Terms

Transcontinental Railroad

Americans wanted to link the entire nation by railroad.

Promentory Point

In Utah--where two major railroad lines, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, joined.

Dawes Act

Divided Indian lands into 160 acre frames in order to assimilate Indians into American society.

Homestead Act

Government sold 160 acre plots of land foro $10 if settlers would cultivate it and improve it for 5 years. Was a failure because the land was too small to produce a profit in the dry, arid, climate.

Vigilantes

Main police force in the West, did not have to follow any regulations, therefore ruthless.

The Grange

A Union of farmers created by Oliver H. Kelley. Made to relief the hard life of the farmers.

Wabash Case

States could not regulate interstate railroad rates.

Battle of Little Big Horn

Custer was routed by Indians

Ghost Dance

Dance of the frontier Indians who got dizzy and prophecized.

Wounded Knee

A lot of Sioux Indians were killed in this battle by US Calvary.

Comestock Lode

Silver and Gold (300 Million Dollars worth) in Nevada.

Frontier Thesis

By Fredrick Jackson Turner and stated there was no more frontier on the map and the frontier shaped American culture. Therefore, he claimed it was a signficant point in time of American History.

Personalities to Remember:

Frederick Jackson Turner- Frontier Thesis
Helen Hunt Jackson- Wrote A Century of Dishonor
Oliver H. Kelly- founder of the Grange
General Custer