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Residents of New York first started to discuss the possibility of building a canal that linked the Atlantic coast and New York to the Great Lakes in the late 1700's. John Fitch (1743-1798) was granted a patent for a steamboat on August 26, 1791, the invention of steam power made it far easier to travel along the rivers. By the early 1800's , the Steamboats had revolutionized river travel and river trade. Other modes of transportation followed refer to the Construction of the Cumberland Road , the Horse Car Railroads in the 1800s and the History of the Turnpikes (Toll Roads)

John Fitch launched a steamboat called the 'Clermont' on August 17, 1807 which carried passengers from New York City 150 miles to Albany. People began to consider the advantages of connecting one steamboat route on the Hudson River with other steamboat routes on the Great Lakes via a canal. Although a canal could not take a steamboat it would make traveling and transporting goods across the Appalachian Mountains much easier, cheaper and and quicker. Plans for the construction were proposed in 1807. Construction eventually started in 1817 and this great feat of engineering was opened on October 26, 1825.

T became a member of the Erie Canal Commission and became the driving force during the construction of the Erie Canal. It was the persistence of De Witt Clinton that persuaded the New York State legislature to appropriate $7,000,000 for the construction of the Erie Canal. De Witt Clinton believed that the construction and project would benefit New York City by bringing to it the produce of the lands in the Northwest and of western New York to the city. He also believed it would benefit the farmers of those regions by bringing their produce to more quickly, safely and efficiently - the rates of freight would be considerably lower by canal than they were by road. Unfortunately not everyone shared the views of De Witt Clinton and the Erie Canal was given the nickname of "DeWitt's Ditch" or "Clinton's big ditch". The cynics were proved totally wrong...

T he Erie Canal for kids - The New York State Canal System
De Witt Clinton was right in his beliefs and, within a year of opening the Erie Canal, the cost of carrying a ton of grain from Lake Erie to the Hudson River fell from $100 to just $15. Other canals were built and became and enormous source of state revenue. The New York State Canal System consisting of the Erie, Champlain, and Oswego Canals paid for themselves in the first 10 years of operation. The system earned over $120,000,000 in tolls between 1826 and 1883. New York City soon became the center of trade and finance in the United States and the Erie waterway was perceived as an engineering marvel and some even called it the "Eighth Wonder of the World".

Importance and Significance of

● Farmers and industrialists had a relatively cheap and fast means of transporting their products to market
● It inspired a canal-building boom, other canals were built, improving transportation across the U.S. History of Urbanization in America
● Thousands of settlers utilized the Erie Canal to move west
● New cities and ports emerged along the route of the Erie waterway
● It knit together the Atlantic Seaboard with the area west of the Appalachian Mountains
● It increased foreign trade by providing the means for transporting agricultural products and manufactured goods between the American interior, the eastern seaboard and Europe
● The construction was a feat of U.S. engineering and more than twice the length of any canal in Europe - a source of great national pride to the United States
● It helped New York become the "Empire State" and the leader in population, industry, economic strength and political influence. For additional facts refer to the

Erie Canal History for kids: The General Survey ActThe
1824 General Survey Act was a law passed by the United States Congress in April 1824 that was extremely important to the development of additional canals in America. The General Survey Act authorized the president to have surveys made of important transportation routes. The law specified that surveys were made for routes requiring roads and canals "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view, or necessary for the transportation of public mail." The responsibility for the surveys was assigned to the Corps of Engineers.

The info about the Erie Canal provides interesting facts and important information about this important event that occured during the presidency of the 6th President of the United States of America and this great accomplishment helped to lead in the belief in the Manifest Destiny of the United States..

Facts about the Erie Canal History for kids
Erie Canal History Fact 1: Where is the Erie Canal located? The above map shows its location from the Atlantic via the Hudson River in Albany New York all the way east to Buffalo, Lake Erie. Erie Canal History Fact 3: When was the Erie Canal built? It was built between 1817 and 1825 Erie Canal History Fact 5: The first 15 miles (24 km) stretching from Rome to Utica took two years to complete - delays were encountered due to having to clear so many trees. Erie Canal History Fact 7: The channel was a minimum of 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide at the surface Erie Canal History Fact 9: The working boats transporting produce were called "line boats" or "freighters" and were drawn by either horses or mules Erie Canal History Fact 11: By 1850, 25% of all the grain grown in the United States traveled to market via the waterway Erie Canal History Fact 13: The name of the Principal engineer of the waterway was Benjamin Wright (1770-1852). In 1969 Benjamin Wright was declared the "Father of American Civil Engineering" by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Erie Canal History Fact 14: Thousands of unskilled laborers built the waterway over difficult terrain, with the aid of wheelbarrows, hand tools, horses, and mules Erie Canal History Fact 16: The largest lock was 94.5 m long, 13.2 m wide, and 3.6 m deep Erie Canal History Fact 18: The waterway was the first transportation system of the United States that did not require portage Erie Canal History Fact 20: The success of the waterway venture led to a boom in canal-building. The Champlain Canal was opened in 1823 and was 66 miles long. The Oswego Canal was 38 miles long and the Cayuga-Seneca was 27 miles long, both were opened in 1828.
Facts about the Erie Canal History for kids

Erie Canal for kids - President John Quincy Adams Video For additional info refer to
The article on the Erie Canal provides an overview of one of the Important issues of his presidential term in office. Facts on Industrial Revolution Inventions. The following John Quincy Adams video will give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 6th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829.

Erie Canal

● Facts about the Erie Canal for kids and schools
● Facts about the construction of the famous waterway
● Definition of the Erie Canal
● John Quincy Adams Presidency from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829
● Fast, fun, interesting facts about the Erie Canal
● Foreign & Domestic policies of President John Quincy Adams
● John Quincy Adams Presidency and the significance of the Erie Canal for schools, homework, kids and children

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Residents of New York first started to discuss the possibility of building a canal that linked the Atlantic coast and New York to the Great Lakes in the late 1700's. John Fitch (1743-1798) was granted a patent for a steamboat on August 26, 1791, the invention of steam power made it far easier to travel along the rivers.

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The Erie Canal is a canal in New York State. It runs for 365 miles from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It was first thought of in 1808, and it was built between 1818 and 1825.

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The Erie Canal is an artificial, or human-made, waterway in New York. It helps connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal runs 363 miles (584 kilometers) between Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie, and Albany, New York. From Albany, the Hudson River continues the waterway to New York City.

Work began on the canal in 1817. The engineers and builders who worked on the canal faced many challenges. The land that the canal was to pass through was not flat. The engineers therefore had to figure out how to move boats up and down the natural changes in elevation. They built 83 locks to do this. Locks are structures that allow boats to be raised or lowered by changing the level of the water beneath them.

By the time the canal was finished in 1825 the engineers had learned a great deal about building canals. They later moved to other states to help build canals throughout the country.

The Erie Canal was an immediate success. It encouraged people to move west and settle the midwestern United States. It also helped the economies of many cities in New York. Boats traveling west through the canal carried settlers from the East Coast to Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The settlers shipped their farm produce back eastward. In return, manufacturers in the Eastern cities shipped their goods westward. Shipments from New York City to the Great Lakes took eight days using the canal, much faster than before the canal was built.

As the country's railroad system was built, the Erie Canal became less important. However, it stayed in use and was enlarged several times. In 1918 the Erie Canal became the chief link in what is now called the New York State Canal System. Still in operation, it is now used mostly for pleasure boating.

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The Erie Canal is an artificial, or human-made, waterway in New York. It helps connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal runs 363 miles (584 kilometers) between Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie, and Albany, New York. From Albany, the Hudson River continues the waterway to New York City.

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https://www.thecleverteacher.com/westward-expansion-videos/

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Are you teaching about Westward Expansion? Educational videos are a great addition to any unit.

However, when browsing YouTube, it's almost too easy to find videos that are entertaining, but not completely accurate. Or, you may find videos that are historically accurate but not engaging at all. Finding videos that are both accurate and entertaining can take hours!

One of my goals on this website is to help save teachers time. To do that, I am compiling lists of kid-friendly history videos that are both educational and engaging for your students. After countless hours of video-watching, I have found my top 5 Western Expansion videos for kids. Scroll through to check them out!

Manifest Destiny (Khan Academy)

Khan' Academy's excellent introductory video about the causes and effects of Westward Expansion

9 minutes

My Rating: Ages 10+

Notes: To help your students better comprehend the video, turn on the closed captioning.

What was the Mexican-American War? (History Channel)

History Channel's engaging description of the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War

2 minutes

My Rating: Ages 10+

Notes: This video has great visuals and the narrator is an amazing storyteller. Also, the video does a good job of connecting the Mexican-American War to Westward Expansion in the United States.

California Gold Rush (Simple History)

Simple History's short and sweet introduction to the California Gold Rush

2 minutes

My Rating: Ages 10+

Notes: This video is really engaging and your students will love the narrator's Western accent.

The Oregon Trail (Simple History)

Simple History's animated portrayal of life along the Oregon Trail.

7 minutes

My Rating: Ages 10+

Notes: This video gives a broad overview of the history of the Oregon Trail. Did you know that 200 years later, you can still see wagon ruts on the historic trail? I recommend pairing the video above with this short 2-minute video from the Smithsonian Channel.

The "Indian Problem" (Smithsonian NMAI)

The National Museum of the American Indian's overview of Indian Removal

12 minutes

My Rating: Ages 10+

Notes: This video is filled with historical photos and interviews with Native American leaders and historians. The video has powerful and heartbreaking quotes from Native Americans who were forcibly removed from their lands. I recommend turning on the captions.

Want a FREE Westward Expansion Map Lesson?

While Westward Expansion videos are a fun way to engage students, they are just one piece of the instructional puzzle. You may be interested in a free lesson from my 3-week Westward Expansion Unit.

In the lesson, students map and compare U.S. territorial acquisitions from 1783 to 1853. This lesson can be printed or assigned via Google Classroom.
Enter your email below to grab your free Westward Expansion Maps Lesson.
More Lessons for Teaching About Westward Expansion

You may also be interested in my 3-week Westward Expansion Unit.

Included in the unit are:

15 thorough and detailed lesson plans

Primary sources

Simulations (for the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush)

A Readers Theatre

An original game

And so much more!

This unit is something you (and your students) will absolutely love! Click here to find out more.

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Are you teaching about Westward Expansion? Educational videos are a great addition to any unit. However, when browsing YouTube, it's almost too easy to find videos that are entertaining, but not completely accurate. Or, you may find videos that are historically accurate but not engaging at all.

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https://historyforkids.org/westward-expansion/

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The Wild West has been romanticized in film, television, and books. It's become a symbol of independence and adventure.

What many people don't know is that westward expansion was the backbone of American history.

The Louisiana Purchase

In the first half of the 19th century, America's population grew a lot. There was a boom in immigration and more people were born. This is because of two economic depressions. People moved to new places where they could start a new life or live cheaper. Keep reading to learn more Westward Expansion facts.

President Thomas Jefferson bought the land of Louisiana from France. The land was 828,000 square miles and stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. It made the country twice as big as before.

Jefferson wanted to go further into the west. He did that with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which was an American expedition to explore the newly acquired Western United States.

The journey took almost two years: They braved harsh weather, unforgiving terrain, deadly waters, injuries, hunger, sickness, and both friendly and hostile Native Americans on their way.

Jefferson also wanted to take over Spanish Florida in 1819. He believed that owning land was very important. He thought people who owned farms would be independent and virtuous.

Manifest Destiny

In 1840, 40% of the people in America lived in the area west of the Appalachian mountains. They had left their family and friends to go to a new place with more opportunities for them.

Many people who came to the US were like Thomas Jefferson. They thought that owning land and farming gave more freedom than working in a factory. Europeans living in factories might have felt enslaved because they could not get out, but the frontier offered independence for all.

In 1843, 1,000 people tried to get to Oregon. They did this by walking on the Oregon Trail. This was a trail that emigrants used to travel from Missouri to Oregon. The road was created by fur traders and trappers in the 1800s. The Oregon Trail was improved over time, making the trip safer and faster.

A journalist named John O'Sullivan created the idea of people moving West. He said that it was important for people to go to the Western frontier. O'Sullivan believed that Americans should carry "the great experiment of liberty" (freedom) all the way to the edge of this country. If they did not, then America's freedom would be lost, and this would lead them into trouble.

O'Sullivan coined the phrase "manifest destiny". The idea of "manifest destiny" is that the United States was meant to expand its power and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.

President James Monroe finally took over Spanish Florida, though they yield to Spain the territory of Texas, where many people were settling.

In 1823, Monroe used the terms Manifest Destiny when he spoke before Congress. He said that if European countries tried to colonize the "American continents," they might be at war with America.

This policy became known as the "Monroe Doctrine". It was first used to intervene in Latin America after 1870.

Slavery and Westward Expansion

Slavery had been an issue for states in the Western part of the country. The question of whether or not slavery was allowed in these states was important to people.

The Missouri Compromise

In 1820, there was a compromise. It admitted Missouri to the union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, which made it so that there were enough slaves and free people for both sides to be happy.

The US Constitution said that in the future, slavery would be prohibited north of the southern boundary of Missouri (the 36º30' parallel) in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase.

However, the Missouri Compromise did not apply to new territories. That is why the topic of slavery continued to be debated as the country grew. The Southern economy depended on cotton and forced labor.

Northerners came to believe that the expansion of slavery interfered with their own liberty. They did not mind slavery, but they didn't like how it seemed to keep them from making money.

The Mexican War

After the Missouri Compromise, Americans continued to move west. Thousands of people crossed the Rockies and moved into what was part of Great Britain's territory.

There were also thousands more who moved into Mexico's territories: California, New Mexico, and Texas. In 1837, American settlers in Texas joined with their Tejano (Mexican people of Spanish origin) neighbors and won independence from Mexico.

In 1844, James K. Polk became president. He was excited about the annexation of Texas and other Mexican territories. It did not become a priority before then.

Texas joined the union as a slave state. By 1846 Oregon joined as a free state after negotiations with Great Britain.

Polk declared war on Mexico. He said that the Mexican army had invaded our country and killed Americans. But this was not true. Many people in the North did not like the war because they thought it was only fought to get more land and to get more slaves.

In 1846, a Congressman tried to put in a measure that said slavery cannot be in any new land. He wanted this law to be put on the Mexican territory. It was not successful, but it made people think about how slavery can affect the land.

The Compromise of 1850

In 1848, the Mexican War ended and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. The US got a lot of land from Mexico. It was a big deal because it was 1 million square miles bigger than the Louisiana Purchase.

The conversation about slavery and new American territories was re-opened when the Missouri Compromise was passed. Two years after this, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay proposed another compromise.

The Compromise of 1850 was a law that tried to help people in different parts of the country.

1. The first part said that California would be free.

2. The second part said slavery could not be legal in any other new states.

3. The third part said slavery was banned in Washington DC but slaveowners could still trade them.

4. The fourth part gave Southerners more power over slaves who had escaped to Northern states.

The philosophy of expansion in the 19th century led to the forced removal of Native Americans from their homes. When new states were added to the Union, slavery became an issue because there was more territory. This led to a civil war.

The Gold Rush

In the 1800s, people found gold in California. That made many people want to head to California with their pans. But it turned out not everyone would find gold.

Six days before the Mexican War was over, gold was found in California. No one at the signing of the treaty could have imagined that it would be easy to find gold in California.

The United States and Mexico didn't think much of the area which is now California. The land was dangerous and dry and had native tribes living there. The war had been about territory - not what the territory was like. People were more likely to go to Oregon than they were to California because Oregon's land was fertile.

John Marshall, a carpenter and sawmill operator, found gold on January 24, 1848, at Sutter's Mill. John was making his routine check of the mill when he saw gold in the water. He grabbed it and knew that it was gold.

By June 1848, 75% of the men in San Francisco left for the Sierra Nevada. They were looking for gold. All of Sutter's workers left him too. They were also looking for gold, but he was mad because his cook left too! The Gold Rush changed life in San Francisco.

When people found out about gold in the East, many men left their jobs as bankers, lawyers, and doctors to search for gold in the West. They went knees deep into the freezing water to move rocks. Their hands ended up numb and bleeding.

The discovery of gold sparked a massive wave of westward migration. Prospectors who arrived in 1849 became known as the Forty-Niners. The population of San Francisco skyrocketed, and prices for goods rose greatly.

The Gold Rush brought people from all around the world to California. The Panama shortcut was a popular and easy route. it was a 7,000-mile journey with an approximate travel time of two to three months. The second route was the longest and safest and it was through the Pacific Ocean, but it had the risk of high waves. The third route was very treacherous and it was by land. The overland route across the US was by wagon train and took 3-7 months.

The gold rush in the 1850s caused an insane amount of money to come into California. It provided $187 billion worth of gold in today's dollars. Women were more likely to be successful in the Gold Rush because there was a shortage of women and traditionally female jobs like washing clothes.

The gold rush led to the settlement of the western US on a massive scale. The Gold Rush in California brought many settlers from other countries, such as China and Australia.
Read more about California Gold Rush
Sources

P.S. If you enjoyed what you read and are a teacher or tutor needing resources for your students from kindergarten all the way up to high school senior (or even adults!), check out our partner sites KidsKonnect, SchoolHistory, and HelpTeaching for hundreds of facts, worksheets, activities, quizzes, courses, and more!

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Westward Expansion Facts and History - History for Kids

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In the first half of the 19th century, America's population grew a lot. People moved to new places where they could start a new life or live cheaper.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/tecumseh

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Tecumseh was a Shawnee warrior chief who organized a Native American confederacy in an effort to create an autonomous Indian state and stop white settlement in the Northwest Territory (modern-day Great Lakes region). He firmly believed that all Indian tribes must settle their differences and unite to retain their lands, culture and freedom. Tecumseh led his followers against the United States military in many battles and supported the British during the War of 1812. But his dream of independence ended when he was killed at the Battle of Thames, which led to the collapse of his Indian confederacy.

Early Years

Tecumseh, whose name in Shawnee means "shooting star" or "blazing comet," was born in 1768 in the western Ohio Valley to the Shawnee chief Puckeshinwa and his wife Methoataske. According to legend, he was given his name because at his birth a meteor or comet was seen in the sky.

After Puckeshinwa was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant ( Lord Dunmore's War), Methoataske migrated to Missouri with other tribe members, leaving Tecumseh and his siblings behind to be raised by their older sister Tecumapease.

Tecumapease taught Tecumseh the tenets of Shawnee culture; his older brother Cheeseekau taught him how to be a warrior. By his teenage years, Tecumseh had come to despise Americans after witnessing the atrocities they committed against the Shawnee people and their land; however, the brutal tactics some Indians used to fight the white man also horrified him.

In the late 1780s, Tecumseh participated in a series of raids on settlers, then accompanied his brother Cheeseekau and a small band of Shawnee warriors to Tennessee to join a group of Cherokee Chickamauga. After Cheeseekau was killed, Tecumseh became leader of the Shawnee band and returned to Ohio to help Chief Bluejacket battle the U.S. Army.

Treaty of Greenville

Under Bluejacket's direction in 1791, Tecumseh led a scouting party to help defeat General Arthur St. Clair's army at the bloody Battle of Wabash. He then fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on the Maumee River, where General Anthony Wayne and his army decisively defeated the Indians, and both sides signed the Treaty of Greenville which forced the Indians to forfeit much of their land in the Northwest Territory.

Tecumseh refused to sign the treaty, however, because he felt the Indians didn't own the land they'd given up. He believed the land was shared by all Indians and could not be negotiated away. Nonetheless, Native Americans abided by the Treaty of Greenville, although white settlers and their leaders did not.

Prophetstown

By the early 1800s, Tecumseh had settled in Ohio and was a respected leader, war chief and orator. In 1805, his younger brother Lalawethika experienced an alcohol-induced vision and declared his intent to lead Indians on a quest to reclaim their lands and culture. He changed his name to Tenskwatawa and became known as "the Prophet."

After correctly predicting a solar eclipse in 1806, the Prophet gained hordes of Indian followers from various tribes. In 1808, Tecumseh and the Prophet moved their growing multi-tribal alliance to Prophetstown, near the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers in present-day Indiana.

Battle of Tippecanoe

Tecumseh traveled far to recruit disgruntled Indians to his pan-Indian alliance. In powerful speeches, he rallied them to his cause by warning that the only way to overcome their invaders was to unite and resist the American way of life.

It was while he was away on one of these recruiting trips in 1811 that Indiana Territory's Governor (and future U.S. president) William Henry Harrison marched his forces toward Prophetstown with the intent of destroying the village.

Tecumseh had warned his brother not to fight until their confederacy was stronger, but the Prophet ignored his advice and attacked Harrison's army despite a tenuous ceasefire having been reached. After two hours of intense fighting at the Battle of Tippecanoe, Harrison defeated the Indians who then abandoned Prophetstown, leaving it open for Harrison to ransack and burn.

A few months later, Tecumseh returned to Prophetstown and found both the village and his hard-won Indian coalition destroyed.

Death and Legacy

Tecumseh rallied his remaining followers during the War of 1812 and joined British forces in Michigan, playing a key role in defeating American forces at the Siege of Detroit.

After Detroit's fall, Tecumseh joined British Major-General Henry Proctor's invasion of Ohio and fought against Harrison and his army. After Harrison invaded Canada, the British were forced to flee, and Tecumseh and his men grudgingly followed suit. Harrison pursued them to the Thames River where Tecumseh was killed on October 5, 1813.

Tecumseh was an esteemed leader, a powerful chief and a gifted orator. His death dismantled his pan-Indian alliance in the Northwest Territory. Without Tecumseh to lead them, most remaining Native Americans in the region moved to Indian reservations and ceded their land.

Though Tecumseh never lost sight of his goal to unite Indian tribes, his influence was not enough to defeat America's military and save the Indian way of life.

General Isaac Brock, Commander of the British Forces at Amherstburg, may have summed up Tecumseh's life best when he said of him, "A more sagacious or a gallant warrior does not, I believe, exist."

Sources

Tecumseh. Ohio History Central.
Tecumseh. National Park Service.
Tecumseh. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Tippecanoe. American Battlefield Trust.

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Tecumseh: Chief, Facts & Battles - HISTORY

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Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who organized a Native American confederacy to create a free Indian state and stop white settlement in the Great Lakes region.

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https://www.history.com/news/trail-of-tears-conditions-cherokee

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How Native Americans Struggled to Survive on the Trail of Tears | HISTORY

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Severe exposure, starvation and disease ravaged tribes during their forced migration to present-day Oklahoma.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/geronimo

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Geronimo (1829-1909) was an Apache leader and medicine man best known for his fearlessness in resisting anyone-Mexican or American-who attempted to remove his people from their tribal lands.

He repeatedly evaded capture and life on a reservation, and during his final escape, a full quarter of the U.S. standing army pursued him and his followers. When Geronimo was captured on September 4, 1886, he was the last Native American leader to formally surrender to the U.S. military. He spent the last 23 years of his life as a prisoner of war.

Geronimo's Early Life

Geronimo was born in what is today Arizona in the upper Gila River country on June 16, 1829. His birth name was Goyahkla, or "one who yawns." He was part of the Bedonkohe subsection of the Chiricahua tribe of Apaches, a small but mighty group of around 8,000 people. By the time he came of age, the Apaches were at war with Mexicans to the South, the U.S. government to the North and neighboring Comanche and Navajo tribes. He showed early promise as a hunter and led four successful raids on nearby tribes by age 17.

Personal tragedy shaped his lifelong hatred for anyone who attempted to subject him or his people. While he was away on a trading trip in 1851, Mexican soldiers led by Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco attacked his family's camp. Geronimo's wife, Alope, their three children and his mother were all murdered.

Wild with grief, Geronimo burned his family's belonging according to Apache tradition before heading into the forest, where he claimed he heard a voice that told him: "No gun will ever kill you. I will take the bullets from the guns ... and I will guide your arrows." He soon hunted down his family's killers and devoted his life to avenging them.

What Does the Name 'Geronimo!' Mean?

The source of the name "Geronimo" is disputed. The young Goyahkla earned the nickname while leading Apache raids. Some historians believe its origins are the cries of frightened Mexican soldiers calling out the name of the Catholic St. Jerome when they faced Geronimo in battle. Others believe it is simply a mispronunciation of "Goyahkla."

Whatever the origin of the name "Geronimo," it took on new life long after the leader's death: During World War II, paratroopers yelled "Geronimo!" before jumping out of planes, a reference to his bravery.

Geronimo Resists Reservations

American Westward expansion brought new woes-and foes-to the Apache. With the 1848 signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Mexican-American War came to an end. Mexico ceded much of what is now the American Southwest to the United States, including land the Apaches had called home for centuries. The Gadsden Purchase in 1854 gave the U.S. even more land in today's Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.

In 1872, the U.S. government created a reservation for the Chiricahua Apaches that included at least a portion of their homeland, but they were soon evicted and forced to join other Apache groups on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. A defiant Geronimo broke out of San Carlos Reservation with his followers three separate times in the next decade. His knowledge of the surrounding hills helped him to evade his pursuers.

The more often Geronimo escaped and the longer he was able to disappear, the more embarrassed the U.S. military and politicians grew. His belief that no bullets could harm him appeared to be true, as he continually escaped skirmishes with law enforcement, Anglo-Americans and Mexicans. He was wounded multiple times, but always recovered. He became a newspaper sensation.

Geronimo Surrenders

On May 17, 1885, Geronimo, then 55, led 135 Apache followers in a daring escape from the reservation. To avoid capture by the American cavalry and Apache scouts, he often pushed the men, women and children in his group to travel as far as 70 miles per day. While on the loose, Geronimo and his band raided both Mexican and American settlements, sometimes killing civilians.

In March of 1886, General George Crook forced Geronimo to surrender, but at the last minute, Geronimo and 40 followers escaped under cover of darkness. Five thousand U.S. soldiers-nearly a quarter of the standing army-and 3,000 Mexicans pursued the escapees. They held out for five months before Geronimo turned himself in to General Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona on September 4, 1886.

Geronimo and his fellow captives were sent to Fort Pickens, Florida, by train, then Mount Vernon Barracks, Alabama They ultimately ended up imprisoned at the Comanche and Kiowa reservation near Fort Sill (in today's Oklahoma).

Geronimo spent over 14 years at Fort Sill, leaving only occasionally for government-approved trips to world's fairs and Wild West shows where the once-unbeatable leader was put on display. He even participated in President Theodore Roosevelt 's inauguration, though Roosevelt refused Geronimo's plea to permit the Chiricahuas to return to their native lands in the West.

Death of Geronimo

Geronimo died of pneumonia at Fort Sill on February 17, 1909. He is buried in Beef Creek Apache Cemetery in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

HISTORY Vault: Native American History

Sources

Geronimo's Appeal to Theodore Roosevelt. Smithsonian Magazine.
Geronimo. Biography.com.
Geronimo. Dictionary.com.

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Apache chief Geronimo (1829-1909) led his followers on a series of escapes in the mid-1870s that bolstered his legend and embarrassed the U.S. government. He surrendered to General Nelson Miles in 1886, and remained a celebrity in captivity until his death at Oklahoma's Fort Sill.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/sitting-bull

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Contents

1. Sitting Bull's Early Life

2. Sitting Bull Resists U.S. Government

3. Sitting Bull and The Fort Laramie Treaty

4. The Battle of Little Bighorn

5. Sitting Bull Surrenders

6. Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show

7. Sitting Bull's Death and Burial Site

Sitting Bull (c. 1831-1890) was a Teton Dakota Native American chief who united the Sioux tribes of the American Great Plains against the white settlers taking their tribal land. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty granted the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota to the Sioux, but when gold was discovered there in 1874, the U.S. government ignored the treaty and began to remove native tribes from their land by force.

The ensuing Great Sioux Wars culminated in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, when Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led united tribes to victory against General George Armstrong Custer. Sitting Bull was shot and killed by Indian police officers on Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 1890, but is remembered for his courage in defending native lands.

Sitting Bull's Early Life

Library of Congress

Sitting Bull was born in 1831 near Grand River, Dakota Territory in what is today South Dakota. He was the son of Returns-Again, a renowned Sioux warrior who named his son "Jumping Badger" at birth. The young boy killed his first buffalo at age 10 and by 14, joined his father and uncle on a raid of a Crow camp. After the raid, his father renamed him Tatanka Yotanka, or Sitting Bull, for his bravery.

Sitting Bull soon joined the Strong Heart warrior society and the Silent Eaters, a group that ensured the welfare of the tribe. He led the expansion of Sioux hunting grounds into westward territories previously inhabited by the Assiniboine, Crow and Shoshone, among others.

Sitting Bull Resists U.S. Government

Sitting Bull first battled the U.S. Army in June of 1863, when they came after the Santee Sioux (not the Dakota) in retaliation for the Minnesota Uprising, sparked when federal agents withheld food from the Sioux living on reservations along the Minnesota River. Over 300 Sioux were arrested in the Minnesota Uprising, but President Abraham Lincoln commuted the sentences of all but 39 of the accused.

Sitting Bull faced the might of the U.S. military again at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain on July 28, 1864, when U.S. forces under General Alfred Sully surrounded an Indian trading village, eventually forcing the Sioux to retreat. These face-offs convinced Sitting Bull to never sign a treaty that would force his people onto a reservation.

Sitting Bull and The Fort Laramie Treaty

His resolve was not shared by all. In 1868, Red Cloud, or Mahpiua Luta (1822-1909), chief of the Oglala Teton Dakota Sioux, signed the Fort Laramie Treaty with 24 other tribal leaders and representatives of the U.S. government including Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman. The treaty created the Great Sioux Reservation and earmarked additional land for the Sioux in parts of South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska.

Sitting Bull's anti-treaty stance won him many followers, and around 1869, he was made supreme leader of the autonomous bands of Lakota Sioux-the first person to ever hold such a title. Members of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes soon joined him.

The uneasy peace of the Fort Laramie Treaty was short-lived. In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills, a place sacred to the Sioux and within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Reservation. White settlers seeking their fortunes rushed to claim the land as their own. The U.S. government reneged on the treaty, demanding that any Sioux who dared resist move to the redrawn reservation lines by January 31, 1876 or be considered an enemy of the United States. Sitting Bull was expected to move everyone in his village an impossible 240 miles in the bitter cold.

Defiant, Sitting Bull refused to back down. He mustered a force that included the Arapaho, Cheyenne and Sioux and faced off against General George Crook on June 17, 1876, winning victory in the Battle of the Rosebud. From there, his forces moved to the valley of the Little Bighorn River.

The Battle of Little Bighorn

It was in a camp at Little Bighorn River that Sitting Bull, then a revered leader and holy man, or "Wichasa Wakan," participated in a Sun Dance ceremony where he famously danced for 36 hours straight, making 50 sacrificial cuts on each arm before falling into a trance. When he awoke, he revealed that he had a vision of U.S. soldiers falling like grasshoppers from the sky, which he interpreted as an omen that the army would soon be defeated.

On June 25, 600 men under the leadership of General George Custer, a West Point graduate, entered the valley. Sitting Bull ensured the women and children of the tribe were safe while Crazy Horse (c.1840-77) led over 3,000 Native Americans to victory in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, overwhelming Custer's smaller force of 300. Custer and every single one of his men were killed in what came to be known as Custer's Last Stand.

Sitting Bull Surrenders

In the wake of The Battle of Little Bighorn, the incensed U.S. government redoubled their efforts to hunt down the Sioux. At the same time, the encroachment of white settlers on traditionally Indian lands greatly reduced the buffalo population that the Sioux depended on for survival. In May 1877, Sitting Bull led his people to safety in Canada.

With food and resources scarce, Sitting Bull surrendered to the U.S. Army on July 20, 1881 in exchange for amnesty for his people. He was a prisoner of war in South Dakota's Fort Randall for two years before being moved to Standing Rock Reservation.

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show

Library of Congress

Sitting Bull was occasionally permitted to travel, and it was on one of his trips outside the reservation that he struck up a friendship with sharpshooter Annie Oakley, whom he affectionately nicknamed "Little Sure Shot" after seeing her perform in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1884.

In 1885, Sitting Bull joined Oakley in performing in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Buffalo Bill was by then a celebrity with a storied past straight out of a Western: He'd rode horses for the Pony Express, fought in the American Civil War and served as a scout for the Army.

Sitting Bull rode in the show's opening act, signed autographs and even met President Grover Cleveland, though he could also be mocked and booed onstage. He left the show in October at age 54 and never returned.

Sitting Bull's Death and Burial Site

Standing Rock Reservation soon became the center of controversy when the Ghost Dance Movement started gaining traction. Followers believed that deceased tribe members would rise from the dead along with killed buffalo while all white people would disappear. Worried that the influential Sitting Bull would join the movement and incite rebellion, Indian police advanced on his cabin to arrest him.

On December 15, 1890, Indian police woke the sleeping Sitting Bull in his bed at 6 a.m. When he refused to go quietly, a crowd gathered. A young man shot a member of the Indian police, who retaliated by shooting Sitting Bull in the head and chest. Sitting Bull died instantly from the gunshot wounds. Two weeks after his death, the army massacred 150 Sioux at Wounded Knee, the final fight between federal troops and the Sioux.

Sitting Bull was buried at Fort Yates Military Cemetery in North Dakota by the army. In 1953, family members exhumed what they thought was Sitting Bull's grave and reburied the bones they found near Mobridge, South Dakota, overlooking the Missouri River.

Sources:

Sitting Bull. Biography.com.
New Perspectives on The West: Sitting Bull. PBS.
Sitting Bull. NPS.gov.
Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill And The Circus of Lies. The Independent.
The Native American Ghost Dance, A Symbol of Defiance. ThoughtCo.
Last Stand to Save Grave of Sitting Bull. The Telegraph.

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Sitting Bull's Early Life Sitting Bull Resists U.S. Government Sitting Bull and The Fort Laramie Treaty The Battle of Little Bighorn Sitting Bull Surrenders Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show Sitting Bull's Death and Burial Site Sitting Bull (c.

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https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-sitting-bull

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/wounded-knee

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Wounded Knee, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, was the site of two conflicts between Native Americans and representatives of the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and, later, the FBI. An 1890 massacre left some 150 Native Americans dead, in what was the final clash between federal troops and the Sioux tribe. In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days to protest conditions on the reservation.

Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull

Throughout 1890, the U.S. government was worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Native Americans had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs.

Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, whom they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge in South Dakota.

Did you know? Nearly half of the Sioux killed at the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre were women and children.

Wounded Knee Massacre

On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under Big Foot, a Lakota Sioux chief, near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side.

A brutal massacre followed, in which an estimated 150 Indians were killed. (Some historians put this number at twice as high.) Nearly half of them were women and children. The U.S. cavalry lost 25 men.

The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle-the Army troops involved were later rewarded with Medals of Honor-but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876.

Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was one of the last major confrontations in the Indian Wars, America's deadly series of wars against the Plains Indians and other Native Americans.

American Indian Movement

The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded in 1968 in an effort to stop police harassment of Indians in the Minneapolis area. Borrowing some tactics from the Vietnam war protests of the era, AIM soon gained national notoriety for its flamboyant demonstrations. However, many mainstream Indian leaders denounced the youth-dominated group as too radical.

In 1972, a faction of AIM members led by Dennis Banks and Leonard Peltier sought to close the divide by making alliances with traditional tribal elders on reservations. They had their greatest success on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, after a group of young white men murdered a Sioux man named Yellow Thunder.

Although Yellow Thunder's attackers received only six-year prison sentences, this was widely seen as a victory by the local Sioux accustomed to unfair treatment by the often racist judicial system. AIM's highly visible publicity campaign on the case was given considerable credit for the verdict, winning the organization a great deal of respect on the reservation.

Wounded Knee Siege

AIM's growing prestige and influence, however, threatened the conservative Sioux tribal chairman, Dick Wilson. When Wilson learned of a planned AIM protest against his administration at Pine Ridge, he retreated to tribal headquarters where he was under the protection of federal marshals and Bureau of Indian Affairs police.

Rather than confront the police in Pine Ridge, some 200 AIM members and their supporters decided to occupy the symbolically significant hamlet of Wounded Knee, site of the 1890 massacre. Wilson, with the backing of the federal government, responded by besieging Wounded Knee.

During the 71 days of the siege, which began on February 27, 1973, federal officers and AIM members exchanged gunfire almost nightly. Hundreds of arrests were made, and two Native Americans were killed and a federal marshal was permanently paralyzed by a bullet wound.

The leaders of AIM finally surrendered on May 8 after a negotiated settlement was reached. In a subsequent trial, the judge ordered their acquittal because of evidence that the FBI had manipulated key witnesses. AIM emerged victorious and succeeded in shining a national spotlight on the problems of modern Native Americans.

Trouble Continues at Pine Ridge

The troubles at Wounded Knee, however, were not over after the siege. A virtual civil war broke out between the opposing Indian factions on the Pine Ridge reservation, and a series of beatings, shootings and murders left more than 100 Indians dead. When two FBI agents were killed in a 1975 gunfight, the agency raided the reservation and arrested AIM leader Leonard Peltier for the crime.

The FBI crackdown coupled with AIM's own excesses ended its influence at Pine Ridge. In 1977, Peltier was convicted of killing the two FBI agents and sentenced to life in prison. To this day, Peltier's supporters continue to maintain his innocence and seek a presidential pardon for him.

And in 2021, members of the U.S. Congress petitioned President Joe Biden to revoke the Medals of Honor soldiers received for their participation in the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre.

HISTORY Vault: Native American History

Sources

Disaster at Wounded Knee. Library of Congress.
What really happened at Wounded Knee, the site of a historic massacre. National Geographic.
Warren, Merkley, Kahele Lead Bicameral Letter Urging Biden to Rescind Medals of Honor Awarded to Soldiers who Perpetrated Wounded Knee Massacre. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate.
Wounded Knee Massacre. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.

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Wounded Knee: Massacre, Memorial & Battle - HISTORY

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Wounded Knee in South Dakota was the site of an 1890 Indian massacre by U.S. Army troops, and a deadly 1973 occupation by Native American activists.

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10 Native American Inventions Commonly Used Today | HISTORY

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From kayaks to contraceptives to pain relievers, Native Americans developed key innovations long before Columbus reached the Americas.

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The Indian Wars began the moment English colonists arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, when the settlers started an uneasy relationship with the Native Americans (or Indians) who had thrived on the land for thousands of years. At that time, millions of indigenous people had settled across North America in hundreds of different tribes. But between 1622 and the late 19th century, a series of wars and skirmishes known as the Indian Wars took place between American-Indians and European settlers, mainly over land control.

Colonial Period Indian Wars

On March 22, 1622, Powhatan Indians attacked and killed colonists in eastern Virginia. Known as the Jamestown Massacre, the bloodbath gave the English government an excuse to justify their efforts to attack Native Americans and confiscate their land.

In 1636, the Pequot War over trade expansion broke out between Pequot Indians and English settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Connecticut. The colonists' Indian allies joined them in battle and helped defeat the Pequot.

A series of battles took place from 1636 to 1659 between New Netherlands settlers in New York and several Indian tribes (Lenape, Susquehannocks, Algonquians, Esopus). Some battles were especially violent and gruesome, sending many settlers fleeing back to the Netherlands.

The Beaver Wars of 1640-1701 occurred between the French and their Indian allies (Algonquian, Huron) and the powerful Iroquois Confederacy. The fierce fighting started over territory and fur trade dominance around the Great Lakes and ended with the signing of the Great Peace Treaty.

King Philip's War

King Philip's War (1675-1676), also known as Metacom's War, began after bands of Indians led by Wampanoag Chief Metacom (later called King Philip) grew frustrated with their dependence on the Puritans and attacked colonies and militia strongholds throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The attacks ignited a series of battles for power along the Connecticut River Valley between Metacom's warriors and a large colonial militia and their Mohawk allies. The war ended with Metacom's beheading and the decimation of the Native Americans in his coalition.

Queen Anne's War

Queen Anne's War of 1702-1713 occurred between French and English colonists and their respective Indian allies on several fronts including Spanish Florida, New England, Newfoundland and Acadia. The war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht, but the Indians were not included in peace negotiations and lost much of their land.

During the Tuscarora War (1711-1715), Tuscarora Indians burned North Carolina settlements and randomly killed colonists over treaty disputes. After two years of bloody fighting, North Carolina defeated the Indians with the help of the South Carolina militia.

In 1715, Yamasee Indians-frustrated with the loss of their hunting grounds and the high debts they owed white settlers of South Carolina-formed a confederacy with other local tribes and forced many settlers to flee, devastating South Carolina's economy.

French and Indian War

As France expanded into the Ohio River Valley from 1754 to 1763, it fought with Britain for control of North America. Both sides forged alliances with Indians to help fight their battles. Known as the French and Indian War, the struggle ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

In 1763, Pontiac Indians of the Ohio River became incensed upon learning King George III expected them to become British loyalists. During Pontiac's War, the Ottawa Chief Pontiac rallied support among other tribes and laid siege to Britain's Fort Detroit. When a British retaliatory assault plan on Pontiac's village was discovered, the Indians attacked and killed many British soldiers during the Battle of Bloody Run on July 31.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers happened on August 20, 1794, along Ohio's Maumee River between regional Indians (Miami, Shawnee, Lenape) and the United States. The well-trained U.S. Army decisively defeated the Indians and the battle ended with the adoption of the Treaty of Greenville.

In 1759, a series of battles known as the Cherokee Wars began from the valleys of Virginia to North Carolina and southward. Two peace treaties forced the Cherokee to give up millions of acres of land to settlers, provoking them to fight for the British in the Revolutionary War, hoping to keep what land they had left.
READ MORE: How 22-Year-Old George Washington Inadvertently Sparked the French and Indian War
Early American Indian Wars

Indians had to choose sides or try to stay neutral when the American Revolution broke out. Many tribes such as the Iroquois, Shawnee, Cherokee and Creek fought with British loyalists. Others, including the Potawatomi and the Delaware, sided with American patriots.

But no matter which side they fought on, Native Americans were negatively impacted. They were left out of peace talks and lost additional land. After the war, some Americans retaliated against those Indian tribes that had supported the British.

Cherokee Chief Dragging Canoe led bands of Indians against white settlers in the South from 1776 through 1794. At the Battle of the Bluffs, he led 400 warriors to destroy Fort Nashborough in Tennessee, but a pack of unleashed hunting dogs forced them back during the battle.

Nineteenth-Century Wars

At the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Shawnee Chief Tecumseh formed a coalition to slow the flow of settlers into Illinois and Indiana. Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison led a force of soldiers and militia to destroy the Shawnee's village but agreed to a temporary cease-fire. Tecumseh's brother, "The Prophet," ignored the cease-fire and attacked. Harrison prevailed, however, and the Shawnee retreated north.

The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States and their respective Indian allies. Tecumseh's defeat at the Battle of Tippecanoe led him to support the British. At the Battle of Thames (one of many battles in the War of 1812) along the Thames River in Ontario, British troops and Tecumseh's coalition were outnumbered and easily defeated again. Tecumseh died in the battle, leading many Indians to abandon the British cause.

By 1814, pro-American Creeks (Lower Creeks) and Creeks who resented Americans (Upper Creeks) were fighting a civil war. At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama on March 27, American militia fought alongside Lower Creeks to defeat Upper Creeks. The battle ended with the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson and the Creeks ceding almost two million acres of land.

Seminole Wars

In the First Seminole War (1816-1818), the Seminoles, assisted by runaway slaves, defended Spanish Florida against the U.S. Army. In the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the Indians fought to retain their land in the Florida Everglades but were almost wiped out. The Third Seminole War (1855-1858) was the Seminole's last stand. After being outgunned and outnumbered, most of them agreed to move to Indian reservations in Oklahoma.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, allowing the U.S. government to relocate Indians from their land east of the Mississippi River. In 1838, the government forcibly removed around 15,000 Cherokee from their homeland and made them walk more than 1,200 miles west. Over 3,000 Indians died on the grueling route, known as the Trail of Tears. The involuntary relocation fueled the Indians' anger toward the U.S. government.

In 1832, Chief Black Hawk led around 1,000 Sauk and Fox Indians back to Illinois to reclaim their land. The battle, known as the Black Hawk War, was a disaster for the Indians who were greatly outnumbered by the U.S. Army, militias and other Indian tribes.

Sand Creek Massacre

The Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 occurred after about 750 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho led by Chief Black Kettle were forced to abandon their winter campsite near Fort Lyon in southeastern Colorado. When they set up camp at Sand Creek, volunteer Colorado soldiers attacked, scattering them while slaughtering 148 men, women and children.

Red Cloud's War (1866) began as the U.S. government developed the Bozeman Trail through Indian territory to allow miners and settlers access to gold in Montana Territory via the Powder River. For two years, an Indian coalition led by Lakota Chief Red Cloud attacked workers, settlers and soldiers to save their native lands. Their persistence paid off when the U.S. Army left the area and signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868.

The treaty established the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. After the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, however, the U.S. government began setting up Army posts there, leaving angry Sioux and Cheyenne warriors-led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse -determined to defend their territory.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

At the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, General George Armstrong Custer led 600 men into the Little Bighorn Valley, where they were overwhelmed by approximately 3,000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Crazy Horse.

Custer and his men were all killed in the battle, known as Custer's Last Stand. Despite the decisive Indian victory, the U.S. government forced the Sioux to sell the Black Hills and leave the land.

The U.S. Army fought multiple skirmishes during the Red River War (1874-1875) against Southern Plains Indians who had left their reservations to reclaim former hunting grounds in the Texas Panhandle. The war ended after intense pressure from the U.S. Army forced the Indians to return to their reservations.

Driven by revenge for the slaughter of his family and the need to protect Apache native lands in northern Mexico and Southwest U.S. territory, the warrior Geronimo led his men in brutal attacks against Mexican troops, white settlers and the U.S. Army from 1850 until his capture in 1886.

Wounded Knee

In the late nineteenth century, Indian "Ghost Dancers" believed a specific dance ritual would reunite them with the dead and bring peace and prosperity. On December 29, 1890, the U.S. Army surrounded a group of Ghost Dancers at Wounded Knee Creek near the Pine Ridge reservation of South Dakota.

During the ensuing Wounded Knee Massacre, fierce fighting broke out and 150 Indians were slaughtered. The battle was the last major conflict between the U.S. government and the Plains Indians.

By the early 20 century, the American-Indian Wars had effectively ended, but at great cost. Though Indians helped colonial settlers survive in the New World, helped Americans gain their independence and ceded vast amounts of land and resources to pioneers, tens of thousands of Indian and non-Indian lives were lost to war, disease and famine, and the Indian way of life was almost completely destroyed.
READ MORE: American Indian Wars: A Timeline
Sources

History of Queen Anne's War. History of Massachusetts Blog.
Native Americans in the Revolutionary War. History of Massachusetts.
Red River War (1874-1875). Oklahoma Historical Society.
Seminole Wars History. Seminole Wars Foundation.
The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Tuscarora War. North Carolina History Project.
Indian Wars Campaign. U.S. Army Center of Military History.
The War of 1812 and Indian Wars: 1812-1821. Library of Congress.

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The Indian Wars began the moment English colonists arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, when the settlers started an uneasy relationship with the Native Americans (or Indians) who had thrived on the land for thousands of years. At that time, millions of indigenous people had settled across North America in hundreds of different tribes.

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The 'Indian Problem'

White Americans, particularly those who lived on the western frontier, often feared and resented the Native Americans they encountered: To them, American Indians seemed to be an unfamiliar, alien people who occupied land that white settlers wanted (and believed they deserved).

Some officials in the early years of the American republic, such as President George Washington, believed that the best way to solve this "Indian problem" was to simply "civilize" the Native Americans. The goal of this civilization campaign was to make Native Americans as much like white Americans as possible by encouraging them convert to Christianity, learn to speak and read English and adopt European-style economic practices such as the individual ownership of land and other property (including, in some instances in the South, enslaved persons).

In the southeastern United States, many Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee people embraced these customs and became known as the "Five Civilized Tribes."

Did you know? Indian removal took place in the Northern states as well. In Illinois and Wisconsin, for example, the bloody Black Hawk War in 1832 opened to white settlement millions of acres of land that had belonged to the Sauk, Fox and other native nations.

But the Native Americans' land, located in parts of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, was valuable, and it grew to be more coveted as white settlers flooded the region. Many of these whites yearned to make their fortunes by growing cotton, and often resorted to violent means to take land from their Indigenous neighbors. They stole livestock; burned and looted houses and towns; committed mass murder; and squatted on land that did not belong to them.

Worcester v. Georgia

State governments joined in this effort to drive Native Americans out of the South. Several states passed laws limiting Native American sovereignty and rights and encroaching on their territory.

In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the U.S. Supreme Court objected to these practices and affirmed that native nations were sovereign nations "in which the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force."

Even so, the maltreatment continued. As President Andrew Jackson noted in 1832, if no one intended to enforce the Supreme Court's rulings (which he certainly did not), then the decisions would "[fall]...still born." Southern states were determined to take ownership of Indian lands and would go to great lengths to secure this territory.

Indian Removal Act

Andrew Jackson had long been an advocate of what he called "Indian removal." As an Army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida-campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers.

As president, he continued this crusade. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the "Indian colonization zone" that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase. This "Indian territory" was located in present-day Oklahoma.

The law required the government to negotiate removal treaties fairly, voluntarily and peacefully: It did not permit the president or anyone else to coerce Native nations into giving up their ancestral lands. However, President Jackson and his government frequently ignored the letter of the law and forced Native Americans to vacate lands they had lived on for generations.

Trail of Tears

In the winter of 1831, under threat of invasion by the U.S. Army, the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled from its land altogether. They made the journey to Indian Territory on foot (some "bound in chains and marched double file," one historian writes), and without any food, supplies or other help from the government.

Thousands of people died along the way. It was, one Choctaw leader told an Alabama newspaper, a "trail of tears and death."

The Indian-removal process continued. In 1836, the federal government drove the Creeks from their land for the last time: 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks who set out for Oklahoma did not survive the trip.

Treaty of New Echota

The Cherokee people were divided: What was the best way to handle the government's determination to get its hands on their territory? Some wanted to stay and fight. Others thought it was more pragmatic to agree to leave in exchange for money and other concessions.

In 1835, a few self-appointed representatives of the Cherokee nation negotiated the Treaty of New Echota, which traded all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi - roughly 7 million acres - for $5 million, relocation assistance and compensation for lost property.

To the federal government, the treaty (signed in New Echota, Georgia) was a done deal, but a majority of the Cherokee felt betrayed. Importantly, the negotiators did not represent the tribal government or anyone else. Most Cherokee people considered the Treaty of New Echota fraudulent, and the Cherokee National Council voted in 1836 to reject it.

John Ross

"The instrument in question is not the act of our nation," wrote the nation's principal chief, John Ross, in a letter to the U.S. Senate protesting the Treaty of New Echota. "We are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people." Nearly 16,000 Cherokees signed Ross's petition, but Congress approved the treaty anyway.

By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had left their Georgia homeland for Indian Territory. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the removal process. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while his men looted their homes and belongings.

Then, they marched the Indians more than 1,200 miles to Indian Territory. Whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation were epidemic along the way. Historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the journey.

Legacy of the Trail of Tears

By 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans had been driven off of their land in the southeastern states and forced to move across the Mississippi to Indian Territory. The federal government promised that their new land would remain unmolested forever, but as the line of white settlement pushed westward, "Indian Country" shrank and shrank. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian Territory was considered lost.

A 2020 decision by the Supreme Court, however, highlighted ongoing interest in Native American territorial rights. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that a huge area of Oklahoma is still considered an American Indian reservation.

This decision left the state of Oklahoma unable to prosecute Native Americans accused of crimes on those tribal lands - only federal and tribal law enforcement can prosecute such crimes. (A later 2022 Supreme Court decision rolled back some provisions of the 2020 court finding.)

The Trail of Tears - actually a network of different routes - is over 5,000 miles long and covers nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is run by the National Park Service and portions of it are accessible on foot, by horse, by bicycle or by car.

Sources

Trail of Tears. NPS.gov.
Trail of Tears. Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
The Treaty of New Echota and the Trail of Tears. North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
The Treaty That Forced the Cherokee People from Their Homelands Goes on View. Smithsonian Magazine.
Justices rule swath of Oklahoma remains tribal reservation. Associated Press.
Justices limit 2020 ruling on tribal lands in Oklahoma. Associated Press.

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Trail of Tears: Definition, Date & Cherokee Nation - HISTORY

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The Trail of Tears was the deadly route Native Americans were forced to follow when they were pushed off their ancestral lands and into Oklahoma by the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

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https://www.history.com/news/native-american-broken-treaties

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Between the Revolutionary War and the aftermath of the Civil War, over the course of almost a century, the United States and Native American nations signed some 368 treaties that would define their relationship for centuries to come.

The treaties keyed off the fundamental idea that each tribal group was an independent nation, with their own right to self-determination and self-rule. But as white settlers began moving onto Native American lands, this idea came into conflict with the relentless pace of westward expansion -resulting in many broken promises on the part of the U.S. government.

Treaty With the Delawares/Treaty of Fort Pitt - 1778

In September 1778, representatives of the newly formed Continental Congress signed a treaty with the Lenape (Delaware) at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. In the first official peace treaty between the new United States and a Native American nation, both sides agreed to maintain friendship and support each other against the British.

But mutual suspicion continued, especially after Pennsylvania militiamen killed nearly 100 Lenape (most of them women and children) at the village of Gnadenhutten in March 1782, mistakenly believing they were responsible for attacks against white settlers. After the American victory, more and more white settlers moved onto Lenape territory, until the Treaty of Greeneville in 1795 forced them and other Ohio Country Native Americans to surrender most of their lands.

Treaty of Hopewell - 1785-86

In the years following the Revolutionary War, Andrew Pickens and other commissioners of the new U.S. government concluded three highly similar treaties with the Cherokee, Choctaw and Cherokee Nations at Hopewell, Pickens' plantation home in northwestern South Carolina.

Collectively known as the Treaty of Hopewell, these agreements extended the friendship and "protection" of the United States to the southern Native American tribes; all three ended with the same sentence: "The hatchet shall be forever buried, and peace given by the United States of America."

Despite this sentiment, white settlers were already moving onto the lands designated for the Cherokee, leading to more conflict and the Treaty of Holston (1791), in which the Cherokee forfeited still more land.

Treaty of Canandaigua/Pickering Treaty/Calico Treaty - 1794

Seeking to improve relations between his government and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a powerful group of six Iroquois-speaking tribes (the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations), President George Washington sent his postmaster general, Timothy Pickering, to negotiate a treaty at Canandaigua, New York.

The treaty restored more than 1 million acres of land to the Seneca that had been ceded by treaty 10 years earlier and recognized the sovereignty of the Six Nations to govern themselves and set laws. It also promised an annual payment by the United States to the Haudenosaunee of $4,500 in goods, including calico cloth.

Over the years, as the Six Nations' territory was further reduced, the Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora and some Oneida remained in New York on reservations, while the Mohawk and Cayuga left for Canada and the Oneida settled in Wisconsin and Ontario.

Treaty of Greeneville - 1795

As more white settlers moved west into the Great Lake region, a Native American confederacy including the Shawnee and Delaware, who had already been driven westward by U.S. expansion, as well as the Miami, Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi, mounted an armed resistance beginning in the late 1780s.

After U.S. troops under General "Mad" Anthony Wayne defeated them in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Miami chief Little Turtle and other Native leaders ceded large parts of what would become Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin in the Greeneville Treaty.

But the treaty provided only short term resolution, as continued U.S. expansion quickly nullified its effect. By 1808, Shawnee war chief Tecumseh had organized a Native confederacy to mount armed resistance to continued U.S. seizure of Native American lands.

Treaty of Fort Wayne - 1809

In this treaty, negotiated by William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory, with Native tribes including the Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami and Eel River tribes, the United States acquired 2.5 million acres of land in what is now Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, for the equivalent of about two cents per acre. Tecumseh and others argued that the treaty's signers had no authority to sell the land and warned Americans not to settle there.

In 1811, Harrison led an attack on a Native American camp on the Tippecanoe River, beginning a new U.S.-Native conflict that would last through the War of 1812. After Tecumseh's death in battle in 1813, his confederacy dissolved, along with his dream of Native American independence.

Andrew Jackson & Indian Removal Act - 1830

Over the decade (1814-24) that Andrew Jackson served as a federal commissioner, he negotiated nine out of 11 treaties signed with Native American tribes in the Southeast, including the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles and Cherokees, in which the tribes gave up a total of some 50 million acres of land in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Elected president in 1828, Jackson spearheaded the Indian Removal Act (1830) through Congress, by which the U.S. government granted land west of the Mississippi River to Native tribes who agreed to give up their homelands.

Though removal was supposed to be voluntary, in practice Jackson used threats of withheld payments and legal and military action to conclude nearly 70 removal treaties over the course of his presidency, opening up some 25 million acres of land in the South to white settlement, and slavery.

Treaty of New Echota - 1835

Many Cherokee resisted removal from their ancestral lands in the Southeast, bringing their struggle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But despite the Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia (1832) that the Cherokee and other tribes were "sovereign nations," the removal continued. In 1835, U.S. government met with a group of Cherokee representatives at New Echota, Georgia, to sign a treaty that traded all 7 million acres of Cherokee land for $5 million and land in Indian Territory.

The majority of Cherokee opposed the treaty, but Congress ratified it anyway, and in 1838 the federal government sent 7,000 U.S. soldiers to enforce the removal of the Cherokees. An estimated 10 to 25 percent of Cherokee would die during the 1,200-mile trek to Oklahoma, later known as the " Trail of Tears."

Fort Laramie Treaty - 1868

In this treaty, signed at Fort Laramie and other military posts in what is now Wyoming, the U.S. government recognized the Black Hills of Dakota as the Great Sioux Reservation, the exclusive territory of the Sioux (Dakota, Lakota and Nakota) and Arapaho people. But after gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners and settlers began moving onto the land en masse.

Native resistance to the treaty's violation culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, after which government troops flooded the region. By that time, Congress had ended the nearly 100-year-old practice of making treaties with individual Native American tribes, declaring in 1871 that "henceforth, no Indian nation or tribe...shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty."

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the Black Hills were illegally confiscated, and awarded the Sioux more than $100 million in reparations. Sioux leaders rejected the payment, saying the land had never been for sale. Controversy continues over the sacred land -as well as other broken treaties.

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Broken Treaties With Native American Tribes: Timeline | HISTORY

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See a timeline of treaties signed and then broken by the U.S. government with various Indigenous peoples across the North American continent.

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https://www.history.com/news/native-american-voting-rights-citizenship

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Indigenous tribes in America practiced self governance long before the United States was founded in 1776. Despite this reality, Native Americans endured centuries of struggle before securing U.S. citizenship-and voting rights.

Native Americans couldn't be U.S. citizens when the country ratified its Constitution in 1788, and wouldn't win the right to be for 136 years. When Black Americans won citizenship with the 14th Amendment in 1868, the government specifically interpreted the law so it didn't apply to Native people.

"I am not yet prepared to pass a sweeping act of naturalization by which all the Indian savages, wild or tame, belonging to a tribal relation, are to become my fellow-citizens and go to the polls and vote with me," argued Michigan Senator Jacob Howard at the time, according to the Native American Voting Rights Coalition.

Some Indigenous people didn't seek U.S. citizenship since they were already part of their own sovereign nations. However, these nations still found their land and the lives of their people subject to the whims of a country that would not recognize them as citizens.

In 1924, Native people won the right to full citizenship when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, also known as the Snyder Act. But many saw the act as a way to break up Native nations and forcibly assimilate them into American society. A key part of this movement was forcing young Indigenous people to attend boarding schools. As Carlisle boarding school founder Richard Henry Pratt said in 1892, their mission was to "kill the Indian in him, and save the man."

In any case, Congress didn't guarantee Native people voting rights at that time either. The Constitution gave states the right to determine voting rights (with the exception of the 15th and 19th Amendments, which many states violated anyway by preventing Black people from voting).

There were plenty of white Americans who didn't want Native people voting in their states. In the late 1930s, "One of the Indians went over to Old Town once to see some official in the city hall about voting," reported Henry Mitchell, an "Indian Canoe Maker" in Maine. "He said to the Indian, 'We don't want you people over here. You have your own elections over on the island, and if you want to vote, go over there.'"

Native Americans were only able to win the right to vote by fighting for it state by state. In fact, efforts to disenfranchise Native Americans, particularly those who lived on reservations, continued through the early 1960s.

In 1957, after a challenge by an Indigenous voter, Utah repealed a law that had denied Native Americans living on reservations the right to vote. And in 1962, the Supreme Court of New Mexico struck down a challenge that claimed Navajos living on a reservation in the state should not have been allowed to vote in a 1960 election.

Despite these victories, Native people were still prevented from voting with poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation-the same tactics used against Black voters. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped strengthen the voting rights that Native people had won in every state. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder eliminated the Justice Department's authority to block changes to voting laws in states with histories of discrimination. In 2019, a federal commission found that at least 23 states had enacted "newly restrictive statewide voter laws."

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Native Americans' Long Journey to US Citizenship and Voting Rights | HISTORY

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Native Americans won U.S. citizenship in 1924, but the struggle for voting rights stretched on much longer.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/battle-of-the-little-bighorn

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Table of Contents

1. Battle of the Little Bighorn: Mounting Tensions

2. Battle of the Little Bighorn: Custer's Last Stand

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on June 25, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, pitted federal troops led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer (1839-76) against a band of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. Tensions between the two groups had been rising since the discovery of gold on Native American lands. When a number of tribes missed a federal deadline to move to reservations, the U.S. Army, including Custer and his 7th Cavalry, was dispatched to confront them. Custer was unaware of the number of Indians fighting under the command of Sitting Bull (c.1831-90) at Little Bighorn, and his forces were outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed in what became known as Custer's Last Stand.

Battle of the Little Bighorn: Mounting Tensions

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (c.1840-77), leaders of the Sioux on the Great Plains, strongly resisted the mid-19th-century efforts of the U.S. government to confine their people to Indian reservations. In 1875, after gold was discovered in South Dakota's Black Hills, the U.S. Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded the region. This betrayal led many Sioux and Cheyenne tribesmen to leave their reservations and join Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in Montana. By the late spring of 1876, more than 10,000 Native Americans had gathered in a camp along the Little Bighorn River-which they called the Greasy Grass-in defiance of a U.S. War Department order to return to their reservations or risk being attacked.

Did you know? Several members of George Armstrong Custer's family were also killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, including two of his brothers, his brother-in-law and a nephew.

In mid-June, three columns of U.S. soldiers lined up against the camp and prepared to march. A force of 1,200 Native Americans turned back the first column on June 17. Five days later, General Alfred Terry ordered George Custer's 7th Cavalry to scout ahead for enemy troops. On the morning of June 25, Custer, a West Point graduate, drew near the camp and decided to press on ahead rather than wait for reinforcements.

Battle of the Little Bighorn: Custer's Last Stand

At mid-day on June 25, Custer's 600 men entered the Little Bighorn Valley. Among the Native Americans, word quickly spread of the impending attack. The older Sitting Bull rallied the warriors and saw to the safety of the women and children, while Crazy Horse set off with a large force to meet the attackers head on. Despite Custer's desperate attempts to regroup his men, they were quickly overwhelmed. Custer and some 200 men in his battalion were attacked by as many as 3,000 Native Americans; within an hour, Custer and all of his soldiers were dead.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The demise of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations.

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Battle of the Little Bighorn - Location, Cause & Significance

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The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. It was fought on June 25, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/sacagawea

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Who Was Sacagawea?

Possibly the most memorialized woman in the United States, with dozens of statues and monuments, Sacagawea lived a short but legendarily eventful life in the American West. Born in 1788 or 1789, a member of the Lemhi band of the Native American Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea grew up surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in the Salmon River region of what is now Idaho.

The Shoshone were enemies of the gun-possessing Hidatsa tribe, who kidnapped Sacagawea during a buffalo hunt in 1800. The name we know her by is in fact Hidatsa, from the Hidatsa words for bird ("sacaga") and woman ("wea").

Did you know? Sacagawea was a highly skilled food gatherer. She used sharp sticks to dig up wild licorice, prairie turnips (tubers the explorers called "white apples") and wild artichokes that mice had buried for the winter.

Today, however, many Shoshone, among others, argue that in their language "Sacajawea" means boat-pusher and is her true name. (And in North Dakota the official spelling is "Sakakawea.") Her captors brought her to the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota; the Mandan is an affiliated tribe.

In 1803 or 1804, through a trade, gambling payoff or purchase, Sacagawea became the property of French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau, born no later than 1767 and well over two decades her senior. Charbonneau had lived among Native Americans for so long he had adopted some of their traditions, including polygamy. Sacagawea became one of his two wives and was soon pregnant.

The Louisiana Purchase

Meanwhile, President Thomas Jefferson had made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803-828,000 square miles of almost completely unexplored territory. Within this vast wilderness he hoped would lie the rumored Northwest Passage, the legendary waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that was long-sought trade route.

But Jefferson wanted more from the explorers who would search for the passage: He charged them with surveying the landscape, learning about the varied Native American tribes, collecting natural specimens and making maps. He turned to his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to head the Corps of Discovery. Lewis, 29, chose his friend and former military superior, 33-year-old William Clark, as his co-captain.

Lewis and Clark Meet Sacagawea

After more than a year of planning and initial travel, Lewis and Clark and their men reached the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement-about 60 miles northwest of present-day Bismarck, North Dakota-on November 2, 1804, when Sacagawea was about six months pregnant.

They recognized the potential value of Sacagawea and Charbonneau's combined language skills. Most of the Corps members spoke only English, but one, Francois Labiche, spoke French as well. Charbonneau spoke French and Hidatsa; Sacagawea spoke Hidatsa and Shoshone (two very different languages).

Through this translation chain, communications with the Shoshone would be possible. Lewis and Clark also recognized that the Shoshone had horses they would need to purchase.

Without horses, they wouldn't be able to transport their supplies over the Bitterroot Mountains (a rugged section of the Rockies) and continue toward the Pacific. And they couldn't procure horses earlier, because they'd be traveling by water until they reached the Rockies' edge.

Sacagawea delivered her son Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (known as Baptiste) on February 11, 1805. On April 7, Sacagawea, the baby and Charbonneau headed west with the 31 other Corps members.

Sacagawea Saves the Day

Within a month, a near-tragedy earned Sacagawea particular respect. The boat in which she was sailing nearly capsized when a squall hit and Charbonneau, the navigator, panicked.

Sacagawea had the presence of mind to gather crucial papers, books, navigational instruments, medicines and other provisions that might have otherwise disappeared-all while simultaneously ensuring her baby's safety. In appreciation, Lewis and Clark named a branch of the Missouri River for Sacagawea several days later.

Clark, in particular, developed a close bond with Sacagawea as she and Baptiste would often accompany him as he took his turn walking the shore, checking for obstacles in the river that could damage the boats.

Cameahwait and Sacagawea

Five days after the first members of the Corps crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass, Sacagawea did, as planned, translate the captains' desire to purchase horses to the Shoshone they encountered. Sacagawea was surprised and happy to recognize the Shoshone's leader, Chief Cameahwait, as her brother, and they had an emotional reunion.

Sacagawea also put her naturalist's knowledge to use for the Corps. She could identify roots, plants and berries that were either edible or medicinal. Sacagawea's memories of Shoshone trails led to Clark's characterization of her as his "pilot." She helped navigate the Corps through a mountain pass-today's Bozeman Pass in Montana-to the Yellowstone River.

And although it couldn't be quantified, the presence of a woman-a Native American, to boot-and baby made the whole corps seem less fearsome and more amiable to the Native Americans the Corps encountered, some of whom had never seen European faces before. This eased tensions that might otherwise have resulted in uncooperativeness at best, violence at worst.

After reaching the Pacific, Sacagawea returned with the rest of the Corps and her husband and son-having survived illness, flash floods, temperature extremes, food shortages, mosquito swarms and so much more-to their starting point, the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement, on August 14, 1806.

For his service Charbonneau received 320 acres of land and $500.33; Sacagawea herself received no compensation.

Sacagawea's Later Years

Three years later, in fall 1809, Sacagawea, Charbonneau and Baptiste ventured to St. Louis, where Charbonneau was taking the kind-hearted Clark up on an offer: Clark would provide the Charbonneau family with land to farm if the parents would agree to let Clark educate Baptiste.

The farming didn't work out, however, and Sacagawea and Charbonneau left Baptiste in St. Louis with Clark-now his godfather-in April 1811 so that they could join a fur-trading expedition.

How Did Sacagawea Die?

In August 1812, after giving birth to a daughter, Lisette (or Lizette), Sacagawea's health declined. By December, she was extremely ill with "putrid fever" (possibly typhoid fever).

She died at 25, on December 22, 1812, in Fort Manuel, located on a bluff 70 miles south of present-day Bismarck. She may have been buried on the Wind River Reservation, occupied by Lemhi Shoshone tribe, but some scholars dispute that.

Within a year, Clark became legal guardian to both Lisette and Baptiste. While little is known of Lisette's life, Baptiste traveled in Europe and held a variety of jobs in the American West before he died in 1866. Charbonneau died in 1843.

Legacy

Sacagawea's fictionalized image as a "genuine Indian princess" was promulgated most widely in the early 20th century by a popular 1902 novel by Eva Emery Dye that took liberties in recounting the travails of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

A suffragist, Dye was not satisfied to present the facts then known about Sacagawea; she wanted to make her a compelling model of female bravery and intelligence, and didn't mind rewriting history to do so.

"Out of a few dry bones I found in the old tales of the trip, I created Sacajawea," Dye wrote in her journal. Today, some scholars contend that the romanticized versions of the Sacagawea "legend" popularized before and after the publication of Dye's novel do the real woman a disservice, as her true legacy of accomplishments speaks for itself.

Sacagawea Coin

In addition to numerous memorials throughout the United States, Sacagawea was honored with a dollar coin made by the U.S. Mint from 2000 to 2008. The manganese brass coin features an image of Sacagawea carrying Jean Baptiste, her infant son.

Designed by artist Glenna Goodacre, the coins show Sacagawea looking directly at the viewer, a break with coin-making tradition, where subjects are typically viewed in profile. Goodacre used a modern-day Shoshone student as her model.

Sources

Sacagawea / Sacajawea / Sakakawea. National Women's Hall of Fame.
The Sacagawea Mystique: Her Age, Name, Role and Final Destiny. Columbia Magazine.
Sacagawea Golden Dollar Coin. U.S. Mint.

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Sacagawea: Facts, Tribe & Death - HISTORY

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Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804-06, exploring the lands procured in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

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https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-timeline

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Long before Christopher Columbus stepped foot on what would come to be known as the Americas, the expansive territory was inhabited by Native Americans. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various stages, from cooperation to indignation to revolt.

After siding with the French in numerous battles during the French and Indian War and eventually being forcibly removed from their homes under Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, Native American populations were diminished in size and territory by the end of the 19th century.

Below are events that shaped Native Americans' tumultuous history following the arrival of foreign settlers.

April 1513: Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon lands on continental North America in Florida and makes contact with Native Americans.

February 1521: Ponce de Leon departs on another voyage to Florida from San Juan to start a colony. Months after landing, Ponce de Leon is attacked by local Native Americans and fatally wounded.

May 1539: Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto lands in Florida to conquer the region. He explores the South under the guidance of Native Americans who had been captured along the way.

October 1540: De Soto and the Spaniards plan to rendezvous with ships in Alabama when they're attacked by Native Americans. Hundreds of Native Americans are killed in the ensuing battle.

C. 1595: Pocahontas is born, daughter of Chief Powhatan.

1607: Pocahontas' brother kidnaps Captain John Smith from the Jamestown colony. Smith later writes that after being threatened by Chief Powhatan, he was saved by Pocahontas. This scenario is debated by historians.

1613: Pocahontas is captured by Captain Samuel Argall in the first Anglo-Powhatan War. While captive, she learns to speak English, converts to Christianity and is given the name "Rebecca."

1622: The Powhatan Confederacy nearly wipes out Jamestown colony.

1680: A revolt of Pueblo Native Americans in New Mexico threatens Spanish rule over New Mexico.

1754: The French and Indian War begins, pitting the two groups against English settlements in the North.

May 15, 1756: The Seven Years' War between the British and the French begins, with Native American alliances aiding the French.

1785: The Treaty of Hopewell is signed in Georgia, protecting Cherokee Native Americans in the United States and sectioning off their land.

1788/89: Sacagawea is born.

1791: The Treaty of Holston is signed, in which the Cherokee give up all their land outside of the borders previously established.

April 7, 1805: Sacagawea, along with her baby and husband Toussaint Charbonneau, join Lewis and Clark on their voyage.

November 1811: U.S. forces attack Native American War Chief Tecumseh and his younger brother Lalawethika. Their community at the juncture of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers is destroyed.

June 18, 1812: President James Madison signs a declaration of war against Britain, beginning the war between U.S. forces and the British, French and Native Americans over independence and territory expansion.

March 27, 1814: Andrew Jackson, along with U.S. forces and Native American allies attack Creek Indians who opposed American expansion and encroachment of their territory in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Creeks cede more than 20 million acres of land after their loss.

May 28, 1830: President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, which gives plots of land west of the Mississippi River to Native American tribes in exchange for land that is taken from them.

1851: Congress passes the Indian Appropriations Act, creating the Indian reservation system. Native Americans aren't allowed to leave their reservations without permission.

October 1860: A group of Apache Native Americans attack and kidnap a white American, resulting in the U.S. military falsely accusing the Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, Cochise. Cochise and the Apache increase raids on white Americans for a decade afterwards.

November 29, 1864: 650 Colorado volunteer forces attack Cheyenne and Arapaho encampments along Sand Creek, killing and mutilating more than 150 American Indians during what would become known as the Sand Creek Massacre.

November 27, 1868: General George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on Cheyenne living with Chief Black Kettle, destroying the village and killing more than 100 people, including many women and children and Black Kettle himself.

1873: Crazy Horse encounters General Custer for the first time.

1874: Gold discovered in South Dakota 's Black Hills drives U.S. troops to ignore a treaty and invade the territory.

June 25, 1876: In the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as " Custer's Last Stand," Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's troops fight Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, along Little Bighorn River. Custer and his troops are defeated and killed, increasing tensions between Native Americans and white Americans.

October 6, 1879: The first students attend Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, the country's first off-reservation boarding school. The school, created by Civil War veteran Richard Henry Pratt, is designed to assimilate Native American students.

December 15, 1890: Sitting Bull is killed during a confrontation with Indian police in Grand River, South Dakota.

December 29, 1890: U.S. Armed Forces surround Ghost Dancers led by Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, demanding the surrender of their weapons. An estimated 150 Native Americans are killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre, along with 25 men with the U.S. cavalry.

January 29, 1907: Charles Curtis becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.

June 2, 1924: U.S. Congress passes the Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born in the territorial limits of the country. Previously, citizenship had been limited, depending on what percentage Native American ancestry a person had, whether they were veterans, or, if they were women, whether they were married to a U.S. citizen.

May 1942: Members of the Navajo Nation develop a code to transmit messages and radio messages for the U.S. armed forces during World War II. Eventually hundreds of code talkers from multiple Native American tribes serve in the U.S. Marines during the war.

July 1968: Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt found the American Indian Movement (AIM) in Minneapolis, along with Bellecourt's brother Vernon and Banks' friend George Mitchell. Originally an urban-focused movement formed in response to police brutality and racial profiling, AIM grows rapidly in the 1970s to become the driving force behind the Indigenous civil rights movement.

November 20, 1969: A group of San Francisco Bay-area Native Americans, calling themselves "Indians of All Tribes," journey to Alcatraz Island, declaring their intention to use the island for an Indian school, cultural center and museum. Referencing Europeans' colonization of North America, they claim Alcatraz is theirs "by right of discovery." On June 11, 1971 armed federal marshals descend on the island and remove the last of its Indian residents.

August 29, 1970: A group of Native Americans, led by the San Francisco-based United Native Americans, ascend 3,000 feet to the top of Mount Rushmore and set up camp to protest the broken Treaty of Fort Laramie.

November 26, 1970: On Thanksgiving Day, AIM members seize a replica of the Mayflower in Boston Harbor, declaring the holiday a National Day of Mourning.

June 6, 1971: A group of Native Americans, led by AIM, occupy Mount Rushmore to demand the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie be honored. Twenty Native Americans-nine men and 11 women-are eventually arrested.

February 27, 1973: The Wounded Knee Occupation begins as some 200 Oglala Lakota (also referred to as Oglala Sioux) and AIM members seize and occupy the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The occupation lasts for 71 days, during which time two Sioux men are shot to death by federal agents and several more are wounded.

January 4, 1975: Congress passes the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, which reverses the termination policy of previous decades when American Indian tribes were disbanded, their land sold and "relocations" forced Indians off reservations and into urban centers. The 1975 act provides recognition and funds to Indian tribes.

July 15, 1978: A transcontinental trek for Native American justice, called the " Longest Walk," sets off from Alcatraz Island, California. By the time marchers reach Washington, D.C. they number 30,000.

August 11, 1978: The American Indian Religious Freedom Act is passed, granting Native Americans the right to use certain lands and controlled substances for religious ceremonies.

October 11, 1980: President Jimmy Carter signs the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act. The act grants Indian tribes, including the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot, $81.5 million for land taken from them more than 150 years ago.

July 13, 2020: The Washington National Football League franchise announces it is dropping its name, the "Redskins," as well as its Indian head logo. The move is in response to decades of criticism that they are offensive to Native Americans. The team is eventually renamed the Commanders.

July 23, 2021: In response to criticisms, Cleveland's Major League Baseball team announces they are changing their name to the Guardians and are dropping their previous name, the Indians.

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As explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various stages, from cooperation to indignation to revolt.

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Native people pass down information-including food traditions-from one generation to the next through stories, histories, legends and myths. Native elders teach younger generations how to prepare wild game and fish, how to find wild plants, which plants are edible, their names, their uses for food and medicine, and how to grow, prepare and store them.

As European settlers spread throughout America and displaced Native American tribes, Native food customs were upended and completely disrupted. The evolution of Native American cuisine can be broken down into four distinct periods, described below.

The variety of cultivated and wild foods eaten before contact with Europeans was as vast and variable as the regions where indigenous people lived.

Seeds, nuts and corn were ground into flour using grinding stones and made into breads, mush and other uses. Many Native cultures harvested corn, beans, chile, squash, wild fruits and herbs, wild greens, nuts and meats. Those foods that could be dried were stored for later use throughout the year.

As much as 90 percent of the Southwestern Pueblo diet consisted of calories consumed from agricultural products, with wild fruits, greens, nuts and small game making up the balance. Because large game was scarce in some areas, textiles and corn were traded with the Plains people for bison meat. There is evidence that ancient Native cultures even incorporated cacao-the bean used to make chocolate-into their diets, as a 2009 excavation in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon revealed.

Corn, beans and squash, called the Three Sisters by many tribes, serve as key pillars in the Native American diet and is considered a sacred gift from the Great Spirit. Together, the plants provide complete nutrition, while offering an important lesson in environmental cooperation. Corn draws nitrogen from the soil, while beans replenish it. Corn stalks provide climbing poles for the bean tendrils, and the broad leaves of squashes grow low to the ground, shading the soil, keeping it moist, and deterring the growth of weeds.

As European settlers began arriving in the Americas, beginning with Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, they brought with them their own food customs. Some of the foods that came with the Europeans included sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, the horse, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, melons, watermelon, apples, grapes and wheat.

Spanish sheep changed the lifeways of the Navajo (Diné) dramatically. From the time the Diné first acquired sheep, their flocks became central to their culture and lives. Newborn lambs are brought into the house when it is cold and fed by hand. Sheep are still a sign of wealth in some communities and can be given as a bridal gift to a woman's family from her prospective husband.

Just as Native communities adopted new foods and livestock into their cuisine, newcomers also wove ingredients from Native American communities into their cuisines. The Italian tomato, the Irish potato, Asian chiles, Britain's chips served with their fish, were all introduced by Native people of the Americas after initial contact in the 15 th century and beyond.

3. Government-Issued Foods and Forced Relocation

The opening of the western frontier, triggered by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, encouraged many settlers to move west into what was traditionally Indian country. Congress initiated the Federal Indian Removal Act of 1830, which evicted more than 100,000 Native Americans east of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, completely disrupting traditional Native foodways-and all of their traditional food sources.

In the Southwest, in 1864, the Diné (Navajo) were also forced to leave their homelands in Arizona when all of their crops were burned and animals killed, leaving them with no food. They were forced to walk to Fort Sumner, New Mexico on the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, where many perished.

Four years later, on the Long Walk of the Navajo, they were consolidated onto a reservation. In what became known as The Trail of Tears, the people of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations were forced out of their homes and made to walk to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to make their homelands available to settlers. All nomadic tribes north of the new border with Mexico were settled onto reservations.

During these forced relocations, new foods were distributed to tribes in the form of government-issued rations. The rations, distributed twice a month, originally included lard, flour, coffee and sugar and canned meat, generically known as "spam," which has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes among Native people. This food distribution program led to one of the most dramatic dietary changes in Native American history.

The original intention of the U.S. government was to supply rations as an interim solution until relocated Native people were raising enough food of their own. Instead, many Indigenous people became dependent on the rations. Some tribes initially abandoned their traditional food-procurement practices but found that there was never enough of the government-issued food to feed all their tribal members.

The Indian taco, one of today's best-known Native American dishes, was developed as a creative combination of government-issued rations with traditional Indigenous foods that the ancestors used for survival. Wheat flour, baking powder, lard and, later in the distribution process, yellow processed cheese, were all commodity foods issued to families on reservations (and still being issued today). Beans, wild game meat, if available, green chiles and tomatoes, already familiar and in some cases being produced by many families at the time, made a natural accompaniment to the new commodity foods.

Although a relative newcomer to the Native table, the Indian taco, and the fry bread on which it is served, are now considered indispensable at national fairs, powwows, and community events, both on reservations and in urban areas.

4. New Native American Cuisine

For the first time in U.S. history, Native chefs, Native cooks, restaurateurs and Native community members can decide for themselves what foods they want to include on their menus and on their plates.

The new Native American cuisine combines contemporary elements, which might include culinary techniques, presentation and flavors, with elements from the ancestral foods of the past. By weaving together the past and present, new Native American cuisine helps restore and disseminate pre-colonial food-and the Indigenous knowledge that accompanies it-for future generations.

Sources

"How to Eat Smarter," by Christine Gorman, Time, October 20, 2003.

U.S. Dietary Guidelines Unfit for Native Americans, by Neal D. Barnard, M.D., and Derek M. Brown,July 4, 2010.

American Indian Food, by Linda Murray Berzok,Greenwood Press, 2005.

America's First Cuisines, by Sophie D. Coe,University of Texas Press, 1994.

"Evidence of cacao use in the Prehispanic American Southwest," by Patricia L. Crown and W. Jeffrey Hurst, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, February 17, 2009.

Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province; Exploring Ancient and Enduring Uses, by William W. Dunmore and Gail D. Tierney,Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Senses of Place by Steven Feld and Keith H. Basso Eds,School of American Research Press, 1996.

"Inter-Indian Exchange in the Southwest," by Richard I. Ford, in Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 10. Southwest, Smithsonian Institution, 1983.

"Seeds of Health: The Hunger for Ancestral Foodways," Lois Ellen Frank with Melissa D. Nelson, presented at the NAISA Conference in Tucson, Arizona, 2010.

American Terrior: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields, by Rowan Jacobson,New York: Bloomsbury, 2010.

"Ethnic Foodways in America: Symbol and the Performance of Identity," by Susan Kalcik, in Ethnic and Regional Foodways in the United States: The Performance of Group Identity, University of Tennessee Press, 1984.

Gathering the Desert, by Gary Paul Nabhan, University of Arizona Press, 1985.

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods, by Gary Paul Nabhan, Norton, 2002.

Why Some Like it Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity, by Gary Paul Nabhan, Island Press/Shearwater Books, 2004.

Heritage Farming in the Southwest, byGary Paul Nabhan, Western National Parks Association, 2010.

American Indian Food and Lore, by Carolyn Neithammer, Collier Books, 1974.

Eating in America: A History by Wavery Root and Richard De Rochemon, Ecco Press, 1995.

"Ritual Aspects of Corn Utterances amongst a Navajo Family from Pinon, Arizona," by Walter Whitewater, Unpublished Paper, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 2002.

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How Native American Diets Shifted After European Colonization | HISTORY

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For centuries, Indigenous people's diets were totally based on what could be harvested locally. Then white settlers arrived from Europe.

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For more than 250 years, as Europeans sought to control newly settled American land, wars raged between Native Americans and the frontiersmen who encroached on their territory, resources and trade. Known as the American Indian Wars, the conflicts involved Indigenous people, the English, French, Spanish and U.S. Army and ended with massive Native American population and tribal land losses and the forced relocation of survivors to reservations.

Below is a timeline of the most significant battles and massacres of the wars.

17th Century
Jamestown Massacre: March 22, 1622
As part of the decades-long Powhatan Wars, Powhatan Chief Opechancanough led an attack that left nearly 350 of some 1,200 colonists dead. The English retaliated, attacking Native American villages, raiding and destroying crops and forcing them from their land.
Pequot War: 1636-37 Beaver Wars: 1640-1701
Coveted beaver pelts, traded with the English for firearms, tools and other supplies, were the focus of the bloody 60-year fur trade battle led by the Iroquois Confederacy of Ohio's St. Lawrence River against French-supported Algonquian-speaking tribes.
King Philip's War: July 4, 1675 to August 12, 1676
The execution of three of Wampanoag Chief Metacom's men, in addition to increasing encroachment on Native American land, spurred one of the deadliest conflicts per capita in American history. Also known as the Great Narragansett War, Metacom, named King Philip by the English, took place in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and coastal Maine. Metacom and his coalition retaliated, attacking colonists and settlements, who were aided by the Mohawks and Mohegans. It ended with Metacom's death on August 12, 1676.
Pueblo Revolt: August 10 to September 21, 1680
With rising tensions among the Spanish and Pueblo Indians in New Mexico, the Pueblos, led by Po-Pay, sieged Santa Fe, destroying Spanish settlements and forcing the colonists into a 12-year retreat.
King William's War: 1689-1697
In what's also called the First French and Indian War, England, allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, battled France, with support from the Wabanaki Confederacy, for fur trade and territory control in Colonial Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York.
February 8, 1690: Schenectady Massacre
Retaliating against an earlier attack by Iroquois in New France, French militia, with members of the Mohawk and Algonquin tribes, attacked the Dutch and English settlement in Colonial New York, leaving 60 dead and nearly 30 captured.

18th Century
Queen Anne's War: 1702-1713
Known as the War of Spanish Succession in Europe, the conflict also took hold in North America, with English colonists fighting the French, both sides with Indian allies, for territory in New England, the colony of South Carolina and Spanish Florida.

One particularly bloody massacre was the Raid of Deerfield on February 29, 1704, when the British-ruled Massachusetts settlement was attacked by the French and their American Indian allies, leaving approximately 50 dead, while 100 survivors were made to walk to Canada in heavy snow, causing more deaths. The war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht, although fighting in the colonies continued.
Tuscarora War: 1711-1715
In what's called Colonial North Carolina's bloodiest war, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora people and allies battled English colonists as the settlers sought to expand their territory. In the end, the English won, with 200 colonists and 1,000 Indians killed, and some 1,000 captured Tuscaroras sold into slavery.
Yamasee War: 1715-1718
Rebelling against their former allies, the Yamasee tribe, aligned with the Catawba and others, attacked the English in South Carolina colonies, triggered by treaty violations, encroachments and fur trade battles. Once defeated, many Indians retreated to Florida, later forming the Seminole tribe.
French and Indian War: 1754-1763

PhotoQuest/Getty Images

Cherokee War: 1759-1761
Tensions between the Cherokee and their former British allies grew in the Carolinas, due to attacks by the settlers, betrayals and land encroachment. The Cherokee retaliated, attacking settlements, but large armies of British troops overpowered the tribe.
Pontiac's Rebellion: 1763-1765
Starting in the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes and spreading as far east as Virginia, British forces battled members of the Algonquian, Iroquoian, Muskogean and Siouan-speaking tribes over trade restrictions, land encroachment and more. The American Indian attacks against British forts were largely a success, and led to England ceding to Native American demands. But the conflict also brought new resentment and hostilities against the Indians by the colonists.
Lord Dunmore's War: 1774
Named for Virginia's royal governor, the Virginia militia attacked the Shawnee Indians of Kentucky, who were defending their land. A key conflict of the war was the October 10, 1774, Battle of Point Pleasant, where the militia defeated the Shawnee in present-day West Virginia. The ensuing treaty led to land south of the Ohio River being ceded to the British.

American Revolution Era
Chickamauga Cherokee Wars: 1776-1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers: August 20, 1794
Battle of Tippencanoe, War of 1812
Battle of Tippecanoe: November 7, 1811

Glasshouse Vintage/Universal History Archive/Getty Images

War of 1812 Battle of Horseshoe Bend: March 27, 1814
Leading up to the battle, members of the Creek nation were engaged in a civil war, with the Lower Creek siding with the Americans and the Upper Creeks holding onto their autonomy. As American forces sought to expand their settlements into the southeast, Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, with more than 3,300 men, including Cherokees and Lower Creek members, attacked the village of Tehopeka, held by the Upper Creek Red Sticks. Breaching the village's fortification, more than 800 of 1,000 Red Sticks were killed and survivors were forced to give more than 20 million acres, or half of present-day Alabama, to the U.S.
First Seminole War: 1816-1818
With Gen. Andrew Jackson at the command, U.S. soldiers attacked the Florida and southern Georgia villages of Seminoles and Black Seminoles, free African Americans and runaway slaves, seeking control of the territory and to recapture slaves. Jackson's victories and destruction of Seminole villages led Spain to cede Florida to the U.S. under the Transcontinental Treaty, giving it control of the area and the power to relocate tribes to Oklahoma.
Arikara War: June 2, 1823
The first Plains Indian War, took place west of the Missouri River between the semi-nomadic Arikara of South Dakota and the U.S, which was joined by Sioux allies. Facing encroachment, the Arikara had attacked members of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, killing about 15 trappers. The U.S. retaliated, and when the tribe retreated, its village was burned and destroyed. The Arikara later returned and rebuilt, but most of its population was decimated by smallpox in 1830.
Second Seminole War: 1835-1842
A dispute over terms of a treaty to relocate Seminoles from their established reservation near Lake Okeechobee in Florida caused a drawn-out, bloody war of resistance that ended with the loss of 1,500 U.S. soldiers and 3,000 Seminoles removed from their land, with the fewer than 500 remaining left to die in the Everglades.
Third Seminole War (1855-1858)
Also called Billy Bowlegs' War, as the Seminole leader was called, the war a series of attacks and raids over land, eventually causing the tribe's population to shrink to around 200 by the conflict's end.
Black Hawk War: April to August 1832
Sauk warrior Chief Black Hawk, leading approximately 1,500 Sauk, Kickapoo and Meskwaki tribal members across the Mississippi River from Iowa to reclaim surrendered land in Illinois, lead to an attack by the U.S. Army, allied with other tribes and state militias. Participating in the war that left nearly all of the Northwest Territory to the settlers were Abraham Lincoln, Zachary Taylor and Jefferson Davis.
Comanche War: 1840
The high plains Comanche tribe of Central and West Texas had fought against frontiersmen for years, but facing smallpox, war with the Arapaho and Cheyenne and conflicts with the Texas Rangers, leaders agreed to enter treaty negotiations. The negotiations, which involved the Comanche turning over white captives, turned ugly, with 35 Camanches killed and 30 more imprisoned. Retaliating with Mexican and Kiowan allies, the tribe attacked and destroyed the port town of Linnville. But Texas forces eventually defeated the tribe, forcing members to leave the frontier.

Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Little Bighorn
Sand Creek Massacre: November 29, 1864

DeAgostini/Getty Images

In the midst of the Civil War and a long-waging battle for control of eastern Colorado's Great Plains, a unit of some 675 volunteer U.S. soldiers laid siege against a Cheyenne and Arapaho village of approximately 750 along Sand Creek. As the American Indians attempted to escape, the soldiers charged after them, slaughtering 230, most of whom were unarmed women, children and elderly. Soldiers returned the next day to scalp and desecrate their bodies.
Red Cloud's War: 1866-1867
Following the discovery of gold in Montana, pioneer John Bozeman blazed the Bozeman Trail, built on American Indian territory in the Wyoming Territory. Angered by the encroachment and presence of U.S. forces, and a failed treaty meeting, Red Cloud, leader of the Oglala, teamed with Arapaho and Cheyenne, including Crazy Horse and High-Back-Bone, to ambush travelers along the trail, as well as U.S. military.

The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868, considered the sole American Indian war win against the United States, granted the Sioux the right to settle in the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation.
Battle of the Little Bighorn: June 25-26, 1876
After an Army expedition led by Lt. Col. George Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota, within the Great Sioux Reservation, and offers to sell the territory were rejected by the Sioux Nation, the Treaty of Fort Laramie was quickly abandoned. Custer, with 209 men, attacked a Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne encampment in Montana's Little Bighorn River, resulting in the deaths of Custer and all his men.

Although "Custer's Last Stand" was a win for the tribes, the battle led the U.S. to force native Americans to live on reservations and take back control of the Black Hills, an action that is still disputed.
Red River War: 1874-1875
In the final major southern Plains Indian and U.S. Army battle, members from a number of Indian tribes, including Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa and Kataka, who had been settled on reservations in Oklahoma and Texas, broke away to attack white settlers. In response, some 3,000 troops led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, attacked up to 700 Indians in Texas's Red River valley in more than a dozen battles before the surviving Indians surrendered, returning to their reservations.
Wounded Knee Massacre: December 29, 1890
Sources

Indian Wars Campaigns, U.S. Army Center of Military History
Battlefields of the Pequot War, American BattleField Protection Project
Beaver Wars, Ohio History Connection
America's Most Devastating Conflict: King Philip's War, Connecticuthistory.org
1680-the Pueblo Revolt, Library of Congress
French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, 1754-63, U.S. Office of the Historian
Pontiac's Rebellion, Washington Library
Autumn 1811: The Battle of Tippecanoe, National Parks Service
The Seminole Wars, Seminole Nation Museum
Sand Creek Massacre, National Parks Service

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For more than 250 years, as Europeans sought to control newly settled American land, wars raged between Native Americans and the frontiersmen who encroached on their territory, resources and trade. Known as the American Indian Wars, the conflicts involved Indigenous people, the English, French, Spanish and U.S.

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Before the Santa Fe Trail

For centuries prior to the Santa Fe Trail, trade took place between the Great Plains Indians and early settlers of the Texas panhandle. As trade routes expanded along the Rio Grande, commerce inevitably reached the Spanish colonists of New Mexico-but Spain had declared trade with Native Americans illegal.

Still, many American explorers traveled to Santa Fe and attempted trade. Most were detained and sent home.

By 1810, the Mexican people had had enough of Spain's iron-fisted rule. Their first attempt for independence failed, but in 1821 they waged a successful revolution and gained their freedom. This opened the door for anyone to trade with Mexico.

William Becknell

When Missouri trader and War of 1812 veteran William Becknell learned Mexico was open for business, he wasted no time heading for Santa Fe.

Becknell left Franklin, Missouri, in September 1821 with a small group of men and a cargo of goods and arrived in Santa Fe on November 16. They were welcomed with open arms by Mexican citizens and government officials and encouraged to return soon with more goods to trade.

Becknell's initial path to Santa Fe became known as the Mountain Route. It followed the Arkansas River to the Colorado Plains to the Purgatoire River and across the narrow, treacherous Raton Mountain Pass into Santa Fe.

Cimarron Route

Upon his return to Santa Fe, Becknell hoped to find a faster route. His exact course there is disputed; however, the route he took home became known as the Cimarron Route and was the most popular track on the Santa Fe Trail.

The Cimarron Route followed the Arkansas River to Cimarron, Kansas, near what would later become Dodge City. From there, it trekked through southwest Kansas and the western panhandle of Oklahoma before venturing into Round Mound and Point of Rocks, New Mexico and San Miguel.

After navigating the Glorieta Mountain Pass, it ended in Santa Fe. The Cimarron Route was about 100 miles shorter than the Mountain Route and less dangerous, although it wasn't without its challenges. Water could be scarce along this barren, desert path and Indian raids were common.

Bent's Fort

Bent's Fort, also known as Fort William, was originally built by the Bent, St. Vrain and Trading Company on the north bank of the Arkansas River in 1833. The company was owned by William Bent and his brother Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain. The fort began as a fur-trading stop for mountain men, settlers, teamsters and Plains Indians, but it quickly became a respite location for those traveling the Santa Fe Trail.

When disease and adversity struck Bent's Fort in 1849, Bent and company abandoned it (and later destroyed it), and in 1853 built a new trading post called Bent's New Fort on a bluff further downriver at Big Timbers. Bent's Old Fort was rebuilt in the 1970s as a National Historic Site.

Bent's New Fort was a trading post and a meeting place for Indian tribes and government officials. It also became a destination for military men navigating the growing discord between whites and Plains Indians and the peacemakers trying to keep the conflict from escalating.

Ultimately, the U.S. Army leased Bent's New Fort and renamed it Fort Fauntleroy and later Fort Wise. In 1867, Arkansas River flooding forced the Army to abandon the fort and build a new one, Fort Lyon, further upstream.

Santa Fe Trail in Wartime

In 1845, the United States voted to annex Texas (which included parts of present-day New Mexico) from Mexico, causing tensions to mount between the two countries.

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico and sent General Stephen Watts Kearney and his 1,600 men along the Santa Fe Trail to occupy New Mexico. Kearney took the Mountain Route, hoping its hazardous terrain would offer protection from Mexican troops.

Although the Raton Pass took its toll on Kearney and his troops, they took over Santa Fe without resistance. When the Mexican-American War ended, the United States purchased Mexico's southern territories including New Mexico, California and Arizona.

It wasn't until the Civil War that the Mountain Trail gained popularity again, this time as a Union Army supply route.

End of the Santa Fe Trail

The Santa Fe Trail was mainly a trade route but saw its share of emigrants, especially during the California Gold Rush and the Pike's Peak Gold Rush in Colorado. The trail also became an important route for stagecoach travel, stagecoach mail delivery and as a mail route for the famed Pony Express.

As the Union Pacific Railroad expanded west, it was clear the Santa Fe Trail's days were numbered. Mule and oxen-drawn wagons couldn't compete with trains for hauling freight or speeding passengers westward.

On February 9, 1880 a Santa Fe Railway Company train arrived with considerable fanfare at the Santa Fe railroad depot and effectively ended the Santa Fe Trail.

Sources

History of the Santa Fe Trail - Santa Fe Trail Association.

Bent's Forts. Colorado Encyclopedia.

Cimarron Cutoff: A 20th Century Misnomer. Santa Fe Trail Association.

History of the Santa Fe Trail in New Mexico. New Mexico Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway.

Raton Pass: Colorado and New Mexico. National Park Service.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail: History and Culture. National Park Service.

Tragedy and Restoration. Bent's New Fort. Santa Fe National Historic Trail.

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Sante Fe Trail - Map, Definition & Facts | HISTORY

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The Santa Fe Trail, a 900-mile route connecting Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, played a crucial role in America's westward expansion in the 1800s.

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https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/donner-party

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Donner Party - Survivors, Timeline & Facts | HISTORY

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The Donner Party was a group of 89 emigrants from Illinois who purportedly turned to cannibalism to survive after getting trapped by snowfall while on a westward journey in 1846. Forty-two members of the party died.

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https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/manifest-destiny

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Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread

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Lewis and Clark: Expedition, Purpose & Facts - HISTORY

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition began in 1804 when Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the lands of the Louisiana Purchase.

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https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/louisiana-purchase

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Table of Contents

1. France in the New World

2. Louisiana Territory Changes Hands

3. Louisiana Purchase Negotiations

4. Legacy of the Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought into the United States about 828,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. What was known at the time as the Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considered one of the most important achievements of Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

France in the New World

Beginning in the 17th century, France explored the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in the region.

By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the present-day United States than any other European power: from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana.

In 1762, during the French and Indian War, France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain. Spain, no longer a dominant European power, did little to develop Louisiana during the next three decades.

Louisiana Territory Changes Hands

In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America. And in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return the Louisiana Territory to France.

Reports of the retrocession caused considerable unease in the United States. Since the late 1780s, Americans had been moving westward into the Ohio River and Tennessee River valleys, and these settlers were highly dependent on free access to the Mississippi River and the strategic port of New Orleans.

U.S. officials feared that France, resurgent under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, would soon seek to dominate the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to U.S. minister to France Robert Livingston, President Thomas Jefferson stated, "The day that France takes possession of New Orleans...we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation."

Livingston was ordered to negotiate with French Finance Minister Barbé-Marbois for the purchase of New Orleans.

Louisiana Purchase Negotiations

France was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store goods in New Orleans.

In response, Jefferson sent future U.S. president James Monroe to Paris to aid Livingston in the New Orleans purchase talks. In mid-April 1803, shortly before Monroe's arrival, the French asked a surprised Livingston if the United States was interested in purchasing all of Louisiana Territory.

It's believed that the failure of France to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, the impending war with Great Britain and probable British naval blockade of France - combined with French economic difficulties - may have prompted Napoleon to offer Louisiana for sale to the United States.

Negotiations moved swiftly, and at the end of April the U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 and assume claims of American citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000. In exchange, the United States acquired the vast domain of Louisiana Territory, some 828,000 square miles of land.

The treaty was dated April 30 and signed on May 2. In October, the U.S. Senate ratified the purchase, and in December 1803 France transferred authority over the region to the United States.

Legacy of the Louisiana Purchase

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jefferson's most notable achievements as president. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established.

Jefferson soon commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first state to be carved from the territory - Louisiana - was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state.
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Louisiana Purchase - Definition, Facts & Importance | HISTORY

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The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 introduced about 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France into the United States, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. Explore the facts about this important acquisition and its lasting legacy on Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

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https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/age-of-jackson/a/manifest-destiny

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In the mid-nineteenth century, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term 'manifest destiny' to describe the belief that God intended for the United States to occupy North America from Atlantic to Pacific.

Manifest Destiny was the idea that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the entire continent of North America.

The ideology of Manifest Destiny inspired a variety of measures designed to remove or destroy the native population.

US President James K. Polk (1845-1849) is the leader most associated with Manifest Destiny.

Manifest Destiny inflamed sectional tensions over slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War.

From sea to shining sea

In 1845, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term " Manifest Destiny " to describe the ideology of continental expansionism.

Though the term was new, the ideas underlying it were much older, dating back to the first colonial contact between Europeans and Native Americans. The ideology that became known as Manifest Destiny included a belief in the inherent superiority of white Americans, as well as the conviction that they were destined by God to conquer the territories of North America, from sea to shining sea.

The ideology of Manifest Destiny justified extreme measures to clear the native population from the land, including forced removal and violent extermination. For proponents of Manifest Destiny, the American Indians were mere impediments to the forward march of racial and technological progress, and they advocated pursuing a policy of Indian Removal.

James K. Polk and Manifest Destiny

US President James Polk, who served one term in office, from 1845 to 1849, is the leader most associated with the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Polk was a Democrat from Tennessee who had served as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Tennessee before becoming president. As president, he led the United States to victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War, which culminated in the transfer of a vast new territory, comprising almost the whole of the modern-day Southwest, from Mexico to the United States.

Polk also resolved the boundary dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon Territory, which had been jointly occupied since 1818. Polk's administration negotiated the Oregon Treaty of 1846 with Britain, which accepted a division of the territory between the United States and Canada at the 49th parallel. The territory acquired by the United States under the provisions of the treaty include the present-day states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming.

Consequences of Manifest Destiny

Polk's embrace of Manifest Destiny and the acquisition of new territories inflamed tensions between abolitionists and slaveholders and heightened conflict between white settlers and Native Americans. While the North and South fought over whether the new states admitted to the Union were to be free states or slave states, the battles between the Plains Indians and settlers in Texas grew particularly vicious. Though Comanches put up an especially fierce resistance to the encroachment of white people onto their lands, they were ultimately vanquished and relocated to a reservation in Oklahoma in 1875.

Meanwhile, the debate over the Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading up to the Civil War. The proviso, which was strongly opposed by the slaveholding South, asserted that the Mexican-American War had not been fought for the purpose of expanding slavery, and stipulated that slavery would never exist in the territories acquired from Mexico in the war. Ultimately, Polk's territorial expansionism, though aimed at national unity, wound up intensifying sectional conflict and further paving the road to civil war.

What do you think?

Why do you think Polk went to war with Mexico but negotiated with Great Britain?

In your view, what was the most significant component of the ideology of Manifest Destiny?

What sorts of policies were justified in the name of Manifest Destiny?

What were the most consequential outcomes of the ideology of Manifest Destiny?

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Manifest Destiny (article) | Khan Academy

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In the mid-nineteenth century, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term 'manifest destiny' to describe the belief that God intended for the United States to occupy North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Manifest Destiny was the idea that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the entire continent of North America.

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https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/age-of-jackson/a/indian-removal

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In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson pursued a policy of Indian Removal, forcing Native Americans living in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi to trek hundreds of miles to territory in present-day Oklahoma.

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https://mrnussbaum.com/lewis-and-clark-expedition-interactive

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Lewis and Clark Expedition - Interactive

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This section provides an interactive map of the Lewis and Clark route to the Pacific. Simply click and learn! Perfect as an introduction to the expedition

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https://mrnussbaum.com/louisiana-purchase-description-and-map

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This page describes the Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase Map

The Greatest Real Estate Deal in History

The Louisiana Purchase has been described as the "greatest real estate deal in history." In 1803, The United States government purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon I of France for 60 million Francs, or, about $15,000,000. $11,250,000 was paid directly and the remainder was covered by French debt to U.S. citizens.

Doubling the United States

The Louisiana Purchase was consummated in order to secure free navigation of the Mississippi River. President Jefferson sent two negotiators - James Monroe and Robert Livingston to France to convince Napoleon I to sell the city of New Orleans. Time was of the essence because many viewed Napoleon's acquisition of the Louisiana Territory as a means to invade the United States. Surprisingly, Napoleon offered not only New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory for sale. Because a constitutional amendment authorizing the acquisition would take too long, and because Napoleon wanted the deal finalized quickly, Jefferson held the issue to a vote. Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of purchasing the Louisiana Territory. Its 800,000 square mile area quickly doubled the size of the United States. Soon after the acquisition, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on an expedition through the new lands in which hundreds of new animals were discovered as well as Native American tribes and a route to the Pacific Ocean.

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The Louisiana Purchase was consummated in order to secure free navigation of the Mississippi River. President Jefferson sent two negotiators - James Monroe and Robert Livingston to France

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https://mrnussbaum.com/the-erie-canal

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This page describes the history and impact of the Erie Canal on Westward Expansion.

The Erie Canal

Transportation Between the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes

During the early 1800's, the new United States of America began to develop plans to build a waterway to transport goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes region through the imposing Appalachian Mountains. Prior to construction of the Erie Canal, the transportation of goods to the western states was cumbersome and very expensive.

New York to Pay for Construction of the Erie Canal

In 1816, a plan was formulated to make the Erie Canal. The canal would link the major port of New York City to the Hudson River near Troy, New York. From Troy, the canal would then link the Hudson River to western cities in New York such as Rome, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. From Buffalo, on Lake Erie, goods could be transported to the canal from the western Great Lakes. Hence, goods could be shipped from anywhere in the Great Lakes to major urban centers such as New York City. Although the plan was rejected by president James Monroe, the New York State Legislature approved the plan and planned to pay for the canal by charging tolls for those who used it. Governor DeWitt Clinton was a major proponent of the plan.

Seven Years in the Making

The canal took over seven years to complete. Laborers had to literally dig the massive canal with simple shovels through mountainous areas. Farmers who lived along the canal often contracted workers to build portions of the canal through their land. Many foreign immigrants were paid well to help build the canal. The 363 mile-long, 40 foot wide Erie Canal was completed on October 25, 1825.

The Erie Canal Prompted the Growth of Cities near the Great Lakes

The Erie Canal revolutionized life for many in America. Not only did its construction result in drastic differences in shipping costs, but it prompted huge population growths in the Great Lakes region. People began to move closer to large cities because goods could easily be transported via the Erie Canal to urban areas, and goods could also be shipped west from the cities. The $7,000,000 cost of the canal was quickly covered by tolls. Tolls were eliminated soon after the cost of the canal was reclaimed.

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This page describes the history and impact of the Erie Canal on Westward Expansion. The Erie Canal During the early 1800's, the new United States of America began to develop plans to build a waterway to transport goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes region through the imposing Appalachian Mountains.

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https://mrnussbaum.com/growth-of-a-nation-battle-of-the-alamo

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2023 MrNussbaum.com is a copyright of the Nussbaum Education Network,LLC.

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Mr. Nussbaum - Growth of a Nation - Battle of the Alamo

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In 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and 6,000 troops marched to Texas to subdue the Texans. On February 23, Santa Anna besieged the mission known as The Alamo in San Antonio. Santa Anna’s demand for surrender

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https://mrnussbaum.com/manifest-destiny-2

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This page describes the concept of manifest destiny and how it was used to justify expansion throughout the continent, and the expense of Native Americans and other nations.

The Spiritual Embodiment of Manifest Destiny

Nationalism Grips America

Following the War of 1812, American entered a period of history known as the Era of Good Feeling. During this time, America articulated its first foreign policy through the Monroe Doctrine and a growing sense of nationalism gripped the population. Americans started believing that they were morally and culturally superior to their Native, Mexican, and British neighbors and that it was God's will and the people's duty to spread American virtues from "sea to shining sea."

It Justifies Everything

In 1845, newspaper editor John O' Sullivan first coined the term "Manifest Destiny," to describe the mindset of American expansion. The idea of Manifest Destiny was reflected in the 19th century by the mass migration of Americans from the eastern United States to the west through the great emigrant trails such as the Oregon, California, Santa Fe, and Mormon Trails. It was used to justify the corrupt treaties and wars that resulted in the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral land. It was also used to justify the Mexican-American War, resulting in the annexation of 1.2 million square miles of land in the American West.

Will Lead to Civil War

Manifest Destiny also accelerated the onset of the Civil War as it touched off intense sectional dramas between southern states hoping to expand slavery into new territories and northern states hoping to prevent the spread of slavery.

Across the Continent

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Following the War of 1812, American entered a period of history known as the Era of Good Feeling. During this time, America articulated its first foreign policy through the Monroe Doctrine and a growing sense of nationalism

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https://mrnussbaum.com/growth-of-a-nation-mexican-american-war

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This page describes the Mexican-American War and the subsequent acquisition of what is now the American Southwest.

Zachary Taylor

Polk Declares War of Mexico

As a result of the U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845, hostilities between the two nations exploded. Although officials in Mexico wanted peaceful negotiations, vigorous demands from Mexican centralists pressured them to refuse. On April 25, 1846, Mexican soldiers attacked U.S. troops along the southern border of Texas. On May 13, president James K. Polk declared war on Mexico. Meanwhile, the Mexicans had attempted two other attacks on American soldiers near the Rio Grande. Both ended in failure. The failures were devastating to the Mexicans, who had a larger and better trained army than the Americans.

The Mexicans Miss Their Opportunity

In a series of battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de Palma (near current-day Brownsville, Texas), the army of General, and future president, Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican forces and began to move south. In August of 1846, Taylor began formulating plans to attack the Mexican stronghold of Monterrey. Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 American volunteers had gathered near the Rio Grande. Sub-tropical diseases such as dysentery and malaria ravaged the makeshift American military forces. If Mexico would have attacked during this time (July or August), the Mexican War may have very well been won by the Mexicans. Unfortunately for the Mexicans, the country was in civil disarray and the collapse of their central government, combined with numerous militant rebellions in central Mexico, prevented them from organizing any serious offensives. The rebels even offered to help Zachary Taylor defeat the Mexican army. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the same man who surrendered to the Texans, took over as president and commander of the Mexican army.

Taylor and Scott Advance Through the Heart of Mexico

On September 21, 1846, General Zachary Taylor and 2,000 soldiers easily took Monterrey. Soon after, Saltillo and Parras, Mexico were also taken. In February of 1847, general Winfield Scott, who had taken Veracruz, Mexico, began an advance toward the Mexican capital of Mexico City. American forces led by future heroes Robert E. Lee, George McClellan and others, routed Mexican resistance under General Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo on their way to the Mexican capital. The Mexicans suffered 3,000 casualties. On May 14-15, American forces easily took Puebla. After routing Mexican forces at Churubusco, Winfield Scott and soldiers defeated Santa Anna's army from the Mexican Military College on the fortified hill of Chapultepec in Mexico City. The Mexicans suffered terrible casualties and were forced to surrender. American forces would next occupy New Mexico and California amidst sporadic resistance.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

On March 10, 1848, the Americans and Mexicans signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which resulted in the addition of 1.2 million square miles of territory for the United States (virtually all of the American southwest and Texas). It also set the Rio Grande as the border between Mexico and the United States. America agreed to pay Mexico 15 million dollars.

Mexican-American War Articles and Activities

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Growth of a Nation - Mexican-American War

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This page describes the Mexican-American War and the subsequent acquisition of what is now the American Southwest. Zachary Taylor As a result of the U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845, hostilities between the two nations exploded. Although officials in Mexico wanted peaceful negotiations, vigorous demands from Mexican centralists pressured them to refuse.

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https://mrnussbaum.com/profiles-of-america-s-land-acquisitions-online

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This comprehensive section includes profiles of twelve American land acquisitions or occupations including the Louisiana Purchase, Adams-Onis Treaty, Mexican-American war acquisitions, Alaska Purchase, Hawaii annexation, and many others.

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Profiles of America's Land Acquisitions - Online

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This comprehensive section includes profiles of twelve American land acquisitions or occupations including the Louisiana Purchase, Adams-Onis Treaty, Mexican-American war acquisitions, Alaska Purchase, Hawaii annexation, and many others.

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https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/cowboys

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Vaqueros

In 1519, shortly after the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they began to build ranches to raise cattle and other livestock. Horses were imported from Spain and put to work on the ranches.

Mexico's native cowboys were called vaqueros, which comes from the Spanish word vaca (cow). Vaqueros were hired by ranchers to tend to the livestock and were known for their superior roping, riding and herding skills.

By the early 1700s, ranching made its way to present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and as far south as Argentina. When the California missions started in 1769, livestock practices were introduced to more areas in the West.

During the early 1800s, many English-speaking settlers migrated to the West and adopted aspects of the vaquero culture, including their clothing style and cattle-driving methods.

Cowboys came from diverse backgrounds and included African-Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans and settlers from the eastern United States and Europe.

Manifest Destiny and American Cowboys

In the mid-1800s, the United States built railroads that reached further west, and cowboys played a central part in the nation's " Manifest Destiny" as Westward expansion led to an ever-shifting frontier.

Cowboys herded and rounded up livestock that were transported by rail around the country for sale.

To distinguish what cattle belonged to which ranch, cowboys would brand the animals by burning a special mark into their hides. It took between eight and 12 cowboys to move 3,000 head of cattle along cattle drives.

Open Range vs. Barbed Wire

By the time the Civil War ended in 1865, the Union Army had largely used up the supply of beef in the North, increasing the demand for beef. The expansion of the meat-packing industry also encouraged consumption of beef.

By 1866, millions of heads of longhorn cattle were rounded up and driven toward railroad depots. Cattle were sold to northern markets for as much as $40 per head.

Ranching continued to be widespread through the late 1800s. White settlers were permitted to claim public lands on the Great Plains as "open range" to raise purchased cattle.

But by the 1890s, most of the land became privatized after feuds over land ownership were settled and the use of barbed wire became widespread.

During the winter of 1886-1887, thousands of cattle died when temperatures reached well below freezing in parts of the West. Many scholars believe that this devastating winter was the beginning of the end for the cowboy era. Cattle drives continued, but on a smaller scale, up until the mid-1900s. Most cowboys gave up the open trail life and were hired by private ranch owners in the West.

Cowboy Characters

Even though the cowboy's role began to decline in the 1920s, Hollywood movies popularized the cowboy lifestyle with Westerns from the 1920s to the 1940s. These films featured stars like John Wayne, Buck Jones and Gene Autry. American audiences tuned in to see the fictional adventures of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Will Kane in "High Noon" and "Hopalong Cassidy" on screen. Comic book fans could read about The Black Rider and Kid Colt.

Cowboy Life

Cowboys were mostly young men who needed cash. The average cowboy in the West made about $25 to $40 a month.

In addition to herding cattle, they also helped care for horses, repaired fences and buildings, worked cattle drives and in some cases helped establish frontier towns.

Cowboys occasionally developed a bad reputation for being lawless, and some were banned from certain establishments.

They typically wore large hats with wide brims to protect them from the sun, boots to help them ride horses and bandanas to guard them from dust. Some wore chaps on the outsides of their trousers to protect their legs from sharp cactus needles and rocky terrain.

When they lived on a ranch, cowboys shared a bunkhouse with each other. For entertainment, some sang songs, played the guitar or harmonica and wrote poetry.

Cowboys were referred to as cowpokes, buckaroos, cowhands and cowpunchers. The most experienced cowboy was called the Segundo (Spanish for "second") and rode squarely with the trail boss.

Everyday work was difficult and laborious for cowboys. Workdays lasted about 15 hours, and much of that time was spent on a horse or doing other physical labor.

Rodeo Cowboys

Some cowboys tested their skills against one another by performing in rodeos-competitions that were based on the daily tasks of a cowboy.

Rodeo activities included bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback bronco riding and barrel racing.

The first professional rodeo was held in Prescott, Arizona, in 1888. Since then, rodeos became-and continue to be-popular entertainment events in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere.

Cowboys Today

Over the years, the number of working cowboys has declined, but the occupation isn't obsolete. The cowboy lifestyle and culture is still found in certain areas of the United States, albeit to a lesser degree than a century ago.

Cowboys continue to help run large ranches in states like Texas, Utah, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2003 there were about 9,730 workers in the category "support activities for animal production," which included cowboys. These workers made an average of $19,340 per year.

While opportunities may have shifted, the American cowboy is still very much a part of life in the American West.

Sources

Cowboys, PBS.
The History of the Vaquero, American Cowboy.
The Ways of the Cowboy, USHistory.org.
The Last Cowboy, PBS.
15 Places in the U.S. Where Cowboy Culture Is Alive and Well, Wide Open Country.
5 Amazing Facts You Never Knew About the American Cowboy, Ancestry.

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In 1519, shortly after the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they began to build ranches to raise cattle and other livestock. Horses were imported from Spain and put to work on the ranches. Mexico's native cowboys were called vaqueros, which comes from the Spanish word vaca (cow).

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https://mrnussbaum.com/westward-trails-interactive-map

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This interactive map tells all about the Oregon, California, Santa Fe, and Mormon Trails. Simply click on a trail location to learn all about it.

Below is an interactive map of America's Emigrant Trails during Westward Expansion. Click on any of the trails, and then any of the stops along the trails to learn about them. Below the map is an online scavenger hunt. Answer the questions by finding the answers on the interactive map above. You can also print the scavenger hunt.

This is the interactive scavenger hunt. Use the map above to find the answers. Read the questions and click the correct answer or answers. You will receive immediate feedback! Click HERE for a PRINTABLE version of this scavenger hunt.

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Below is an interactive map of America's Emigrant Trails during Westward Expansion. Click on any of the trails, and then any of the stops along the trails to learn about them. Below the is a map is an online scavenger hunt.

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History >>Westward Expansion

The Mexican-American War was fought between the United States andMexico from 1846 to 1848. It was primarily over the territory of Texas.

Background

Texas had been a state of the country of Mexico since 1821 when Mexico gained its independence from Spain. The Texans, however, began to disagree with the government of Mexico. In 1836, they declared their independence from Mexico and formed the Republic of Texas. They fought several battles including The Alamo. In the end, they gained their independence and Sam Houston became the first President of Texas.

Texas Becomes a US State

In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. Mexico didn't like that the United States took over Texas. There also was a disagreement over the border of Texas. Mexico said the border was at the Nueces River while Texas claimed the border was further south at the Rio Grande River.

War with Mexico

President James K. Polk sent troops to Texas to protect the border. Soon Mexican and US troops were shooting at each other. On May 13, 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico.

Mexican-American War Overview Map
By Kaidor [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
(Click picture to see larger view)

The Mexican army was led by General Santa Anna. The US forces were led byGeneral Zachary Taylor and General Winfield Scott. General Taylor's forces were the first to engage the Mexican army. They fought an early battle at Palo Alto where the Mexicans were forced to retreat.

General Taylor advanced into Mexico fighting battles at the city of Monterrey and a mountain pass called Buena Vista. At the Battle of Buena Vista, Taylor and 5,000 troops were attacked by 14,000 Mexican troops led by Santa Anna. They held off the attack and won the battle despite being outnumbered.

Capture of Mexico City

President Polk didn't trust Zachary Taylor. He also considered him a rival. Instead of reinforcing Taylor's troops to capture Mexico City, he sent in another army led by General Winfield Scott. Scott advanced on Mexico City and captured it in August of 1847.

Fall of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War
by Carl Nebel

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

With the United States in control of their capital city and much of the country divided, the Mexicans agreed to a peace treaty called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the treaty, Mexico agreed to the border of Texas at the Rio Grande. They also agreed to sell a large area of land to the United States for $15 million. Today this land makes up the states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Portions of Wyoming, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado were also included.

Mexican Cession in Mexican View
from the U.S. Government

Interesting Facts about the Mexican-American War

Several of the commanders of the US troops would become leaders during the American Civil War including Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.

Mexico gave up around 55% of its territory to the US after the war. The territory was called the Mexican Cession in the United States.

When the US attacked the Mexican Military Academy at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, six Mexican students fought to the death defending the castle. They are still remembered as the Ninos Heros (meaning "boy heroes") in Mexico with a national holiday on September 13.

There was also a rebellion in California during the war where settlers declared their independence from Mexico.

Activities

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History >>Westward Expansion

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Learn about the Mexican-American War fought over the land rights to Texas after the Texan Revolution.

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Kids learn about the Louisiana Purchase. When President Thomas Jefferson bought land west of the Mississippi from the French.

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First Transcontinental Railroad
History >>Westward Expansion

The First Transcontinental Railroad stretched from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast. No longer would people travel in long wagon trains that took months to reachCalifornia. They could now travel faster, safer, and cheaper by train. In addition to people, things like mail, supplies, and trade goods could now be shipped across the country in just a few days. The railroad was built between 1863 and 1869.

Background

The first talk of a transcontinental railroad started around 1830. One of the first promoters of the railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney. Asa tried hard for many years to get Congress to pass an act to build the railroad, but failed. However, in the 1860s Theodore Judah began to lobby for a railroad. He surveyed the Sierra Nevada Mountains and found a pass where the railroad could be built.

The Route

There were two main routes along which people wanted the first railroad to be built.

One route was called the "central route". It followed much the same route as the Oregon Trail. It would begin in Omaha, Nebraska and end up in Sacramento, California.

The other route was the "southern route". This route would stretch across Texas, New Mexico, and end up in Los Angeles, California.

The central route was eventually chosen by Congress.

Route of the First Transcontinental Railroad by Unknown

Pacific Railroad Act

In 1862President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law. The act said that there were two main railroad lines. The Central Pacific Railroad would come from California and the Union Pacific Railroad would come from the Midwest. The two railroads would meet somewhere in the middle.

The act gave the railroad companies land where they could build the railroad. It also paid them for each mile that they built. They were paid more money for miles of track built in themountains versus miles of track built on the flat plains.

Building the Railroad

Across the Continent
by Joseph Becker

Building the railroad was tough, hard work. Weather conditions were especially tough in the mountains during the winter. A lot of times the only way to travel over the mountains was to go through the mountains by blasting a tunnel. The Central Pacific Railroad had to blast a number of tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The longest tunnel built was 1659 feet long. It took a long time to build the tunnels. They were able to blast around one foot per day on average.

While the Central Pacific Railroad had to deal with mountains and snow, the Union Pacific Railroad was challenged byNative Americans raids. As the Native Americans came to realize the threat to their way of life that the "Iron Horse" was going to bring, they began to raid the railroad work sites. Also, a lot of the land that was "granted" to the railroad by the government was actually Native American land.

The Workers

The majority of the workers on the Union Pacific Railroad were Irish laborers, many who had served in both the Union and the Confederate armies. In Utah, a lot of the track was built by Mormon workers. Most of the Central Pacific Railroad was built by Chinese immigrants.

The Golden Spike

The two railroads finally met at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869. Leland Stanford, governor of California and president of the Central Pacific Railroad, drove in the last spike. This final spike was called the "Golden Spike" or "The Final Spike". You can see it today at Stanford University in California.

Driving the Golden Spike on 10th May, 1869
by American School

Interesting Facts about the First Transcontinental Railroad

The Pony Express traveled a similar route to the central route and helped to prove that the route was passable in winter.

The transcontinental railroad was also called the Pacific Railroad and the Overland Route.

The total length of the First Transcontinental Railroad was 1,776 miles.

The Central Pacific Railroad was controlled by four men called the "Big Four". They were Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker.

It was later, in November of 1869, when the Central Pacific connected San Francisco to Sacramento.

Activities

Take a ten question quiz about this page.

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Works Cited

History >>Westward Expansion

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Kids learn about the First Transcontinental Railroad. Fun facts about the route, the Union Pacific, and the Pacific Railroad Act.

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It has become the site and symbol of the battle for Texan independence, but there is much more to the story. Find out why Americans will always remember the

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Table of Contents

1. France in the New World

2. Louisiana Territory Changes Hands

3. Louisiana Purchase Negotiations

4. Legacy of the Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought into the United States about 828,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. What was known at the time as the Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considered one of the most important achievements of Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

France in the New World

Beginning in the 17th century, France explored the Mississippi River valley and established scattered settlements in the region.

By the middle of the 18th century, France controlled more of the present-day United States than any other European power: from New Orleans northeast to the Great Lakes and northwest to modern-day Montana.

In 1762, during the French and Indian War, France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain and in 1763 transferred nearly all of its remaining North American holdings to Great Britain. Spain, no longer a dominant European power, did little to develop Louisiana during the next three decades.

Louisiana Territory Changes Hands

In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America. And in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return the Louisiana Territory to France.

Reports of the retrocession caused considerable unease in the United States. Since the late 1780s, Americans had been moving westward into the Ohio River and Tennessee River valleys, and these settlers were highly dependent on free access to the Mississippi River and the strategic port of New Orleans.

U.S. officials feared that France, resurgent under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, would soon seek to dominate the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to U.S. minister to France Robert Livingston, President Thomas Jefferson stated, "The day that France takes possession of New Orleans...we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation."

Livingston was ordered to negotiate with French Finance Minister Barbé-Marbois for the purchase of New Orleans.

Louisiana Purchase Negotiations

France was slow in taking control of Louisiana, but in 1802 Spanish authorities, apparently acting under French orders, revoked a U.S.-Spanish treaty that granted Americans the right to store goods in New Orleans.

In response, Jefferson sent future U.S. president James Monroe to Paris to aid Livingston in the New Orleans purchase talks. In mid-April 1803, shortly before Monroe's arrival, the French asked a surprised Livingston if the United States was interested in purchasing all of Louisiana Territory.

It's believed that the failure of France to put down a slave revolution in Haiti, the impending war with Great Britain and probable British naval blockade of France - combined with French economic difficulties - may have prompted Napoleon to offer Louisiana for sale to the United States.

Negotiations moved swiftly, and at the end of April the U.S. envoys agreed to pay $11,250,000 and assume claims of American citizens against France in the amount of $3,750,000. In exchange, the United States acquired the vast domain of Louisiana Territory, some 828,000 square miles of land.

The treaty was dated April 30 and signed on May 2. In October, the U.S. Senate ratified the purchase, and in December 1803 France transferred authority over the region to the United States.

Legacy of the Louisiana Purchase

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory for the bargain price of less than three cents an acre was among Jefferson's most notable achievements as president. American expansion westward into the new lands began immediately, and in 1804 a territorial government was established.

Jefferson soon commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

On April 30, 1812, exactly nine years after the Louisiana Purchase agreement was made, the first state to be carved from the territory - Louisiana - was admitted into the Union as the 18th U.S. state.
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Louisiana Purchase - Definition, Facts & Importance | HISTORY

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The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 introduced about 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France into the United States, thereby doubling the size of the young republic. Explore the facts about this important acquisition and its lasting legacy on Thomas Jefferson's presidency.

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The Transcontinental Railroad | Image Gallery

Building the Transcontinental Railroad

The transcontinental railroad's construction touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Some desired it, some built it, and some did everything in their power to stop it. Browse a photo gallery of settlers, Native Americans, and workers whose lives were affected by the railroad as it traversed the West.

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Building the Transcontinental Railroad | American Experience | PBS

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The transcontinental railroad's construction touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Some desired it, some built it, and some did everything in their power to stop it. Browse a photo gallery of settlers, Native Americans, and workers whose lives were affected by the railroad as it traversed the West.

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Kids learn about the biography and life of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They explored the wild west of America.

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WatchKnowLearn - Free K-12 educational videos

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Free K-12 educational videos ... organized. Tens of thousands of excellent, educational videos in a huge, intuitive directory. Organized, reviewed, rated, and described by teachers. Ideal as a supplement to a curriculum or for independent study. Designed for teachers, students, parents, homeschoolers, educators ... and all life-long learners!

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Kids learn about the the Battle of the Alamo fought between the Republic of Texas and Mexico including what led up to the battle, the leaders, the fort, the Texas Revolution, and facts. Educational article for students, schools, and teachers.

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Transcontinental Railroad ‑ Construction, Competition & Impact

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In 1862, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies began building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west. Over the next seven years, the two companies raced toward each other from Sacramento, California on the one side to Omaha, Nebraska on the other, struggling against great risks before they met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.

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Kids learn about the Pony Express from the Old West. Riders would swap horses at stations to deliver the mail faster to and from California.

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Kids learn about the Trail of Tears including when it took place, relocation of Native American tribes, the forced march of the Cherokee, the aftermath, and interesting facts.

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On a gloomy December afternoon in 1803, a boat crept along the banks of the Mississippi River and landed at the mouth of the Wood River in what is now the state of Illinois. A group of men climbed out and began to set up camp under a dark canopy of oak trees. Suddenly a violent storm moved in, pelting the area with snow and hail.

The men didn't turn back though. Instead, they hunkered down and spent the next five months here preparing for the trip they were about to embark on,in which poor weather would be one of the many dangers they'd face.

Among these men were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, co-leaders of an expedition tasked with exploring land that the United States had recently acquired. Their trip would turn into an epic 8,000-mile-long trek-and the first big step in the United States' westward expansion.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

When Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801, the country basically stopped at the Mississippi River. France controlled much of the land to the west of this waterway.

President Jefferson wanted to acquire the Port of New Orleans, in what is now the state of Louisiana, from the French. Its prime location made it a key spot for trade. In 1803, Jefferson made what's known as one of the greatest real estate deals in history: the Louisiana Purchase.

After negotiations, France agreed to sell the entire city of New Orleans, which included the port, to the United States for $10 million; they threw in the rest of the territory they owned for an additional $5 million. The agreement-which gave the United States approximately 828,000 square miles of land-almost doubled the size of the nearly 30-year-old nation.

The United States only paid about three cents an acre for the land, which stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Spain still owned much of the southwestern part of what's now the United States, stretching from the area that would become Texas to present-day California.

Purchasing this enormous amount of land was one thing, but exploring it was another. Jefferson wanted to plan an expedition to investigate the territory. He called the proposed mission the Voyage of Discovery and began assembling a team of explorers called the Corps (KOR) of Discovery. The president chose Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark to lead the expedition. Lewis, President Jefferson's personal secretary, was an officer in the United States Army and spoke several Native American languages. Lewis recommended Clark-a retired officer who had served alongside him in the Army-as the expedition's co-leader.

WAY OUT WEST

In the spring of 1804, Lewis, Clark, and dozens of other men left St. Louis, Missouri, by boat. They traveled westward through what is now Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

In November they reached Knife River Village in present-day North Dakota. There they met a young Shoshone Native American woman called Sacagawea (Sa-kuh-juh-WEE-uh) and her fur-trader husband, Toussaint Charbonneau (Too-SAHNT SHAR-bon-oh). The couple joined the expedition as interpreters, translating the language of the local tribes for Lewis and Clark's men.

Sacagawea didn't just serve as an interpreter during the trip, however. She helped Lewis and Clark's men obtain essential supplies and horses, identified edible plants and herbs, and prevented hostile relations with other tribes simply by being with the group-all while carrying her newborn baby on her back.

After meeting Sacagawea and her husband, the Corps traveled west from North Dakota, 15 to 20 miles a day on foot and by boat, toward the mountains. Day after day, the exhausted, freezing team braved rough rivers and perilous peaks, getting by on very little food. They wouldn't see the Pacific Ocean until November 1805-over a year after they first left Missouri.

COMING HOME

After a long winter waiting out the bad weather, the Corps was able to start making their way back east in March 1806. After returning Sacagawea and her husband to North Dakota, the remainder of the Corps arrived back in Missouri in late September, more than two years after they started their expedition.

Lewis and Clark's team mapped uncharted land, rivers, and mountains. They brought back journals filled with details about Native American tribes and scientific notes about plants and animals they'd never seen before. They also brought back stories-tales that made other Americans dream about heading west.

Many Americans did more than dream. The great westward expansion was about to begin.

Text adapted from The Journals of Lewis and Clark; The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today; and Sacagawea

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How Lewis and Clark-along with a Native American guide, Sacagawea-explored the newly expanded United States

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Kids learn about the California Gold Rush from the Old West. Thousands of people move to the west to search for gold and strike it rich.

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prints photographs reading room division library of congress

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Selected images from the Library of Congress relating to the War with Mexico (1846-1848); one chapter from a 1955 publication of the Prints and Photographs Division, Pictorial Americana.

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Avalon Project - Louisiana Purchase; 1803 and Associated Documents

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Louisiana Purchase; 1803 and Associated Documents

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Kids learn about the Erie Canal including how long it is, when it was built, its importance to the Industrial Revolution, and interesting facts. Educational article for students, schools, and teachers.

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Kids learn about the Homestead Act and Land Rush of the Old West. Facts about Homesteaders and the grabbing land in the midwest.

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Learn about the Oregon Trail from the Old West. A roadway used by pioneers in covered wagons to travel west.

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The National Road - Fort Necessity National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)

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Evolution of Railroads

In 1869 the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads converged at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad.

© 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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In 1869 the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads converged at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad. © 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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From (Approved: teresahopson), produced by National Geographic

Beginning as a trickle in the high alpine meadows of western Canada, the Columbia River flows through great, forested mountains and down desert canyons. Joined by the Snake River, it rolls with increasing force through fertile farmlands, past snow-covered volcanoes, and finally knifes through a mountain range to complete a 1,200-mile journey to the wide sea. This is the grand gateway to the West, pioneered by Lewis and Clark, roamed by fur traders, and traversed by courageous settlers as they forged their way over the Oregon Trail. Our comfortable, small ships, designed for exploring these historic waterways. Their size and maneuverability enable you to travel from the mouth of the Columbia all the way inland to Idaho, more than 450 miles upstream - a voyage impossible for a big ship. Video is good for elementary and middle school students.

Ages: 8 - 14

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history/history of the united states/exploration and expansion (1783-1860)/westward expansion/oregon trail

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WatchKnowLearn - Free K-12 educational videos

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Free K-12 educational videos ... organized. Tens of thousands of excellent, educational videos in a huge, intuitive directory. Organized, reviewed, rated, and described by teachers. Ideal as a supplement to a curriculum or for independent study. Designed for teachers, students, parents, homeschoolers, educators ... and all life-long learners!

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In this video segment adapted from American Experience: "We Shall Remain," reenactments help tell the story of how the Cherokee people were forced from their lands in the southeast. The U.S. government initially promised the Cherokee and other Native American tribes that if they could assimilate into European Americans lifestyles, they would be considered equals.

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Before the resort town of Cannon Beach, Oregon, a Tillamook tribal village-NeCus'-sat along the tiny brackish bay where Ecola Creek crosses the sandy beach. The Lewis and Clark Expedition journals provide a tantalizing but fragmentary glimpse of this community.

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Latest Additions The Trail Eastern Beginnings → Down the Ohio → Up the Mississippi → Winter at St. Louis → Starting Up the Missouri → Past the Omahas → Among the Yanktons → Crossing the Lakotas → Winter at Fort Mandan → Along the Northern Reach → Portaging the Falls → Gates of the Rockies [...]

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Sutter's Mill

On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California.

At the time, Marshall was working to build a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter, a German-born Swiss citizen and founder of a colony of Nueva Helvetia (New Switzerland, which would later become the city of Sacramento). As Marshall later recalled of his historic discovery: "It made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold."

Did you know? Miners extracted more than 750,000 pounds of gold during the California Gold Rush.

Days after Marshall's discovery at Sutter's Mill, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending the Mexican-American War and leaving California in the hands of the United States-a remarkable twist of fate with important ramifications for an America eager for westward expansion.

At the time, the population of the territory consisted of 6,500 Californios (people of Spanish or Mexican descent); 700 foreigners (primarily Americans); and 150,000 Native Americans (barely half the number that had been there when Spanish settlers arrived in 1769).

Sutter, in fact, had enslaved hundreds of Native Americans and used them as a free source of labor and makeshift militia to defend his territory and expand his empire.

Gold Fever Strikes

Though Marshall and Sutter tried to keep news of the discovery under wraps, word got out, and by mid-March at least one newspaper was reporting that large quantities of gold were being turned up at Sutter's Mill. Though the initial reaction in San Francisco was disbelief, storekeeper Sam Brannan set off a frenzy when he paraded through town displaying a vial of gold obtained from Sutter's Creek.

By mid-June, shops and businesses stood empty, as some three-quarters of the male population of San Francisco had abandoned the city for the gold mines, and the number of miners in the area ballooned to some 4,000 by August.

As news reports-many wildly overblown-of the easy fortunes being made in California spread worldwide, some of the first migrants to arrive were those from lands accessible by boat, such as Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii), Mexico, Chile, Peru and China.

Polk Spreads Gold Fever

When the news reached the East Coast, press reports were initially skeptical. Gold fever kicked off nationwide in earnest, however, after December 1848, when President James K. Polk announced the positive results of a report made by Colonel Richard Mason, California's military governor, in his inaugural address.

As Polk wrote, "The accounts of abundance of gold are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service."

The '49ers Come to California

Throughout 1849, people around the United States (mostly men) with gold fever borrowed money, mortgaged their property or spent their life savings to make the arduous journey to California. In pursuit of the kind of wealth they had never dreamed of, they left their families and hometowns. In turn, women left behind took on new responsibilities such as running farms or businesses and caring for their children alone.

Thousands of would-be gold miners, known as 49ers for the year they arrived, traveled overland across the mountains or by sea, sailing to Panama or even around Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America.

By the end of the year, the non-native population of California was estimated at 100,000, (as compared with 20,000 at the end of 1848 and around 800 in March 1848). To accommodate the needs of the 49ers, gold mining towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops, saloons, brothels and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune.

The overcrowded chaos of the mining camps and towns grew ever more lawless, including rampant banditry, gambling, alcoholism, prostitution and violence. San Francisco, for its part, developed a bustling economy and became the central metropolis of the new frontier.

Gold Rush Politics

The Gold Rush undoubtedly sped up California's admission to the Union as the 31st state. In late 1849, California applied to enter the Union with a constitution that barred the Southern system of racial slavery, provoking a crisis in Congress between proponents of slavery and anti-slavery politicians.

According to the Compromise of 1850, proposed by Kentucky's Senator Henry Clay, California was allowed to enter as a free state, while the territories of Utah and New Mexico were left to decide the legal status of slavery for themselves.

California's Mines

After 1850, the surface gold in California largely disappeared, even as miners continued to arrive. Mining had always been difficult and dangerous labor, and striking it rich required good luck as much as skill and hard work. Moreover, the average daily take for an independent miner working with his pick and shovel had by then sharply decreased from what it had been in 1848.

As gold became more and more difficult to reach, the growing industrialization of mining drove more and more miners from independence into wage labor. The new technique of hydraulic mining, developed in 1853, brought enormous profits but destroyed much of the region's landscape.

Though gold mining continued throughout the 1850s, it had reached its peak by 1852, when some $81 million was pulled from the ground. After that year, the total take declined gradually, leveling off to around $45 million per year by 1857. Settlement in California continued, however, and by the end of the decade the state's population was 380,000.

Impact of the Gold Rush

New mining methods and the population boom in the wake of the California Gold Rush permanently altered the landscape of California. The technique of hydraulic mining brought enormous profits but destroyed much of the region's landscape.

Dams designed to supply water to mine sites in summer altered the course of rivers away from farmland, while sediment from mines clogged others. The logging industry in the area was born from the need to construct extensive canals and feed boilers at mines, further consuming natural resources.

In 1884, hydraulic mining was outlawed by court order, and soon agriculture became the dominant industry in California, and it remains so today. While a few mines and Gold Rush towns remain, much of the heritage of that era is preserved at places such as Bodie State Historic Park, a decaying ghost town, and at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where Sutter's Mill once stood.

Sources

Environmental Impact of the Gold Rush. Calisphere.org.
After the Gold Rush. National Geographic.

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Gold Rush: California, Date & Sutter's Mill - HISTORY

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The Gold Rush in California started in 1848 after gold was found at Sutter's Mill. Within a year, hundreds of thousands of 49ers seeking fortune poured into the state.

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"Map of the United States of Mexico" used in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

"There shall be firm and universal peace between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic, and between their respective Countries, territories, cities, towns and people, without exception of places or persons." -- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Was Signed In Mexico City
February 2, 1848

Did you know that a large portion of the Western United States used to be a part of Mexico? On February 2, 1848, U.S. and Mexican officials met in Mexico City to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The agreement brought an end to the Mexican War after nearly two years and extended the U.S. west to the Pacific Ocean with 525,000 square miles of former Mexican territory. The new American territory included present-day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Along with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, this treaty completed the expansion of the United States to 48 states. Do you know what events led to the signing of the treaty?

page 1 of 3

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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Was Signed In Mexico City

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"Map of the United States of Mexico" used in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo "There shall be firm and universal peace between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic, and between their respective Countries, territories, cities, towns and people, without exception of places or persons." -- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848.

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The Library of Congress is home to many of the most important documents in American history. This Web site provides links to materials digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress that supplement and enhance the study of these crucial documents.

The links at right highlight eras of American History. Each of these sections link to a list of important documents from that era. For each item on these lists there is a page with background information about the document, a list of links to digital materials concerning that document from the Library's site and elsewhere, and bibliographies both for general readers and for younger readers.

Sections and Topics:

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The Library of Congress is home to many of the most important documents in American history. This Web site provides links to materials digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress that supplement and enhance the study of these crucial documents. Each section of this site links to a list of important documents from that era.

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The Erie Canal is a 363-mile waterway that connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River in upstate New York. The channel, which traverses New York state from Albany to Buffalo on Lake Erie, was considered an engineering marvel when it first opened in 1825. The Erie Canal provided a direct water route from New York City to the Midwest, triggering large-scale commercial and agricultural development-as well as immigration-to the sparsely populated frontiers of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and points farther west. The canal transformed New York City into the young nation's economic powerhouse, and in 2000 the U.S. Congress designated the Erie Canal a National Heritage Corridor.

Early explorers in America had long searched for a water route from East Coast population centers to the resource-rich lands of the Midwest and Great Lakes.

The Northwest Territory-which later would become the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin-had timber, minerals, furs and fertile land for farming, but the Appalachian Mountains stood in the way.

Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, it took weeks to reach these resources overland. Bulk transportation of goods was limited by what teams of oxen could pull by wagon. The lack of an efficient transportation network confined populations and trade to coastal areas.

Jesse Hawley

Beginning in 1807, Jesse Hawley-a flour merchant from western New York who went broke trying to get his product to market in the Atlantic coastal cities-published a series of essays from debtor's prison. In them, Hawley advocated for a canal system that would span nearly 400 miles from Buffalo, New York, on the eastern shore of Lake Erie, to Albany, New York, on the Hudson River.

Hawley's eloquent essays caught the attention of New York politicians, including New York City mayor DeWitt Clinton. Clinton believed that the canal was crucial to the economic advancement of his city.

Clinton saw his plan come to fruition in 1817 after he became the governor of New York. Workers first broke ground on the Erie Canal on July 4, 1817, near Utica, New York.

An Unprecedented Engineering Feat

The construction of the Erie Canal, through mountainous terrain and dense rock proved as challenging as the political environment.

Throughout construction, Dewitt Clinton's political opponents ridiculed the project as "Clinton's Folly" or "Clinton's ditch."

It took canal laborers-some Irish immigrants, but most U.S.-born men-eight years to finish the project. They cleared the land by hand and animal power and blasted through rock with gunpowder. (Dynamite wasn't invented until the 1860s by Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel.)

The original Erie Canal was just four feet deep and 40 feet wide, though it was considered a major engineering feat at the time of its completion in 1825. It traversed nearly 400 miles of fields, forests, and rocky cliffs, and contained 83 locks-structures used for raising and lowering boats between canal stretches with different water levels.

Project engineers had little experience building canals. The military academy at West Point in New York offered the only formal engineering program in North America at the time the Erie Canal was built.

The project provided practical schooling for a new generation of American engineers and builders, and led to the founding of the nation's first civil engineering school, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, in 1824.

Erie Canal engineers devised new equipment to uproot trees and stumps and developed a cement that could set and harden underwater.

Erie Canal's Economic Impacts

The Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825. A fleet of boats, led by Governor Dewitt Clinton aboard the Seneca Chief sailed from Buffalo to New York City in record time-just ten days.

The canal transformed New York City into the commercial capital it remains today. Prior to the canal's construction, the ports of Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans outranked New York in size.

But the construction of the Erie Canal gave New York City (via the Hudson River) direct water access to the Great Lakes and regions of the Midwest. As the gateway to these resource-rich lands, New York soon became the nation's economic epicenter and the primary port of entry to the United States for European immigrants.

New York City's population quadrupled between 1820 and 1850. Financing of the Erie Canal's construction allowed the city to eclipse Philadelphia as the country's most important banking center.

The Erie Canal also provided an economic boost to the entire United States by allowing the transport of goods at one-tenth the previous cost in less than half the previous time. By 1853, the Erie Canal carried 62 percent of all U.S. trade.

For the first time, manufactured goods such as furniture and clothing could be shipped in bulk to the frontier.

Farmers in western New York and the Midwest now had cash to purchase consumer goods, because they could more cheaply ship wheat, corn and other crops to lucrative East Coast markets.

The Erie Canal also helped to stimulate America's nascent tourism industry. It attracted vacationers, including Europeans such as Charles Dickens. Thousands of tourists floated down the canal on excursions from New York City to Niagara Falls.

Impact on Native Americans

The building of the Erie Canal and subsequent population explosion along its route accelerated the dispossession-or removal-of Native Americans in western New York and the Upper Midwest.

The Erie Canal traversed the ancestral homelands of several groups, including the Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca.

From the early years of the canal era to the peak of New York's canal boom in the 1840s and 1850s, state and federal policies promoted the removal of indigenous populations from developing portions of New York.

Native Americans were sent to reservations in isolated portions of New York and other eastern States. Others were sent to unfamiliar outlying territories in the American Midwest.

Erie Canal Today

The Erie Canal was enlarged twice to fit wider and deeper boats. Some parts were rerouted to make way for more ship traffic in 1918. Portions of the original canal are still operable, though tourism is now the main source of boat traffic along the Erie Canal.

Commercial and shipping traffic declined abruptly after the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The new waterway along the United States-Canadian border allowed large ships to enter the Great Lakes directly from the Atlantic Ocean, bypassing the Erie Canal.

In 2000, Congress designated the Erie Canal a National Heritage Corridor to help preserve New York State's historic waterway and the communities along its banks.

SOURCES

History and Culture; Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
Canal History; New York State Canal Corporation.
Erie Canal; Albany Institute of History and Art.

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Jesse Hawley Beginning in 1807, Jesse Hawley-a flour merchant from western New York who went broke trying to get his product to market in the Atlantic coastal cities-published a series of essays from debtor's prison. In them, Hawley advocated for a canal system that would span nearly 400 miles from Buffalo, New York, on the [...]

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Thirteen/WNET, PBS, Wall to Wall Television, Thirteen Online, David McCarthy, Sabina Daley, Debra Kaufman, Karen Mattson, Brian Santalone, Micah Fink, Anthony Chapman, Beth Hoppe

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Frontier House is a PBS program, produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, that sends three families to experience life on the American Frontier in 1883.

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From (Approved: teresahopson), produced by National Geographic

Beginning as a trickle in the high alpine meadows of western Canada, the Columbia River flows through great, forested mountains and down desert canyons. Joined by the Snake River, it rolls with increasing force through fertile farmlands, past snow-covered volcanoes, and finally knifes through a mountain range to complete a 1,200-mile journey to the wide sea. This is the grand gateway to the West, pioneered by Lewis and Clark, roamed by fur traders, and traversed by courageous settlers as they forged their way over the Oregon Trail. Our comfortable, small ships, designed for exploring these historic waterways. Their size and maneuverability enable you to travel from the mouth of the Columbia all the way inland to Idaho, more than 450 miles upstream - a voyage impossible for a big ship. Video is good for elementary and middle school students.

Ages: 8 - 14

License: Undetermined

Owner: unspecified

Found by Barb

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history/history of the united states/exploration and expansion (1783-1860)/westward expansion/oregon trail

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WatchKnowLearn - Free K-12 educational videos

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Free K-12 educational videos ... organized. Tens of thousands of excellent, educational videos in a huge, intuitive directory. Organized, reviewed, rated, and described by teachers. Ideal as a supplement to a curriculum or for independent study. Designed for teachers, students, parents, homeschoolers, educators ... and all life-long learners!

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In 1853 the United States bought a large piece of land from Mexico. That sale is known as the Gadsden Purchase. It moved the border between the two countries south, to where...

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In 1775, the now-legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Cumberland Gap-a notch in the Appalachian Mountains located near the intersection of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee-through the interior of Kentucky and to the Ohio River. Known as the Wilderness Road, the trail would serve as the pathway to the western United States for some 300,000 settlers over the next 35 years. Boone's pioneering path led to the establishment of the first settlements in Kentucky-including Boonesboro-and to Kentucky's admission to the Union as the 15th state in 1792.

History Behind the Wilderness Road

The earliest origins of the Wilderness Road were the traces, or trails, created by the great herds of buffalo that once roamed the region. Native American tribes such as the Cherokee and Shawnee later used the trails to make attacks on each other. They called the path the Athowominee, variously translated as "Path of the Armed Ones" or "The Great Warrior's Path." In 1673, Shawnee warriors captured a young man named Gabriel Arthur. Before his release, Arthur became the first white settler known to have crossed through the Cumberland Gap using part of what would become the Wilderness Road.

Did you know? Though Daniel Boone became famous as a symbol of the pioneering Western spirit in America, he was never truly prosperous, and never made much of his extensive land claims. In 1799, he followed his son to Missouri (then owned by Spain) and continued hunting and trapping there until his death in 1820.

In 1750, an expedition led by Dr. Thomas Walker set out from Virginia with the aim of exploring lands further west for potential settlement. Discouraged by the rough terrain in southeastern Kentucky, the group turned back, but Walker's detailed report of the expedition proved to be an invaluable resource for later expeditions, including Boone's.

Daniel Boone & the Transylvania Company

Born in Pennsylvania in 1734, Daniel Boone moved with his family to the North Carolina frontier as a youth. He fought in the French and Indian War, and later served two terms in the Virginia General Assembly. Boone first ventured through the Cumberland Gap on a hunting expedition in 1767. In 1773, he sought to lead his family and several others to settle in Kentucky, but Cherokee Indians attacked the group, and two of the would-be settlers, including Boone's son James, were killed.

Two years later, a group of wealthy investors spearheaded by Judge Richard Henderson of North Carolina formed the Transylvania Company. Their goal was to colonize the rich lands around the Kentucky River and establish Kentucky as the 14th colony. To that end, they hired Boone, the white man considered to have the most knowledge of the existing trails, to blaze a new trail through the Cumberland Gap. To confront the issue of Native American aggression, Henderson decided to approach the Cherokee directly, and in March 1775 his associates negotiated with the Cherokee to purchase the land between the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, a total of some 20 million acres, for 10,000 pounds of goods. (Virginia's colonial governor later nullified the sale.)

Blazing a Historic Trail

On March 10, 1775, Boone and around 30 other ax-wielding road cutters (including his brother and son-in-law) set off from the Long Island of Holston River, a sacred Cherokee treaty site located in present-day Kingsport, Tennessee. From there they traveled north along a portion of the Great Warrior's Path, heading through Moccasin Gap in the Clinch Mountains. Avoiding Troublesome Creek, which had plagued previous travelers along the route, Boone's group crossed the Clinch River (near what is now Speers Ferry, Virginia) and followed Stock Creek, crossed Powell Mountain through Kane's Gap and headed into the Powell River Valley.

About 20 miles from the Cumberland Gap, Boone and his party rested at Martin's Station, a settlement near what is now Rose Hill, Virginia that had been founded by Joseph Martin in 1769. After a Native American attack, Martin and his fellow settlers had abandoned the region, but they had returned in early 1775 to build a more permanent settlement. Just before reaching their intended settlement site on the Kentucky River in late March, Boone's group was attacked by some of the Shawnee, who unlike the Cherokee had not ceded their right to Kentucky's land. Most of Boone's men were able to escape, though a few were killed or injured. In April, the group arrived on the south side of the Kentucky River, in what is now Madison County, Kentucky.

Westward Movement

The opening of the Wilderness Road enabled the founding of the first settlements in Kentucky, including Transylvania Colony-which became Boonesboro-Harrod's Town and Benjamin Logan's. After the outbreak of the Revolutionary War that same year, the rush towards western settlement began, and it would continue throughout the war and beyond. As many as 300,000 settlers traveled along the Wilderness Road from 1775 to 1810. In addition to its human traffic, the trail provided a route for farm produce intended for sale in markets closer to the coast, as well as goods and supplies to supply the growing western settlements. In 1792, Kentucky was admitted to the Union as the 15 state.

By 1840, use of the Wilderness Road had declined, as advances in engineering had enabled waterway travel via the Erie Canal and through the rivers of the Ohio Valley. Cumberland Gap later became part of the National Parks System, and portions of the Wilderness Road were included in Wilderness Road State Park.

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In 1775, the now-legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Cumberland Gap-a notch in the Appalachian Mountains located near the intersection of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee-through the interior of Kentucky and to the Ohio River. Known as the Wilderness Road, the trail would serve as the pathway to the western United States for some 300,000 settlers over the next 35 years.