American West

Directory of Online Resources on the History of the American West.

History > U.S. > American West Table of Contents
General Links (below)
Digital Library
Photo & Map Archives

Native Americans
Latino / Chicano History

Frontier History
Romantic West

Westward Movement

Lewis & Clark
Religious History
Gold Rush

See also
American Southwest Archaeology
Canadian Studies
Environmental History
Mexican History

Links & General Directories

Start with:
History of the American West, 1740-1920
Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library
"Over 30,000 photographs, drawn from the holdings of the Western History and Genealogy Department at Denver Public Library, illuminate many aspects of the history of the American West. Most of the photographs were taken between 1740 and 1920. They illustrate Colorado towns and landscape, document the place of mining in the history of Colorado and the West, and show the lives of Native Americans from more than forty tribes living west of the Mississippi River. Also included are World War II photographs of the 10th Mountain Division, ski troops based in Colorado who saw action in Italy."
American Memory, Library of Congress

WestWeb: Western History Resources
"...a topically-organized website about the study of the American West created and maintained by a born-and-bred Westerner, Catherine Lavender, of the Department of History, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York...Under each topic heading, you will find collections of primary and secondary documents, biographical and bibliographical resources, lists of hot links to other sites of interest, and images

Continue on with:
Columbia River History
A Changing Columbia Basin, 1770-Present
Sections include: The Columbia Basin in 1770 ; The Columbia Basin in 1940 ; The Columbia Basin Now ; Other Salmon Links.
"This information is available as a free Oregon Sea Grant publication"

Multicultural American West
"This site is intended as a space for the interactive exchange of ideas, information, and educational tools related to American West in multicultural and intercultural perspective. We hope to serve high school and college students, teachers, professors and independent scholars with an interest in the multicultural West. By "multicultural" we mean to stress culture as defined by race, ethnicity, language, and nationhood, but also to include gender, sexuality, class, religion, and other factors as distinct cultural forces."
American Studies Program, Washington State University

NativeWeb
"Our indexed and searchable database contains hundreds of links concerning Native, Aboriginal, and Indigenous internet resources on all seven continents."
Includes a Resource Center and a Community Center

America's West - Development & History
A Celebration of the Human Spirit
"A PRESENTATION of the History and Development of the American West, from the Frontier and Pioneer days of the Wild West, to today's Modern West."

Mountain Men and the Fur Trade
Sources of the History of the Fur Trade in the Rocky Mountain West
"The ultimate goal for this web site is to provide a virtual research center for Western Fur Trade History. The main focus is the Mountain Men in the United States Rocky Mountain region in the period from 1800-50. The first priority is to provide an e-text collection of the most important historical source materials."

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) (Boise, ID)

• Current Wildland Fire Update
• National Fire Maps - (dead link)

PBS - American Experience - Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film (March 2003)
Companion web site to the TV broadcast.
"...offers insights into American history topics including the closing of the wilderness, the American West, California history, Japanese American internment, the natural environment, conflicts between economic growth and conservation of the American landscape, photographs as documentary historical sources, media literacy, and the role of art."
Sections include: Transcript ; Primary Sources ; Further Reading ; Inside a View Camera ; Adams' Photo Gear ; Art or Document ; Early Hiking Footage ; Timeline ; Gallery ; People & Events ; Teacher's Guide.

PBS - American Experience - Lost in the Grand Canyon
John Wesley Powell's 1749 expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Website companion to the PBS broadcast.
"Transformed by his experience, Powell would forever change America's attitude toward the West. "Lost in the Grand Canyon" is an account of the dramatic quest to explore one of the most unforgiving, and breathtakingly beautiful, places on earth."
Sections include: The Film & More ; Special Features ; Timeline ; Maps ; People & Events ; Teacher's Guide.

PBS - American Experience - Remember the Alamo (February 2004)
Companion website to the PBS broadcast.
"The one-hour documentary Remember the Alamo explores the life of the famed Tejano leader and his efforts to protect the sovereignty of his homeland as it passed through the hands of multiple governments."
Sections include: The Film ; Special Features ; Timeline ; Maps : People & Events ; Teacher's Guide.

PBS - American Experience - Mount Rushmore (February 2003)
Sections include: Carving a Mountain ; Contest ; Footage ; The Film & More ; Special Features ; Timeline ; Gallery ; People & Events ; Teacher's Guide.

PBS - Great Lodges (Summer 2002)
"Explore 15 great public lodges of the West, delving into the times and personalities that shaped each building and its Park settings."
Includes: Grand Lodges ; Pacific Northwest ; Canyon Lodges ; Glacier Lodges.

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PBS - New Perspectives on The West
"Designed to complement THE WEST, the site assembles many of the documentary materials that went into the making of this landmark series and highlights the new perspectives it affords on this much-surveyed part of our past."

Western History Association - (dead link) "...exists to promote the study of the North American West in all its varied aspects and in its broadest sense."

Maintained by Mike Madin.
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