The Old West

The Old West: Day by Day is a unique historical reference that chronicles the peak years of westward expansion, from the first discovery of gold in California in 1848 to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. During these years, Americans drove westward, spurred in part by their faith in "manifest destiny," the belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent - even if that meant Indian loss of life and land. Aided by the completion of the transcontinental railroad and other technological developments, the desire for a country stretching "from sea to shining sea" was realized by the end of the 19th century. More than 15,000 chronological entries document in meticulous detail the major historical events of this period of westward expansion as well as everyday occurrences that marked life in the Old West, from new gold discoveries, advances in transcontinental travel and racial skirmishes to the establishment of newspapers and journals. In a given month in the Old West, work begins on the Colorado Central and Pacific Railroad, the first school in Wyoming is dedicated in Cheyenne, Buffalo Bill Cody goes on a buffalo hunt, the Chinese Theater opens in San Francisco and a skirmish is reported in Arizona. The Old West condenses and organizes decades of history that would otherwise need to be laboriously searched in newspaper records and secondary sources. The Old West provides a broad and comprehensive overview of the more than four decades that comprised the days of the open frontier, a period that left an indelible mark on United States history and the American character. Ideal for students, researchers, historians, writers and history buffs who need historical background and hard facts, The Old West belongs in any serious library collection on the West.