
settler who farmed land given by the federal government
soddy
home made out of prairie turf
Morrill Act
gave federal land to the states to help finance agricultural colleges
bonanza farm
massive single-crop farm owned by railroad companies and private investors
manifest destiny.
The idea was that America had a God-given right to expand across the continent.
Victory at the Alamo
inspired the Texans to win their independence from Mexico
James K. Polk
was the U.S. president during the War with Mexico.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ended the War with Mexico.
The "forty-niners"
were prospectors in the California gold rush of 1849.