Across
- 2. A device that sent messages over long distances using electricity, which made communication faster.
- 4. that is under the jurisdiction of the United States but is not yet a state.
- 5. A major 2,000-mile wagon route that allowed thousands of settlers to travel to the West.
- 6. A law that allowed citizens to claim 160 acres of surveyed government land out West for a small fee.
- 8. The 1803 purchase of vast land from France for $15 million, which doubled the size of the US.
- 11. A hired hand who managed cattle, particularly on long drives.
- 14. People who flocked to California in 1849 in search of gold.
- 15. The 19th-century belief that the United States was destined by God to expand across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- 16. To add or take over new land, such as the annexation of Texas.
- 17. A community that experiences sudden and rapid growth in business or population, usually near a mining site.
- 19. A train system that connected the eastern and western coasts of the United States.
Down
- 1. The movement of settlers and the United States government into the American West, particularly between 1787 and 1860.
- 3. The extreme limit of settled land beyond which lies wilderness.
- 7. A person who is among the first to settle in a new area.
- 9. Land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans.
- 10. A long, organized journey made for a specific purpose, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition.
- 11. The formal giving up of land, often through a treaty (e.g., Mexican Cession).
- 12. A large group of covered wagons traveling together for safety.
- 13. Sharp wire fencing that changed the West by allowing farmers to fence in land on the treeless plains.
- 18. A farmer on the Great Plains who had to break through thick sod to farm.