HIST 4370 / HIST 5377: American West

This guide is intended to provide a starting point for researching topics in the history of the American West.

This guide is not comprehensive; it does not list all of the resources on this subject or in related disciplines owned by the Library or available on the Internet. This guide serves merely as a starting point for research.

An excellent way to discover additional resources is to browse for books in relevant call number ranges.

Most books related to topics in the history of the American West are located on the 4th floor in call numbers beginning with F; more specific call numbers are defined below.

This is just a sampling. To look up additional call number ranges, consult the Library of Congress Classification Outline.

F590.3 - F705 - The West, Trans-Mississippi Region, Great Plains
(includes The Northwest, Missouri River and Valley, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma)

F721 - F785 - Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone National Park
(includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado)

F786 - F850 - The New Southwest, Colorado River, Canyon, and Valley
(includes New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada)

F850.5 - F951 - Pacific States
(includes Cascade Range, Pacific Northwest, Columbia River and Valley, Northwest boundary since 1846, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska)

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Subject headings allow you to find books according to broader and narrower topics.

Below are sample subjects. To browse for different, broader, or narrower subjects, go to the library catalog and click "Exact Search." Enter a term and click "subject."

You can start browsing for a broad subject like Education, then look for more specific subjects, such as Education England History 18th century.

Once you know some subject headings, you can also just use them as keywords during an advanced search, using the subject row.

• West (U.S.) History
• West (U.S.) History Indians of North America
• West (U.S.) History ... (divided into many other sub-topics)
  
  
• West (U.S.) History 19th century
• West (U.S.) History 19th century Bank robberies
• West (U.S.) History 19th century Indians of North America
• West (U.S.) History 19th century ... (divided into many other sub-topics)
  
  
• West (U.S.) History 20th century
• West (U.S.) History 20th century Environmental policy
• West (U.S.) History 20th century Indians of North America
• West (U.S.) History 20th century ... (divided into many other sub-topics)
  
  
• West (U.S.) History 1848-1860 (also divided into sub-topics)
• West (U.S.) History 1860-1890 (also divided into sub-topics)
• West (U.S.) History 1890-1945 (also divided into sub-topics)
• West (U.S.) History 1945-  (also divided into sub-topics)