Other
Conner Prairie: Western Immigration
This Conner Prairie Museum site explores the western immigration throughout the Midwest during the 1800s. Content details the incentives for migration, when it happened, the primary routes followed, and more.
PBS
Pbs: The West: Frederick Jackson Turner (1861 1932)
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...
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: "Forest & Frontiers: The Indian Parents" by Anonymous
This is the full text of the novel Forest & Frontiers by an Anonymous author. Captain William Wells was a noted hunter and ranger in the western country. He was captured by the Indians when but a child, and raised among them.
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: "The Last Trail" by Zane Grey
Text of the book "The Last Trail" by Zane Grey. (Free site registration offers some additional features, e.g., the ability to insert annotations.)
PBS
Pbs: The West Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
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.
New York Public Library
In Motion: African American Migration Experience: Western Migration: To Kansas
From the extensive site about African-American migrations, this part of the site focuses on Exodusters and African-Americans who moved to Kansas after the Civil War. Read first-person accounts and see photographs of these hardy...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Taming the American West
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the settling of the American West in the late 1800s and the challenges these settlers faced. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of...
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...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Contested Territories
This site highlights the westward expansion of settlers in North America and the effects this expansion had on Native Americans between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
George Eastman Museum
Photographers of the American West
Original pictures of Westward expansion. Great activities and discussion questions for cross-curricular learning.
Library of Congress
Loc: Nation Expansion and Reform: Traveling on the Overland Trails, 1843 1860
Primary source information about traveling the Overland Trails, both to Oregon Country and California.
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.
NSTATE
Washington: The Great Seal of Washington
Contains information on the Great Seal of Washington as well as information on the statehood of Washington.
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.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Our America: Western Expansion
Reviews of children's literature, student activities, and interactive games from Scholastic that enrich a student's understanding and appreciation of western expansion before the Civil War.
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
At Home in the Heartland: At Home on the Fringes of the Prairie (1800 1850)
Interactive site offers information and pictures pertaining to early pioneer life. See advertisements in the paper, furniture, glassware, and food preparation tools. Read stories of individuals who lived during that time and make...
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.
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: May 20: The Homestead Act
Gives facts about the Homestead Act and quotes from some homesteaders. Includes many links to additional resources within the Library of Congress site.
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.
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.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Utah History Encyclopedia: Statehood for Utah
This site provides discussion of Utah statehood from the Encyclopedia of Utah History.
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.
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".