Western United States
The United States Census Bureau drew a line across the map in 1902 to separate the West from the rest of the country. That boundary placed the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin within thirteen states stretching to the Pacific Ocean. Before that year, settlers viewed the crest of the Appalachian Mountains as the true western frontier. By 1850, the Mississippi River had become the new dividing line for those moving westward. Historian Walter Nugent surveyed professionals in the early 1990s about where the region actually began. One hundred eighty-seven historians answered that question, while twenty-five journalists and thirty-nine authors offered their own definitions. Most historians pushed the eastern edge out to the Great Plains or even the Mississippi River itself. Their answers revealed deep disagreement on what constitutes the American West.
Mount Whitney rises to fourteen thousand feet above sea level within the Sierra Nevada range. This peak stands as the tallest mountain in the contiguous forty-eight states. Volcanic activity shaped much of the landscape when Mount St. Helens erupted explosively in 1980. A massive eruption at Mount Mazama around 4860 BC created Crater Lake. The Mojave Desert covers vast stretches of the southwestern United States. Death Valley holds the record for the driest place recorded in the entire nation. Rainfall patterns shift dramatically from the wet coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest to arid zones receiving less than five inches per year. Earthquakes strike California every few years causing significant damage. Salt flats and salt lakes reveal ancient inland seas that once covered the western interior.
Paleo-Indians arrived in the Western United States at least eleven thousand years ago. Pre-Columbian trade routes connected kingdoms like the Mound Builders to places such as Yellowstone National Park by 1000 AD. Major settlement of western territories developed rapidly during the 1840s through trails like the Oregon Trail. The Latter Day Saints left the Midwest to build a theocracy in Utah during one of history's largest migrations. Today, three hundred sixty-five thousand Navajo people live within large reservations in the Mountain and Desert States. One hundred nine thousand Apache and seventy-eight thousand Blackfeet also call this region home. Two hundred seventy-six thousand individuals identify as Indigenous Mexican. The West contains much of the Native American population found throughout the United States.
The California Gold Rush began in 1849 and transformed the territory almost overnight. California experienced rapid growth in just a few short months before gaining statehood in 1850. Between 1863 and 1869, North America's first transcontinental railroad connected the eastern United States with the Pacific coast. This railway revolutionized transportation by making passenger and freight movement quicker, safer, and cheaper. Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri both claimed the title Gateway to the West during that era. The Union Pacific Railroad made its fortunes outfitting settlers who traveled westward. Political battles over slavery expansion into western territories marked the 1850s and led directly to the Civil War. Congress passed acts starting in 1902 establishing the Bureau of Reclamation to oversee water development projects across seventeen states.
California emerged as one of the top ten economies in the world by the late twentieth century. Massive population booms created megalopolis areas including Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. Five additional metropolitan areas exceeded one million residents: San Bernardino-Riverside, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, and Las Vegas. Salt Lake City, Portland, and Sacramento ranked among the fastest growing metro areas. Boeing located in Washington state led the aerospace industry while Silicon Valley became the center for high technology. Agriculture varies depending on rainfall and irrigation systems throughout the region. Texas produces cotton as the nation's largest producer while Idaho grows potatoes. Washington is famous for apples and Arizona for citrus crops despite declining water supplies. Dams like the Hoover Dam form reservoirs along the Colorado River but much water no longer reaches the Gulf of California.
Frederic Remington created Western art as a method of recording the expansion into the west. Bret Harte and Zane Grey wrote literature celebrating or deriding cowboy culture during the late nineteenth century. The American cinema created the genre of the Western movie using the frontier as a metaphor for self-reliance. Hollywood in Los Angeles became headquarters for mass media production including radio and television. The Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center opened in Oklahoma during the 1950s to showcase western culture. Route 66 accelerated development by bringing tourism and industry to the West after the automobile enabled average Americans to tour the region. Modern forms like country and western music celebrate the isolation and independence inspired by frontiersmen on virgin land. Historians note that romanticism about the West contrasts sharply with actual history of westward expansion.
The 2020 Census recorded seventy-eight million five hundred eighty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-two residents across thirteen states. Just under half of those people live in California alone. Fifty-one point nine percent identify as White while thirty point eight percent are Hispanic or Latino. Ten point eight percent are Asian and four point five percent are Black or African-American. Utah has a Mormon majority estimated at sixty-two point four percent in 2004. Women cast votes in Wyoming and Utah as early as 1870, fifty years before the Nineteenth Amendment ratified nationwide. California birthed both property rights and conservation movements along with the Taxpayer Revolt. Most Western states legalized medicinal marijuana except Idaho and Wyoming. Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Montana allow physician-assisted suicide. Nevada correctly voted for every president since 1912 except twice in 1976 and 2016.
Common questions
When did the United States Census Bureau draw a line to separate the West from the rest of the country?
The United States Census Bureau drew a line across the map in 1902 to separate the West from the rest of the country. That boundary placed the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin within thirteen states stretching to the Pacific Ocean.
What is the tallest mountain in the contiguous forty-eight states located in the Western United States?
Mount Whitney rises to fourteen thousand feet above sea level within the Sierra Nevada range. This peak stands as the tallest mountain in the contiguous forty-eight states.
How many residents were recorded across thirteen states in the Western United States during the 2020 Census?
The 2020 Census recorded seventy-eight million five hundred eighty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-two residents across thirteen states. Just under half of those people live in California alone.
Which year did the California Gold Rush begin and transform the territory almost overnight?
The California Gold Rush began in 1849 and transformed the territory almost overnight. California experienced rapid growth in just a few short months before gaining statehood in 1850.
When did women cast votes in Wyoming and Utah fifty years before the Nineteenth Amendment ratified nationwide?
Women cast votes in Wyoming and Utah as early as 1870, fifty years before the Nineteenth Amendment ratified nationwide. Most Western states legalized medicinal marijuana except Idaho and Wyoming.