American West

Cards (15)

  • Indian Removal Act 1830
    Indians had to move west of the Mississippi River
    Were promised they would never have to give up that land
  • Indian Trade and Intercourse Act 1834
    Banned white people from settling on their land
    Banned white traders from selling weapons and alcohol to Plains Indians
    Created the Permanent Indian Frontier
  • Indian Appropriations Act 1851
    Government gave Plains Indians money to move onto reservations
    Reduced hunting land to encourage them to start farming like white Americans
  • Who were the Donner Party?
    A group of 300 migrants and pioneers led by the Donner brothers who travelled along the Oregon Trail
  • Steps of the Donner Party travel
    1. Set off in May 1846
    2. Reached Rocky Mountains in July 1846 and the group split. 80 tried a shortcut route from Langford Hastings without knowing no-one had ever travelled that route before
    3. Realised the conditions were harsh with no established route; nowhere to cross rivers safely, no forts to stock on food, no grass for animals (July-Nov 1846)
  • Steps of the Donner Party (2)

    3. November 1846, snowstorm trapped the party in the Sierra Nevada mountains where they had no food and all livestock died, many starved to death.
    4. February 1847, some from California went to rescue the survivors, only half the group was alive and had to result in eating the dead members
  • Who were the Mormons?
    They were a religious group who followed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
    Founded by Joseph Smith and later led by Brigham Young
    Practiced polygamy which many Americans didn't like
  • Mormon Migration (1)
    Started in Illinois in 1845 where they got pushed out by Americans
    Migrated 1846-1847 along Oregon Trail to Salt Lake Valley in Utah
    Brigham Young seeked a place where "no other people would ever live" so they could have religious freedom
  • Mormon migration (2)
    Reached Omaha in June 1846 and decided it was too late in the year to continue to Salt Lake Valley so held off until the following year
    A small group (150) set off in April 1847 to prepare for future migration.
    Took the same route as the Donner Party but learnt from their mistakes and took a portable boat, and packed supplies to last a year, marked a suitable route through the terrain of the Rocky Mountains
  • Mormon Migration (4)

    They reached Salt Lake valley in July 1847. They located water supplies and planted crops in preparation for the rest of the groups arrival in August. (1500 people)
    1847-1869 a further 70000 followed the trail to Salt Lake Valley.
  • Mormon Migration (3)

    They travelled in groups along a preplanned route - at night they parked wagons in a circle to protect livestock, planned rest stops in advance and planted crops for future groups to harvest for food.
  • What were the 4 main cattle trails?
    Chisholm Trail, Goodnight-Loving Trail, Western Trail, and Shawnee Trail
  • Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving
    They sold their beef to in New Mexico to the army, settlers and to the US Government to feed Indigenous people on reservations. They then sold their cattle to miners. Specifically, they sold beef to the Apache and Navajo reservation at Fort Summer in New Mexico.
  • John Iliff
    He was the first cattleman to set up his cattle ranch on the Plains in Wyoming in 1867. Goodnight drove cattle up to him where he sold them to the Transcontinental Railroad construction gangs. He also held a contract with the government to supply beef to the Sioux in 1868. He later became known as a cattle baron due to his success of owning over 35000 cattle in Colorado and Wyoming.
  • Open range ranching became very popular which meant there was no fences allowing cattle to graze wherever they pleased.