Wild West Quiz
Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Jesse James and the Pony Express: 15 questions on the real American frontier.
The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill set off a famous rush to which future state?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
California
James Marshall spotted gold flakes in the tailrace of John Sutter's sawmill at Coloma in January 1848, and by 1849 tens of thousands of forty-niners were pouring into California by land and sea.
California's population boomed so quickly that it skipped the territorial stage and became a state in 1850.
Which lawman, alongside his brothers and Doc Holliday, fought the Clantons and McLaurys at the O.K. Corral in 1881?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan and the gambler Doc Holliday killed three cowboys in a roughly thirty second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona, on 26 October 1881.
The fight actually took place in a vacant lot on Fremont Street a few doors from the corral, and Wyatt was the only one of the four to come through unhurt.
Which young outlaw was shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in July 1881?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, had escaped from jail in April 1881 after being sentenced to hang, and Garrett tracked him to Fort Sumner and shot him in a darkened bedroom on 14 July.
He was about 21 when he died, and the only authenticated photograph of him sold at auction for 2.3 million dollars in 2011.
Which outlaw leader was shot in the back of the head by gang member Robert Ford in 1882?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Jesse James
Jesse James was straightening a picture in his home in St. Joseph, Missouri, on 3 April 1882 when Robert Ford, who had secretly agreed to deliver him for a reward, shot him from behind.
Ford was himself shot dead in a Colorado saloon in 1892 and was remembered in a popular ballad as the dirty little coward.
Which mail service used relays of riders on horseback to carry letters between Missouri and California in 1860 and 1861?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pony Express
The Pony Express ran from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento in about ten days, with riders swapping horses at stations every 16 km (10 miles) or so, until the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete in October 1861.
It lasted only 18 months and lost money throughout, yet became one of the most enduring symbols of the West.
At which 1876 battle were Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his immediate command wiped out by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Little Bighorn
On 25 June 1876 Custer split the 7th Cavalry and attacked a huge village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana, and he and more than 200 men with him were killed by warriors led by Crazy Horse and others.
News of the defeat reached the East during the nation's centennial celebrations in early July 1876.
Promontory Summit, where the golden spike completed the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, is in which present-day state?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Utah
The Central Pacific, built eastward from California, and the Union Pacific, built westward from Nebraska, met at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory on 10 May 1869.
The ceremonial golden spike was removed straight after the ceremony and is now kept at Stanford University.
Which cattle trail carried millions of Texas longhorns north to the railhead at Abilene, Kansas, after the Civil War?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Chisholm Trail
From 1867 cowboys drove herds up the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene and later other Kansas cow towns, where cattle worth a few dollars in Texas sold for ten times as much.
A typical drive used about a dozen cowboys to move 2,000 to 3,000 cattle at roughly 16 km (10 miles) a day.
In which Dakota Territory gold town was Wild Bill Hickok shot dead while playing poker in 1876?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Deadwood
Jack McCall shot Hickok in the back of the head at a card table in Nuttall and Mann's Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood on 2 August 1876, less than six weeks after Hickok had arrived.
Hickok was holding two pairs, aces and eights, which has been known ever since as the dead man's hand.
Which former army scout and buffalo hunter launched a touring Wild West show in 1883 that later played for Queen Victoria?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Buffalo Bill Cody
William Cody's show, with its mock stagecoach robberies, trick shooting and real Lakota performers including Sitting Bull in 1885, toured America and Europe for three decades and shaped the world's image of the West.
Sharpshooter Annie Oakley was the show's biggest star, and the Lakota nicknamed her Little Sure Shot.
Which Apache leader surrendered to General Nelson Miles in September 1886, ending the last major Indian war in the Southwest?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Geronimo
Geronimo had led small bands in and out of Mexico for years, tying down thousands of US troops, before finally surrendering at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on 4 September 1886.
He was held as a prisoner of war for the rest of his life and died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1909.
Which 1862 law offered settlers 160 acres of public land for free if they lived on it and farmed it for five years?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Homestead Act
Signed by Abraham Lincoln in May 1862, the Homestead Act let any adult citizen or intending citizen claim 160 acres (65 hectares), and about 1.6 million claims were eventually granted.
Women and formerly enslaved people could file claims, and the last homestead was granted in Alaska in 1988.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were the best known members of which outlaw gang?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch robbed banks and trains across Wyoming, Utah and Montana in the late 1890s, hiding out at remote spots such as Hole-in-the-Wall and Robbers Roost between jobs.
Cassidy and Sundance fled to South America in 1901 and are generally believed to have died in a shootout with soldiers at San Vicente, Bolivia, in 1908.
Which Lakota leader was killed by reservation police at Standing Rock in December 1890, two weeks before the Wounded Knee massacre?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa holy man who had led resistance in the 1870s, was shot during a botched arrest on 15 December 1890 as officials feared he would join the Ghost Dance movement.
Crazy Horse had been killed in custody at Fort Robinson back in 1877, and Red Cloud lived on until 1909.
Which huge silver deposit, found in 1859, created the Nevada boomtown of Virginia City?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Comstock Lode
The Comstock Lode was the first major silver strike in the United States, named after the miner Henry Comstock, and its wealth helped Nevada become a state in 1864.
A young Samuel Clemens worked as a reporter in Virginia City in the 1860s and first used the pen name Mark Twain there.
Your results
More to explore
All History quizzes →About the Wild West Quiz
The American frontier of the 1800s produced legends that Hollywood is still mining. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral lasted about thirty seconds, Billy the Kid was dead at 21, the Pony Express ran for just 18 months, and the golden spike that joined the continent by rail was tapped in with a silver hammer.
These 15 questions cover the gold and silver rushes, the great cattle trails, outlaws such as Jesse James and the Wild Bunch, lawmen such as Wyatt Earp, and the wars with the Lakota and Apache that closed the frontier. The first questions suit anyone who has watched a western, while the later ones reward readers of real frontier history.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What period does the Wild West Quiz cover?
Mainly 1848 to 1890, from the California gold rush to the death of Sitting Bull, with questions on outlaws, lawmen, railroads, cattle drives and the Indian Wars.
Are the questions based on films or real history?
Real history. Every answer is a documented fact, and the explanations often point out where the movie version differs from what happened.
How hard is it?
Medium. Questions on Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and the gold rush are easy, while the Chisholm Trail, the Comstock Lode and the Homestead Act are harder.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill set off a famous rush to which future state?
California James Marshall spotted gold flakes in the tailrace of John Sutter's sawmill at Coloma in January 1848, and by 1849 tens of thousands of forty-niners were pouring into California by land and sea. California's population boomed so quickly that it skipped the territorial stage and became a state in 1850. - Which lawman, alongside his brothers and Doc Holliday, fought the Clantons and McLaurys at the O.K. Corral in 1881?
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan and the gambler Doc Holliday killed three cowboys in a roughly thirty second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona, on 26 October 1881. The fight actually took place in a vacant lot on Fremont Street a few doors from the corral, and Wyatt was the only one of the four to come through unhurt. - Which young outlaw was shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in July 1881?
Billy the Kid Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, had escaped from jail in April 1881 after being sentenced to hang, and Garrett tracked him to Fort Sumner and shot him in a darkened bedroom on 14 July. He was about 21 when he died, and the only authenticated photograph of him sold at auction for 2.3 million dollars in 2011. - Which outlaw leader was shot in the back of the head by gang member Robert Ford in 1882?
Jesse James Jesse James was straightening a picture in his home in St. Joseph, Missouri, on 3 April 1882 when Robert Ford, who had secretly agreed to deliver him for a reward, shot him from behind. Ford was himself shot dead in a Colorado saloon in 1892 and was remembered in a popular ballad as the dirty little coward. - Which mail service used relays of riders on horseback to carry letters between Missouri and California in 1860 and 1861?
Pony Express The Pony Express ran from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento in about ten days, with riders swapping horses at stations every 16 km (10 miles) or so, until the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete in October 1861. It lasted only 18 months and lost money throughout, yet became one of the most enduring symbols of the West. - At which 1876 battle were Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his immediate command wiped out by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors?
Little Bighorn On 25 June 1876 Custer split the 7th Cavalry and attacked a huge village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana, and he and more than 200 men with him were killed by warriors led by Crazy Horse and others. News of the defeat reached the East during the nation's centennial celebrations in early July 1876. - Promontory Summit, where the golden spike completed the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, is in which present-day state?
Utah The Central Pacific, built eastward from California, and the Union Pacific, built westward from Nebraska, met at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory on 10 May 1869. The ceremonial golden spike was removed straight after the ceremony and is now kept at Stanford University. - Which cattle trail carried millions of Texas longhorns north to the railhead at Abilene, Kansas, after the Civil War?
Chisholm Trail From 1867 cowboys drove herds up the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Abilene and later other Kansas cow towns, where cattle worth a few dollars in Texas sold for ten times as much. A typical drive used about a dozen cowboys to move 2,000 to 3,000 cattle at roughly 16 km (10 miles) a day. - In which Dakota Territory gold town was Wild Bill Hickok shot dead while playing poker in 1876?
Deadwood Jack McCall shot Hickok in the back of the head at a card table in Nuttall and Mann's Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood on 2 August 1876, less than six weeks after Hickok had arrived. Hickok was holding two pairs, aces and eights, which has been known ever since as the dead man's hand. - Which former army scout and buffalo hunter launched a touring Wild West show in 1883 that later played for Queen Victoria?
Buffalo Bill Cody William Cody's show, with its mock stagecoach robberies, trick shooting and real Lakota performers including Sitting Bull in 1885, toured America and Europe for three decades and shaped the world's image of the West. Sharpshooter Annie Oakley was the show's biggest star, and the Lakota nicknamed her Little Sure Shot. - Which Apache leader surrendered to General Nelson Miles in September 1886, ending the last major Indian war in the Southwest?
Geronimo Geronimo had led small bands in and out of Mexico for years, tying down thousands of US troops, before finally surrendering at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, on 4 September 1886. He was held as a prisoner of war for the rest of his life and died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1909. - Which 1862 law offered settlers 160 acres of public land for free if they lived on it and farmed it for five years?
Homestead Act Signed by Abraham Lincoln in May 1862, the Homestead Act let any adult citizen or intending citizen claim 160 acres (65 hectares), and about 1.6 million claims were eventually granted. Women and formerly enslaved people could file claims, and the last homestead was granted in Alaska in 1988. - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were the best known members of which outlaw gang?
Wild Bunch The Wild Bunch robbed banks and trains across Wyoming, Utah and Montana in the late 1890s, hiding out at remote spots such as Hole-in-the-Wall and Robbers Roost between jobs. Cassidy and Sundance fled to South America in 1901 and are generally believed to have died in a shootout with soldiers at San Vicente, Bolivia, in 1908. - Which Lakota leader was killed by reservation police at Standing Rock in December 1890, two weeks before the Wounded Knee massacre?
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa holy man who had led resistance in the 1870s, was shot during a botched arrest on 15 December 1890 as officials feared he would join the Ghost Dance movement. Crazy Horse had been killed in custody at Fort Robinson back in 1877, and Red Cloud lived on until 1909. - Which huge silver deposit, found in 1859, created the Nevada boomtown of Virginia City?
Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode was the first major silver strike in the United States, named after the miner Henry Comstock, and its wealth helped Nevada become a state in 1864. A young Samuel Clemens worked as a reporter in Virginia City in the 1860s and first used the pen name Mark Twain there.
Browse other categories
Every category has its own quizzes, each with instant explanations.