QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About The Wild West?
The “Wild West” was a rough and lawless time in U.S. history that took place from the early 1800s until the last mainland state was admitted into the union in 1912. During this era, lots of America’s toughest men and women moved west in the quest for a better life and the opportunity to buy affordable land. Along the way, they faced extreme dangers like wolves, brutal weather, and infamous outlaws. How much do you know about the days of the Wild West? Test your knowledge here.
What 1840s discovery in California made hundreds of thousands of people travel there?
A. Oil
B. Silver
C. Gold
D. Truffles
Answer: Gold
The California Gold Rush began in January 1848 after a carpenter named James Marshall discovered gold at John Sutter’s lumber mill in Coloma. Hundreds of thousands of people went to the area hoping to strike it rich.
Which geographical area does “the Wild West” describe?
A. Land west of the Mississippi River
B. The Alaskan territory
C. Texas
D. Nevada and California
Answer: Land west of the Mississippi River
The “Wild West” included all the untamed territories west of the Mississippi River. Today, we know those lands as Texas, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains, the Southwest, and the West Coast.
Who is this man?
A. Wild Bill Hickok
B. Jesse James
C. Wyatt Earp
D. “Texas Jack” Vermillion
Answer: Wild Bill Hickok
Folk hero “Wild Bill” Hickok was a notorious gunfighter, showman, solider, spy, scout, and actor. Much of his reputation came from false stories he spread about himself. He was shot and killed during a poker game in 1876.
Where is Fort Apache?
A. Arizona
B. New Mexico
C. Colorado
D. Oklahoma
Answer: Arizona
In 1871, General George Crook enlisted the services of 50 White Mountain Apache men to serve as scouts for his army during the 15-year long Apache Wars. The battle ended with the tribe maintaining a sizable piece of their homeland as the White Mountain Apache reservation.
Approximately how many pioneers took the Oregon Trail on their journeys west?
A. 400,000
B. 200,000
C. 100,000
D. 1,000,000
Answer: 400,000
The Oregon Trail was a major route that pioneering people took when they migrated west, many of them in covered wagons. It was an incredibly dangerous journey to make. Disease, bad weather, accidents, and attacks from native people were all threats on the Oregon Trail.
Unmarked cattle were called…
A. Mavericks
B. Bulls
C. Heifers
D. Curs
Answer: Mavericks
Brands were used to identify a cow’s owner and protect cattle from cattle thieves, called rustlers. The marks consisted of a few simple letters and numbers. Mavericks were wild cattle that had never been branded.
Which initials were sometimes used as a forwarding address when someone moved to Texas?
A. G.T.T.
B. S.F.T.
C. W.T.T.
D. T.B.B
Answer: G.T.T.
G.T.T., or “Gone to Texas” was a shorthand forwarding address used by people who emigrated there in the 1800s. Many of them traveled to Texas to escape debt. The phrase would sometimes be written on front doors or fence posts.
What was Butch Cassidy’s real name?
A. Robert LeRoy Parker
B. Harry Alonzo Longabaugh
C. William H. Seward
D. Thomas Edward Ketchum
Answer: Robert LeRoy Parker
Train and bank robber Butch Cassidy led a gang of outlaws known as the Wild Bunch. His longtime accomplice was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, better known as the “Sundance Kid.” The two are thought to have been shot to death in Bolivia in 1908, but their exact fate is still disputed.
What was a "greenhorn"?
A. Someone from an Eastern city
B. An untamed horse
C. An uncovered wagon
D. A saloon
Answer: Someone from an Eastern city
Today, a person who is new to or inexperienced at an activity might be referred to as a greenhorn. During the Wild West, the term referred to a person from an eastern city.
What is “Devil’s Rope”?
A. Barbed wire
B. A noose
C. Fishing line
D. Rattlesnake venom
Answer: Barbed wire
Believe it or not, there’s a museum dedicated to barbed wire in Texas. The Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum is located in McLean. It opened in 1991 and focuses on the history of barbed wire.
Where was the O.K. Corral?
A. Tombstone, Arizona
B. Cody, Wyoming
C. Durango, Colorado
D. Bandera, Texas
Answer: Tombstone, Arizona
The most famous shootout in the history of the wild west was the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It was a 30-second shootout between lawmen and members of a group of outlaws called the Cowboys. It took place on Wednesday, October 26, 1881.
Who is this man?
A. Geronimo
B. Sitting Bull
C. Black Elk
D. Crazy Horse
Answer: Geronimo
Geronimo was an Apache medicine man who carried out many raids against U.S. and Mexican forces during the Apache–United States conflict. He later became somewhat of a celebrity but died a prisoner of war in 1909.
Which of these was not a sibling of Wyatt Earp?
A. Newton
B. James
C. Morgan
D. Henry
Answer: Henry
The famed lawman Wyatt Earp had a number of siblings: Newton, Mariah Ann, James, Virgil, Martha, Morgan, Warren, Virginia Ann, and Adelia Douglas Earp. Tombstone’s deputy marshal, Wyatt Earp killed three outlaws during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Which newly acquired area were Lewis and Clark sent to explore?
A. The Louisiana Purchase
B. The Alaska Purchase
C. Jefferson Territory
D. The Gadsden Purchase
Answer: The Louisiana Purchase
The Lewis and Clark Expedition set out in 1804 on the orders of President Thomas Jefferson. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were sent to explore the lands west of the Mississippi River that were acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
What was Annie Oakley’s real name?
A. Phoebe Moses
B. Mary Fields
C. Sonora Webster Carver
D. Eleanor Dumont
Answer: Phoebe Moses
The famous sharpshooter and exhibition shooter became an international star after joining Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. A dictionary entry for her reads: “At 30 paces she could split a playing card held edge-on, she hit dimes tossed into the air, she shot cigarettes from her husband’s lips, and, a playing card being thrown into the air, she riddled it before it touched the ground.”
Which states did the Pony Express extend between?
A. Missouri and California
B. Virginia and California
C. Georgia and Texas
D. Texas and California
Answer: Missouri and California
The Pony Express was a mail delivery service. It reduced the time for messages to travel between the east and west coasts to about 10 days. There were 184 stations along the route’s 1,900 miles spanning St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.
When was the Battle of the Alamo?
A. 1836
B. 1824
C. 1902
D. 1801
Answer: 1836
The Battle of the Alamo ended on March 6, 1836. After the 13-day siege, Mexican troops reclaimed the Alamo fort near San Antonio, Texas. The fort’s Texan occupiers were killed.
Who invented the phrase “Manifest Destiny”?
A. John O’Sullivan
B. John Quincy Adams
C. Thomas Paine
D. Wyatt Earp
Answer: John O’Sullivan
Manifest destiny was the belief that people in the United States were destined to expand westward across the entirety of North America. John O’Sullivan, a newspaper editor, is credited with coining the phrase in 1845.
When did Sitting Bull surrender?
A. 1881
B. 1876
C. 1889
D. 1879
Answer: 1881
Sitting Bull surrendered in 1881. Afterwards, he joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. In 1890, he was shot by police who were trying to arrest him.
Who founded the Wild Bunch?
A. Butch Cassidy
B. Billy the Kid
C. Sundance Kid
D. Tall Texan
Answer: Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy founded the Wild Bunch. Because of the movie, many people believe Sundance Kid helped him found the gang, but that is historically not correct.
