ruler of the nation the first steam
railroad in the United States was built (1830). From that time such
roads kept creeping further and further west. The Indians had
frightened the white settlers with their terrible war-whoop. Now it
was their turn to be frightened, for the locomotive whistle[17] could
beat their wildest yell. They saw that the white man was coming as
fast as steam could carry him, and that he was determined to get
possession of the whole land. The greater part of the Indians moved
across the Mississippi; but the white man kept following them and
following the buffalo further and further across the country, toward
the Pacific Ocean; and the railroad followed in the white man's
track.

[Illustration: THE GREAT STEEL RAILROAD BRIDGE ACROSS THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT ST. LOUIS. (Built by Captain Eads, and completed
in 1874.)]

[Illustration: NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.]

[Footnote 15: See map in this paragraph.]

[Footnote 16: For our first land purchase see paragraph 188.]

[Footnote 17: The first steam railroad built in the United States
extended from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, a distance
of twelve miles. It was opened in 1830. It forms a part of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.]

219. Summary.--Andrew Jackson of North Carolina gained a great
victory over the Indians in Alabama and also in Florida. In 1815,
in our second war with England, General Jackson whipped the British
at New Orleans, and so prevented their getting possession of that
city. A few years later we bought Florida of Spain.

After General Jackson became President of the United States the first
steam-railroad was built in this country. Railroads helped to settle
the west and build up states beyond the Mississippi.

Who fought the greatest battle of the War of 1812? Tell about Andrew
Jackson's boyhood. Tell the story of the gun. Tell about Tarleton.
What did Mrs. Jackson do? What did Andrew do? What did Andrew use
to do at the blacksmith shop?

Tell about Tarleton's men and the bees. What did bands of armed men
use to do in the country where Andrew lived? Tell about playing at
battle. What did Tarleton say? Tell about Andrew and the boots. Tell
how he saw a battle through a knot-hole. Tell how Andrew's mother
died. What did he say about her? Tell about Andrew Jackson as a judge.
Why was he made a general? Tell about Tecumseh and the Alabama Indians.
After General Jackson had beaten the Indians, where did they go?