I
Huge properties for raising livestock
Rancho
Communities that quickly grow in population
Boomtown
To add land to a country
Annex/Annexation
a group traveling together on a long journey. The wagons would travel in a straight line and then circle at night for protection
Caravan
A place that has never been seen
Frontier
People who went to California during the Gold Rush of 1849
Forty-niner
to settle on public land to use as a home
Homesteading
Someone who went to an area before it was settled
Pioneers
A person who leaves to go live somewhere else
Emigrant
a person who lived in the mountains and was usually a trapper or a hunter
Mountain Man
another word for covered wagon, so called because they look like ships sailing across a sea of grass
Prairie Schooner
Commander of the Texan army who led a surprise attack against Santa Anna's army. Best known for helping Texas earn its independence and was elected President of the Republic of Texas.
Sam Houston
a covered wagon used to carry freight across the prairies
Conestoga
4th President elected, helped write the Federalist Papers, known as "Father of the Constitution" and was President during the War of 1812 with England.
James Madison
the belief that the United States has the right and duty to control all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
Manifest Destiny
President during Westward Expansion, Mex-American War, credited with finishing Manifest Destiny, also confirmed the discovery of gold in California
James K Polk
Announced that European nations must stay out of the affairs of the Americans, if not, it would be seen as an act of war.
Monroe Doctrine
famous Alamo defender who refused to surrender even after his requested reinforcements never show. He was executed by General Lopez....famous last words "never surrender or retreat".
Colonel William Travis
To give land to another country
Cede/Cession
General Lopez de Santa Anna
Corps of Discovery
Required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters. Nicknamed the "Bloodhound Law".
Congress added California as a free state, but the Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened.
Compromise of 1850
Missouri was added as a slave state and Maine was added as a free state. 11 Free/11 Slave
Missouri Compromise
the most traveled trail west, about 2,000 miles long, started in Missouri and ended in Oregon.
Oregon Trail