This site highlights the westward expansion of settlers in North America and the effects this expansion had on Native Americans between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Peruse this thorough resource featuring historical California missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco as the Spanish established themselves on the west coast of North America between 1768-1853. Read stories of the early...

In this lesson, 4th graders examine entries from Juan Bautista de Anza's diary and other documents to understand the experiences and obstacles he and his companions faced as they traveled from Arizona to California in 1774. Student...

This site has a lesson about the ranching industry, creation of California towns and the changes over time. Contains information, inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, and images.

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

Biography of John Sutter, a Swiss settler who helped to develop Californian and saw his fortunes dwindle after the California Gold Rush.

Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...

A map of the United States at the time of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) which allowed settlers to determine whether or not slavery would be allowed in their territories. The map is color-coded to show the Free States (including...