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Westward Expansion
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Treaty of Fort Laramie
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, in the Indian Territory, between D. D. -
Homestead Act
Freeman became one of the first to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Homestead Act, a law signed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. -
Indian Peace Commision Established
On July 20, 1867, Congress established the Indian Peace Commission to negotiate peace with Plains Indian tribes who were warring with the United States. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
Two sets of railroad tracks were joined and the continent united with elaborate ceremony at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Sioux and Cheyenne Indians defiantly left their reservations, outraged over the continued intrusions of whites into their sacred lands in the Black Hills. They gathered in Montana with the great warrior Sitting Bull to fight for their lands. The following spring, two victories over the US Cavalry emboldened them to fight on. -
End of Cattle Boom
A series of fires, blizzards, and droughts occured, but also, ranchers crowded the open range with cattle, prices dropped big time, and then ranchers faced and increase of competition, and then barbed wire was patent -
Dawes Act
Congressman Henry Dawes of Massachusetts sponsored a landmark piece of legislation, the General Allotment in 1887. It was designed to encourage the breakup of the tribes and promote the assimilation of Indians into American Society. -
Oklahoma Land Rush
The opening to white settlement of a choice portion of Indian Territory in Oklahoma set off one of the most bizarre and chaotic episodes of town founding in world history. A railroad line crossed the territory, and water towers and other requirements for steam rail operation were located at intervals along the tracks that connected Arkansas and Texas -
Closing of the Frontier
superintendent of the U.S. Census announced that rapid western settlement meant that "there can hardly be said to be a frontier line." In just a quarter century, the far western frontier had been settled. Three million families started farms on the Great Plains during these years. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
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Battle of Wounded Knee
It was the last battle of the American Indian Wars, which were a series of conflicts spanning 268 years. It was fought between a band of Lakota Sioux and elements of the U.S. 7th Cavalry. -
Populist Party Founded
Alliance members formed the people's party of the U.S.A, also known as the populist party. The goals of this new party were rooted in populism, or appeal to the common people. -
William Jenning Bryan's "Crossing of Gold" speech
The most famous speech in American political history was delivered by William Jennings Bryan on July 9, 1896, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The issue was whether to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16 to 1.