Historically significant events and places The Southwest Historically significant events and places

Native people of the Southwest Anasazi, Pueblo, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni The Pueblo lived in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico Some groups of Native Americans lived in villages and farmed while others traveled the region’s grasslands and deserts.

Spanish missions and settlements ( 1500s-1700s) In the early 1500s, the Spanish conquered Mexico Soon after the Spanish conquered Mexico explorers traveled north across the Rio Grande. These explorers searched for gold and more land to claim. To protect their new lands, the Spanish built forts in the Southwest The Spanish explorers also built missions, or religious settlements The Spanish controlled most of the southwest region for more than 200 years

Military forts(1800s) Throughout the 1800s many military forts were built to protect American settlers from Mexicans and American Indians.

Battle of the Alamo (1836) Battle between Mexican army and Texian army over Texas. The battle was won by the Mexicans who had many more soldiers than the Texians.

Trail of Tears (1838) In 1830, the government gave most of present- day Oklahoma to the Native Americans. Many Cherokee Indians refused to give up their land and move to the new Indian Territory. Eventually, in 1838 , soldiers forced most of the Cherokee to move to the Indian Territory. More than 4,000 Cherokee died along the way. They died from sickness, cold, and lack of food.

Mexican American War (1846-1848) In 1836 Texas won a war against Mexico. Texas became an independent nation, the Republic of Texas. At this time other lands in the Southwest and West were still part of Mexico. From 1846-1848 the United States fought Mexico to take control of these lands. In 1848, the United States won the war. Arizona and New Mexico both became states in 1912.

Land Grants Issued (1889) In 1889, the government opened parts of the Indian Territory to settlers. In order to get settlers to move to this territory the government offered free land, called land grants. These land grants entitled anyone who was the first to occupy a piece of land to own it. April 22, 1889, was the first day of the land grant program. About 50,000 people stood at the territory’s border and rushed toward the land they wanted.