"Those who appreciate the impact of history will be impressed with the selection of articles." -Nebraska History

MapList of IllustrationsAcknowledgments and PermissionsTimelineGeneral Introduction by Martin RidgePart I: Defining the WestAre We Talking about a Place? What Is It? Where Is It?1. Walter Nugent, "Where is the American West?"2. Martin Ridge, "The American West: From Frontier to Region"3. Walter Nugent, "Frontiers and Empires in the Late Nineteenth Century"Part II: The Eighteenth CenturyCalifornia Women, 1769-1848 4. Gloria Ricci Lothrop, "Rancheras and the Land: Women and Property Rights in Hispanic California"Part III: The Nineteenth CenturyExploration, the Fur Trade, and National Identity, 1807-18455. William H. Goetzmann, "Mountain Man as Jacksonian Man"Indians, Animals, and the Great Plains, 1800-1850 6. Dan Flores, "Bison Ecology and Bison Diplomacy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850"The Mexican-American War, 1846-18487. Gene M. Brack, "Mexican Opinion, American Racism, and the War of 1846"The Latter-day Saints, 1830-18908. Martin Ridge, Mormon"'Deliverance' and the Closing of the Frontier"Indians, the Army, and Settlers, 18649. Janet LeCompte, "Sand Creek"Cowboys as Wage Workers, 1880s10. David E. Lopez, "Cowboy Strikes and Unions"Homesteading, 1880s-1930s11. Paula M. Nelson, "'Everything I Want is Here!': The Dakota Farmer's Rural Ideal, 1884-1934"Part IV: The Twentieth CenturyMexican, "Anglo", and European Miners and Capital, 1900-191512. Phil Mellinger,"'The Men Have Become Organizers': Labor Conflict and Unionization in the Mexican Mining Communities of Arizona, 1900-1915"The Great Depression in the Northwest, 1929-194113. Leonard J. Arrington,""Idaho and the Great Depression"World War II and the Metropolis, 1941-194514. Arthur C. Verge, "The Impact of the Second World War on Los Angeles"Japanese-American Women and the Internment of 1942-194515. Valerie Matsumoto, "Japanese-American Women during World War II"African-Americans in the West, 1541-199316. Quintard Taylor, "From Esteban to Rodney King: Five Centuries of African American History in the West"The Pacific Northwest since 194517. Carl Abbott, "Regional City and Network City: Portland and Seattle in the Twentieth Century"