Westward Expansion
Five Things to Know About the Redrawn National Monuments
The president is reducing two massive National Monuments by millions of acres. Read the context behind the decision and what to expect going forward
The Poetic Tale of Literary Outlaw Black Bart
Stagecoach robber Charles Bole took the inspiration for his pseudonym from pulp fiction
How the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty Changed the Plains Indian Tribes Forever
The peace agreement set up reservations for the tribe—only to break that agreement in the following decades
As Wildfires Rage Across California Wine Country, a Historical Structure Turns to Ash
The iconic Round Barn was destroyed at Fountaingrove, once home to a Utopian community and one of America’s first Japanese immigrants
The Wild West of Knott's Berry Farm Is More Fantasy Than Reality
A critic of government welfare, the theme park's Walter Knott built the first “Old West” town as a shrine to rugged individualism
Three Things to Know About the Buffalo Soldiers
These segregated regiments offered black soldiers a chance to fight for their rights
How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a Nuisance
A mainstay of Western culture, the free-roaming stallions are now a force to be reckoned with
Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the American Way of Treason
The U.S. had good reason to be cautious about drawing a line between disloyalty and conduct deserving of prosecution
The Lesser-Known History of African-American Cowboys
One in four cowboys was black. So why aren’t they more present in popular culture?
The Little House on the Prairie Was Built on Native American Land
Yesterday was Laura Ingalls Wilder's 150th birthday. It's time to take a critical look at her work
This Hell-Raising Suffragist’s Name Will Soon Grace an Oregon Hotel
Abigail Scott Duniway staged a lifelong fight for women's rights
Murder, Marriage and the Pony Express: Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Buffalo Bill
His adventures were sensationalized in print and the Wild West show, but reality was more complicated—and compelling
A Brief History of the Racketeer Nickel
A fraudulent 5-cent piece dug up in Deadwood may not be very valuable, but its story is worth its weight in gold
Making the Case for the Next American Saint
Sister Blandina Segale showed true grit while caring for orphans and outlaws in New Mexico
How the Reno Gang Launched the Era of American Train Robberies
150 years ago today, the first-ever train robbery took place in Indiana, setting off decades of shoot outs and bloodshed
Nine Places Where You Can Still See Wheel Tracks from the Oregon Trail
The legendary trail has carved itself into American history—and, in some places, into the earth itself
Hearst Castle Has a Brush With California's Wildfires
Curators were ready to evacuate the Hearst Estate, now a state park and museum full of priceless art, furniture and history
The History of the American West Gets a Much-Needed Rewrite
Artists, historians and filmmakers alike have been guilty of creating a mythologized version of the U.S. expansion to the west
The Surprising History of the Infographic
Early iterations saved soldiers' lives, debunked myths about slavery and helped Americans settle the frontier
That Time When Custer Stole a Horse
The theft of a prize-winning stallion gave the famous general a glimpse of a future that could have been
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