Westward Expansion

3. The name the Native Americans used to call the Transcontinental Railroad.
8. The place in northwestern Utah where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met on May 10, 1869.
10. The act enabled by Abraham Lincoln that gave 160 acres of free farmland to people.
12. A railroad that crosses an entire continent.
14. A famous businessman who founded the R.W. Sears Watch Company during the expansion out west, and he created the first mail order catalog company, which was later known as Sears Roebuck and Company.
15. A person who would settle on the land on the west prior to the official opening so they could claim the land.
16. A type of steel fencing with sharp points at various intervals, and it was invented by Joseph Gliden. The invention resulted in closing the western frontier and ending the cattle drives and cowboy era.

1. A famous cattle trail used to her longhorns from San Antonio, Texas to Abilene, and Kansas.
2. The nickname given to the first African American Cavalry regiments of the US Army who had served in the western US during 1867-1896, fighting Native American Tribes on the frontier.
4. This was used on the very last rail of the Transcontinental Railroad.
5. A house built of sod, used especially on the Great Plains where the timber was scarce.
6. Young men, mainly from Texas, who were paid to herd and drive cattle north. About 1/4-1/3 of all cowboys were Hispanic, or African Americans that were previously enslaved.
7. A person who claimed land on the Great Plains under The Homestead Act of 1862.
9. The law passed in 1862 that offered government loans and free land to the two companies building the transcontinental railroad.
11. A long journey taken by cowboys to herd, or drive cattle from the ranches in Texas north on trails leading to the railroads.
13. A former slave who was turned into a Cowboy, and he was famous for his skills in roping and cattle herding.