PBS
American Experience: Buffalo Bill
This 1-hour documentary presents a portrait of William Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill. A western frontier legend in the 1880s, his Wild West Show travelled the globe making the American West into the American story.
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
University of Western Ontario: Early Writing in Canada: Catharine Parr Traill
Excerpts of letters written by Catharine Parr Traill, which she collected and published, along with her journals, in The Backwoods of Canada (1836). In these excerpts, she writes about her arrival in Newfoundland and a journey to Quebec.
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.
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.
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: Pioneer Children: Games, Toys, and Recreation
Learn about the lives of pioneer children whose families moved to Nebraska during the period of Western Expansion. Topics include toys, games and other activities for enjoyment.
Library of Congress
Loc: Encountering the American West: Ohio River Valley 1750 1820
This is a PDF of the information from LOC of the exhibition of America's move to its first West, that of the Ohio River Valley. Discussion includes these topics: Contested Lands, Peoples and Migrations, Empires and Politics, Western Life...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Homestead Act
The purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to shape the future of the Western regions of the United States by taming the region by populating the area with farmers. This article provides an overview of this important political incident...
OpenStax
Open Stax: u.s. History: The Westward Spirit
From a chapter on America's expansion westward in a history textbook. This section looks at how Americans felt about westward expansion in the mid-1800s, and ways that the federal government promoted migration. Includes review questions.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Statehood for Utah
This site provides discussion of Utah statehood from the Encyclopedia of Utah History.
George Eastman Museum
Photographers of the American West
Original pictures of Westward expansion. Great activities and discussion questions for cross-curricular learning.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Treasures of Am. History: Western Expansion
Shown are images and descriptions of artifacts that express the challenges that the migrants, Mexicans, and Indians shared in their quest for westward expansion in the United States during the 1800s.
History Tools
History Tools: Thomas Jefferson's Indian Policy [Pdf]
Primary source material on the message from Thomas Jefferson secretly delivered to Congress on his strategy to acquire Native American land and expand the western frontier. Paragraph numbers have been added.
Other
Kids Art's Art History Albert Bierstadt
This is an article about Bierstadt's painting of the western frontier. Also includes a copy of his painting "Yosemite Valley".
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Fur and Skin Trade
The fur and skin trade was a significant industry from the earliest permanent settlement of the region that became North Carolina. Pelts shipped to Europe included beaver, bear, deer, raccoon, mink, muskrat, opossum, wolf, and fox. Many...
Curated OER
Etc: The Frontier of France, 1648 1659
A map of the northern French frontier showing the districts ceded to France under the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 (Alsace) and the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 (western portion of Flanders, Lille, Hainault, and Bar).
Curated OER
Etc: Champlain and Mohawk Frontiers, 1609 1763
A map of the Lake Champlain region and Mohawk frontiers during the period between the battle of Samuel Champlain against the Iroquois in 1609 near Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. The map...
Curated OER
Etc: Maps Etc: Mexico and Western North America, 1845
A map of Mexico in 1845, prior to the ceding of the northern territories to the United States in 1846. The map shows the territories of Oregon, Texas, and Central America under Mexican control, and the frontiers of the Missouri and...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Maine: Fort Western
Built in 1754 in what was then a frontier area, this is the oldest wooden fort in the nation.
Other
The Alps of Switzerland and France
Incredible photographs of the Alps along the Swiss-French frontier feature facts about the mountain range, individual peaks, and the glaciers that characterize the nation.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Western Folkways
A very brief review of what were the important ways people in the West made a living in the last half of the 19th century.
Other
Doing History/keeping the Past: Farmers and Ranchers of Colorado
An essay on how farmers and ranchers lived and created communities in Colorado in the late nineteenth century. This was the period following the initial migrations of pioneers and homesteaders into the West.
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...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Arizona Became a New Territory
This 2-page article provides information about how Arizona became a new territory on February 24, 1863, and the corresponding silver and gold rush that encompassed the area.