Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Western United States encompasses 13 states as defined by the Census Bureau. This region covers nearly half the land area of the contiguous United States and includes diverse biomes ranging from the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest to the arid plateaus of the Great Basin.
The California Gold Rush began in 1849 and triggered one of the most rapid population booms in American history. This event led to California's admission to statehood in 1850 without the usual territorial phase.
The Western United States has been populated by Native Americans since at least 11,000 years ago when the first Paleo-Indians arrived. Pre-Columbian trade routes to kingdoms and empires such as the Mound Builders existed in places such as Yellowstone National Park since around 1000 AD.
Women cast votes in Utah and Wyoming as early as 1870, making the Western United States the first region to see widespread women's suffrage. This occurred five decades before the 19th Amendment was ratified by the nation.
The driest place recorded in the United States is Death Valley, California, which is located in the Western United States. The region is predicted to experience drought-like conditions for much of the 21st century and faces increasingly unstable climate conditions.
Starting in 1902, Congress passed a series of acts authorizing the establishment of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. This agency was created to oversee water development projects in seventeen western states.