The Frontier, the American West, and Our National Identity
This week you have explored the American West from the 1860s to the 1890s. You discussed the Indian Wars and conflicts between the US Cavalry and the Great Plains Tribes from the Sand Creek Massacre to Battle of Little Big Horn to Wounded Knee. You read about the heyday of cowboys on the open range and on their long drives, and about the old West of “Helldorados” and vigilante law and order. You considered the plight of homesteaders in covered wagon trains and sodbusters carving homes of soil. You evaluated the impact of the Iron Horse, mining operations, farm mechanization, and even barbed wire. You thought about the millions who lined up to see Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and who read dime-store novels celebrating such characters as Boone, Crockett, and Bowie. In just three decades, the American West was irreversibly transformed, and the frontier officially gone.
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Was this progress or lost freedom? What did/does the West stand for in the American psyche? How does the American West define/shape our national character? Why are the myths, legends, and lore perpetuated? What role did the Western landscape and the idea of the frontier play in the development of the distinct American identity?
TASK:
1) Create a new page on your website (standard page is fine) titled “American West”.
2) Write an opening paragraph (intro to your exhibit) that addresses the above ideas and questions.
3) Search for photographs on the below websites that illustrate your points and that capture the essence of the West during this
transformative period from 1860s-1890s.
4) Assemble your collection of 15 photographs and briefly explain each choice.
WEBSITES:
1) National Archives, “Photographs of the American West: 1861-1912”
196 photos with subject index
http://www.archives.gov/research/american-west/
2) Denver Post, “Photos: Frontier Life in the American West”
A Collection of John Grabill Photographs (66 photos)
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/02/23/from-the-archive-frontier-life-in-the-west/2713/
“Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western
photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life — hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native
Americans. Most of his work is centered on Deadwood in the late 1880s and 1890s. He is most often cited for his photographs in the aftermath of the
Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.”
3) The Atlantic, “The American West, 150 Years Ago”
Collection of Timothy O’Sullivan Photographs (34 photos)
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/the-american-west-150-years-ago/100304
4) Google Images, Search: Photographs of the American West by
Edward Curtis
William Henry Jackson
Carleton Watkins
5) University of Nebraska, Gallery of the Open Frontier
Collection of National Archives Photographs
http://gallery.unl.edu/gallerytour.html
6) Denver Public Library, Western History Digital Collection (“Highlights” for topics)
http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/photographs/
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Was this progress or lost freedom? What did/does the West stand for in the American psyche? How does the American West define/shape our national character? Why are the myths, legends, and lore perpetuated? What role did the Western landscape and the idea of the frontier play in the development of the distinct American identity?
TASK:
1) Create a new page on your website (standard page is fine) titled “American West”.
2) Write an opening paragraph (intro to your exhibit) that addresses the above ideas and questions.
3) Search for photographs on the below websites that illustrate your points and that capture the essence of the West during this
transformative period from 1860s-1890s.
4) Assemble your collection of 15 photographs and briefly explain each choice.
WEBSITES:
1) National Archives, “Photographs of the American West: 1861-1912”
196 photos with subject index
http://www.archives.gov/research/american-west/
2) Denver Post, “Photos: Frontier Life in the American West”
A Collection of John Grabill Photographs (66 photos)
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/02/23/from-the-archive-frontier-life-in-the-west/2713/
“Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western
photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life — hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native
Americans. Most of his work is centered on Deadwood in the late 1880s and 1890s. He is most often cited for his photographs in the aftermath of the
Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.”
3) The Atlantic, “The American West, 150 Years Ago”
Collection of Timothy O’Sullivan Photographs (34 photos)
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/the-american-west-150-years-ago/100304
4) Google Images, Search: Photographs of the American West by
Edward Curtis
William Henry Jackson
Carleton Watkins
5) University of Nebraska, Gallery of the Open Frontier
Collection of National Archives Photographs
http://gallery.unl.edu/gallerytour.html
6) Denver Public Library, Western History Digital Collection (“Highlights” for topics)
http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/photographs/