People
Events
Vocabulary
Short Answer
Random Trivia
100
Fur Traders and trappers were known as this 

mountain men

100
The event where the Americans declared California to be an independent nation

Bear Flag Revolt

100

A group created by John Smith that was looking for religious tolerance

Mormons

100

What happened at a rendezvous?

Fur traders met to trade and socialize

100

This city was founded by John Jacob Astor as one of the first American settlements in Oregon Country

Astoria

200

A group of western travelers who went to California but were stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains during winter

Donner Party

200

What did frontiersmen do to survive on the frontier?

Mountain men adopted Native American customs and clothing.  They often married Native American women.

200

This used pans or other devices to wash gold nuggets out of loose rock and gravel

placer mining

200

When did Texas declare their independence from Mexico

March 2, 1864

200

A trail that led from independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe Trail

300

Who did President Polk send to Mexico try to settle the border dispute?

John Slidell

300

What city was the target for General Winfield Scott to take over to end the War with Mexico?

Mexico City

300

Name of the cowboys who managed the large herds of cattle and sheep

vaqueros

300

What was the slogan for hte annexation of Oregon Country?

"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!"

300

A priest who led a rebellion of about 80,000 poor Indians and mestizos

Father Miguel

400

Elected president of the new Republic of Texas

Sam Houston

400

Battle where the Texans captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence

Battle of San Jacinto

400

This means to search for gold

prospect

400

Describe the Oregon Trail

A 2,000 mile-long trail which stretched from places such as Independence, Missouri to Council Bluffs, Iowa, west into Oregon Country

400

This officially ended ended the War with Mexico and forced Mexico to turn over much of its northern territory to the United States

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

500

Started a Texas colony on the lower Colorado River

Stephen F. Austin

500

Under this, the U.S. government paid Mexico $10 million.  In exchange, the United States received the southern parts of what are now Arizona and Mexico.

Gadsden Purchase

500

A theory that the United States was fated to settle land all the way to the Pacific Ocean to spread democracy

Manifest Destiny

500

What was life like in the mining camps?

  • Mining camps sprang up wherever people gathered to look for gold.  The camps were given colorful names like Hangtown or Poker Flat.  Most miners were young unmarried men in search of adventure.  Only around 5% of gold-rush immigrants were women and children. The hardworking women made good money by cooking meals, washing clothes, and operating boarding houses.  Miners paid high prices for basic necessities because the large amounts of gold in circulation caused severe inflation in California.
500

This German immigrant earned a fortune by making tough denim pants for miners

Levi Strauss

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