Research Guides: HIST 4370 / HIST 5377: American West: Primary Sources

Librarian

Kristina Claunch

Contact:

936-294-1520
kclaunch@shsu.edu
Library (NGL) Room 223G

West-Focused Document Collections

An SHSU username and password are required to access these resources.

Historical Newspapers

An SHSU username and password are required to access many of these resources.

America's Historical Newspapers 1690-1998 This link opens in a new window American and U.S. local newspapers from all 50 states, ranging from 1690 to 1998.
African American Newspapers 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window Approximately 270 U.S. newspapers, 1827-1998, document African American experiences.
Civil War, Parts 1-7 (Accessible Archives) This link opens in a new window Wide variety of rosters, muster lists, newspapers, pamphlets, regimental histories, and memoirs, Union and Confederate. Click "more" for details of content.
- Regimental histories, rosters, and muster lists representing all Union regiments.
- Commanding officer memoirs, strategies and tactics (mostly Union, some Confederate).
- Selected newspaper content from 1850s and 1860s representing Union

Chronicling America Digitized newspapers from a number of states, with most coverage 1860-1922. Library of Congress project. More newspapers are being added regularly. Texas component: Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

Dallas Morning News Historical Archive 1885-1984 This link opens in a new window Documents major events in Texas, the U.S. and the world, 1885-1984. Full papers: articles, photos, graphics, maps, political cartoons, editorials, ads, recipes, etc.
New York Times Historical, 1851 to 3 years ago This link opens in a new window Every page of every issue of the New York Times, from 1851 until approximately 3 years ago.
Nineteenth (19th) Century U.S. Newspapers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window 19th-century newspapers from various urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. Strong in topics such as Civil War, African-American history, Western migration, etc.
The Times Digital Archive, 1785 to 2014 This link opens in a new window "World's newspaper of record." Covers all major international historical events. Every page of every issue, from 1785 to 2014.

Texas Digital Newspaper Program
Digital papers from cities all across Texas, 1829-1953 (dates are currently scattered). Free from University of North Texas; part of Library of Congress' Chronicling America project.

Native Americans: Primary Source Collections Online

Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1896-97) Report on the transfer of Native American territory to the United States, including numerous maps.
After Columbus: 400 Years of Native American Portraiture
(New York Public Library)
American Indian Oral History (the Doris Duke Collection) Typescripts of interviews conducted 1967–72 with Indians in Oklahoma regarding their history and culture. It focuses on four areas: traditional way of life, changes in life and culture since the end of the reservation, contemporary life and culture, and beliefs about the past. (Univ. of Oklahoma)
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest: Images and Documents
(Univ. of Washington & Library of Congress)
Camping with the Sioux: The Fieldwork Diary of Alice Cunningham Fletcher
(Smithsonian Institute)
Cherokee Trail of Tears through Arkansas Materials related to the Trail of Tears, including eyewitness accounts, letters, and more. (Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock)
Colorado Plateau Archives Over 32,000 letters, diaries, and ledgers; vintage and contemporary photographs; oral history interviews; films; and maps. Collection covers the past century and addresses topics such as Colorado River and Grand Canyon; Native American history and culture (Four Corners area); Land use and the environment; and Economic development. (Northern Arizona Univ.)
Curtis' 'The North American Indian' - Photographs by Edward S. Curtis
(Northwestern Univ.)
First Nation Collection Treaties, dictionaries, books, articles, and government publications documenting the historical, cultural, and ecological impact of the First (Indian) Nations of Southern Oregon and Northern California. (Southern Oregon Univ.)
Flathead Irrigation Project, Flathead Indian Agency, Montana: Photographs
(National Archives, via Flickr)
Indian Converts Collection First published in 1727, "Indian Converts, or Some account of the lives and dying speeches of a considerable number of the Christianized Indians of Martha's Vineyard" was written by Experience Mayhew and provides insights into the lives and culture of four generations of Native Americans in colonial America. (Reed College)
Images of Native Americans
(Bancroft Library, Univ. of California, Berkeley)
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, ed. Charles J. Kappler 7-volume compilation contains U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders related to Native American tribes. The volumes cover treaties 1778-1883 (Volume II) and laws and executive orders 1871-1970 (Volumes I, III-VII). (Oklahoma State Univ.)
Indians of North America Engravings by Theodore de Bry
16th-century engravings. (Birmingham Public Library)
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (1610-1791) (Translated) Documents relations between Jesuits and Native Americans. (Creighton Univ.)
Julian Dimock Photo Collection Photographs on glass taken by Julian A. Dimock (1873-1945) in the United States in the early part of the 20th century from about 1904 to 1911. Includes hundreds of photographs of the Seminole Indians of Florida, preserving their glorious traditional dress and customs on film. (American Museum of Natural History)
National Museum of the American Indian: Collection Search
(Smithsonian Institute)
Native American Heritage Month: Exhibits and Collections
(Library of Congress, National Archives, et al.)
Native Voices: Native Peoples' Concepts of Health and Illness
(National Library of Medicine)
North American Indian Photography of Edward Curtis
(Smithsonian Institute, via Flickr)
Photographs of Native American People & Places in Montana More than 500 digitized photographs by James W. Schultz, showing Montana's Native American people (including the Arapaho tribe) and places in and around Browning, Montana and Glacier National Park during the early 20th century. (Univ. of Montana)
Treaties Between the U.S. and Native Americans
(Yale Univ. Avalon Project)

Primary Source Collections in Print

American women's diaries. Western women [microform]
HQ1412 .A55, Microforms Room
Read names, dates, and summaries online.

Covered wagon women : diaries & letters from the western trails, 1840-1890
F591.C79 (12 volumes), Main

Distant horizon : documents from the nineteenth-century American West
F591 .D58 1999, Main

Echoes of the Past: an account of the first emigrant train to California, Frémont in the conquest of California, the discovery of gold, and early pioneering
F864.B592, Main

The first West : writing from the American frontier, 1776-1860
PS561 .F57 2002, Main

The frontier experience; readings in the Trans-Mississippi West
F591.H67, Main

Issues of westward expansion
E179.5 .R68 2002, Main

A Nation moving West; readings in the history of the American frontier
F591.R5, Main

West, Southwest, and Borderlands: Primary Source Collections Online

Albert Tissandier: Drawings of Utah, 1885-1886
(Univ. of Utah)
American Westward Migration Diaries, maps and trails of Mormon pioneers and their westward migration in the 1850s (Univ. of Utah)
Archives of the West / New Perspectives on the West
(PBS)
Arizona Memory Project
(Arizona State Library)
Autry National Center: Online Research Tools
Calisphere - part of the California Digital Library More than 200,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history. (Univ. of California)
Colorado Plateau Archives Over 32,000 letters, diaries, and ledgers; vintage and contemporary photographs; oral history interviews; films; and maps. Collection covers the past century and addresses topics such as Colorado River and Grand Canyon; Native American history and culture (Four Corners area); Land use and the environment; and Economic development. (Northern Arizona Univ.)
Nevada History Digital Collections
(Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Framing the West: Landscape Photos ca. 1867-1874
(Library of Congress via Flickr)
History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs
(Denver Public Library)
John Wesley Powell Expeditions of the Colorado River and American Southwest
(Univ. of Utah)
Karl Bodmer: Watercolors of the American West, 1832-1834
(Univ. of Utah)
Mountain West Digital Library
(Univ. of Utah)
Online Archive of California
(Univ. of California)
Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 ("Trails of Hope")
(Brigham Young Univ.)
San Francisco Gold Rush
(Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Utah, 1884-1929
(Univ. of Utah)
School for Advanced Research
South Texas Border, 1900-1920: Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection Over 8,000 items, including glass negatives, lantern slides, nitrate negatives, prints, and postcards, document the history and development of South Texas and the border, including the Mexican Revolution, the U.S. military presence at Fort Brown and along the border prior to and during World War I, and the growth and development of the Rio Grande Valley. (Univ. of Texas at Austin)
University of Arizona Digital Collections Southwest & Borderlands photographs, documents from Mexican history in the Southwest, etc. (Univ. of Arizona)
U.S. West: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints Over 540 digitized items that document the American West, borderlands, exploration, and the development of the Western railroads. (Southern Methodist Univ.)
Western Americana, 19th century Photographs of Indians of the Americas and views of the American West, including landscapes, cityscapes, and mining,railroad, and agricultural operations. Also included are views of towns in Mexico. (Princeton Univ.)

More Primary Sources Online

Guide to U.S. History Primary Source Collections Online

HIST 4370 / HIST 5377: American West