Since the early 1800’s, the Indians of the US were being persuaded, bribed, or forced to move across the Mississippi River. At the same time, restless settlers were moving across the Mississippi and casting eager eyes even farther westward. In 1821, Missouri became the fist state west of the Mississippi River to be admitted to the Union. And then in 1838 the Iowa territory was formed. To the west of Missouri and Iowa lay the Great Plains. Then known to the pioneers the Great American Desert, the area did not attract settlers until later. As a grassland, the Great Plains provided food for buffalo herds and hunting grounds for such tribes as the Dakotas, Arapahos, Osages, and Poncas. Just west of the Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountain region, were the homelands of the Crows, Shoshones, Flatheads, Coeur d’ Alenes, Nez Perces, Utes, and other tribes. The forests, fertile valleys, and dry areas of the Oregon Territory were the homelands to the Cayuses, Yakimas, Chinooks, and other tribes. South and south-western of the northern Great Plains lay Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. These territories were settled by Spaniards, Mexicans, Wichitas, Apaches, Navajos, and Mohaves. Still farther west in California, were other small groups of Indians. From 1820-1860, the Industrial Revolution created a distinctive way of life in the North. Cotton created a vastly different way of life in the South. During these years, the “West,” as it is known today, was added to the nation