Treaties
One of the first treaties signed for the Great Plains, recognizing native ownership while giving US settlers free passage and the ability to build roads & forts.
First Treaty of Fort Laramie
The country America took much of the western land from.
Mexico
The places Native Americans were forced to move to.
Reservations
The battle where an entire US cavalry unit was killed by Sioux.
Little Bighorn
Name of the first railroad to connect the two sides of America.
Trans-Continental Railroad
Was the First Treaty of Fort Laramie a success?
No
Law passed by the US government selling the government land in the Great Plains to private citizens.
Homestead Act and/or Morrill Act
The discovery of this convinced the first waves of settlers to move west.
Gold & silver
Apocalyptic Native American religion that developed as they were being moved onto reservations, teaching that the native spirits would return and drive out the Americans if the natives danced in a certain way.
The Ghost Dance
System for transporting mail westwards using relays of horsemen every few dozen miles.
The Pony Express
Treaty where the US agreed to close the Bozeman Trail and award the Sioux more reservation land.
Second Treaty of Fort Laramie
Educational and social organization founded by Great Plains Farmers to provide aid and advice to each other.
National Grange
Political party founded by Midwestern farmers, with a platform of workers rights, limited immigration, and nationalizing utilities such as railroads.
Populist (or People's) Party
The reason why Americans and Sioux started fighting at Little Bighorn.
Gold was found in the Black Hills and the Sioux refused to move out and let the Americans mine it.
This form of communication made the Pony Express obsolete.
Telegraphs
Treaty signed by many southern Plains Indians, agreeing to move to reservations.
Medicine Lodge Treaty
Unofficial name of the cattle industry that developed for a few years after the Civil War in Kansas and Texas, that raised cattle for cheap and sold them expensive on the east coast.
Cattle Kingdom
Term for farming crops that require very little water, adopted by farmers on the Great Plains.
Dry Farming
The man who led US forces at Little Bighorn.
Colonel George Armstrong Custer
Trail leading into the gold-mining territory of Montana that sparked conflict with the Sioux.
Bozeman Trail
US government policy that privatized reservations in the hopes it would lead Native Americans to develop modern economies.
Dawes General Allotment Act
Name one of the two women who are known for working for the reform of Native American rights and living conditions.
Sarah Winnemucca or Helen Hunt Jackson
Proposed solution by farmers to the problem of deflation due to the gold standard.
Mint money backed by silver
Incident where some natives left a reservation and were arrested, but fought back, leading to the deaths of a few hundred US soldiers & Sioux soldiers and civilians.
Battle/Massacre of Wounded Knee
Name of the city where the two halves of the Trans-Continental Railroad connected.
Promontory, Utah