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Santa Fe Trail
On this day, Missouri Indian trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sells his goods at an enormous profit, and makes plans to return the next year over the route that will become known as the Santa Fe Trail. -
Stephen F. Austin Settles in Texas
Austin's Colony was the first legal settlement of North American families in Mexican-owned Texas. Led by the Empressario, Stephen F. Austin, an initial grant for three hundred families--the "Old 300"--in 1821 opened up Texas to a flood of American immigrants, as many as 30,000 by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1835. -
Missionaries in Oregon
The first missionaries arrived in Oregon in l834. The most famous western missionaries were Marcus Whitman, a young doctor, and his wife, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, who were sent west in l836 by the Methodists.The first Americans to establish a permanent settlement in Oregon were Methodist missionaries. In 1834, they established Willamette Valley. By 1843, thousands of American pioneers were migrating west on the Oregon Trail. It began in Independence, Missouri and ended in Oregon City, cro -
Texas Revolution
On March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. -
Texas Annexation
The U.S. didn't allow Texas to enter as a state becasue if Texas became a Union state then there would be more slave states than free states. If that happened, then they could make slavery legal and slavery could expand westward. -
Annexation of Texas 2
On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 19th state to join the United States. -
Britain and U.S. divide Oregon
Originally Great Britain shared control of the Oregon Territory with the United States. The U.S. was trying to avoid war with Great Britain so this resulted in a signing of a treaty. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, parts of Montana and Wyoming and california were formed from the Oregon Territory.In June 1846, the Senate, preoccupied with war against Mexico, quickly approved the Oregon Treaty with Britain, setting the boundary at the 49th parallel. -
Mexican War
Frustrated by the Mexican refusal to negotiate, Polk, on January 13, 1846, directed Gen. Zachary Taylor's army at Corpus Christi to advance to the Rio Grande. The Mexican government viewed that as an act of war. On April 25 the Mexican troops at Matamoros crossed the river and ambushed an American patrol. Polk seized upon the incident to secure a declaration of war on May 13 on the basis of the shedding of "American blood upon American soil." -
Bear Flag Revolt
At dawn on June 14, 1846, thirty-three heavily-armed Americans gathered at the fortified adobe home of General Mariano Vallejo, on the north side of Sonoma's Plaza. These men -- some from the Grigsby-Ide party of settlers, some mountain men and explorers, but all displeased with Mexican rule -- pounded on the adobe door and loudly demanded the General come out and surrender the little fortress to them. -
Mormons Migrate
In April 1847, an advance party of 25 wagons led by Young left the Winter Quarters and headed towards the Rocky Mountains. They traveled along the Platte River, creating a new route on its north bank rather than risk encounters with other settlers on the Oregon Trail. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo. The United States paid Mexico 15 million dollars to change the Mexican-American boundaries. -
Mexicos Cession
Texas's annexation angered Mexico because Mexico still thought Texas was their land, causing the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadelupe ended the war. The present day states of California, Utah, and Nevada were created from the Mexican Cession, increasing the size of the U.S. by almosy 25%. -
Gold Rush
The spark that ignited the gold rush occurred in May 1848 when Sam Brannan, a storekeeper in Sutter's Creek, brandished a bottle filled with gold dust around San Francisco shouting 'Gold! Gold! Gold from American River!' The residents of the city now had proof of the discovery and the stampede to the gold fields was on. -
Gadsden Purchase
A 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853.
