Journalism of the West: General

"Distant view of Ancient Ruins in lower part of Canyon de Chelle [Ariz. Terr.] ... Showing their position in the walls and elevation above bed of canyon." A member of the Wheeler Expedition is sketching the ruins from the foreground of the photograph. By O'Sullivan, 1873. Photo from the National Archives Collection: 77-WE-4l.

New Perspectives on the West

This is the official web page for the PBS series "The West." Lots of photos and chronology.

The Lewis & Clark Expedition

This is the web site that goes along with the Ken Burns film that aired on PBS.

Read the Lewis and Clark Journals
This hypertext edition of the Lewis and Clark journals is provided as part of the University of Virginia American Studies program.

John Wesley Powell

PBS has finally given Powell the attention he deserves after neglecting him in their documentary The West. Lost in the Grand Canyon details Powell's first Colorado river journey, and the accompnaying web site has a number of interesting features you might want to look at, including:

A transcript of the documentary
Extended transcripts of interviews for the film
An interactive map of Powell's journey
A chronology of Powell's life
An interactive run down the one portion of the canyon
A collection of period newspaper articles about Powell's journey

PBS: HOOVER Dam

This PBS documentary (part of the same series that Lost in the Grand Canyon is in) takes a look at the immense efforts that went into building Hoover Dam, one of the giant dams of the West.

Environmental History

This has a lot of good general information about environmentalism and the West. There is also an excellent bibliography here.

Association for the Study of Literature & Environment

Home page for an organization affiliated with the MLA whose goal is "to promote the exchange of ideas and information pertaining to literature that considers the relationship between human beings and the natural world." There are a number of excellent bibliographies here. Here are just a few links within the site:

An Introduction to Ecocriticism

Library of Environmental Writing

Environmental Literature Bibliographies

ASLE's Environmental Literature Links

Portrayal of Mormons in the Press

The Mormon church has had a mixed portrayal from the media, ranging from disparaging satire in Mark Twain's Roughing It to more sympathetic or admiring articles and programs today.

Stories from Trail of Hope , PBS documentary on the Mormon Trail
Starting in the in the winter of 1846 and continuing on for 20 years, more than 70,000 Mormon men, women, and children traveled from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley along the Mormon Trail. Led by Brigham Young, most of the emigrants walked the incredible 1,300-mile distance, carrying their earthly possessions in covered wagons and handcarts. The "Trail of Hope" documentary, which aired on PBS in the summer of 1997, tells the story of this forced journey west. This link will take you to the documentary's home page at PBS, which provides a number of stories and images of the Mormon migration. This page may be slow during the day.
History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
This history of the Mormon Church and summary of their beliefs is a part of the extensive Utah History Encyclopedia.
- Much more can be found on the Mormons by searching the Utah Collections Project
Press Portrayal of the Mormon church from Time Magazine.
- Kingdom Come
  Salt Lake City Was Just for Starters --The Mormons'
  True Great Trek has been to Social Acceptance
  and a $30 Billion Church Empire
  BY DAVID VAN BIEMA
  Time Magazine, AUGUST 4, 1997 VOL. 150 NO. 5
- Walking a Mile in Their Shoes
  A Lapsed Mormon Takes a Sentimental Journey to the Holy Sites
  BY WALTER KIRN
  Time Magazine, AUGUST 4, 1997 VOL. 150 NO. 5

Link to National Archive Site

Many of the photos throughout this site were taken from the Photographs of the American West 1861-1912 collection at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408

The research, selection, and arrangement in preparing the collection that is available on the web was done by Charlotte Palmer.

Should you link to this collection, you need to keep in mind that the files are quite large and may take a substantial time to download. In unedited form, they will not fit on your screen unless you have large, high-resolution display.

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Updated 2/1/01