Chapter 4 Study Guide—Go West!

Define the following terms: Pioneer

• A person who studies rocks for a living

• Someone who travels into unknown or unfamiliar territory

• A traveling salesperson who visits towns briefly

• A government soldier sent to guard forts

Define the following terms: Compromise

• An agreement in which each side gives up something to settle a disagreement

• A loud argument that ends a meeting

• A strict law made by the national government

• A celebration after a vote

Define the following terms: Freight

• A type of passenger car train

• A ticket to ride a train

• Goods and supplies carried from place to place

• Money paid to soldiers

Why did Mormons move west?

• To search only for gold

• To escape cold weather and find beaches

• To seek religious freedom and build their own community

• To fight in a war on the frontier

What is one reason why people wanted Nebraska to be a territory?

• To have an organized government and open the land for settlement

• To turn the area into a national park with no towns

• To stop people from moving through the region

• To separate from the United States

Why did companies start freight lines in Nebraska?

• To carry only passengers from town to town

• To carry supplies to small towns

• To explore for dinosaur bones

• To shut down trade along the trails

Why was John C. Fremont important?

• He built the first skyscraper in the West

• He explored and mapped western routes, including areas of Nebraska and the Oregon Trail

• He led a pirate fleet on the ocean

• He invented the telephone

Why was Edward Creighton important to Nebraska’s history?

• He led the Pony Express riders

• He helped build the transcontinental telegraph line through Nebraska

• He discovered gold in Nebraska and started a rush

• He wrote Nebraska’s first state constitution

Why were Indian leaders worried about the future of their people?

• They feared frequent earthquakes might destroy villages

• They worried that settlers and railroads would take land, harm the buffalo, and change their way of life

• They thought the weather would always stay too cold to farm

• They were running out of boats for river travel

Why were many people worried about Nebraska becoming a territory, and how did the national government solve this problem?

• People worried there were not enough towns; Congress ordered every county to build a courthouse

• People worried about whether slavery would spread; Congress passed the Kansas–Nebraska Act letting settlers vote on free or slave status

• People worried the land had no rivers; the government dug canals across the Plains

• People worried trains were too slow; the government built new locomotives