Stephen Austin

(1793-1836)

Known as "The Father of Texas," Stephen Austin

established the first American colony in the Tejas

province of Mexico and saw it grow into an

independent country that later became the state of

Texas.

Austin was born in southwestern Virginia, but his family moved to Missouri when he

was five years old. Stephen’s father wanted to start a colony in Mexico, but died

before he was able to do it. The colony would be where the state of Texas is today.

Stephen continued the work of his father, asking the government in Mexico City for

the right to build a colony for Americans.

For many years, Stephen was in between the Mexican government and the American

colonists in Tejas. He had to enforce Mexican laws and control his colonists, but he

also had to help the colonists get what they wanted. Sometimes these decisions were

difficult. Slavery was illegal in Mexico, but the farmers in Tejas wanted slavery to

help them grow their crops. Stephen made sure that his colony had slaves.

For a long time, Stephen just wanted Tejas to continue to be a part of Mexico. His

colonists wanted Tejas to become its own country. They wrote a declaration of

independence for Texas, and had Stephen take it to Mexico City. The president of

Mexico put Stephen in prison for rebelling against the Mexican government.

After he got out of prison, Stephen was a general in command of the Texas army and

fought against Mexico. He went to Washington D.C. and asked the United States

government for help. The United States army helped fight against Mexico, and Texas

became its own country for a while. Stephen Austin became an important man in the

Texas government.

Buffalo Bill Cody

(1846-1917)

William Cody was born in Iowa in 1846. He grew up

on the prairie. In 1860, he joined the Pony Express,

which advertised for "skinny, expert riders willing to

risk death daily." Already a good horse rider at age 14,

Cody was perfect for the job.

During the Civil War, Cody served first as a Union

scout and fought against Indians. After the war, he got

married and started hunting buffalo to feed railroad

construction crews. He killed over 4,000 buffalo in

seventeen months, which is when he earned the

nickname “Buffalo Bill,” which he used for the rest of

his life.

An author began writing stories about Buffalo Bill, which were partly truth and partly

fiction. These tall tales became very popular. In 1872, Buffalo Bill started acting in

plays based on the stories about his life, and became even more famous. He even

started writing his own stories, which made him appear to be very brave and strong.

Beginning in 1883, he started a new outdoor show. It was part rodeo, part circus, and

part history. He had cowboys fighting Indians, and had them act out famous battles.

He had sharpshooters and expert horse riders. Sometimes he even had famous Indian

chiefs, like Sitting Bull, who had been an enemy of the United States. Buffalo Bill’s

Wild West Show made Buffalo Bill rich and famous, and it lasted for many years.

Because he was so famous, he was asked to help restore peace after battles between

Indians and the United States. Because people knew he was rich, sometimes they

would try to trick him out of his money. He lost a lot of his money to these people.

Kit Carson

(1809-1868)

Kit Carson was born in Missouri in 1809. His father died

when he was very young, so Kit needed to work to help

his family. He left home when he was sixteen years old,

and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He became a fur

trapper who traveled around the west from Colorado to

California, trapping animals and selling their fur to make

money. For many years he was friendly to Indians, and

even had a wife who was an Indian woman.

Carson became a guide for John C. Fremont, an explorer

for the United States government. Fremont wrote a book

about his travels which was read by many people. Fremont described Carson as being

very brave, and soon other people wrote stories about Kit Carson that made him sound

almost like a superhero.

He became a leader in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War,

and fought against the Mexican Army in California. Later, during the Civil War, he

fought against the Navajo Indians. The United States government wanted the Navajo

to move to a new place, and they wanted to stay where they had lived for many years.

Kit Carson used his soldiers to destroy the crops and orchards of the Navajo people.

Then he got other tribes of Indians to help attack the Navajo. The Navajo had no

choice but to leave their land. Carson forced the Navajo to walk 300 miles from

Arizona to the reservation in New Mexico, where they were kept for many years,

living in terrible conditions. Many of them were sick, and many Navajo Indians died

because of this. The United States said Kit Carson was a hero, but the Navajo said he

was a villain.

Chief Joseph

(1840-1904)

Chief Joseph was born in Oregon in 1840. He was given

the name “Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt,” or “Thunder Rolling

Down the Mountain,” but was known as Chief Joseph

because his father sometimes used the name Joseph after

he was baptized by Christian missionaries. Chief Joseph’s

father was a leader of the Nez Perce Indians. He wanted

peace with the United States, and signed a treaty that

would give his people a large area of land. Then gold was

discovered on the Nez Perce land, and the United States

wanted it. They wanted to take back 90% of the land. This

made Chief Joseph’s father angry.

After Joseph’s father died, Joseph became the leader of the

Nez Perce Indians. The United States continued to take

land away from the Indians. Some of the Indians killed some white men who had

settled on the Nez Perce land. The United States Army sent two thousand soldiers to

attack the Nez Perce. Chief Joseph led his people in a journey that went from Idaho to

Montana in a retreat that covered 1,400 miles.

As they were retreating, the Nez Perce continued to fight the United States Army,

even though they only had two hundred warriors. This lasted several months. As

they fought, newspapers across the United States wrote articles about how brave Chief

Joseph was. Chief Joseph became famous as a fighter, even though his brother was

actually the leader in many of the battles.

Eventually Chief Joseph surrendered so that his people wouldn’t be killed. They were

forced to move far away from their homes to land in Oklahoma. They lived there

with other Indians for many years, until at last they were allowed to return to Idaho,

closer to their old homes. Chief Joseph was famous for helping his people, even

though he lost the war with the United States.

William Clark

(1770-1838)

William Clark was born in Virginia, and moved with

his family to Kentucky when he was a teenager.

When he was nineteen years old, he joined the army,

and fought against Indians. In the army, he became

friends with Meriwether Lewis. In 1803, Lewis asked

him to join the “Corps of Discovery.” This was a

mission to explore the area between the Mississippi

River and the Pacific Ocean. William Clark became

part of the famous team “Lewis and Clark.”

Clark studied astronomy and mapmaking to help them on their journey. They

followed the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and made friends with many groups of

Indians along the way. The most famous Indian to help them was a woman named

Sacagawea, who became an important guide and helper for them. Sacagawea was

able to help them as they met different groups of Indians along the way, including the

Shoshone and Nez Perce. The Indians helped by giving Lewis and Clark horses and

food, and teaching them the best ways to go through the mountains.

After returning from their journey, Lewis and Clark became famous. Because of his

many experiences with Indians, William Clark became the Indian agent for the United

States. This meant he would work for the United States government to try and make

treaties with the Indians, so there would be peace. Both whites and Indians said that

William Clark was a good man, who treated both sides fairly.

Crazy Horse

(1849-1877)

Even as a young man, Crazy Horse was known as a

fierce warrior. He was born in South Dakota, and was

stealing horses from other Indians by the time was

thirteen years old. He was a war leader by the time he

was twenty. Soon he joined other Indians in their

attacks on white people who were moving onto Indian

land.

Crazy Horse wasn’t just famous for being brave in

battle. He also wanted to keep the Indian way of life.

He didn’t want to change to become more like white

Americans. The United States Army wanted to force the Lakota Indians to move onto

other land, and take away most of the Lakota land. This made Crazy Horse angry. He

fought against the United States Army.

Crazy Horse joined with other Indians and fought against them in the famous Battle of

Little Bighorn. This battle is famous because the Indians won, killing many American

soldiers. After this battle many of the Indians escaped to Canada, but Crazy Horse

continued to stay and fight. Because so many buffalo had been killed, it became

impossible for the Indians to live their traditional ways. Crazy Horse agreed to move

to an Indian reservation so he could take care of his wife and family.

George Armstrong Custer

(1839-1876)

George Armstrong Custer was born in Ohio, and

wanted to be a soldier. He went to West Point

Academy in New York, a training school for the

army. Soon after he graduated, the Civil War

started, and Custer became a general. He became

famous for his bravery, often pushing his soldiers

into very bloody battles.

Custer was best at leading the cavalry—soldiers

riding horses. After the Civil War was over, he was

given command of soldiers that were fighting

against Indians. The United States government wanted the Indian land for white

farmers. This led to fighting between the Indians and the United States. Custer

fought against many groups of Indians in the west.

Some people didn’t think Custer was a good leader. They said he was too dangerous,

and got too many of his own men killed. Sometimes when there was a battle, they

couldn’t find Custer anywhere to get their orders.

General Custer attacked an Indian village in Wyoming, because he thought he could

beat any group of Indians. The Indians fought back in a famous battle, and killed

General Custer and all of his soldiers. This battle meant that General Custer would be

famous forever, even though he was famous for being a man who lost a battle.

Meriwether Lewis

(1774-1809)

Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774. He became a captain

in the U.S. Army, and in 1801 became a private secretary to President

Thomas Jefferson. President Jefferson thought that Lewis would be a

good choice to lead a group of explorers across the continent. From

1801 until 1803, Lewis studied science and navigation at a university,

trying to learn everything he could about the journey they’d be taking.

Lewis had made friends with a man named William Clark in the army,

and chose him to be co-captain for the journey. They traveled up the

Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to an Indian village, where they spent

the winter. They realized that they would need the help of many groups of Indians to survive the

journey from the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean. A woman named Sacagawea became their

most important guide on the trip. She was able to communicate with the Indians they met along

the way, and was able to help them trade for food, horses, and other supplies they needed.

Lewis and Clark became famous as explorers, and achieved their goal of reaching the Pacific

Ocean. They also made peaceful contact with many Indian tribes, and made maps and journals

of their journey. After returning to civilization as a hero, President Jefferson made Lewis the

governor of Louisiana.

Julia Louisa Lovejoy

(1812-1882)

Julia Louisa Lovejoy was born in New Hampshire in 1812. After

she got married, she moved to Kansas with her husband, who

was a minister. They were moving there to try and make Kansas

a state that was free from slavery. The journey to Kansas was

hard, and their four year old daughter died on the way there.

From 1855 to 1856, there was much violence in Kansas. The

people that wanted slavery sent guns and soldiers to fight for

their cause, and the enemies of slavery did the same. They fought

each other in a bloody battle for two years, even though war

hadn’t been officially declared. For a time Kansas had two

governments, one that was for slavery, one against slavery. Julia

wrote letters to newspapers in Boston and New York explaining

what was happening in Kansas.

When the Civil War started, Julia’s hometown of Lawrence Kansas was a center of many battles.

She saw many of her friends and neighbors die. Even though she saw terrible things, Julia

believed that the good side would win. After the Civil War was over, Julia continued to write

letters and newspaper articles. Instead of fighting against slavery, now she fought for women to

get the right to vote. By writing letters, she was able to make her voice heard, even though she

was a woman far away from big cities.

James Marshall

(1810-1885)

James Marshall was born in New Jersey and learned to be a carpenter

and wheelwright. When he turned 18, he moved to Kansas, and later

decided to move to California. He worked at a sawmill for John

Sutter, and soon Marshall had money and land of his own. He joined

with other settlers to fight against Mexico in the Mexican-American

War.

James Marshall returned from his time in the army to find that his

cattle had been stolen. He was forced to sell his ranch, and went back

to working with John Sutter. The sawmill was on the edge of a river.

One day in 1848, Marshall was checking the sawmill to make sure the

river had cleaned out all of the dirt. He looked down into the clear

water and saw gold!

Word quickly got out that gold had been found in California, and people came from across the

country and around the world to try to find it. This gold rush could have made James Marshall a

rich man, but he wasn’t able to get legal recognition of his discovery. He tried to get strong men

to work in his sawmill, but they all wanted to search for gold themselves. Marshall was famous,

but he ended his life poor, owning a small cabin and farm in California, with no gold of his own.

James K. Polk

(1795-1849)

James K. Polk was born in North Carolina, and had nine brothers and

sisters. His parents were rich farmers, and were able to send James to

college to get a good education. He was smart and successful, and

soon became a lawyer. When he was 30 years old, Polk became a

congressman, serving in the House of Representatives in Washington,

D.C.. In 1844, Polk became the 11th

President of the United States.

More than anything, James K. Polk wanted to expand the United

States, making it bigger and stronger than it had ever been before. To

do this, he needed to take land from Canada and Mexico. The land he

got from Canada was Oregon. This land had been claimed by both

Britain and the United States, and Polk agreed to split that land,

dividing it between Canada and the U.S. The land he wanted from Mexico was mostly in Texas.

This land had been settled by white Americans in the 1830s, and now was rebelling against

Mexico. President Polk sent American soldiers into Mexico. When Mexican troops killed some

of the Americans, President Polk declared war on Mexico.

The Mexican-American War only lasted a few years, but was very bloody. Many of the

Americans didn’t think the United States had the right to take land from Mexico, and were sad

that we were in a war with them. Many other Americans wanted to see the United States grow

bigger, and hoped that we could get even more land from Mexico. After the war, the United

States had added Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and most of Arizona and New Mexico to its

territory. It was a victory for the United States, but the war exhausted James K. Polk. He died

only a few months after his presidency ended.

Red Cloud

(1822-1909)

Red Cloud was born in Nebraska in 1822, and became one of the

most important Lakota Indian leaders in history. Much of his early

life was spent in battle against other Indian tribes, including the

Sioux, the Crow, and the Utes.

Beginning in 1866, Red Cloud had a new enemy: the United States.

The U.S. was sending thousands of farmers and miners across the

country, and they were taking land away from the Indians. Red

Cloud worked together with the chiefs of other tribes to attack

soldiers as they marched to their forts in Wyoming and Montana.

After two years of these attacks, Red Cloud was so successful that

the U.S. signed a treaty which gave Red Cloud’s people a large area

of Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

The peace treaty did not last. The U.S. Army sent more soldiers, who

attacked the Indians again, taking land away from them. Red Cloud decided not to fight them,

and led his people onto an Indian reservation. From the reservation, he continued to fight in his

own way, arguing with government agents that his people needed more food and more supplies.

Red Cloud got allies in Washington D.C. and other eastern cities, and was able to do more good

for his people through newspaper stories than with guns.

Other Indian chiefs were captured and put in jail or killed—Red Cloud is one of the only chiefs

who survived into the 20th

Century.

Sacagawea

(1790-1812 or 1884)

Sacagawea was born in about 1790, the daughter of a Shoshone Indian

chief. She was kidnapped by another tribe of Indians when she was ten

years old, and taken to their village on the Missouri River. She was

married to Charbonneau, a French Canadian fur trapper. Lewis and

Clark hired Charbonneau as an interpreter for their famous journey.

Sacagawea came with them, and became one of the most important

members of their expedition. Just before they were supposed to leave on

their journey, Sacagawea gave birth to her first baby, a boy named

Pomp. She carried the baby with them on her back in a cradleboard.

She led the expedition up the Missouri River, and four months later they

met some Shoshone Indians. They needed to get horses from the

Shoshone so they could continue their journey to the Pacific Ocean. The

Shoshone chief was her brother, Cameahwait! Instead of going back to the Shoshone with her

brother, she stayed with Lewis and Clark, getting them the horses they needed and leading them

to the Pacific Ocean. She was the only woman with the expedition, and must have been very

brave.

On the return trip, Sacagawea and her husband left Lewis and Clark at the Missouri River. Some

people believe Sacagawea died in 1812 after a fever. Others say she returned to live with her

people in Wyoming, and died there in 1884. No one knows for sure.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

(1794-1876)

Santa Anna is one of the most famous people in Mexican

history. He was born in Vera Cruz in 1794, and for a long time

fought against Spain’s control of Mexico. In 1833, he became

president of Mexico, which had won its independence from

Spain.

When Texas rebelled against Mexico in 1835, Santa Anna led

the counter attack against the Americans. He and his forces

killed all of the American defenders at the Alamo, but he was

too confident. He was beaten by Sam Houston and the

Americans, and lost Texas to the United States.

Even though he had lost Texas, he was able to keep the presidency of Mexico by showing people

how brave he had been in battle. He fought against a French invasion in 1838, and had horses

shot out from under him. He lost most of his left leg in a battle, and had to use a wooden leg.

In the Mexican-American War, Santa Anna lost Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and most of

New Mexico and Arizona. After Santa Anna sold millions of acres of more land to the United

States for a cheap price, the Mexican people turned on him and took away the presidency. For

the last twenty years of his life, Santa Anna lived a quiet life, never having political power again.

Levi Strauss

(1829-1902)

Levi Strauss was born in Germany in 1829. Even living in Europe,

he heard about the Gold Rush happening in California. He came to

San Francisco in 1850, hoping to strike it rich. Many of the people

coming to California didn’t want to get rich by digging for gold,

but by selling supplies to the gold miners. Levi wanted to get rich

that way.

He was a tailor, and planned on selling tents and wagon covers to

the miners. These were made out of sturdy canvas, so they would

be extra durable. No one wanted to buy tents or wagon covers, so

Levi started making pants out of the canvas material. Miners

found that the pants were stronger than their usual pants, and could

hold up to the hard work of mining. Levi’s pants were selling as

quickly as he could make them.

Levi Strauss opened a factory in San Francisco, and started adding copper rivets at the edges of

the pants he sold so they would last longer. He also switched from canvas to a heavy blue denim

material, which was called “genes” in France, and became “jeans” in America.

He became rich and famous, and worked to establish other services in San Francisco, including

an insurance company, power company, banks, and several charities. His company is still one of

the biggest clothing manufacturers in the United States, and “Levis” have become part of

American tradition around the world.

Narcissa Whitman

(1808-1847)

Narcissa Whitman and her husband Marcus were some of the first

American settlers in the West. Marcus was a doctor, and both

Marcus and Narcissa were Christian missionaries. They wanted

to go to the Indians in the West and teach them English and how

to be Christians. The Whitmans and another family followed the

Oregon Trail to Washington, and Narcissa became the first white

woman to travel along that trail.

Narcissa’s life in Washington was hard, and the Whitmans built

several buildings, including a church, a school, a hospital, and

many houses. Narcissa’s daughter died, and Narcissa nearly lost

her eyesight to a sickness. Narcissa was very lonely.

The Whitmans were in Washington to bring religion to the

Cayuse Indians, but Narcissa hated the Indians. She told them

their traditions were wrong, and didn’t want to let the Indians into her house. Marcus and

Narcissa felt like they needed more white families around them to feel at home, and in 1843, he

brought one thousand pioneers along the Oregon Trail to Washington. Soon, the Whitmans had

more white neighbors, and they adopted eleven children.

The Cayuse Indians were suspicious of the Whitmans. They saw Narcissa helping the many

white people coming into their land, and were angry with them. In 1847, there was an outbreak

of measles, a serious disease that killed many Indians and whites. Although Narcissa tried to

help both Indians and whites to fight, more white children survived than Indian children. This

made the Cayuse more angry, and they attacked the Whitman village, killing Narcissa and

Marcus and twelve others.

Brigham Young

(1801-1877)

Brigham Young was born in Vermont in 1801. He had eleven

brothers and sisters, and grew up in a poor farming family.

When he was sixteen years old, he left home to learn how to be

a carpenter. In 1832, Brigham and many of his family members

were baptized into the Mormon Church, and later that year he

went to Canada as a missionary for that church.

Brigham Young went with the Mormons from Ohio to Missouri

to Illinois, and eventually became a leader who was only second

to Joseph Smith, the president of the Mormon Church, who the

Mormons believed was a prophet. After Smith was murdered in

1844, Young led the Mormons on a long journey across the

United States to Utah.

Once in Utah, Brigham Young built up a strong community of Mormon settlers. This community

expanded into Idaho and Arizona, and had colonies as far away as Mexico and Canada. Young

became the first governor of the Utah Territory, and combined religious power and the

government of Utah. Some people didn’t like the Mormons, and encouraged the United States to

send an army to get rid of Brigham Young and his church. The army did come, but Brigham

Young was able to end the conflict peacefully.

Brigham Young encouraged the transcontinental railroad to come through Utah, and the rail lines

met in Utah, north of Salt Lake City. This brought more money and jobs to Utah, and also

brought more Mormons and non-Mormons. Brigham Young used these to strengthen the

Mormon Church and his people, and remained a leader of the Mormons until he died in 1877.

Sarah Winnemucca

(1844 - 1891)

Sarah Winnemucca was a Paiute Indian, and was born in Nevada.

She was the daughter of a chief, and was very good at learning

other languages. She spoke several different Indian languages, and

learned to speak, read and write English very well.

When there was a war between the Bannock Indians and the

United States government, Sarah helped translate and interpret for

the U.S. Army. She hoped that if she helped the army, they would

treat her people well when the war was over. Instead, the Paiutes

were put onto small reservations in the Nevada desert.

She was a teacher at a school for Indian children in Nevada for several years. Sarah’s dream was

to get a good home for her people, the Paiutes. She wrote letters to newspapers, and traveled

around the United States giving lectures and speeches to get support for her ideas.

Even though Sarah didn’t get the homeland for her people that she wanted, she did important

things. One of the most important is that she wrote a book about her life, which helped us

understand the history and culture of the Paiutes. Because she wrote this book, we know more

about the Paiutes and Sarah’s life than we do about most other tribes of Indians.

Annie Oakley

(1860 - 1926)

Annie Oakley was born in Ohio in 1860. She grew up shooting a

rifle as a small child, and became famous as a sharpshooter. She

started trick shooting to help her family out financially, earning

money by shooting at small objects. She earned a lot of money

doing this, and even found her husband after beating him in a

shooting competition.

Some of her tricks included shooting off the end of a cigarette held

in a man’s lips, hitting the thin edge of a playing card, and even

shooting distant targets behind her while looking in a mirror. She

was so good that she became part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

in 1885. It was part rodeo and part circus, and Annie Oakley was one of the main attractions. It

was unusual to see a woman who was so talented at shooting, and men and women alike looked

up to her as a hero. Sitting Bull, an Indian chief who also traveled with the Wild West Show,

came to love Annie so much that he adopted her as an honorary member of his tribe.

Annie Oakley performed for kings and queens in Europe, including Queen Victoria of Great

Britain and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Even after being in a train accident, she continued to

perform while partially paralyzed. More than just an expert shooter, Annie Oakley became a

legend of the Wild West, and proved that women could do just about anything that men could

do—and sometimes better.