Conflict and tension Flashcards

All 9 cards in this deck

Give one reason there was a shortage of reliable law officers in the West.

The areas to police were vast, so marshals relied on deputy marshals and local sheriffs, who were often badly paid.

Why is Billy the Kid significant for law and order in the West?

He was deputised as one of the Regulators in the Lincoln County War (1878) but was later convicted of murdering Sheriff Brady, showing the lack of distinction between outlaws and lawmen.

What was the gunfight at the OK Corral (1881)?

A gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona, in which Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holliday killed three members of the 'Cowboys' gang (Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury).

What was the Johnson County War (1892)?

A planned invasion of Johnson County by cattle barons to kill 70 men accused of rustling; backed by the governor of Wyoming, it failed due to local resistance.

What happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876)?

Custer and all the men of his 7th Cavalry detachment were killed by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

Give one impact of the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876).

The US army and government hardened their policy, hunting down the Sioux and forcing them onto reservations.

What was the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)?

US soldiers killed around 250 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek while disarming them — the end of Indigenous resistance on the Plains.

Why is Wyatt Earp significant for law and order in the West?

He was a lawman in Tombstone, Arizona, who was himself accused of crimes; many residents saw the OK Corral gunfight (1881) and his revenge killings afterwards as murder, showing lawmen could add to lawlessness.

What was the Ghost Dance (1890)?

A religious movement promising that dancing would bring back the dead and the buffalo and sweep white people away; it spread on hungry Sioux reservations, alarmed Indian agents, and the army's attempts to stop it led to Wounded Knee.