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Website
PBS

The West: William Bent (1809 1869)

For Students 9th - 10th
From PBS New Perspectives on the West comes this biography on William Bent that discusses his life as a trader at Bent's Fort in Colorado in the early 1800s.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Infectious Disease

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Investigate the spread of infectious diseases from whites to Native Americans during the westward expansion of the 1800s, and compare cholera to Ebola and other infectious diseases.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: The West: Frederick Jackson Turner (1861 1932)

For Students 9th - 10th
This PBS website provides a brief biographical sketch of Frederick Jackson Turner, and an overview of his theory regarding the significance of the American western frontier as the defining experience in the development of the American...
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Website
PBS

Pbs the West: A Wound in the Heart

For Students 9th - 10th
As many as three million buffalo were killed in two years after the coming of the railroad. This site tells the story through quotes from one of the hunters and from Native American writer Scott Momaday and others.
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Activity
PBS

Pbs the West: William Clark

For Students 9th - 10th
The PBS acclaimed series, "The West," provides a comprehensive biography of William Clark, the man forever linked to the epic achievements of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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Activity
PBS

Pbs the West: Meriwether Lewis

For Students 9th - 10th
Within the context of the critically acclaimed Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series, "The West", the life of Meriwether Lewis is explored.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs the West: William Tecumsah Sherman

For Students 3rd - 8th
Read about Sherman's history during the Civil War and afterwards as general commander of the U.S. Army.
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Website
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: Philip Sheridan

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Sheridan's experience in the Civil War and his later accomplishments fighting the Plains Indians.
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Graphic
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: Promontory Point, Utah

For Students 6th - 8th
A map and brief description of the events at Promontory Point, Utah where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads joined to make the first transcontinental railroad.
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Primary
PBS

Pbs: Julia L. Lovejoy

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from PBS provides letters by Julia Louisa Lovejoy written in 1855-1863 describe anti-slavery efforts in Kansas.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs the West: George Armstrong Custer

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a biography of General George Armstrong Custer who was killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn against the Lakota Indians.
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Handout
PBS

The West Project: John M. Chivington (1821 1894)

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a biography of the controversial and brutal general of the American Civil War John M. Chivington who is remembered for the Sand Creek Massacre of some 200 unarmed Indian women and children.
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Primary
PBS

The West: Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains the text of documents on the Sand Creek Massacre, including two editorials from the Rocky Mountain News, Congressional testimony by John S. Smith, and a deposition by John M. Chivington
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Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna, Mexican Leader

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of a larger website on the American West, this page provides a biography of Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876).
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Primary
PBS

Pbs Archives of the West: Dawes Act

For Students 9th - 10th
The text of the famous Dawes Act of 1887 which attempted to provide allotment of lands to Native Americans.
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Website
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: N. Scott Momaday: Keeper of the Flame

For Students 9th - 10th
PBS web page featuring quotes and biographical information on this Native American author & professor. Includes a jolly photograph!
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Activity
PBS

Pbs: Events in the West: 1800 1820

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive site on the development and history of the American West. In timeline fashion, this page details the events leading up to the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It continues with information about...
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Activity
PBS

Pbs the West: Sacagawea

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of a comprehensive site on the American West, this page explains Sacagawea's legendary role in the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: The West Benjamin "Pap" Singleton

For Students 9th - 10th
From the critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," this site provides a brief biography of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, a leader of the "Great Exodus" which brought thousands of African Americans west from the post-Reconstruction South.
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Handout
PBS

The West: Sitting Bull Tatanka Iyotanka

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a biography of Lakota Indian Chief Sitting Bull who led his tribe in the Battle of the Little Bighorn against General George Custer.
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Graphic
PBS

Pbs: The West: Lewis and Clark Expedition

For Students 9th - 10th
Part of the PBS site, "The West," this link gives a general explanation of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Links to biographies.
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Primary
PBS

Pbs the West: The Pursuit and Capture of Chief Joseph

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides detailed information on the Nez Perce campaign and the capture of Chief Joseph in an eyewitness account by Charles Erskine Scott Wood, aide to General Howard.
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Handout
PBS

The West: Stephen Fuller Austin (1793 1836)

For Students 9th - 10th
PBS presents a biography on the life of Stephen Fuller Austin. Known as "The Father of Texas," Stephen F. Austin established the first Anglo-American colony in the Teas province of Mexico and saw it grow into an independent republic.
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Website
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: Marcus Whitman & Narcissa Whitman

For Students 9th - 10th
PBS site detailing the Whitmans' journey to Oregon country, their establishment of a mission, and their death at the hands of the Indians. Also includes some background information.