People
Successor to the Mormons after the death of Joseph Smith; responsible for the survival of the sect and its establishment in Salt Lake City, Utah
Brigham Young
A period from 1848 to 1856 when thousands of people came to California in order to search for gold.
Gold Rush
2000 mile trail from independence Missouri to Oregon used by many pioneers during the 1840s.
Oregon Trail
A Spanish mission converted into a fort during the Texas Revolution, it was besieged by Mexican troops in 1836. The Texas garrison held out for thirteen days, but in the final battle, all of the Texans were killed by the larger Mexican force.
Alamo
A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined by God to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.
Manifest Destiny
The founder of mormanism. Smith wrote the Book of Mormon in 1830. Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was a translation from a gold plate that an angel showed him, established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He justified polygamy and hoped for a society that would inspire moral perfection.
Joseph Smith
People who went to California during the gold rush of 1849
forty-niners
Forty-eight surviving members of a group of migrants to California were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive a brutal winter trapped in the Sierra Nevadas, 1846-47; highest death toll of any group traveling the Overland Trail.
Donner Party
A revolt of American settlers in California against Mexican rule. It ignited the Mexican War and ultimately made California a state.
Bear Flag Revolt
The Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their lands. They traveled from North Carolina and Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas-more than 800 miles (1,287 km)-to the Indian Territory. More than 4,000 Cherokees died of cold, disease, and lack of food during the 116-day journey.
Trail of Tears
known as the Father of Texas, led the second and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States.
Stephen F. Austin
The greed and excitement caused by the gold rush.
Gold Fever
American adventurers and fur trappers who spent most of their time in the Rocky Mountains
Mountainmen
Descendents of Spanish and Mexican conquerors; Spanish speaking inhabitants of California whose culture of Mexico carried to California.
Californios
1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.
Homestead Act
Mexican dictator who tried to crush the Texas rebellion, commanded the Mexican army at Gonzales, in 1853 sold territory to the United States including that area known as the Gadsden Purchase.
General Santa Anna
A town undergoing rapid growth due to sudden prosperity such as happened during the gold rush.
Boomtown
Church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, religious group that emphasized moderation, saving, hard work, and risk-taking; moved from IL to UT
Mormons
(1836) Final battle of the Texas Revolution; resulted in the defeat of the Mexican army and the capture Santa Anna, forcing him to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence.
Battle of San Jacinto
Mexican cowboys who were skilled riders who herded cattle on ranches in Mexico, California, and the Southwest
Vaqueros
Owner of the mill where gold was discovered that helped start the California Gold Rush.
John Sutter
Former mining town that became deserted
Ghost town
An important trade route going between Independence, Missouri and Santa fe, New mexico used from about 1821 to 1880.
Santa Fe Trail
Treaty that ended the Mexican War, granting the U.S. control of Texas, New Mexico, and California in exchange for $10 million
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
An act that removed Indian land from tribal possesion, redivided it, and distributed it among individual Indian families. Designed to break tribal mentalities and promote individualism.
Dawes Act