INTRODUCTION

The pages that follow will take some time to load, please wait to enjoy the full detail of the pictures. This introduction page provides an overview and sense of how much changed in 100 short years during the 19th century.


SETTLEMENT OF THE FRONTIER
The frontier of the United States was considered anything beyond the westernmost settlement at any time in the expansion history. The process of extending the frontier further west is considered to have began in 1607 with the settlement of Jamestown and ended around 1890, when no more land was available for homsteaders to settle.

The movement from the Atlantic coast across the 3,000 miles of our country covered wilderness, deserts and mountains until finally the Pacific Ocean was reached. This movement averaged only 10 miles a year. By 1820, all land east of the Mississippi was separate states or territories. The furthest settlement west was a fort at Tucson, Arizona.. but little habitation or settlement was between the Mississippi and that fort. From 1820 to 1850 a wave of pioneer settlers moved beyond the Mississippi homesteading along the way. These were our pioneer ancestors and this site is dedicated to their life.

EVENTS TIMELINE OF US HISTORY * * * * * * * * * * * WHEN STATES JOINED THE UNION
1763 - only the 13 original colonies
1776 - Declaration of Independence 1787 Delaware,Pensylvania and New Jersey join the Union
1788 Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New York
1789 North Carolina
1790 Rhode Island
1791 Vermont
1792 Kentucky
1796 Tennessee
1800 - Most of the plains still belonged to France
1800 The Library of Congress is founded in Washington, DC
1803 Ohio
1812 Louisiana
1816 Indiana
1817 Mississippi
1818 Illinois
1819 Alabama
1820 Maine
1821 Missouri
1827 - American frontiersman Davy Crockett is elected To Congress 1836 Arkansas
1837 Michigan
1845 Florida and Texas
1846 Iowa
1848 - The discovery of gold at sutter's Mill begins the California gold rush 1848 Wisconsin
1850 California
1858 Minnesota
1859 Oregon
1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected as president
1861 - Confederate States of America declare independence from the U.S. 1861 Kansas
1863 - Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation abolishes slavery 1863 West Virginia
1864 Nevada
1865 - Confederate forces surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House
1865 - Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC
1866 - The Ku Klux Klan is founded 1867 Nebraska
1876 - Sioux Indians defeat General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn 1876 Colorado
1884 - Belva Lockwood becomes the first woman nominated as a U.S. presidential candidate.
1886 - Apache Indian chief Geronimo surrenders 1889 North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington
1890 - Sioux Indians are massacred at the Battle of Wounded Knee 1890 Idaho and Wyoming
1896 Utah
1898 - U.S. troops land on Cuba, Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Rider are in action 1907 Oklahoma
1912 New Mexico and Arizona
1959 Alaska and Hawaii