The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last few ...

"Wild Bill" Hickok kills gambler Davis Tutt in a shootout in Springfield, Missouri. The confrontation is sensationalized in Harper's Magazine , making Hickok a household name. It is often considered the archetypal one-on-one quick-draw duel , which later becomes a …

Although the “Wild West” was generally defined from 1865 to 1895, many events shaped the American West as a region from ancient times up to 1916. 50,000-5000 B.C. – Paleo-Siberians migrated to North America from Asia via the Bering Strait land bridge.

Life on the frontier in the late 1800s was tough and full of challenges. Photographer John C.H. Grabill captured this world through his camera lens. Between 1887 and 1892, he sent several photos to the Library of Congress. His work shows what daily life was like for people living in the West during that time.

Mar 5, 2017 · During the time, talk of the expansion of freedoms of commerce, society, and intellectualism of the newly minted American country were fiercely involved in the politics and policies of the late 18th, and early 19th century.

Mar 2, 2025 · What became known as the Wild West began in 1865 and lasted until 1900. This time became notorious for gunslingers, Indian wars, gritty lawmen, dangerous outlaws, business tycoons, and American pioneers pushing to the edge of the continent.

The Wild West, which thrived between roughly 1866 and 1890, seemed so wild because the rudeness and violence of the frontier clashed with the sensibilities of an encroaching civilization. By 1890 the forces of order had largely triumphed in the West.

Apr 2, 2025 · For three decades, beginning in the 1850s, raids and sporadic pitched fighting—punctuated by atrocities visited on civilians—took place up and down the western plains. In 1862 hundreds of settlers were killed and 38 Dakota warriors were hanged (the largest mass execution in U.S. history) during the U.S.-Dakota War in southern Minnesota.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 intensified American migration to the west that was already well underway. Anglo-American settlement in the 18th century had largely been confined to the eastern seaboard. It made its boldest inroads where rivers allowed easy internal transportation.

Jul 1, 2014 · Definition and Summary: The Wild West was so named for the lawlessness of the untamed territories west of the Mississippi River - the western United States during its frontier period. The period of the Wild West was from 1865 - 1895, a period of thirty years.