Newspaper Articles about America’s ‘Wild West’

Sept. 2-4, 1839: Excerpts from the Diary of an Oregon Trail Pioneer
Sept. 4, 1839: Fatal Love Triangle in Idaho’s Fur-trapping Days
Sept. 6-13, 1839: More Diary Entries from an Oregon Trail Pioneer
1840s: The Oregon Trail: Pathway to the West
1840-46: Oregon Trail Helps Avoid War with Great Britain
May 17, 1843: American Rage against England over the "Oregon Question"
Dec. 19, 1843: Warnings about Oregon Trail’s "Horrors"
May 13 & 20, 1845: Oregon Trail Pioneer Writes about His Journey’s Progress
June 3, 1845: Oregon Trail Pioneers "Nervous, Intelligent, Brave, and Determined"
Dec. 29, 1845: Controversy over Admission of Texas into the Union
Jan. 5, 1846: Congress Risks War with England over the Oregon Country
June 15, 1846: Oregon Treaty Prevents War between U.S. and Great Britain
Jan. 24, 1848: California Gold Rush Begins after Find at Sutter’s Mill
Dec. 5, 1848: President James Polk’s Speech Spurs California Gold Rush
Sept. 9, 1850: California Statehood Angers Many
March 25, 1852: Indians and Whites Clash on the Oregon Trail
July 25, 1853: Joaquin Murietta, "Robin Hood of El Dorado," Killed in Ambush
Sept. 11, 1857: Mormons and the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Sept. 11, 1857: Mountain Meadows Massacre: Testimony Implicates the Mormons
Feb. 14, 1859: Slavery Clouds Oregon’s Admission into the Union
April 14, 1860: A Western Legend Is Born: First Pony Express Ride
Jan. 17, 1862: Remarkable Devotion of Shepherds’ Dogs after Indian Attacks
May 20, 1862: The Homestead Act of 1862: Land Freely Given, Much Abused
Oct. 31, 1864: Nevada Becomes a State as Civil War Continues
May 5, 1865: First Train Robbery in U.S. History?
1868-76: Newspaper Reports on Jesse James and the Notorious James-Younger Gang
Dec. 7, 1869: Outlaw Jesse James’s First Confirmed Bank Robbery
March 1, 1872: Yellowstone: The World’s First National Park
Feb. 18, 1874: An Editor’s Late-Night Encounter with Jesse James & Gang
April 1, 1874: The "Desperadoes" in the James-Younger Gang
June 25, 1876: Custer’s Infamous "Last Stand"
Sept. 7, 1876: Jesse James: the Bank Robbery That Destroyed His Gang
Oct. 5, 1876: A History and Eulogy for the James-Younger Gang
Oct. 10, 1877: Custer’s Funeral Held at West Point
Sept. 24, 1888: Letter Tells of the Kind Doctor Who Saved a Dying Jesse James
Nov. 2, 1889: Wild Statehood Celebrations for North and South Dakota
Sept. 16, 1893: A Wild, Crazy Scramble: the Oklahoma Land Rush
Jan. 4, 1896: Utah Becomes 45th State despite Mormons’ Troubled History
Nov. 30, 1902: Other "Kid" in Butch Cassidy’s Gang Sentenced to 20 Years
Nov. 16, 1907: Marriage Ceremony Celebrates Oklahoma Statehood