| A | B |
|---|
| Great Plains | region west of the Mississippi River that stretches to the Rockies |
| vaquero | Mexican cattle herder |
| prairie | a large area of level or rolling grassland |
| forty-niner | a person who went to California in 1849 to find gold |
| reservation | public land set aside by the government for the use of a particular group |
| levis | name of blue jeans invented by Mr. Strauss in the 1840's |
| barbed wire | a type of wire that has sharp points every few inches |
| Bessemer process | method of making steel by blasting air through melted iron to burn away impurities |
| drought | a long period of extremely dry weather |
| dry farming | farming technique designed to keep moisture in the soil, used in areas of little rainfall and no irrigation |
| homesteader | person who received free land under the Homestead Act of 1862 |
| sod | layer of turf containing grass plants and matted roots |
| treaty | formal agreement between two nations |
| Little Bighorn | site of General George Custer's defeat |
| Joseph Glidden | introduced barbed wire |
| Chief Joseph | Nez Perce' leader |
| "Pig Iron" Kelly | developed a new method to make steel |
| Homestead Act of 1862 | gave free land to qualified persons |
| Great American Desert | early name for the Great Plains |
| golden spike | symbolized the transcontinental railroad linkup |
| Promontory Point | site of transcontinental railroad linkup |
| James Marshall | discovered gold at Sutter's Mill |
