FRONTIER: a place that has never been seen. MANIFEST DESTINY: the belief that the US had the right and duty to control all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

ANNEX/ANNEXATION: to add land to a country CEDE/ CESSION: to give land to another country

CARAVAN: a group traveling together on a long journey. The wagons would travel in a straight single line and then circle at night for protection. CONESTOGA: a covered wagon used to carry freight across the prairies. PRAIRIE SCHOONER: another word for covered wagon, so called because they looked like ships sailing across a sea of grass.

HOMESTEADING: to settle on public land to use as a home. RANCHO: huge properties for raising livestock BOOMTOWN: communities that quickly grow in population

MOUNTAIN MAN: a person who lived in the mountains and was usually a trapper or a hunter. PIONEERS: someone who went to an area before it was settled. FORTY-NINER: people who went to California during the Gold Rush of IMMIGRANTS: a person who leaves to go live somewhere else.

Sod Houses Houses made of stacked sod, which are pieces or layers of dirt containing the grass and its roots.

Transcontinental Railroad A railroad project contracted by the U.S. government in 1863 & completed in 1869 linking the east and west coasts. A railroad project contracted by the U.S. government in 1863 & completed in 1869 linking the east and west coasts. NOTE: The Union Pacific built from the east, & the Central Pacific from the west. The two lines met in Utah. The Central Pacific laborers were mostly Chinese, and the Union Pacific laborers mostly Irish.

Dust Storm A strong wind carrying clouds of dust across or from a dry region.

Migration The movement of people or animals from one place to another. The movement of people or animals from one place to another.

Great Plains (Prairie) The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. This area covers parts of the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.

Treaty A signed, formal agreement or understanding between two individuals or groups of people. A signed, formal agreement or understanding between two individuals or groups of people.

Assimilation To adapt and conform to the customs or attitudes of a group or nation.

Reservation A tract of public land set apart for a special purpose such as the use of an American Indian tribe. A tract of public land set apart for a special purpose such as the use of an American Indian tribe.

Geronimo This Native–American was an Apache war chief who was opposed to Westward Expansion. This Native–American was an Apache war chief who was opposed to Westward Expansion. – He took revenge on the Mexicans & settlers of the Southwest for the murder of his wife, mother, & three children. – He later surrendered to U.S. authorities & remained a prisoner of war until his death in Actual signature above. Geronimo 1887

Chief Joseph This Native-American chief of a Nez Perce tribe in Idaho who was opposed to Westward Expansion. This Native-American chief of a Nez Perce tribe in Idaho who was opposed to Westward Expansion. – He tried to move his people to Canada, while fighting off the U.S. military, but eventually surrendered and relocated to a reservation rather than see more of his people die. – Upon his surrender he stated, “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

Sitting Bull Native-American chief of the Sioux nation who was opposed to Westward Expansion. Native-American chief of the Sioux nation who was opposed to Westward Expansion. – He is most famous for the multi-tribal victory known as the battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand in – Sitting Bull would later surrender in 1881 and be forced onto a reservation where he is killed by Indian police in Actual signature above.

Nez Perce` This Native-American tribal nation lived mainly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States; the name translates to “The People.” This Native-American tribal nation lived mainly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States; the name translates to “The People.” Their descendants now inhabit a reservation in Idaho. Their descendants now inhabit a reservation in Idaho.