Describes and illustrates the western territorial expansion of the United States, from post-Revolution territorial activities of the former thirteen colonies to the last military clashes in the early 1900s, through a variety of images created during that period.

Includes essays on events, publications, lifestyles and individuals important to the Westward Expansion Era in U.S. history.

"Uses primary sources to tell the story of Westward Expansion in the United States"--

The United States grew rapidly from the time of the Louisiana Purchase to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. All of this expansion came at the expense of Native American populations that had either lived in the region for centuries or been forced there from ancestral homes in the East. Tribes memorably fought on their own and together in an doomed effort to retain the land and a lifestyle that had long sustained their families. This book...

The romantic myth of America's frontier that many people encounter in the media is only part of the story of the nation's expansion in the nineteenth century. This book illustrates the push by European settlers and the federal government ever westward, and its effects on indigenous peoples. Through primary source historical images and the tragic narrative of broken treaties, relocations, and armed conflict, it brings the inspiring resistance and fight...

The Homestead Act was passed in 1862, when states that had seceded from the Union could no longer block it in congress. The act opened land in the west for all Americans, including freed slaves, granting 160 acres to settlers under the condition that they farm it for five years. The result was that 1.6 million claims, covering 420,000 square miles, were granted, making residents of millions of people in the land west of the Mississippi River.

Presents the greatest adventures of America's Westward expansion, from the Louisiana Purchase and the gold rush to the Indian wars and life of the cowboy, as well as the everyday happenings that defined living on the frontier.