American Old West

The American Old West is generally considered to be located in western North America, usually the Western United States and usually occupying the timeperiod of the late 19th century, especially from the antebellum period to the turn of the century. It has played a significant role in history and fiction. The terms Old West and Wild West refer to life beyond the settled frontier. This terminology could place the setting as far back as the American colonial period, but is usually meant to signify the latter 1800s in the "Frontier Strip" (eg. six U.S. states from North Dakota south to Texas).

The real Old West

Certain events, locations, and characters existed that are part of the fabric of American history and it's folklore.

Related Topics:
American history - It's folklore

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Events and people

The frontier

;Pre-1800s and the Louisiana Purchase

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The various native tribes in North America streched from from the midwest to the west coast. There were widespread trade networks extending as far west as the Rockies, north to the Great Lakes, and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Inheritors of the ancient American culture, the Kiowa and other plains tribes inhabited the Great plains. Theses Plains inhabitants lived, travelled, and hunted from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the north border of Mexico to halfway through Alberta. The main Plains Indians tribes were the Dakota, the Blackfoot, the Cheyenne, the Lakota and the Comanche. Wild game was abundant and included vast herds of buffalo (American bison). In the southwest, the Apache and Navajo inhabited the dry fruitful lands.

Related Topics:
Ancient American culture - Kiowa - Other plains tribes - Great plains - Dakota - Blackfoot - Cheyenne - Lakota - Comanche - Buffalo - American bison - Apache - Navajo

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Francisco Vasquez de Coronado crossed the Arkansas River in 1541 and visited the centeral part of America. In 1776, that the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail was used by Commander Anza and a group of almost 300 settlers, soldiers, and their families across the Sonoran and Colorado Deserts in search of a better way of life along the edge of the Spanish Empire. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 expanded the western borders of America.

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The West explored

;Early 1800s

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Early explorers and trappers

The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804?1806) was the first United States overland expedition acrros the west frointier, to the Pacific coast, and then back, lead by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark.

Related Topics:
Lewis and Clark expedition - Meriwether Lewis - William Clark

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Mike Fink, the a semi-legendary brawler and river-boatman, was an early frontiersman that travelled into the Old West. He supposedly died around 1823 in the Rocky Mountains on a trip scouting, rafting, and trapping. The nature of his death involved an argument over a "cher ami" (sic).

Related Topics:
Mike Fink - Rocky Mountains

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Trails, roads, and routes

The 1821 opening of the Santa Fe Trail ("Santa Fe Road") by William Becknell allowed commercial trade between Kansas City, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico, until 1880. Bent's Fort, in Bent County, Colorado, was established by William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain. The fort was built in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and trappers. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes. The fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. Emigrants travelling futher on to California may have used the Old Spanish Trail (which ran from Santa Fe to the pueblo de los Angelos). The Southwest Trail was another pioneer route that was the primary route for American settlers bound for Texas. The Mormon Trail was the overland route the Mormon pioneers followed west from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake Valley, establishing Salt Lake City, Utah in 1846.

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The Oregon Trail was a key overland migration routes on which pioneers traveled across the North American continent in wagons. This trail helped the United States implement its cultural goal of Manifest Destiny, that is to build a great nation spanning the North American continent. The Oregon Trail spanned over half the continent as the wagon trail proceeded over 2,000 miles west through territories and land later to become six U.S. states (Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon). Between 1841 and 1869, the Oregon Trail was used by settlers to the Northwest and West Coast areas of what is now the United States. The California Trail, sharing a portion of the Oregon Trails route, was another major overland emigrant route across the American West from Missouri to California in the middle 19th century. It was used by 250,000 farmers and gold-seekers to reach the California gold fields and farm homesteads in California begiinning in the late 1840s.

Related Topics:
Oregon Trail - California Trail

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Indian Territory

Indian country was the land set aside within the United States for the use of American Indians. The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. It was more properly "Indian territory" (lower-case T) than "Indian Territory" (capital T) because the name referred to the unorganized lands set aside for Native Americans, as opposed to an organized territory meant for settlement by Easterners.

Related Topics:
Indian country - Indian Intercourse Act

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Other pioneers and settlers

In 1835, Davy Crockett, after being defeated in an election and being fed up with the the eastern folks, said, "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas". He joined the Texas Revolution. In November of 1835, Crockett left Tennessee for Texas. On 14 January 1836 Crockett and 65 other men signed an oath to the Provisional Government of Texas. Each man was promised about 4,605 acres (19 km²) of land as payment. On 6 February 1836 Crockett and about a dozen remaining men arrived at San Antonio de Bexar.

Related Topics:
Davy Crockett - Texas - Texas Revolution - San Antonio de Bexar

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Crockett took part in the Battle of the Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836) and was assigned to defend the south palisade in front of the chapel. The Texas forces of 180-250 were overwhelmed by the 1,300-1,600 Mexican soldiers. Tradition has it that Crockett went down fighting inside the Alamo. Controversial evidence has come to light since 1955 (Jose Enrique De la Pena diary) indicating that there may have been a half dozen or so survivors, with Crockett perhaps among them, taken prisoner by Mexican General Manuel Fernandez Castrillon after the battle and summarily executed on orders by General and President of Mexico Antonio López de Santa Anna. Both views enjoy support among historians.

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Kyle McGhee was a renowned "crazy old coot" of the Wild West. He was one of the premier settlers of California and was loved like a father figure by all who met him. McGhee spent a large part of his life searching for the fabled Gold of Cortez, unaware that Cortez was predominantly in the Arizona and Mexico areas. McGhee accidentally found a Gold deposit that sparked the surge of settlers to what would become the greater San Francisco area.

Related Topics:
Kyle McGhee - Gold of Cortez

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The Gold rush and Civil War era

;1849-1865

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The California Gold Rush was the 1848-1858 gold rush, a type of mass hysteria, sparked by the discovery of gold near Sacramento, California. The period is marked by mass migrations across the old west into Northern California. It was among the most important eras of migration in American history, and led to statehood for California. The peak of the rush was 1849, and immigrants of this period became known as '49ers. His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco who famously proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico" in 1859. Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented.

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Wild Bill Hickok, in 1855, was a stagecoach driver on the Santa Fe route and Oregon Trail. His gunfighting skills led to his nickname. He lived a while in Johnson County, Kansas and later was a town constable in Nebraska. He became well-known for single-handedly capturing the McCanles gang, through the use of a ruse. On several other occasions, Hickok confronted and killed several men while fighting alone. The Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, was also in use aroung this time. It was 1840 miles in length. The Pony Express Trail traversed the states of Missouri and California and the intrevening Utah Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Kansas Territory lands (ed. the present day states include: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California). It only stayed in operation for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861.

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When the Civil War erupted in April of 1861, Kit Carson resigned his post as federal Indian agent for northern New Mexico and offered to help organize the New Mexico volunteer infantry. Although New Mexico Territory officially allowed slavery, geography and economics made the institution so impractical that there were only a handful of slaves within its boundaries. The territorial government and the leaders of opinion all threw their support to the the Union. Carson participated in the Battle of Valverde (February 20?21, 1862), fought in and around the town of Valverde in the New Mexico Territory. It was a major Confederate success in the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War, despite having to leave later after the Battle of Glorieta Pass, which was a major Union victory. In the 1850s, Henry Hopkins Sibley invented the "Sibley tent", which was later widely used in the frontier.

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In 1862, Cochise and Mangas Coloradas, with 500 fighters, fought against a force of 3000 California volunteers under Carleton until howitzer artillery fire was brought to bear on their position. This was part of a series of conflicts between the encroaching Americans and the Apache. Cochise and the Apache continued their raids against American and Mexican settlements and military positions throughout the 1860s. The Colorado War (1864–1865) were clashes centered on the Colorado Eastern Plains between the U.S. Army and an alliance consisting largely of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Sioux Uprising (1862) unleashed a series of skirmishes in the southwestern quadrant of Minnesota which resulted in hundreds of dead. In the largest mass execution in U.S. history, 38 Dakota who were involved are hanged. About 1,600 others are soon sent to a reservation in present-day South Dakota.

Related Topics:
Cochise - Mangas Coloradas - Colorado War - 1864 - 1865 - Colorado Eastern Plains - Cheyenne - Arapaho - Sioux Uprising - Minnesota - Dakota

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The Wild Wild West

;1865-1889

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While the Eastern United States was beginning to experience the the Second Industrial Revolution (which started around 1871), the frontier was beginning to fill up. In the early days of the wild west, alot of the land was in the public domain, open both to livestock raising as open range and to homesteading. Throughout much of the Old West during this time, there was little to no local law enforcement and the military had only concentrated presence in the area at specific locations. Buffalo hunters, railroad workers, drifters and soldiers scrapped and fought, leading to the shootings where men died with their boots on. In the cities, business houses, dance halls and saloons catered to the Texas cattle drive trade. The historic Chisholm Trail was used for cattle drives. The trail ran for 800 miles from South Texas to Abilene, Kansas and was used from 1867 to 1887 to drive cattle northward to the railhead of the Kansas Pacific Railway, where they were shipped eastward. The trail was named after Jesse Chisholm who had built a number of trading posts. Cattle rustling was sometimes was serious offense and was always a hazard for the expeditions. It could result in the rustler's lynching by vigilantes (but most stories of this type are fictional). Mexican rustlers were a major issue during the American Civil War, with the Mexican government being accused of supporting the habit. Texans likewise stole cattle from Mexico, swimming them across the Rio Grande.

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Dodge City

Fort Dodge, Kansas, was established in 1859 and opened in 1865 on the Santa Fe Trail near the present site of Dodge City, Kansas (which was established in June 1872). The fort offered some protection to wagon trains, the U.S. mail service, and served as a supply base for troops engaged in the Indian Wars. At the end of 1872, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was crossing kansas. During this time, Dodge City acquired its infamous stamp of lawlessness and gun-slinging and it's infamous burial place - Boot Hill Cemetery. It was used until 1878. Dodge City was the buffalo capital until mass slaughter destroyed the huge herds and left the prairie littered with decaying carcasses. Law and order came riding into Dodge City with such respectable law officers as W. B. 'Bat' Masterson, Ed Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman, H. B. 'Ham' Bell and Charlie Bassett. The city passed an ordinance that guns could not be worn or carried north of the "deadline" which was the railroad tracks. The south side where "anything went" was wide open. Fort Dodge was closed in 1882 and due to a January 1886 blizzard, the cattle drives ended.

Related Topics:
Fort Dodge - Kansas - Dodge City, Kansas - Boot Hill Cemetery - W. B. 'Bat' Masterson

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Wild Bill and Calamity Jane

After the American Civil War, Wild Bill Hickok became an army scout and a professional gambler. Hickok's killing of Whistler the Peacemaker with a long range rifle shot had influence in preventing the Sioux from uniting to resist the settler incursions into the Black Hills. In 1876, Calamity Jane settled in the area of Deadwood, South Dakota, in the Black Hills region where she was close friends with Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Utter, all having traveled in Utter's wagon train. Jane later claimed to have been married to Hickok, and that Hickok was the father of her child; however this story is viewed with skepticism. On August 2, 1876, while playing poker in Deadwood (then part of the Dakota Territory but on Indian land), Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner, where he always sat in order to protect himself against sneak attacks from behind, and instead sat with his back to the door; unfortunately, his previous caution proved wise, as he was shot in the back of the head with a double-action .45 caliber revolver by Jack McCall. The motive for the killing is still debated. It is claimed that, at the time of his death, Hickok held a pair of aces and a pair of eights, with all cards black, and this has since been called a "dead man's hand". In 1876, Jane nursed the victims of a smallpox epidemic in the Deadwood area. She married Clinton Burke in 1891 after the couple had been living together several years.

Related Topics:
Calamity Jane - Dead man's hand

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Lincoln County War

The Lincoln County War (1877) was a conflict between two entrenched factions in the Old West. The "war" was between a faction led by wealthy ranchers and another faction led by the wealthy owners of the monopolistic general store in Lincoln County, New Mexico. A notable combatant on the side of the ranchers was Billy the Kid, the infamous 19th century American frontier outlaw and murderer. The Kid is reputed to have killed 21 men, one for each year of his life, but the figure is probably closer to nine (four on his own and five with the help of others).

Related Topics:
Lincoln County War - Billy the Kid

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The James gang

The criminal Jesse James was infamous for his activities in the Old West, often cast by the sensationalist media of the time as a contemporary Robin Hood. James and his compatriots robbed their way across the Western frontier targeting banks, trains, stagecoaches, and stores from Iowa to Texas. Eluding even the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the gang took thousands of dollars. James is believed to have carried out the first daylight bank robbery in peacetime, stealing $60,000 from a bank in Liberty, Missouri. While James did harass railroad executives who unjustly seized private land for the railways, modern biographers note that he did so for personal gain ? his humanitarian acts were more fiction than fact.

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Western Indian Wars

The Apache and Navajo Wars (1861–1886) had Col. Christopher "Kit" Carson fighting the Apache around the reservations in 1862. Skirmishes between the U.S. and Apaches continue until 1886, when Geronimo surrenders to U.S. forces. Kit Carson used a scorched earth policy in the Navajo campaign, burning Navajo fields and homes, and stealing or killing their livestock. He was aided by other Indian tribes with long-standing enmity toward the Navajos, chiefly the Utes. He later fought a combined force of Kiowa, Comanche and Cheyenne to a draw at the First Battle of Adobe Walls, but managed to destroy the Indian village and winter supplies. 'Bat' Masterson also fought at the Battle of Adobe Walls.

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Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) was lead by the Lakota chief Makhpyia luta (Red Cloud) and was the most successful war against the U.S. during the Indian Wars. By the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), the U.S. granted a large reservation to the Lakota, without military presence or oversight, no settlements, and no reserved road building rights. The reservation included the entire Black Hills.

Related Topics:
Red Cloud's War - Lakota - Makhpyia luta - Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) - Black Hills

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Captain Jack, was a chief of the Native American Modoc tribe of California and Oregon, and was their leader during the Modoc War (1872–1873). With 53 Modoc warriors, under Captain Jack held off 1000 men of the U.S. Army for 7 months. Captain Jack killed Edward Canby was the only general killed during the Indian Wars (contrary to the occasional impression that Custer ranked higher than lieutenant colonel).

Related Topics:
Captain Jack - Modoc War - 1872 - 1873 - Modoc - Edward Canby - Indian Wars

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The Black Hills War (1876–1877) was conducted by the Lakota under Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) and Tasunka witko (Crazy Horse). The conflict began after repeated violations of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). One it's famous battles was the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) – Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) and Tasunka witko (Crazy Horse) defeat the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer.

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The end of the Indian Wars came at the Massacre of Wounded Knee (December 28, 1890) where Tatanka Iyotake's half-brother, Big Foot, and some 200 Sioux are killed by the U.S. 7th Cavalry. (Only thirteen days before, Tatanka Iyotake had been killed with his son Crow Foot in a gun battle with a group of Indian police that had been sent by the American government to arrest him.)

Related Topics:
Massacre of Wounded Knee - December 28 - 1890 - Big Foot - 7th Cavalry

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Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was an event of legendary proportion in the Wild West. 'Bat' Masterson visited Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona, leaving shortly before the famous event. The gunfight occurred on Wednesday morning, October 26, 1881, in a vacant lot, known as lot 2, in block 17, behind the corral, in Tombstone, Arizona. Thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp fought against Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, and Ike Clanton. Both McLaurys were killed, as was Billy Clanton.

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Buffalo Bill Wild West Show

The frontiersman and showman, Buffalo Bill, toured the United States starring in plays based loosely on his Western adventures. His part typically included an 1876 incident at the Warbonnet Creek where he scalped a Cheyenne warrior, purportedly in revenge for the death of George Armstrong Custer. In Omaha, Nebraska in 1883, Cody founded the "Buffalo Bill Wild West Show," a circus-like attraction that toured annually: Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull both appeared in the show. In 1887 he performed in London in celebration of the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria, and toured Europe in 1889.

Related Topics:
Buffalo Bill - Annie Oakley

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The Frisco Shootout

Elfego Baca became a legendary lawman in the closing days of the American wild west. On December 1, 1884, in the town of Frisco (now Reserve), Baca arrested one a cowboys who had been shooting up the town and had taken pot shots at Baca. After threats from the cowboy's friends, Baca took refuge in the house of Geronimo Armijo. A standoff with the cowboys ensued and a gang of 80 cowhands attacked the house. The story has it that the cowboys fired more than 4,000 rounds into the house until the house looked like Swiss cheese. Incrediby, not one of the rounds hit Baca. During the siege Baca killed four of the attackers and wounded eight others. After 36 hours, the attack ended when the cowboys ran out of ammunition. Baca walked out of the house unharmed. In May 1885 Baca was charged with the murder of one of the cowboys who had attacked the cabin and he was jailed until his trial for murder. In August 1885 he was acquitted after the door of Armijo?s house was entered as evidence. It had over 400 bullet holes in it.

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1890 and beyond

Closing of the frontier

The eleventh U.S. Census was taken June 1, 1890, though original data is no longer available. After the 1890 census, it was announced that the frontier region of the United States no longer existed. The tracking of westward migration was no longer tabulated in the census. This trend prompted Frederick Jackson Turner to develop his milestone Frontier Thesis. Ironically, the Great Plains began losing population during Turner's lifetime and has continued to do so for the last century, with more and more counties falling into a "frontier" status (using Turner's definition) than in 1900.

Related Topics:
U.S. Census - June 1 - 1890 - Frederick Jackson Turner - Frontier Thesis

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Cross-border raids

Pancho Villa, after leaving his father's employ, took up the life of a banditry and outlawishness in Durango and later in the state of Chihuahua, whence he immigrated. He was caught several times for crimes ranging from banditry to horse thievery and cattle rustling but, through influential connections, was always able to secure his release. Villa later would become a controversial revolutionary folk hero, leading a band of Mexican raiders in attacks against various regimes and was sought after by the U.S. government.

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War of Incorporation

The Johnson County War was a range war which took place in Johnson County, Wyoming, in the Powder River Country, in April, 1892. The dramatic events of 1892 took place against a background of violent conflict over land use that stretched from 1889 to 1909. Historian Richard Maxwell Brown refers to the events in Wyoming as part of a wider "Western Civil War of Incorporation". The large ranches were organized as the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (the WSGA) and hired killers from Texas; an expedition of 50 men was organized, which proceeded by train from Cheyenne to Casper, Wyoming, then toward Johnson County, intending to eliminate alleged rustlers and also, apparently, to replace the government in Johnson County. After an intial hostilities, the sheriff of Johnson County raised a posse of 200 men and set out for the ruffian's location. The posse led by the sheriff besieged the invading force at the TA Ranch on Crazy Woman Creek. After two days, one of the invaders escaped and was able to contact the acting Governor of Wyoming. Frantic efforts to save the besieged invaders ensued, and telegraphs to Washington resulted in intervention by the President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. The Sixth Cavalry from Fort McKinney was ordered to proceed to the TA ranch and take custody of the invaders and save them from the posse. In the end the invaders went free after the court venue was changed and the charges dropped.

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◄ American Old West: Overview

American Old West: Fiction and non-fiction ►

~ Table of Content ~

►	Introduction
►	Overview
►	The real Old West
►	Fiction and non-fiction
►	See also
►	External links

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