Napoleon's France sold the Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803, and motivated the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Coast. As the United States became independent, settlers began to move to 'the west', the land which later became states like Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. The British Crown tried to keep settlers east of the Appalachians, to avoid conflict with France and the Native Americans, and to prevent the colonies from becoming too powerful. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.Īs the first English settlers landed in New England in the 17th century, they developed the concept of the Western frontier. Indigenous nations → Pre-Civil War → Civil War → Old West → Industrialization → Postwar Much of the scenery and various elements of the ways of life depicted in Westerns can still be seen today. The adventures of Western cowboys, settlers, outlaws, indigenous Americans and other luck-seekers have been romanticized by countless books and motion pictures.

The Old West, also known as the Wild West or the American Frontier, was a period from the early 19th century to the early 20th century, when the western part of North America was colonized.

Wild west: new frontier wiki