Wild West Trivia

Explanation
Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, California in 1848. In the following year hundreds of thousands of gold-seeking adventurers journeyed to California from the Eastern parts of the United States, from Europe, from South America and from Asia. These California immigrants were called "forty niners" as most of them arrived in 1849.

Explanation
On August 2, 1866, in the mining town of Deadwood in Dakota Territory, the famous gunfighter, Wild Bill Hickock was killed while playing poker in a local saloon. He was shot in the back of his head by a man named Jack McCall. In Hickock's hand were a pair of aces and a pair of eights. Ever since, this poker hand has been known as the dead man's hand.

Explanation
There are 565 Native American tribes officially recognized by the government of the United States.

Explanation
On the great trail drives, when thousands of heads of cattle were moved over a thousand miles from South Texas to the Northern markets, it was difficult to recruit cowboys willing to spend three or four months living and working outdoors. Charles Goodnight, a Texas cattle rancher and trail drive organizer, realized that good food on the trail was an inducement to hiring good cowboys. He purchased some sturdy army surplus supply wagons and fitted them with mobile kitchens. These were used along the trail by cooks (usually called cookie) to feed the hungry cowboys. They became known as chuckwagons.

Explanation
In the settlement of the western states, especially during the great "gold rush" following 1848, law enforcement was ineffective or non existent in many of the new communities. In some cases, local citizens banded together to form vigilance committees and enforced extra-legal justice and punishment on criminals. Members of these societies were known as vigilantes.