Which Way to the Wild West Mini Padlet by Tyler Mitchell

James K. Polk

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-10 16:17:52 UTC

James K. Polk once stated in 1844 that if he was elected president he would only do one term, and he would be able to annex the rest of the west like Oregon, Texas, and other states. This was a great accomplishment for America gaining land and later finding rich resources like gold and silver. Although James K. Polk made a great accomplishment, he later retired to live in his home in Tennessee in the year 1849 following his campaign promise. Later that year he died of a sickness called Cholera, while also holding the shortest retirement of any president at only 104 days. The reason that James K. Polk was important to the west world movement because Polk was a believer in manifest destiny, and even if he was the youngest president up till that point. Many believed these thoughts would help America which led to him becoming president. Polk first annexed Texas wanting their power, but Mexico thought Texas was still part of their country, which it was not. But up north and to the west, America and the British fought over the Oregon country. Polk was fine with fighting both Mexico and the British at the same time, but American and the British made a treaty to share the Oregon country. This only left Mexico which was later driven out of the land that is now around California, Colorado, and many other modern states. Polk's thought changed our country by gaining the west and later giving us many riches like silver and gold. This also gave us all these stories of the west.

George Armstrong Custer

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-10 16:25:27 UTC

George Armstrong Custer or notably known as "Hard Backsides" was at The Black Hills. The Black Hills which is now in South Dakota was home to a native group called the Lakota, and the land was won by natives after winning against the Americans which led to the Fort Laramie Treaty. The Fort Laramie Treaty stated that the land belonged to the Lakota forever. The reason this is important is because George Armstrong Custer was an officer who was tasked to try and buy the Black Hills after the findings of gold and silver in the mountains. Custer also led the Battle of Little Bighorn which was lost badly due to natives being prepared for an attack by Americans. Previously before the Battle of the Little Bighorn Custer led an attack on natives at sand creek and won by a surprise attack, so what did Custer do when attacking the camp of Little Bighorn? He tried a surprise attack again but this time the Lakota were prepared and easily won the battle due to their numbers compared to the Americans. The natives outnumbered the Americans four to one, so for every american there was four natives.

Sacramento

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-15 19:02:30 UTC

Sacramento had a big part in the west world movement. When California became part of the United States many wanted to move there for a new opportunity to live a better and prosperous life. Some didn't make it all the way to California because of diseases, natives, and other different essential needs like food and water. When people did make it to Sacramento they built many different things like shops and homes. A man by the name of John Sutter built a fort in Sacramento, but in 1848 Sutter hired a carpenter by the name of James Marshall to build a sawmill along the American River. When building the sawmill Marshall found a tiny yellowish speck in the dirt, it was gold! This discovery of gold was supposed to be a secret for them to gain riches, but Sutter couldn't keep it a secret, and told his and he told his friend and the word was out. This sparked the start of the gold rush. After the gold rush the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was passed which had two companies build train tracks to connect California and the west to the rest of the United States. The Central Pacific started in Sacramento and built through the mountains while the Union Pacific started in Nebraska and built over the flat plains. They met at Promontory Summit, Utah.

Sand Creek

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-15 19:54:14 UTC

The Sand Creek Massacre was a surprise attack that John Chivington and his man planned. Sand Creek was a native camp that had 900-1000 Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. Some say that the massacre killed 500-600 natives, but other Americans and Cheyennes say that 160 Cheyennes died with most of them being women and children. The village was massacred and Chivington's reasons were due to him wanting war. This caused an uprising and strong tensions between the natives and Americans. These uprising came as pulling down telegraph poles and murdering stagecoaches all around Colorado.

Bison

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-15 22:09:53 UTC

Bison were a main food source for many natives and Americans who traveled the west. Bison were main food sources for many native tribes but most notably the Lakota. General William T. Sherman saw hunting bison as a way to get natives onto reservation. Bison wasn't only used for food it was sometimes used as target practice for cowboys who would shoot out of trains at bison for fun letting their bodies rot on the ground. Bison were also used for many different types of clothes like dresses, shirts, and many more. With all of these uses for bison they slowly started to go extinct, but before they were mass-hunted there was enough to spread all over the open fields of the plains.

Horse

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-15 23:55:24 UTC

Horses were used for many things in the west world expansion. One of the ways that horses were used was for transportation. Horses help cowboys herd cattle up north, so they could sell them and do a little bit of partying after. When people who worked in the pony express headed west to give mail they traveled on horses, which was the fastest way at the time. Horses were also used for the pony express, before the telegraph was made, where cowboys would gallop on horses trying to get mail from the east to the west. Riders would in total of 75 to 100 miles before switching riders, and the horses were changed every 10 to 15 miles. Riders would change horses at different horse stations so they could get to the west as fast as possible. The mail would usually be delivered in about 10 days.

George Armstrong Custer's Quote

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-16 01:52:42 UTC

"The largest Indian camp on the North American continent, and I'm going to attack it." General Custer was eager for a war. Him and his men charged into the camp with no scouting, hopeful to surprise attack the Indians like he did last time at sand creek. This shows how General Custer's eagerness got the better of him, and his battle tactics got him killed. Custer thought that since a surprise attack worked the first time it would work again, but the Indians were prepared. Without scouting Custer didn't see how many Indians there were because for one American there was four Indians. That means that his group was outnumbered four to one.

James Carson's quote

tylermitchell8 — 2025-04-16 02:04:06 UTC

"My leg performed some entirely new movements polka steps... piles of gold rose up before me at every step; castles of marble, dazzling the eye... in short, I had a very violent attack of the gold fever." This shows how much gold during the gold rush had an effect on people. The thought of gold for one made them go crazy wanting to strike gold and become rich. This doesn't just affect the Americans this also affects the immigrants from other countries like China and others. The gold drove many people west, and even the chinese and other countries would travel to America to strike gold.