The American West

The Great American West

   The USA today is made of 50 states, all accquired through either war, money or circumstance.

The Great Plains:

- It was first called the 'Great American Desert.'

- It lays between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississipi River.

- Climate: strong winds, cold blizzards, hot climate & dried up rivers. (Quick tip: this rhymes, it helped me remember!)

- Animals: buffaloes and birds, rabbits and deer.

- Lack of trees on Plains.

- In the 1830s, the Great Plains were undesired by white Americans due to harsh weather, fierce winds and the lack of trees and water. They could only see the problems without solution.

- It's important to note here that the Plains Indians were hunters and not farmers, which meant that the Plains were great for them.

The Plains Indians:

- 'The Plains Indians' is a term for all of the different nations of the Native Americans. (E.g learn these nations: Sioux and Cheyenne)

- The term was made up by foreign explorers. They were called indians because Columbus thought he had reached India, when he had actually discovered America, in 1492.

- Plains Indians = Hunter-gatherers.

- Surviving on the Plains:

      - the tipi was the home of…