Taking the farther West

By the time the last Indian removals from the First West were being carried out in the early nineteenth century, the demands of Americans for lands farther west, within and beyond the borders of the Louisiana Purchase, were creating conflicts with existing occupants and rival claimants. Over time, these claims displaced prior arrangements between fur traders and Indians. They also led to war between the United States and Mexico. ‘Taking the farther West’ describes this United States expansion, the war with Mexico, and the subsequent discovery of gold in California, which precipitated an unprecedented number of people heading to the western end of the continent. The Gold Rush had devastating consequences for the native Californian Indians.

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