On first glance, the Mexican-American War seems to be a simple border dispute. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that the war was also about slavery, politics, citizenship, and resources. Illuminating text explores the events preceding the war, the motivations of the key players, and the effects on Mexican, American, and indigenous people. Primary source material will bring the reader back in time to the period of westward expansion in...

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...

Explains the hazardous challenges of daily pioneer life, such as finding the food, water, and fuel that people needed to survive.

Explains how cattle ranching evolved from its historical Spanish roots to the cattle-boom era of the 1880s, when cattle drives, cow towns, cattle trails, and the open range played a pivotal role in forming the culture of the West.

With the discovery of gold and the dream of riches, millions of prospectors flocked to California and the Southwest, hoping to find their fortune. The gold rush is just a part of the transformation of the most western reaches of the American frontier.