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Handout
PBS

James Knox Polk 1795 1849

For Students 9th - 10th
This brief summary covers major aspects of Polk's presidency, including his support of Andrew Jackson's policies.
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Website
PBS

Pbs the West: William F. Cody "Buffalo Bill"

For Students 9th - 10th
Buffalo Bill Cody, whose life lent itself to myth-making, helped define the American West. Read this biography about the man from PBS' series on The West.
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Graphic
PBS

Pbs: Indian Territory

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from PBS provides a short description and map of "the Indian Territory set aside by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the areas designated for each tribe."
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Primary
PBS

Pbs: Archives of the West: Selections From "With the Nez Perces"

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains selections from "With the Nez Perces: Alice Fletcher in the Field, 1889-92" by E. Jane Gay, which provided an anthropological look at the Nez Perce Indians and their bewilderment at the Dawes Act.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs the West: Big Foot (?? 1890)

For Students 9th - 10th
This article focuses on the massacre of Chief Big Foot and his followers at the Massacre of Wounded Knee.
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Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: John Augustus Sutter (1803 1880)

For Students 9th - 10th
Biography of John Sutter, a Swiss settler who helped to develop Californian and saw his fortunes dwindle after the California Gold Rush.
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Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: James Wilson Marshall (1810 1885)

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief biography of James Marshall who discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, which led to the California Gold Rush.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: The West: Rock Springs

For Students 9th - 10th
Offers very brief information and a map of the town of Rock Springs, Wyoming which was the site of the "Rock Springs massacre" in 1885. Federal troops had to be called in to restore order after miners went on a rampage and killed twenty...
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Primary
PBS

Pbs the West: Who Is the Savage?

For Students 9th - 10th
Tells the story in pictures, narrative and quotes of the Sand Creek Massacre, which took place in 1864 on the Cheyenne reservation near Denver.
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Website
PBS

Pbs the West: Crazy Horse

For Students 9th - 10th
From PBS New Perspectives on The West, find a short but thorough biography of Crazy Horse (1849-1877). This biography is part of a much larger site that assembles many materials and resources related to the history of the American West.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs the West: Exodusters

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains a description of the Exodusters and their impact on the American West through their immigration.
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Website
PBS

Pbs the West: Colorado

For Students 6th - 8th
Provides general information on the Sand Creek Massacre with links to information about John Chivington and Black Kettle.
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Primary
PBS

Pbs: Archives of the West: Photo: Exodusters Wait for Steamer

For Students 9th - 10th
Photo of exodusters waiting for a steamboat to take them to the west in late 1870s.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs the West: Joseph Farwell Glidden

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about the Illinois farmer who improved fencing the plains that led to the demise of open-range cattle ranching. Glidden is credited with the invention of barbed wire.