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The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last few ...
Learn about the colorful era of American expansion and conflict in the 19th century. Explore the gold rush, the cowboy frontier, the outlaws, the lawmen, and the Native Americans in the Wild West.
- The Wild West Was Once Part of Spain
- Horses Weren’T The only Means of Transport
- Western Hero Buffalo Bill Cody Was A Global Superstar
- A Quarter of Cowboys Were Black
- Geronimo Escaped His Reservation Three Times
- Wild Bill Hickok Won One of The First Quick-Draw Duels
- The Pony Express Lasted Just A Year and A Half
- Billy The Kid Was A New Yorker and Jesse James Was The Son of A Preacher
- Dodge City Was (Kind of) Dodgy
- Only Two Families Survived The Ill-Fated Donner Party Unscathed
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From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the areas encompassing Florida and the states of the US southwest – including California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas – belonged to the viceroyalty of New Spain and were governed from Mexico City. Florida was the first to cede to the US, in 1819. The other areas followed in 1848 after the Mex...
In 1855 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis allocated $30,000 for the army to import camels from the Mediterranean and Middle East to use for transporting supplies. By 1857 the US Camel Corps was looking after around 75 camels at its base in Camp Verde, Texas. While the camels proved effective at lugging materials across the desert – one group even ma...
One of the heroes of the Old West, Buffalo Bill Cody had a talent for self-promotion. His exploits as a soldier and bison hunter were published in books, magazines and newspapers and he also recreated them on stage, starting his own Wild West show in 1883. The open-air spectacular featured a cast of hundreds – including sharpshooter Annie Oakley an...
You wouldn’t know it from your average Hollywood western, but an estimated one in four cowboys was black. American ranchers settling in Texas brought slaves with them, later relying on them to mind their herds when they left to fight in the Civil War. After the abolition of slavery, the newly freed cowhands became much in demand. One of the best-kn...
After many years fighting the US Army, Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimoand his band were captured in 1877 and taken to a reservation in Arizona. But he struggled to adapt to settled life and ended up escaping three times: in 1878, 1881 and 1885. Five thousand soldiers – a quarter of the US army – were involved in the last pursuit, but it still too...
One of the few recorded instances of a classic fast-draw duel took place on 21 July 1865 in Springfield, Missouri, between Wild Bill Hickokand the gambler Davis Tutt. A row over gambling debts brought rivalries between the two former friends to a head, leading to a showdown in the town square. Standing sideways to each other around 70 metres apart,...
A famous symbol of the Old West, the Pony Express postal service only operated for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861. The service was devised to get national news faster to the west as tensions rose before the Civil War. A team of 80 or so riders carried the mail day and night between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California – a ...
Two of the most notorious Wild West outlaws had origins you might not expect. Billy the Kid, real name Henry McCarty, was born on the East Side of New York in 1859 before moving west to Kansas and New Mexico. Only after his mother died when he was 15 did Billy begin the life of crime that led him to kill eight men and end up gunned down by Sheriff ...
An important stop on the Great Western Cattle Trail, Dodge Cityin Kansas attracted money, saloons, gambling halls, brothels and a whole lot of trouble. The annual recorded murder rate there was 165 adults killed per 100,000 people, meaning that someone living in Dodge City between 1876 and 1885 had a one in 61 chance of getting offed. In comparison...
The Donner Party was a group of settlers who in 1846 undertook the epic journey from Missouri to California by wagon train. Crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains, they got trapped by snow for four gruelling months. With supplies dwindling, some are reported to have survived by eating the flesh of those who perished. Of the original 87 who set out, o...
Learn about the history and culture of the Old West, from camels and cannibalism to Buffalo Bill and Geronimo. Discover how the Wild West was once part of Spain, how cowboys were black, and how Billy the Kid was a New Yorker.
May 9, 2018 · A comprehensive overview of the Wild West period in U.S. history, covering the people, events, and culture of the frontier era. Find definitions, examples, and references for terms such as Apache, Billy the Kid, Custer's Last Stand, and more.
Learn about the Wild West, the name for the western regions of the United States in the 19th century. Discover how Americans settled, mined, farmed and fought in this land, and how they interacted with the Native Americans.
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Oct 20, 2023 · Learn about the realities of life in the Old West, from saloon doors and whiskey to cholera and opium. Discover how the West was shaped by history, culture, and commerce in this article from OldWest.org.
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Apr 25, 2017 · See how settlers lived and worked in the untamed land of the American frontier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These authentic photographs capture the dangers, challenges, and achievements of the real Wild West.
