Indians of the West	Women of the West	Daniel Boone
California Gold Rush	Transcontinental Railroad	Davy Crockett
Pony Express	Mountain Men and Fur Trappers	Battle of Little Big Horn
Lewis and Clark	Oregon Trail	Back to Home Page

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Battle of the Little Big Horn

The Battle of the Little Big Horn by Jessica and Kendra   In the 1870's gold was discovered in the black hill's of South Dakota. The Black Hill's where sacred to the Indian people of the great plains. The Indians belived that the land was the resting place of the souls of there ancesters. When George Armstroung Custer was a kid,he wanted to be a soldior. When he graduated from the us military acadamy in 1861, the us was fighting in the civil war, and custer went off to and became a soldior.After the civil war, he went to the west because he had to fight Indians. At the end of the Civil War, Custer was the youngest Brivit General in the Union Army. Sitting Bull was born in 1834 and his father was a chief of the Sioux Tribe. Sitting Bull's childhood name was Slow because of his slow serious nature. When he was still young, he counted coup in battle and his father named him Sitting Bull. After that he did two sun dances. One of them was when the Shamen cut two holes in his chest and sticks a stick into the hole and ties a string to the stick. The other one was when the shaman slashed his arm fifty times. Both times was to prove his bravery. In June of 1876 , over 1,000 Indians where gathered at the Black Hills to protect their land.Then Custer and his troops came in to take it over for the government. Custers two major mistakes in the battle were, attacking without waiting for reinforcements, and dividing his forces. He was intensesly ambitious of glory and had no regard for the soldeirs under him. Custer only had 230 men against a mighty gathering of Indians. The battle of the Little Big Horn took place at the Little Big Horn River. All of Custer's men died. That was when Custer's luck of winning so many battles ended. During the battle Sitting Bulls nephew, White Bull, and Custer were fighting hand to hand. Custer got up from the ground and pointed his gun at White Bull. White Bull grabbed it and pushed him down. He shot Custer in the head and in the heart. He was left where he fell.The only survivor of the battle from the 7th Cavalry was a horse named Comanche. Custer was really known for all the attles he fought. But he was best for the Civil War and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He died on June 25, 1876, Sitting Bull died on December 15, 1890. The soldiers of the reservation pulled the sixty year old chief out of bed and started dragging him away. Some of Sitting Bulls friends came to help him. But Sitting Bull and many of his friends were killed. He was buried at Fort Yates next to Standing Rock Reservation. He is remembered as a brave warrior, a mystical medicine man, a wise chief of the Sioux nation and a great American who fought for the rights of all Americans.back to top

Danial Boone

Daniel Boone By BEN & CHRIS "More than any other man, Daniel Boone was responsible for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky. His granfather came from England to America in 1717. His Father was a weaver and a Blacksmith, and he raised livestock in the country near Reading,Pennsylvania." November 2, 1734 Daniel was born in a log cabin. The Boones lived in Berks County near Reading P.A. They lived on a small farm. Daniel helped with farming. He was one of 11 children! In 1755 the British General Edward Braddock came to America and led the expidition to capture fort Duquesne (Now Pittsburg.) from French. The British army marched through the Pennsylvania backwoods. Boone fought for the General.He also drove a supply wagon. Among the other wagon drivers was a trader named John Findley. John had been to the "Wonderful" landof Kentucky beyond the Appalachian Mountains. His tales were of a hunters paradise. After Boone's return from the expidition he got married to a woman named Rebecca Bryan. She was 17! They had 10 kids!!! People started to come to close to the Boone's settlement so they moved depper into the woods! Daniel wanted to see Kentucky so badly, but he spent most of his time hunting. In 1767 he left for Kentucky. His brother (Squire) was left to take care of Rebecca. Squire would find Daniel after 6 months. Richard Henderson, a North Carolina judge, formed the Transylvania company in order to establish a new American colony. Boone helped Henderson buy a huge tract of land from Cherokee Indians in 1775. Henderson then sent Boone and 30 other men to improve Indian trails and buffalo paths within the region. The resulting route reached into the heart of Kentucky. It became known as the Wilderness Road. That same year, Boone chose a site by the Kentucky River to build a fort. The site was located at the end of Boone's trace, a branch south of the present- day Lexington. The fort was called Boonesborough. In 1820, 200 years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock. Daniel Boone died. He was 85. .back to top

 Mountain Men

Women of the West

 

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 Pony Express

 

by Jason & Eric The Pony Express 3/14/1998   In 1860 the only way to bring the mail to Caliafornia was by boat or by horses. They would bring the mail through the Isthmus of Panama by boat, back then, and it took 22 days to make it. People were starting to get anxious to get their mail. There was another route called the Overland route it took 25 days. So William H. Russel Majors & Waddel decided to make The Pony Express and they guaranteed it woud be faster. William & Majors & Waddel routed The Pony Express throuh Kansas, Nebrska, Calorado, Wyoming,Utah, and Nevada. The Pony Express hardships were Paiute Indians, flat desert plains andthe Missouri River. The Missouri River was a hardship because you had to ride a small ferry paddle boat. The Paiute Indians were a problem because they woud steel horses and kill the station keepers so there were no fresh horses. The flat desert plians were a problem because they were hot and it slowed down the horses and riders. Some of the Pony Express riders are Pony Bob and William F. Cody. Pony Bob rode 120 miles in 8 hours and 2 minutes, he was also assigned to bring Abraham Lincon's mail. back to top

gold rush

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH by: Shane Hoskins & Aaron Chambers California has many attractions to offer. The California Zoo, one of the best zoos in the world. Disney Land, a fantastic amusement park. But what brought most people to California was the discovery of gold at Sutter's saw mill,in San Francisco, California, by two people, John Sutter and James Marshall, in 1848. The discovery of gold brought about the California gold rush. John Sutter was responsible for starting the gold rush, but he did not find the first gold nugget. John hired James Marshall, a carpenter to build his saw mill. James was measuring a corner from the outside of the half built saw mill and something washed up on shore. Sure enough it was gold. ( You can still find gold in California.) People rushed from every part of the world when they got the news. California went from 15,000 people to 100,000 people in one year. Thats 85,000 people that came in one year. WOW !!! They came across the sea. 40,000 people came by sea. Chinese came too, in 1849. They came to work. Even though they were small they worked they best. They didn't eat lunch they just drank ta, ( tea.) Every night they ate a big supper and took baths. They never stopped working. California has more miners than any other state in the U.S. California has more people than any other state in the U.S. Some people that were not lucky got different jobs. They became farmers, ranchers, hunters, cowboys, pony express riders, Generals, Commanders, Colonels and more. But some people had good luck and had been finding gold on the shore that had been washed up. But for most people it was back breaking work and very hard. People spent there whole life looking for gold. People went when they turned 18, they didn't come back until they were ready to die. They went young and came back old. It was because of gold fever. It makes you so once you start looking you can't stop. It makes you spend your whole life looking for gold. Thousands of people caught it. They called California names. Good names. They called California the Mining state and Golden state. Some people loved the gold rush, Some people like the gold rush ,Some people hated the gold rush. But it brought many people west. back to top

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Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett By Jaron Dickinson and Steve Powell You've heard of Davy Crockett. That's all a tall tale. To start with,he wasn't called "Davy". He wasn't given that nickname until after his death. That's that and this is the story of his life. David was born on August 17th,1786 in Green County Tennessee. Legend says that he weighed more than 200 pounds when he was eight. That's not true. He was normal size for an eight year old. He started school in 1796. He often played hooky.One day he got in a fight and ran away for 2 and 1\2 years to avoid a spanking from his dad. When he was 13,in 1799 he got a job helping to drive cattle to Virginia. He worked for farmers, wagoners, and a hat maker. In 2 and 1/2 years, he went home. He was now 15 and almost 6' in height.Because of little amount of schooling, he couldn't read or write until he was 18. In 1806, Crockett married Mary (Polly) Finley. Nine years later, she died and he remarried Elizabeth Patton. In 1813 he became a U.S. Army scout. He was commander of a battalion and fought in the Creek Indian War. He was chief scout for Andrew Jackson. He fought in Alabama,Georgia,and Florida.He participated in a massacre of Tallusahatchee. That is where he got his reputation for Indian fighting. In 1821,he was elected to the Tennessee Legislature. In 1824,David lost the election. In 1827,he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. At one point,he said, "We have the right as indiduals,to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity." In 1835,he lost the election and set out for Texas.He told his fellow congressmen "You can go to Hell,I'm going to Texas" The fact was... Hell was safer.This is why. In 1836,David joined 187 men at the Alamo. He wrote to his children that he had "Taken the Oath of the government and had enrolled...as a volunteer for six months." He also said " I Would rather be in my present situation than be elected to a seat in Congress for life." On March 6th David Crockett was killed and burned. His final diary entry was, " Pop,pop,pop! Bom,bom,bom! throughout the day. No time for memorandums now.Go ahead Liberty and independence forever!" back to top

Transcontinental Railroad

The Golden Spike by Bryan Clukey & Chris Wheeler "At 12:47 pm on May 10, 1869 an ordinary iron spike was driven into an average railroad tie. Both spike and sledge were wired to send the sound of the strikes over the wire to the nation." It was the joining of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point, Salt Lake City,Utah. It was the joining of east and west. But it was the end of the great race and the four years of hard work and labor. In 1862, President Lincoln signed a bill which gave the railroad companies special land grants to build the railroads to the west. Central Pacific railroad began construction in Sacramento, California in 1863. The Union Pacific began in Omaha, Nebraska in December of the same year. In less than four years, 776 miles of track were laid across a wilderness. The Union pacific had their own problems. At first , they had to ship their supplies and equipment up the Missouri River by steamboat, then carry them overland by stagecoach or wagons. Later they were able to send supplies along the tracks they had laid, but this was slow and hardly an improvement. All the digging and carrying, pushing and pulling had to be done by men with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows,wagons and mules. Central Pacific had problems getting supplies. They had to ship their own equipment from the Atlantic coast. The only way to do this was to send it across the isthmus of Panama, or around the Cape of Good Horn by boat. The trip took a long time. Men came from China and Germany and Ireland to lay the tracks. Chinese workers were called "monkeys and little yellow midgets", but the Chinese knew that they were better than the other workers. They made straighter railroad beds and worked harder without stopping for lunch. Their cooks brought barrels of tea for the Chinese workers. The great race was about the east and the west trying to reach Utah first. May 10th 1869, it was over. Union Pacific and Central Pacific met at Promontory Point,Utah. Twenty thousand men had hammered 1,175 miles of tracks in over three years. The east and the west were joined. The crowd cheered at Utah, finally the Golden,iron and silver spikes were driven. The first Transcontinental had completed. back to top

Oregon Trail

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