Ever wondered what it was like to cross the Great American Desert? Ever wanted to know the experiences and hardships faced by pioneering families? 

During the Summer of 2012 I live tweeted the experiences of one emigrant family, from the diary of future women's rights activist, 17 year old Abigail Jane Scott, as they would have happened 160 years ago in 1852. Don't worry if you missed it because all the details are still here. 

​You can now access Abigail's full diary mapped onto the journey route here: https://goo.gl/Eg2Gkx 
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​I have also included a downloadable Google Maps version at the bottom of the page too.

Richard White explains how the transcontinental railroads and the Homestead Act shaped the settlement of the West. Only short and well worth a listen HERE.

"In 1931, Herbert Hoover called the idea of owning one’s own home “a sentiment deep in the heart of our race and of American life.” But the idea and the reality haven’t always been in accord.  For many Americans, putting a roof over their heads has involved struggle and sacrifice – and often to make rent rather than mortgage payments.

So in this episode of BackStory, the Guys explore the little house at the heart of the American Dream. If home ownership is such a central part of American identity, why have so many generations of Americans struggled to achieve it? Was there ever a “Golden Age” of home ownership, anyway?"

Between 1887 and 1892, John C.H. Grabill sent 188 photographs to the Library of Congress for copyright protection. Grabill is known as a western photographer, documenting many aspects of frontier life — hunting, mining, western town landscapes and white settlers’ relationships with Native Americans. Most of his work is centered on Deadwood in the late 1880s and 1890s. He is most often cited for his photographs in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Click the image for more amazing photos of life on the Frontier.

A fantastic series by Ken Burns and Steven Ives which explores the West through the writings of New Western Historians such as Patty Limerick and Richard White. If you have the time this is a brilliant watch from start to finish!! If not, I have put a guide on so you can pick specific parts which might be useful. There is an accompanying website which you will find HERE too.

Click READ MORE to see the videos

Absolutely fantastic programme but bear in mind there is a PARENTAL ADVISORY with this one. Some of the language is a bit strong but Rich raises some excellent points. Click the break if you are over 16 and want to view.

Comedian Rich Hall goes in search of the real American Indian, a people who have too often been stereotyped. This image portrayed through cinema and literature is not a true representation of the Native American, giving Rich the opportunity to redress the balance.

With the help of Native American, Dallas Goldtooth, Rich explores a different idea of what the American Indian is and what life is like for them today. He not only questions the screen image of the 'savage Indian' in films such as Soldier Blue, Stagecoach and A Man Called Horse, but looks at the written one, through literature such as The Last of the Mohicans, Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

I have attached a copy of the latest newsletter from the Western Historical Association. Some great little articles in this quarter including:

• All Quiet on the Turner Front
  
• More than Just a Prize: The Civil War and the West  
  
• Admission of Nevada Territory  
  
• Reconstituting the Center of the United States: The Creation of Colorado Territory in 1861 
  

Mr F