Introduction

Welcome to the Wild American West!


The Wild West is a historical time period that has fascinated generations and here this wiki will be looking at some of the most wild figures and cultures of this era. What many consider to be the "Wild West" era is the period between 1865 to around 1900. It is the period right after the civil war to the new century where many people were expanding into the west for land, farming, and possible riches.

But this expansion in new region caused evitable change to the people moving there. There was chaos in terms of law throughout large reasons that allowed conflicts between the individuals and groups. This gave rise to criminal gangs that tormented the west made of many different individuals, white, black, and even Native Americans. In response famous lawmen became the symbols of justice and bounty hunters gained a fortune from hunting the criminals down.

"[Historians] have begun writing about the West as a crossroads of cultures, where various groups struggled for property, profit, and cultural dominance."

This quote is a perfect way to look at the American West. While popular culture has made the West into a sensation, it was a true meeting ground for many people unrestrained from the cultures they had been born into. It was a new land full of opportunity, and different people had to take it. Overall, this time period has a larger connection to history as we know it today. The theme of "Western movies" comes from this era of cowboys, gunslingers, and righteous heroes on horseback. However, this popular culture theme should be something that is understood with a knowing eye to the past and what truly happened. This era was a foundation of American history as people moved into country that we now know as states and major cities but taking land and fusing it with the cultures they brought with them. The West was "open ground" for settlers that turned into gunslingers and lawmen to create their own unique culture, on the back of the Native American tribes that were already there. This was not the first time to happen in American history, but it was one of the largest and widespread.

And beyond the scope of history, the Wild West has more importance. It was a ground for the blending of many cultures, white, black, Latino, and Native American that was distinct to the landscape and unique all on its own compared to the evolution fo other U.S. regions. It was also a vision of how law could be enforced and ignored when it comes to committing crime and being punished for. In some of the sections, this will be studied to see how society looked at punishment for crime in a rural circumstance. The West was the host of romanitization in the time period and afterwards, being the inspiration for artwork, literature, film, and music. It created a culture all its own that was entertaining for others to look at unlike many other eras of history.

In this project, the group will be looking at some of the aforementioned topics that made the West an era that fascinates people today. There will be a focus on lawmen, criminals (highwaymen), bounty hunters, Native American outlaws, and cultural environment. However, these topics will be blending into who some of the most famous individuals were, and what culture was created around them. But that is not to be limiter, much more shall be discussed in this project!

Written by Kim Krueger.

