The Settled West
Title
The Settled West
Description
The tragedy at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890, ended the war between the U.S. government and the Sioux on the Northern Plains. The frontier was effectively tamed. Americans could point to concrete signs of their civilizing influence in the region, especially in the cities of Denver, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, all founded by Americans after 1845. Photographers also documented the growth of cities of the Spanish and Mexican colonial past, like San Francisco, which were increasingly Americanized during this period.
As the West developed, certain romantic ideals persisted. Unlikely events and characters were celebrated for their influence in settling the West. The Wild West show also became a sensation and did much to create and propagate stereotypes of western life and people. In cases such as these, photography lent itself to mythologizing the West.
Collection Items
Fort Sill, Indian Territory
After being severely injured during the Civil War battle at Antietam, Soule headed west in 1867 to improve his health. He was the brother of John P. Soule (1827-1904), founder of the Soule Photographic Company in Boston, and so set off completely…
Laying the Capstone of the Mormon Temple, April, 6, 1892, Salt Lake City
Savage immigrated to New York from England in 1855 after converting to Mormonism. By the time he left for Salt Lake City five years later, he had been trained in photography and immediately established himself as a professional photographer upon his…
Reno Ford of the Little Bighorn with Vignette Inset of Captain Frederick Benteen and Reno's Crossing with Vignette Inset of Major Marcus Reno, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana
On June 25, 1876, General George A. Custer led the Seventh Calvary into battle against Sioux and Cheyenne Indians along the Little Bighorn River in Montana. The utter defeat of Custer and his men at "Custer's Last Stand" is one of the defining…
Buffalo Bill Cody and General Nelson A. Miles Surveying Wounded Knee with Captains Frank Baldwin and Marion P. Maus, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
The Ghost Dance movement began in Nevada in 1889, promising American Indians the coming of a messiah who would vanquish the whites and aid in restoring the natives' way of life. The Ghost Dance quickly spread east to the Sioux reservations in North…
A Rodeo Performance in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Arguably, no one did more to perpetuate the romantic ideal of the West in the American consciousness than William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917). Cody was a true Westerner, having worked as a messenger for the Pony Express, as a scout for the U.S.…
Geronimo's Final Buffalo Hunt at the 101 Ranch near Ponca City, Oklahoma
Kentucky native Colonel George Washington Miller (d. 1903) established the 101 Ranch in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1879. Through acquisitions and lease agreements with the Ponca, Tonkawa, and Osage Indians, the ranch grew from a modest 2,000…
William S. Hart Paramount Studio Portrait
Perhaps attracted by the theatrics of Wild West shows, the early film industry enthusiastically embraced the Western genre. William S. Hart (1870-1946) was a Shakespearian stage actor who became a celebrity of Westerns in the silent film era,…