1834 Permanent Indian Frontier 1836 Oregon Trail opened 1843 The ‘Great Emigration’ on Oregon Trail 1846 Donner Party 1846 Mormons travel to Great Salt Lake 1848 Gold discovered in California 1849 Californian Gold Rush 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty (1) 1851 The Indian Appropriations Act 1858 – 59 Gold discovered in the Rocky Mountains 1859 Gold mines opened in Colorado & Nevada 1861 – 65 The American Civil War 1862 Homestead Act 1862 Little Crow’s War 1862 Pacific Railway Act passed