The American West
The American West is one of the most iconic and popularized images of the evolving American Identity. Even today, more than 100 years after the end of the frontier, concepts such as the cowboy and the Indian wars captivate the minds of Americans young and old. From 1860 to 1890, Americans made progress towards the future of the country and continued the American dream by seeking home made fortunes and a better life on the uncharted plains. The West represents that dream in the American psyche, the concept of hard work and intrepid bravery. It's still a part of the American character in the stoic, hard cut strength and self sufficiency of the cowboy . Buffalo Bill's wild west show captivated audiences around the globe in the same way that western films caught the attention and affection of the American People years afterwards. This transgenerational portrayal of western themes, stories, and heros is driven by the fact that the west is deep seeded in the American Identity, and the majority of Americans identify with it. The legend of the Frontier has stood through the ages as a integral part of the American Identity, intrepid and rough spun in a way reminiscent of Lewis and Clark.
"A pretty view". Railroads brought life to the West and spanned miles of isolated land. 1890. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Happy Hours in Camp. Engineers Corps and visitors. Engineers such as these made the railroads possible. 1889. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 #
Lead City Mines and Mills. Mining towns such as this proliferated, stocked with workers trying to make a new life for themselves. 1889. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
"Branding cattle" Six cowboys branding cattle in front of a house. The idea of the cowboy is representative of the West's legacy. 1891. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
"We have it rich." Washing and panning gold, Rockerville, Dak. Panning for gold is, much like the cowboy, a symbol of the west and the self-made western man. 1889. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Gould mines on the Comstock Lode, the richest silver deposit in America. Working nine hundred feet underground, this striking photo depicts the treacherous, taxing physical labor of a miner.(Timothy O'Sullivan/National Archives and Records Administration)
A distant view of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1873. (Timothy O'Sullivan/National Archives and Records Administration)
Shoshone Falls, Idaho, in 1868. Shows the beauty and allure of the West. (Timothy O'Sullivan/Library of Congress)
Scene of Custer's last stand, bones at Little Bighorn battlefield. 111-SC-82966
A Montana Ranch. As ranches and farms popped up, the cowboy began to decline.
"The Covered Wagon of the Great Western Migration." A family poses with the wagon in which they live and travel daily during their pursuit of a homestead, characteristic of the movement west. 69-N-13606C
"Comanche," the only survivor of the Custer Massacre, 1876. The war on Indians was viewed as heroic. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
"Little," the instigator of Indian Revolt at Pine Ridge. The media tried to dehumanize indians by showing how vastly different they were from white men. Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
The stagecoach is a classic modern symbol of the West and adventure, of cowboys and Indians, of outlaws and sheriffs Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.
Quintessential "Knights" of the West, an idea that has lasted through the ages. 106-FAA-92B