Historical Text of the American West

HISTORICAL TEXT

Historical Accounts of the 19th Century

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Symbolical Centenary Chart of American History 1876,

published by Brett Lithographing Co., 1874.

"American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”

-- James Aurthur Baldwin

Here, you will find excerpts and full articles from historical newspapers, periodicals, and books, written in the late 1800's and early 20th century. Read the words of those who actually witnessed the frontier, its hardships, successes, from those who are well-known such as soldiers and Presidents, to the ordinary pioneer traveling in wagons, on horses, and trains across the vast west.

Adventures and Tragedies on the Overland Trail - By Randall Parrish, book excerpt, The Great Plains: The Romance of Western American Exploration, Warfare, and Settlement, 1527-1870; 1907.

Adventures on the Bozeman Trail - By Grace Raymond Hebard and Earl Alonzo Brininstool, book excerpt, The Bozeman Trail: Historical Accounts of the Blazing of the Overland Routes Into the Northwest, 1922.

The Ashtabula, Ohio Railroad Disaster - The most terrible railroad disaster in U.S. History, newspaper accounts of the great train wreck.

The American Cowboy - By Jun Joseph Nimmo, Harper's Magazine, November, 1886.

American Horse - A Shrewd Sioux Chief - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

The Ark on Superstition Mountains - By Charles M. Skinner, book excerpt, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, 1896.

The Arikara Tribe - Indians With Horns - By Frederick Webb Hodge, book excerpt, Handbook of American Indians, 1906.

Bad Men of the Indian Nations - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Bad Men of Texas - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Banshee of the Bad Lands - By Charles M. Skinner, book excerpt, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, 1896.

The Beginnings of Dodge City - By Robert M. Wright, book excerpt, Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital and the Great Southwest, 1913.

Beginning of Settlement in the American West - By Randall Parrish, book excerpt, The Great Plains: The Romance of Western American Exploration, Warfare, and Settlement, 1527-1870; 1907.

Ben Thompson and Other Noted Gunmen - By Bat Masterson, who wrote a series of articles for Human Life magazine in 1907 and 1908.

Bill Booth - A Notorious Slayer - By James M. Enochs, hand written account, 1800's

Bill Bradley, Gambler and Gentleman - By John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady, book excerpt, Danger Signals, first published in 1898.

Billy the Kid - A Fatal Shot in the Dark by Pat Garrett - By Pat Garrett, book excerpt from The Authentic Life of Billy The Kid, 1882.

Bill Tilghman - Thirty Years a Lawman - By Bat Masterson, who wrote a series of articles for Human Life magazine in 1907 and 1908.

Blue Field, Arizona & An Indian Scrimmage - By John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady, book excerpt, Danger Signals, first published in 1898.

Boone Helm - Murderer, Cannibal & Thief - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Border Towns of the American West - By Robert M. Wright, book excerpt, Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital and the Great Southwest, 1913.

Buckskin Frank Leslie Marries Belle Stowell - Newspaper Accounts, 1896.

Buffalo Hunting With Teddy Roosevelt - By Theodore Roosevelt, book excerpt, Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches; 1893.

Building Along The Santa Fe Trail - By John Moody, book excerpt, The Railroad Builders, A Chronicle of the Welding of the States, 1919.

Burning of Osceola - Newspaper Accounts - Actual accounts of the Burning of Osceola..

The Cattle Kings - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

The Cattle Trails - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

Cattle Trails of the Prairie - By Charles Moreau Harger, Scribner's Magazine, June, 1892.

Chief Gall - An Aggressive Sioux Leader - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

Chief Joseph - Leader of the Nez Perce and a True American - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

Cochise, Arizona Train Robbery - By James Harvey McClintock, book excerpt, Arizona: The Youngest State, 1913.

Cowboys on the American Frontier - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

A Century of Railroad Building - By John Moody, book excerpt, The Railroad Builders, A Chronicle of the Welding of the States, 1919.

City of the Saints - By John Muir, book excerpt, Steep Trails, 1918.

Combatants of the Civil War - By William Charles Henry Wood, book excerpt, 1921.

Coming of the Argonauts - By The Beginnings of San Francisco From the Expedition of Anza, 1912.

Completion of the Railroad - By William Francis Bailey, book excerpt, The Story of the First Trans-Continental Railroad: Its Projectors, Construction and History, 1906.

Crazy Horse - A Sacred Hero - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

Dalton Raid in Coffeyville, Kansas - Newspaper accounts of the Dalton Gang attempted robbery in Coffeyville.

Death Scenes of Desperadoes - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Desert Outlaws - - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

The Desperado of the Plains - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

The Discovery Of Gold In California - By John A. Sutter, Hutchings’ California Magazine in November, 1857.

Doc Holliday - By Bat Masterson, who wrote a series of articles for Human Life magazine in 1907 and 1908.

Dodge City, Kansas Historical Accounts - From miscellaneous newspapers, actual testimonies, letters, and book excerpts.

Dodge - A Story of the Old Hell-raising Trail's End Where the Colt Was King - By By William MacLeod Raine in 1925

Dull Knife - Northern Cheyenne Chief - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

A Fight Between Deputy Marshals and the Miller Gang - Newspaper article, Cherokee Advocate, Claremore, Indian Territory, February 5, 1898.

The First Homestead - By Addison Erwin Sheldon, book excerpt, History and Stories of Nebraska, 1913.

First Train Robbery On The Pacific Coast - Excerpt from the Third Biennial Report of the Nevada Historical Society, 1913.

The Frontier In History - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

Frontier Wars - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Ghosts Of The National Capitol - By the Philadelphia Press, 1898.

The Governor's Right Eye - By Charles M. Skinner, book excerpt, Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, 1896.

Gunplay Maxwell - Various newspaper accounts of gunfighter/outlaw Gunplay Maxwell's exploits in Utah.

Harlots of the Barbary Coast - By Herbert Asbury, book excerpt, The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld, 1933.

Hell-Raising Dodge - By William MacLeod Raine, article, Dodge - A Story of the Old Hell-raising Trail's End Where the Colt Was King, 1925.

Heroines on the Plains - By William Worthington Fowler, book excerpt, Woman On The American Frontier: A Valuable And Authentic History, 1877.

Heroines in the Rocky Mountains - By William Worthington Fowler, book excerpt, Woman On The American Frontier: A Valuable And Authentic History, 1877.

Heroines of the Southwest - By William Worthington Fowler, book excerpt, Woman On The American Frontier: A Valuable And Authentic History, 1877.

The Imitation Desperado - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

American Horse, Sioux Chief

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Union Soldiers.

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Geronimo in 1886.

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photographic prints HERE!

Cowboys at water tank in

Dodge City, Kansas.

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Luke Short, cowboy, gambler,

lawman, gunfighter.

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In a Trapper's Bivouac - By By Henry Inman and William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, book excerpt, The Old Santa Fe Trail, 1898.

Indian Troubles During Construction of the Railroad - By William Francis Bailey, book excerpt, The Story of the First Trans-Continental Railroad: Its Projectors, Construction and History, 1906.

The Indian Wars - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

The Invasion of Oklahoma - By James Cox, book excerpt, My Native Land, 1903.

John Heath & the Bisbee Massacre - Newspaper accounts and witness testimony.

Joseph Slade - Hanged By Vigilantes - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

The Land of the Desperado - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Knights of the Lash: Old Time Stage Drivers of the West Coast - By Major Ben C. Truman in 1898.

Lawrence Massacre - By Reverend Richard Cordley, based on a letter written in 1863.

Linking the Oceans By Railroad - By John Moody, book excerpt, The Railroad Builders, A Chronicle of the Welding of the States, 1919.

Little Crow - Leader of the Santee Uprising - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

Little Wolf - Courageous Leader of the Cheyennes - By Charles A. Eastman, book excerpt, Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, 1918.

Loving's Bend - By Edgar Beecher Bronson, book excerpt, The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier, 1910.

Luke Short - A Dandy Gunfighter - By Bat Masterson, who wrote a series of articles for Human Life magazine in 1907 and 1908.

Modern Bad Men - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Story of the Outlaw; A Study of the Western Desperado, 1907.

Mormon Joe - The Robber - By John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady, book excerpt, Danger Signals, first published in 1898.

Mountain Meadows Massacre - Several historic accounts, including:

A Midnight Adventure in Nevada - By Major Benjamin Cummings Truman, excerpted from the book Occidental Sketches, San Francisco News Co., 1881.

The Mines - By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.

*Note: These historic texts are generally not verbatim, as we have taken the liberty of correcting errors, such as misspellings, dates, incorrect names, etc., as well as making format changes, and in some cases, replacing archaic words, in order to make the text more readable to the modern reader. We have also replaced a number of offensive terms. Additionally, some articles have been truncated.

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