Cowboy Country

Beginning in the early 1840s, more than 350,000 emigrants headed out into the American West in covered wagons, on horseback, and on foot. It was one of the biggest migrations in human history and one of the most difficult.

For centuries, the native peoples of the American West lived a proud, independent life. But in the mid of the 19th century, they found themselves overwhelmed by a torrent of emigrants.

Hollywood's portrayal of the American West may not always have been accurate but it's certainly helped preserve interest in this colorful or American history.

More than liberty, land or lumber, gold paved the way for the settlement of the American West.

Nothing so fundamentally changed the American West as did the "iron horse." This new form of transportation created fortunes hastened the end of ancient cultures and shaped a new world.

The history of the American West is often most colorfully told in places like Tombstone, Arizona; South Pass City, Wyoming; and Deadwood, South Dakota.