Overview

Exploring the lives of the wide range of people who struggled to make a home for themselves in this harsh and unforgiving region. Including descriptions of how a variety of people lived their daily lives, from nomadic Indian tribes to Chinese immigrants and from cowboys to city-dwellers. It also conveys how those individual lives are reflected in the sweeping changes that occurred in a century that saw the West become the most modern and diverse of all the nation's regions. Readers will also find the expected cast of characters (gunfighters, American Indian leaders, cowboys, and so on) that have long captured the imagination of people around the world covered with an academic focus that tries to tell an accurate story of the West and its role in the United States. This engaging format takes a close and nuanced look at the daily lives of those in the American West, enjoyable for students and general readers alike.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jason E. Pierce (Angelo State University, TX)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN:  

9798216461562

Pages:   352
Publication Date:   19 March 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Primary & secondary/elementary & high school ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Educational: Primary & Secondary
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Timeline Glossary 1. DOMESTIC LIFE OF AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE AMERICAN WEST Domestic Life and Paleo-Indians Daily Life for Indian Peoples at the Dawn of Contact Daily Life of the Plains Indians in the 18th and 19th Centuries The Central Role of the Bison in Daily Domestic Life On the Cusp of Great Changes 2. DOMESTIC LIFE ON THE OVERLAND TRAILS Into the West A Message from the West To Oregon! Daily Life on the Oregon Trail The Donner Party Childhood on the Trail 3. DOMESTIC LIFE ON THE MINING FRONTIER Settling into the West Daily Life in the Mining Camps Women in the Mining Camps Coal Mining in the Mountain West The Legacy of Mining in the West 4. ECONOMIC LIFE IN THE AMERICAN WEST The Intrusion of Capitalism and the Fur Trade The Destruction of the Bison The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Industry Railroads, Telegraphs, and Daily Life in a Shrinking World Words Written on Lightning From Frontier to Industrial Society 5. POLITICAL LIFE IN THE AMERICAN WEST Political Expansion Lewis and Clark, the Fur Trade, and the Coming of the United States Political Life for Plains Indians and the Challenge of American Expansion Manifest Destiny Northerners and the Shaping of the West Conservation and Preservation Conclusion: Political Life and the Rise of the Federal Government 6. RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE AMERICAN WEST American Indian Spirituality Christian Missionaries and Conversion Efforts The Mormons Religion in the 19th-Century American West 7. THE INDIAN WARS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF DAILY LIFE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS The Grattan “Massacre” The Bloody Texas Frontier The Sand Creek Massacre The Red River War The Sioux Wars of 1876–1877 The Reservation System and the Dawes Act The Ghost Dance and the Tragedy of Wounded Knee 8. INTELLECTUAL LIFE AND THE MYTH OF THE WEST EPILOGUE: THE FUTURE OF THE WEST Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Jason E. Pierce, PhD, is department chair and professor of American history at Angelo State University, USA.

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