Chapter 5 Growth in the West

frontier unsettled or sparsely settled area occupied largely by Native Americans.

Sand Creek Massacre an 1864 attack in which more than 150 Cheyenne men, women, and children were killed by the Colorado Militia.

Homestead Act passed in 1862, this law offered 160 acres of land free to anyone who agreed to live on and improve the land for five years

Great Plains the area from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains.

What did the cowhands learn from the vaqueros? The vaqueros taught the cowhands how to rope, ride, and manage their herds.

Sodbuster a farmer on the frontier

Wounded Knee Massacre the massacre by U.S. soldiers of 300 unarmed Native Americans in South Dakota, in 1890.

homestead land to settle on and farm.

boomtown a town that has a sudden burst of economic or population growth.

reservation land set aside by the U.S. government for Native American tribes.

How did the destruction of the buffalo affect the Native Americans? The destruction of the buffalo took away their main source of food, clothing, and shelter

Exodusters an African American who left the South for the west and compared himself to the Biblical Hebrews who left slavery in Egypt.

long drive taking cattle by foot to a railway.

Dawes Act a law, enacted in 1887, that distributed reservation land to individual owners

Buffalo Soldier a name given by Native Americans to African-Americans serving in the U.S. Army in the West.

How were women’s contributions to the West recognized by Western lawmakers? Women’s contributions to the West were recognized by giving them the right to vote, own property, and control their own money.

vaquero a cowhand that came from Mexico with the Spaniards in the 1500s

Sitting Bull A Sioux chief who led his tribe to defeat George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Mexicano a person of Spanish descent whose ancestors had come from Mexico and settled in the Southwest

How did the federal government encourage the settlement of the Great Plains? The federal government encouraged settlement of the Plains by passing the Homestead Act and by giving public land to the railroads to promote expansion. The Homestead Act gave each person 160 acres of free land if they farmed it for five years.

vigilante a person willing to take the law into their own hands

Geronimo An Apache leader who was one of the last Native American to surrender to the US Army. He was sent to prison in Florida.

Battle of the Little Bighorn an 1876 battle in which the Sioux and the Cheyenne wiped out an entire force of U.S. troops.

Chief Joseph A Nez Perce Chief who did not want to live on a reservation. He led his people to Canada, but they were stopped by the U.S. Army 40 miles from the border.

George Armstrong Custer A Colonel in the U.S. Army, who tried to force the Sioux to return to the reservation. He failed and was defeated at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Belle Starr Known as the Bandit Queen; she was a legendary horse thief