Opening the West 4 Exploring New Territory 6 Where in the West 8 Trappers and Mountain Men 10 The Gold Rush 12 Getting the Message Through 14 Building the Railroads 16 Making Money 18 Battles and Displacement 20 Famous Events 22 Famous Women 24 Famous Outlaws and Lawmen 26 End of the West 28 Glossary Timeline 30 On the Web Books 31 Index 32
Opening the West In 1800 Spain Great Britain and France claimed land west of the Mississippi River in North America Within decades the whole region would belong to the United States µ Empty land not empty µ Inhabited for many centuries In 1800 the West was already inhabited by hundreds of groups of Native peoples On the plains lived the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne as well as the Ojibwa Blackfoot and Cree First Nations in Canada The Southwest was home to the Apache Navajo and others Pacific Coast peoples included the Chinook while the Nez Percé and other nations lived in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains Above The cliff houses of Mesa Verde in Colorado were built by the Pueblo peoples before 1300 The Louisiana Purchase µ Into the wilderness µ Jefferson expands the nation The French territory of Louisiana was a vast region west of the Mississippi River that included the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains In 1803 Napoléon Bonaparte then-ruler of France sold the territory to President Thomas Jefferson in what was known as the Louisiana Purchase Jefferson later sent expeditions there to try to find a route to the Pacific Ocean to help US trade with Asia 4
µ Peace treaty adds territory µ California Texas Southwest all won In 1845 Texas joined the United States However President James K Polk wanted even more territory in the Southwest He claimed a border region of Mexico invading in 1846 and declaring war on Mexico The United States defeated the Mexican armies in 1847 In 1848 a peace treaty passed control of the Southwest and California to the US government Right American soldiers attack Mexican troops at Chapultepec just outside Mexico City in September 1847 µ Dominance is inevitable µ Resistance is pointless Many Americans believed it was their right to take ownership of land in the West In 1845 a newspaper editor named John O’Sullivan called this idea the manifest destiny of America Manifest means obvious or very clear Although not everyone agreed the idea became popular It inspired President Polk’s decision to buy Oregon from the British in 1846 It also led to the war with Mexico in the same year did you know Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 Mexico owned Texas but it allowed Americans to settle there In 1835 Texas colonists rebelled against the Mexican government After a bloody war they declared independence in 1836 as the Republic of Texas 5
