Explore a selection of the memoirs, journals, letters, reports and images that went into the making of The West:
What happened to the expedition after it left Culiacan.
An account of the discovery of the province of Tiguex.
Translated from his personal narrative by Fanny Bandelier.
An account by Don Antonio de Otermin, governor and captain-general of New Mexico.
Outlines the terms of the deal and the formal treaty of cession.
Supreme Court ruling on status of Indians under the Constitution.
Supreme Court ruling on state jurisdiction over Indian lands.
Summary of arguments for relocating Eastern tribes in the West.
Texans take up arms against Santa Anna's dictatorship but hesitate to break free of Mexico.
Review of the causes for rebellion against Mexican rule.
On trial for the Whitman Massacre, Tiloukaikt and his fellow defendants reveal the motives for their crime.
The annexation of Texas helped President Polk oversee the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date.
Along with territorial disputes with Spain and Mexico, the fate of the Oregon Territory was one of the major diplomatic issues of the first half of the 19th century.
Written on the Trail to California
Written at "The Diggings" in California
Polk's message to Congress
The signing and ratification of this treaty ended the Mexican-American War.
A contemporary account.
Prelude to war between the United States and the Lakota Nation.
Amidst a war between North and South, Congress lays a foundation for settlement in the West.
The government program that spanned a nation.
A defense of plural marriage by a leading feminist of her era.
Lyrics to soothe both man and beast.
As told by Chief Red Horse, Minniconjou Lakota.
Brigham Young's account for the second trial of John D. Lee (1875) for the second trial of John D. Lee
Before his execution for the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Selected statements and speeches by the Nez Percé leader.
An American military perspective on the Nez Percé retreat and the accepted text for Joseph's famous "Fight No More Forever" speech of surrender.
Regarding African-American migration from the Southern states to Kansas.
President Chester Arthur on legislation needed to dissolve "the tribal bond, which is so prominent a feature of savage life."
A barracks ballad by Pvt. W. H. Prather, a member of the Ninth Cavalry.
The message that sparked the Ghost Dance movement.
By James McLaughlin, the Indian Agent who ordered the arrest.
Congress decrees an end to tribal homelands.
Ethnologist Alice Fletcher brings the Dawes Act to the people who welcomed Lewis and Clark.
An eyewitness account by Mrs. Z. A. Parker.
The survivors speak.
A new policy for the West based on principles of enlightened land and water management.
A commander's view of the last Indian uprising.
The West becomes a national resource protected by regulation rather than military power.
Learn more about the men and women featured in The West.
Watch clips from the film.
Available on UNUM
Ken Burns curates a new way to explore US history by theme and era.
