Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: The Homestead Act Went Into Effect
This 4-page article discusses the Homestead Act of 1862 and its effects.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Texas Ranch House
What was it like to be a cowboy in 1867? Visit the Cooke Ranch and explore a cowboy's working and dwelling quarters. Play the interactive games to learn about the many aspects of daily life in the American West. (Click "Interactive...
Gabriel Dumont Institute
Virtual Museum of Metis History and Culture: The Red River Cart
The Red River Cart, an invention of the Metis, played an important role in the settling of the West by improving transportation of goods. Cart making became an industry for the Metis later on. This article explores the history of the Red...
Other
Postbellum African American Society and Culture: Black Migration
From the Encyclopedia of American Social History. Read about the black migration to the West, primarily Kansas and Oklahoma after the end of Reconstruction and the institution of black codes in the South.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Western Migration and Homesteading
Contains text and photos on the African-American exodus to the West. Includes primary source documents and maps from the era.
Other
Western History Genealogy: Digital Images: Native American Women
A picture gallery with information about the roles that Native American women played in everyday life in the late 19th century in the West.
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: Glidden's Patent Application for Barbed Wire
This article from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), describes how barbed wire was important for ranchers in the West in the 1800s and how Joseph Glidden improved the original patent for barbed wire.
Other
Pioneer Yosemite History Center Online Tour: Wagons and Stagecoaches
Travel back in time to see what the pioneers used for transportation and to do their daily work. Great pictures of wagons of the west including the chuck wagon, spring wagon, farm wagon, and freight wagon. There is a link at the bottom...
US National Archives
Docsteach: Reasons for Westward Expansion
Students will examine a variety of documents that reference reasons why Americans living in the East migrated west of the Mississippi immediately before, during, and right after the Civil War. Documents cover the mining industry, new...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: u.s. & the Netherlands
This resource is an overview of the relationship of the Dutch West India Company and the settling of New Netherlands under the "patroon" system, which brought many Dutch colonists to the New World.
Country Studies US
Countyr Studies: United States History: The Last Frontier
This site describes the settlement of the West happened quickly with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the push for the Transcontinental Railroad. With the explosion of the mining and ranching industries, the West was all but...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: The West, 1783 1789
A map of the early United States between 1783 and 1789 showing the territorial State claims west to the Mississippi River, and is keyed to show undefined or disputed boundaries, boundaries of States and territories, and boundaries not...
Curated OER
Etc: American Rev War Operations in the West, 1775 1782
A map of the Northwest Territory between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes to the Tennessee River showing the military operations and extent of settlement in the area during the American Revolutionary...
Ducksters
Ducksters: History: Daily Life on the Frontier for Kids
Kids learn about the daily life on the frontier of the Old West. This site explores how pioneers and settlers lived.
Digital History
Digital History: "Go West and Grow Up With the Country"
When Horace Greeley gave his advice to go West, young man, he meant as far west as Iowa. See how the Midwest was settled by pioneers, lumberjacks, and miners. Read about squatters on the fine prairie land and how they were able to keep...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: 1870 1900: Everyday Life and People
Primary source photos depicting what life was like out west and in California in the late 19th century.
Library of Congress
Loc: National Expansion and Reform 1815 1880
Follow the territorial and westward expansion of the newly formed United States. Learn about the thriving slave trade of that era and the spread of reform efforts across the country.
University of Alberta
Atlas of Alberta Railways: Alberta's Early Non Indigenous Settlers
Presented by the University of Alberta, this resource contains information on the early non-indigenous settlement in the Alberta region. Information on the settlers themselves is provided as well as maps showing the growth in both...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Outlaws in Utah
This site discusses the cultural icon of the western "outlaw" in the context of the state of Utah.
University of Alberta
Atlas of Alberta Railways: Land Grant System
Presented by the University of Alberta, this resource contains information on the land grant system in the Alberta region. Information on how the Canadian government used land grants in the late 19th century to spur population growth in...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Homestead National Monument: Exodusters
Read about the reasons for the extensive black migration to Kansas, especially in the 1870s. These emigrants were called Exodusters. From the National Park Service.
Other
Images of the American West: Oklahoma
This is a photo gallery of white homeseekers known as Boomers and other homesteaders settling the Oklahoma Territory in the late 1800's.
Other
Women in History: Mary Fields
This site contains facts about the life of Stagecoach Mary Fields (1832-1913).
Oklahoma State University
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: All Black Towns
Read about the all-black towns that were settled in Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory in the mid-19th century.
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