The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy

Some of the ways people think about the American West; how this vast, fascinating region comes into being; how it is shaped by centuries of myth-making; what about westward expansion fascinates every generation of Americans.

Understanding the mark left on the American West by its earliest colonists; the Spaniards, who introduce horses; the French, who develop a complex trade system; the English, who have little interest in colonizing the west of the Appalachians.

After the Revolutionary War, the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi becomes part of the new republic; how the territory is organized; the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 creates a new set of rules that clashes with old realities.

The journey of the two explorers who map the Louisiana Purchase between 1804 and 1806; how Lewis and Clark fit into the tradition of explorers looking for a water route to the Pacific; the political and geographic history of the Louisiana Purchase.

Fur traders and mountain men play an integral part in exploring and mapping the American West; why fur is a precious commodity; how John Jacob Astor dominates the American fur trade; how famous mountaineers like Jedediah Smith become legends.

One of the most dismal episodes in the story of the American West; the forced migration of the "Five Civilized Tribes" under the Indian Removal Act of 1830; it is this ordeal that the Cherokee come to call the "Trail of Tears".