The American West has exerted a powerful influence on the popular imagination. An area that Thomas Jefferson believed would take 1,000 years to settle was overrun within a century. Images of rough cowboys and gunslingers in lawless western towns or lonely settlers fighting for survival against savage native Americans are central to American folklore. Such images however are largely a myth. The real West was far more diverse and dynamic. It was a crossroads of cultures, where various ethnic, religious and social groups struggled for property, profit, and cultural dominance. This class will chart the history of the West from the Mexican Cession of 1848 to the closing of the frontier in the 1890s, exploring how the image of the ‘wild west’ became the stuff of myths, legends and many, many movies.  Learn through lectures, class discussion and other primary sources.