| 400 B.C. |
Mayan civilization begins. |
| 300 B.C. |
Hohokam people build early irrigation canals in Arizona. |
| A.D. 1100s |
The Inca establish their capital at Cuzco. |
| 1325 |
Aztecs found their capital city, Tenochtitlán. |
| 1492 |
Christopher Columbus sails to America in search of Asia. |
| 1500s |
Hohokam people abandon Snaketown. |
| 1521 |
Spanish capture Tenochtitlán, conquering the Aztecs. |
| 1532 |
Spanish conquer the Inca. |
| 1620 |
Pilgrims settle at Plymouth, Massachusetts. |
| 1626 |
The Dutch buy Manhattan Island from the Native Americans. |
| Late 1600s |
Plains Indians begin to get horses. |
| 1670 |
Guns first traded to Native Americans on Hudson Bay. |
| 1778 |
Northwest tribes begin trade with Captain James Cook of England. |
| 1803 |
Nootkas raid an English ship for metal and use it to make harpoons. |
| 1804 |
U.S. government enacts the Louisiana Territory Act, which tries to move Southeastern Indians west of the Mississippi River. |
| 1812 |
War of 1812 begins. Most Indians side with the British. |
| 1813–1814 |
The Creeks declare war on the United States, resulting in the loss of 22 million acres to the U.S. government. |
| 1830 |
U.S. government passes the Indian Removal Act. Southeastern Indians are moved over the “Trail of Tears” to Oklahoma. |
| 1867 |
United States buys Alaska. |
| 1876 |
On June 25, General George Custer and his troops are killed by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle of Little Bighorn. |
| 1890 |
In December, the Seventh Cavalry kills 150 Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. |
| 2013 |
Recent government statistics indicate that there are more than 5.2 million Native Americans living in the United States and Canada. |