HIS 430: History of the American West (Fall 2025)

The American West is an evocative term that conjures up images of cowboys and Indians, covered wagons, sheriffs and outlaws, and endless prairies as well as contemporary images ranging from national parks to the oil, aerospace, and film industries. In addition, the West encompasses not only the past and present of the area west of the Mississippi but also the frontier as it moved across each of the fifty American states, offering the promise of freedom and a better life to pioneers and settlers in every era. This authoritative, comprehensive, and lavishly illustrated single-volume encyclopedia is a rich source of information about these many American West, real and imaginary, old and new, stretching from coast to coast and throughout the country's history and culture. The encyclopedia, a thoroughly revised and expanded version of Howard Lamar's acclaimed twenty-year-old Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West, consists of more than 2,400 entries in alphabetical order by more than 300 contributors, along with over 600 illustrations and maps (four times more than in the original edition). The book includes articles by such authorities as Leonard J. Arrington on Mormonism, Anne Butler on prisons and prostitutes, John Mack Faragher on the fur trade, California, and television and radio westerns, Martha Sandweiss on photography, and Ron Tyler on western prints. Among the other topics covered are: the formative period of each state; the diplomacy of American expansion; important discoverers and mountain men; major Native American tribes, their leaders, and culture; pivotal women such as Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, and Willa Cather; African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans on the western frontier; novelists, artists, and filmmakers and the real and fictional people they turned into mythic heroes or villains; politicians from Benjamin Franklin to Ronald Reagan; major cities and landmarks; and conservation and wildlife issues. The West continues to be a symbol of both America's frontier past and its troubled future. This book is an indispensable introduction to its endlessly fascinating story.

The Encyclopedia of Politics in the American West' is an A to Z reference work on the political development of one of America's most politically distinct, not to mention its fastest growing, regions. It covers not only the significant events and actors of Western politics, but also deals with key institutional, historical, environmental, and sociopolitical themes and concepts that are important to understanding more fully the politics of the West over the last century.

The Encyclopedia of Women of the American West captures the lives of more than 150 women who made their mark from the mid-1800s to the present, contextualizing their experiences and contributions to American society. Including many women profiled for the first time, the encyclopedia offers immense value and interest to practicing historians as well as students and the public.

The Encyclopedia provides a complete and definite history of racial and ethnic groups that populated the American West, those states west of the 100th meridian. The volumes cover the settling of the West and include coverage of movements of native American tribes, African Americans and the often underreported role of women in the West′s development. Key features and benefits include: - illustrations, maps and photos from international archives; - bilbiographical entires detailing the settling of the American West; - unique coverage of the migration of native American tribes; - discussion of the role of African Americans in the development of the American West; - focus on women in the migration and immigraton of the American West. Key themes: - American Natives - Biographies - Cities and Towns - Economic Change and War - Ethnic and Racial Groups - Immigration Laws and Policies - Libraries - Natural Resources Events and Laws - The Way West The Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West is a unique addition to any academic or public library.

This new four-volume encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource available on the history of Native Americans, providing a lively, authoritative survey ranging from human origins to present-day controversies. * Approximately 450 entries within four separate volumes * Approximately 110 contributors from among the foremost scholars in the fields, including Troy Johnson on self-determination movements, Richard King on sports mascots, and Jon Rehyner on recovery of Native languages * Hundreds of images, including illustrations, photographs, and maps * A series of helpful research tools rounding out the fourth volume, including an extensive chronology, topical bibliography, and a comprehensive index

At the dawn of the twentieth century the universal consensus was that the American Indian was about to "vanish." More than two centuries of devastating wars, forced migrations, confinement, starvation, and disease had cost untold Indian lives, and the Native population was at a historic low. Pressure for land and resources was intense. Advocates and reformers urged the government to "assimilate" Indians by breaking up their remaining land base and stamping out tribal cultures. Yet American Indians did not disappear. Rather, they have adapted and thrived, maintaining much of their cultures, languages, and identities. The Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century provides a comprehensive overview of this dramatic process through profiles of key individuals, organizations, government policies, and events that have defined Native history since 1900. Providing one-stop alphabetical access to information not readily available in other sources, with extensive cross-references and suggestions for further reading, this authoritative reference work offers the clearest and most unified picture of the American Indian in the twentieth century.

Latinos are the fastest growing population in America today. This two-volume encyclopedia traces the history of Latinos in the United States from colonial times to the present, focusing on their impact on the nation in its historical development and current culture. "Latino History and Culture" covers the myriad ethnic groups that make up the Latino population. It explores issues such as labor, legal and illegal immigration, traditional and immigrant culture, health, education, political activism, art, literature, and family, as well as historical events and developments. A-Z entries cover eras, individuals, organizations and institutions, critical events in U.S. history and the impact of the Latino population, communities and ethnic groups, and key cities and regions. Each entry includes cross references and bibliographic citations, and a comprehensive index and illustrations augment the text.