Cowboys are usually what we associate with a study of the American Wild West, but there are many interesting facets from 1850 to the turn of the century to look into. I've listed 10 other possibilities that made this time period come alive for us.
- Frontier women - teachers, one-room schoolhouses, Calamity Jane
- Animals - horses, bison, cattle
- Legends - bad and good, Bass Reeves, Wyatt Earp, Kit Carson, Billy the Kid
- Native Americans - many tribes, ways of life and changes to it, Indian Wars
- Art - George Catlin, Frederic Remington
- Inventions or improvements - Transcontinental railroad, pony express, telegraph, photography
- Yellowstone National Park - first in the nation, conservation
- Businesses - banks, stores, Buffalo Bill's Wild West tent shows, newspapers
- Military - Custer, outposts and forts, Arizona War
- Unique events - Oregon Trail, Gold Rush, Oklahoma land rush, Homestead Act
If you've read enough cowboy stories to last you a while, pick one or two of these 10 areas to find out what was happening off the range.
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