The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the
region comprising the westernmost
states of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. As American settlement in the U.S.
expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the West'' changed. Before about 1800, the crest of the
Appalachian Mountains was seen as the
western frontier. The frontier moved westward and eventually the lands west of the
Mississippi River were considered the West.
The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states includes the
Rocky Mountains and the
Great Basin to the
Pacific Coast, and the mid-Pacific islands state, Hawaii. To the east of the Western United States is the
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
and the
Southern United States, with
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to the north, and
Mexico to the south.
The West contains several major
biomes, including
arid and
semi-arid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...
plateaus and
plains, particularly in the
American Southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
;
forested
mountains, including three major ranges, the
Sierra Nevada, the
Cascades, and
Rocky Mountains; the long
coastal
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
shoreline
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...
of the
American Pacific Coast; and the
rainforests of the
Pacific Northwest.
Defining the West
The Western U.S. is the largest region of the country, covering nearly half the land area of the contiguous United States. It is also the most geographically diverse, incorporating geographic regions such as the temperate
rainforests of the
Northwest, the highest mountain ranges (including the
Rocky Mountains, the
Sierra Nevada, and the
Cascade Range), numerous
glaciers, and the western edge of the
Great Plains. It also contains the majority of the desert areas located in the United States. The
Mojave and
Great Basin deserts lie entirely within the Western region, along with parts of the
Sonoran and
Chihuahuan deserts (the latter extends significantly into Texas). Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder the region is difficult to specifically define. Sensing a possible shift in the popular understanding of the West as a region in the early 1990s, historian Walter Nugent conducted a survey of three groups of professionals with ties to the region: a large group of Western historians (187 respondents), and two smaller groups, 25 journalists and publishers and 39 Western authors.
A majority of the historian respondents placed the eastern boundary of the West east of the Census definition out on the eastern edge of the
Great Plains or on the
Mississippi River. The survey respondents as a whole showed just how little agreement there was on the boundaries of the West.
Subregions
The region is split into two smaller units or divisions, by the U.S. Census Bureau:
;
Mountain states
The Mountain states (also known as the Mountain West or the Interior West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western Un ...
:
Montana,
Wyoming,
Colorado,
New Mexico,
Idaho,
Utah,
Arizona, and
Nevada
;
Pacific states :
Washington,
Oregon,
California,
Alaska, and
Hawaii
Other classifications distinguish between
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
Northwest. Arizona, New Mexico,
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
, and the
Oklahoma panhandle are typically considered to be the Southwest states. Meanwhile, the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington can be considered part of the Northwest or
Pacific Northwest.
The term
West Coast is commonly used to refer to just California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, whereas Hawaii is more geographically isolated from the
continental U.S. and do not necessarily fit in any of these
subregion
A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south are commonly used to define a subregion.
United Nations subregions
The Statistics Division of the United Nations (UN) ...
s.
Outlying areas
The three inhabited
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
U.S. territories
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
(
American Samoa,
Guam and the
Northern Mariana Islands) are sometimes considered part of the Western United States. American Samoa is in
Polynesia in the
South Pacific Ocean
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
, while Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are in the
Mariana Islands in the western
North Pacific Ocean
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' i ...
. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have district courts within the
9th Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
, which includes western states such as California and Nevada. (See
District Court of Guam and
District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (in case citations, D. N. Mar. I.) is a federal territorial court whose jurisdiction comprises the United States-affiliated Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It was establi ...
). American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are also considered part of the western U.S. by the
U.S. National Park Service, the
Federal Reserve Bank system,
FEMA, and the
USGS.
Demographics
The population distribution by race in the Western United States (2010):
* 66.4%
Non-Hispanic Whites
Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...
* 28.6% were
Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
(of any race)
* 9.3%
Asian
* 4.8%
Black or
African-American
* 1.9%
American Indian or
Alaska Native
* 12.4%
Some other race
As defined by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the Western
region of the United States includes 13 states,
with a total 2020 population of 78,588,572.
The West is one of the most sparsely settled areas in the United States with 49.5 inhabitants per square mile (19/km
2). Only
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
with 78.0 inhabitants/sq mi. (30/km
2),
Washington with 86.0 inhabitants/sq mi. (33/km
2), and
California with 213.4 inhabitants/sq mi. (82/km
2) exceed the national average of 77.98 inhabitants/sq mi. (30/km
2).
The entire Western region has also been strongly influenced by
European,
Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
,
Asian and
Native Americans; it contains the largest number of minorities in the U.S. While most of the studies of racial dynamics in America such as riots in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
have been written about
European and
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
, in many cities in the West and
California,
whites and
blacks together are less than half the population because of the preference for the region by
Hispanics and
Asians.
African and
European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the lower rates of citizenship and voting among
Asians and
Hispanics.
The West also contains much of the
Native American population in the U.S., particularly in the large
reservations in the
Mountain and
Desert States.
The largest concentrations for
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
in the West can be found in
San Diego,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
Oakland,
Sacramento,
Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
Seattle,
Tacoma,
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
Las Vegas,
Denver, and
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
.
The Western United States has a higher
sex ratio (more
males than
females) than any other region in the United States.
Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when
conservation became a national issue, agencies of the
federal government own and manage vast areas of land. (The most important among these are the
National Park Service and the
Bureau of Land Management within the
Interior Department, and the
U.S. Forest Service within the
Agriculture Department.)
National parks are reserved for recreational activities such as
fishing,
camping,
hiking, and
boating, but other government lands also allow commercial activities like
ranching,
logging, and
mining. In recent years, some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come into conflict with the land's managers, who are required to keep land use within environmentally acceptable limits.
The largest city in the region is
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, located on the
West Coast. Other
West Coast cities include
San Diego,
San Bernardino
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...
,
San Jose,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
Oakland,
Bakersfield,
Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
,
Sacramento,
Seattle,
Tacoma,
Anchorage, and
Portland - some of which are dozens of miles inland. Prominent cities in the
Mountain States
The Mountain states (also known as the Mountain West or the Interior West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western Un ...
include
Denver,
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
,
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
,
Albuquerque,
Las Vegas,
Salt Lake City,
Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...
,
El Paso, and
Billings.
Natural geography
Along the
Pacific Ocean coast lie the
Coast Ranges, which, while not approaching the scale of the
Rocky Mountains, are formidable nevertheless. They collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean. East of the Coast Ranges lie several cultivated fertile
valleys, notably the
San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys of
California and the
Willamette Valley of
Oregon.
Beyond the valleys lie the
Sierra Nevada in the south and the
Cascade Range in the north.
Mount Whitney, at the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states, is in the
Sierra Nevada.
The Cascades are also volcanic.
Mount Rainier, a volcano in
Washington, is also over .
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
, a volcano in
the Cascades,
erupted explosively in 1980. A major volcanic eruption at
Mount Mazama
Mount Mazama (''Giiwas'' in the Native American language Klamath) is a complex volcano in the state of Oregon, United States, in a segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and Cascade Range. Most of the mountain collapsed following a major erupt ...
around 4860 BC formed
Crater Lake
Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...
. These mountain ranges see heavy precipitation, capturing most of the moisture that remains after the Coast Ranges, and creating a
rain shadow to the east forming vast stretches of arid land. These dry areas encompass much of
Nevada,
Utah, and
Arizona. The
Mojave Desert and
Sonoran Desert along with other deserts are found here.
Beyond the deserts lie the
Rocky Mountains. In the north, they run almost immediately east of the
Cascade Range, so that the desert region is only a few miles wide by the time one reaches the Canada–US border.
The Rockies are hundreds of miles (kilometers) wide, and run uninterrupted from
New Mexico to
Alaska. The Rocky Mountain Region is the highest overall area of the United States, with an average elevation of above . The tallest peaks of
the Rockies, 54 of which are over , are found in central and western
Colorado. East of the Rocky Mountains is the Great Plains, the western portions (for example, the eastern half of Colorado) of which are generally considered to be part of the western United States.
The West has several long rivers that empty into the
Pacific Ocean, while the eastern rivers run into the
Gulf of Mexico. The
Mississippi River forms the easternmost possible boundary for the West today. The
Missouri River, a tributary of the
Mississippi, flows from its headwaters in the
Rocky Mountains eastward across the
Great Plains, a vast
grassy plateau, before sloping gradually down to the forests and hence to the
Mississippi. The
Colorado River snakes through the
Mountain states
The Mountain states (also known as the Mountain West or the Interior West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western Un ...
, at one point forming the
Grand Canyon.
The
Colorado River is a major source of water in the Southwest and many dams, such as the
Hoover Dam, form reservoirs along it. So much water is drawn for drinking water throughout the West and irrigation in
California that in most years, water from the
Colorado River no longer reaches the
Gulf of California. The
Columbia River, the largest river in volume flowing into the
Pacific Ocean from
North America, and its tributary, the
Snake River, water the Pacific Northwest. The
Platte runs through
Nebraska and was known for being a mile (2 km) wide but only a half-inch (1 cm) deep. The
Rio Grande forms the border between
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and
Mexico before turning due north and splitting
New Mexico in half.
According to the
United States Coast Guard, "The Western Rivers System consists of the
Mississippi,
Ohio,
Missouri,
Illinois,
Tennessee,
Cumberland,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, and
White Rivers and their tributaries, and certain other rivers that flow towards the
Gulf of Mexico." The Ohio River portion of the system includes parts of several Atlantic coastal states, from Georgia to New York.
Climate and agriculture
Most of the public land held by the
U.S. National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management is in the Western states. Public lands account for 25 to 75 percent of the total land area in these states.
The climate of the West is
semi-arid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...
, yet parts of the region get high amounts of rain or snow. Other parts are true desert which receive less than of rain per year. The climate is unstable, as areas that are normally wet can be very dry for years and vice versa.
The seasonal temperatures vary greatly throughout the West. Low elevations on the
West Coast have warm summers and mild winters with little to no snow. The
desert southwest has very hot summers and mild winters. While the mountains in the southwest receive generally large amounts of snow. The
Inland Northwest
The Inland Northwest, historically and alternatively known as the Inland Empire, is a region of the American Northwest centered on the Greater Spokane, Washington Area, encompassing all of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Under broader def ...
has a
continental climate of warm to hot summers and cold to bitterly cold winters.
Annual rainfall is greater in the eastern portions, gradually tapering off until reaching the Pacific Coast where it increases again. In fact, the greatest annual rainfall in the United States falls in the coastal regions of the
Pacific Northwest. Drought is much more common in the West than the rest of the United States. The driest place recorded in the U.S. is
Death Valley, California.
Violent thunderstorms occur east of the
Rockies
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
.
Tornadoes occur every spring on the southern plains, with the most common and most destructive centered on
Tornado Alley, which covers eastern portions of the West, (
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
to
North Dakota), and all states in between and to the east.
Agriculture varies depending on rainfall, irrigation, soil, elevation, and temperature extremes. The arid regions generally support only livestock grazing, chiefly beef cattle. The ''
wheat belt'' extends from
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
through
The Dakotas
The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econo ...
, producing most of the wheat and soybeans in the U.S. and exporting more to the rest of the world. Irrigation in the
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
allows the growth of great quantities of fruits, nuts, and vegetables as well as grain, hay, and flowers.
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
is a major cattle and sheep raising area, as well as the nation's largest producer of cotton.
Washington is famous for its apples, and
Idaho for its potatoes.
California and
Arizona are major producers of
citrus crops, although growing metropolitan sprawl is absorbing much of this land. Many varieties of
chile peppers are grown in the valleys of
New Mexico.
Starting in 1902, Congress passed a series of acts authorizing the establishment of the
United States Bureau of Reclamation to oversee water development projects in seventeen western states.
During the first half of the 20th century, dams and irrigation projects provided water for rapid agricultural growth throughout the West and brought prosperity for several states, where agriculture had previously only been subsistence level. Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the West's cities experienced an economic and population boom. The population growth, mostly in the
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
states of
New Mexico,
Utah,
Colorado,
Arizona, and
Nevada, has strained water and power resources, with water diverted from agricultural uses to major population centers, such as the
Las Vegas Valley and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
Geology
Plains make up much of the eastern portion of the West, underlain with sedimentary rock from the Upper
Paleozoic,
Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic eras. The
Rocky Mountains expose igneous and metamorphic rock both from the
Precambrian and from the
Phanerozoic eon. The Inter-mountain States and
Pacific Northwest have huge expanses of volcanic rock from the
Cenozoic era.
Salt flats Salt flats, Salt flat, Salt Flats, or Salt Flat may refer to: Geology
*Salt pan (geology), a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals
*Dry lake, an ephemeral lakebed that consists of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salt ...
and salt lakes reveal a time when the great inland seas covered much of what is now the West.
The Pacific states are the most geologically active areas in the United States.
Earthquakes cause damage every few to several years in
California. While the
Pacific states are the most volcanically active areas, extinct
volcanoes and lava flows are found throughout most of the West.
History
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. Major settlement of the western territories developed rapidly in the 1840s, largely through the
Oregon Trail and the
California Gold Rush of 1849.
California experienced such a rapid growth in a few short months that it was admitted to statehood in 1850 without the normal transitory phase of becoming an official territory.
One of the largest migrations in American history occurred in the 1840s as the
Latter Day Saints
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
left the
Midwest to build a theocracy in
Utah.
Both
Omaha, Nebraska and
St. Louis, Missouri laid claim to the title, "Gateway to the West" during this period.
Omaha, home to the
Union Pacific Railroad and the
Mormon Trail, made its fortunes on outfitting settlers;
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
built itself upon the vast
fur trade in the West before its settlement.
The 1850s were marked by political battles over the expansion of slavery into the western territories,
issues leading to the Civil War.
Between 1863 and 1869, North America's
first transcontinental railroad was constructed to connect the eastern US with the Pacific coast. The resulting railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by making the transportation of passengers and freight quicker, safer, and cheaper.
The history of the American West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has acquired a cultural mythos in the literature and cinema of the United States. The image of the
cowboy, the
homesteader, and
westward expansion took real events and transmuted them into a myth of the west which has shaped much of American popular culture since the late 19th century.
Writers as diverse as
Bret Harte and
Zane Grey
Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American fronti ...
celebrated or derided cowboy culture, while artists such as
Frederic Remington created
western art as a method of recording the expansion into the west. The
American cinema
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...
, in particular, created the genre of the
western movie, which, in many cases, use the West as a metaphor for the virtue of self-reliance and an American ethos. The contrast between the romanticism of culture about the West and the actuality of the history of the westward expansion has been a theme of late 20th and early 21st century scholarship about the West. Cowboy culture has become embedded in the American experience as a common cultural touchstone, and modern forms as diverse as
country and western music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old- ...
have celebrated the sense of isolation and independence of spirit inspired by the frontiersmen on "virgin land".
20th century
The advent of the automobile enabled the average American to tour the West. Western businessmen promoted
Route 66 as a means to bring tourism and industry to the West. In the 1950s, representatives from all the western states built the
Cowboy Hall of Fame
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...
and
Western Heritage Center to showcase western culture and greet travelers from the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
. During the latter half of the 20th century, several transcontinental interstate highways crossed the West bringing more trade and tourists from the East. Oil boom towns in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and
Oklahoma rivaled the old mining camps for their rawness and wealth. The
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...
forced children of the original homesteaders even further west.
The movies became America's chief entertainment source featuring
western fiction, later the community of
Hollywood in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
became the
headquarters of the
mass media such as radio and television production.
California has emerged as the most populous state and one of the top 10 economies in the world. Massive late 19th–20th century population and settlement booms created two
megalopolis
A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enoug ...
areas of the
Greater Los Angeles/
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
and the
San Francisco Bay Area/
Northern California regions, one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas and in the top 25 largest urban areas in the world. Five more metropolitan areas of
San Bernardino
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...
-
Riverside,
San Diego,
Denver,
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, and
Seattle have over a million residents, while the three fastest growing metro areas were the
Salt Lake City metropolitan area
The Salt Lake City metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau currently define the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical ...
, the
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...
; and the
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...
.
Since the mid-1970s, historians of the West have emphasized the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
years as a major watershed, as a region experienced enormous social and economic change, and became the pacesetter for societal evolution. The population soared, especially in metropolitan areas, as a result of massive expansion of the manufacture of airplanes, ships and munitions and of military and Naval training facilities. California upgraded universities to world-class status, intensified scientific research, and expanded infrastructure. After the war millions more migrated using the
GI Bill to buy suburban homes, many of them recalling rewarding wartime experience in military training facilities. The region had always been more democratic with greater racial and gender equality, and continued as a national pacesetter in modernization. New problems emerged, especially environmental issues where westerners took the lead in areas such as the allocation of scarce water resources as well as dealing with smog and air pollution. More recently historians have looked at nuances, pointing out that some of the trends began before 1941.
Los Angeles has the largest
Mexican population outside of
Mexico, while
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
has the largest
Chinese community in
North America and also has a large
LGBT community, and
Oakland, California has a large percentage of residents being
African-American, as well as
Long Beach, California which also has a significant black community. The state of
Utah has a
Mormon majority (estimated at 62.4% in 2004), while some cities like
Albuquerque, New Mexico;
Billings, Montana;
Spokane, Washington; and
Tucson, Arizona are located near
Indian Reservations. In remote areas there are settlements of
Alaskan Natives and
Native Hawaiians.
Culture
Historically, the traditional culture of the Western United States has been defined by the
cowboys
A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia.
Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford
* ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...
,
pioneers, and
Native Americans who first inhabited the
Wild West.
The sparse geography of the western deserts (
Mojave Desert,
Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, a ...
) and isolated small
towns, combined with the broad freeways (
U.S. Route 66) and long railroads (
First transcontinental railroad), have contributed to the popular image of the west as a desolate, open space full of unending roads.
Facing both the Pacific Ocean and the
Mexican border, the West has been shaped by a variety of ethnic groups.
Hawaii is the only state in the union in which
Asian Americans outnumber
white American residents. People from many countries in Asia settled in
California and other coastal states in several waves of immigration since the 19th century, contributing to the
Gold rush, the building of the transcontinental railroad, agriculture, and more recently, high technology.
The border states—
California,
Arizona,
New Mexico, and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
—and other southwestern states such as
Colorado,
Utah, and
Nevada all have large
Hispanic populations, and the many
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
place names attest to their history as former Spanish and Mexican territories.
Mexican-Americans
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican ...
have also had a growing population in Northwestern states of
Oregon and
Washington, as well as the southern states of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and
Oklahoma.
In the
Pacific States, the wide areas filled with small towns, farms, and forests are supplemented by a few big port cities which have evolved into world centers for the media and technology industries. Now the second largest city in the nation,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
is best known as the home of the
Hollywood film industry; the area around
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
also was a major center for the
aerospace industry by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, though Boeing, located in
Washington state would lead the aerospace industry. Fueled by the growth of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, as well as the
San Francisco Bay area, including
Silicon Valley, the center of America's high tech industry,
California has become the most populous of all the 50 states.
Oregon and
Washington have also seen rapid growth with the rise of
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
and
Microsoft along with agriculture and resource based industries.
Alaska—the northernmost state in the Union—is a vast land of few people, many of them native, and of great stretches of wilderness, protected in
national parks and
wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s. Hawaii's location makes it a major gateway between the United States and Asia, as well as a center for tourism.
The
Mountain States
The Mountain states (also known as the Mountain West or the Interior West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western Un ...
subregion includes
Arizona,
Colorado,
Idaho,
Montana,
Nevada,
New Mexico,
Utah, and
Wyoming. The mountain states have relatively low population densities, and developed as ranching and mining areas that only recently became urbanized. Most of them have highly individualistic cultures, and have worked to balance the interests of urban development, recreation, and the environment.
Culturally distinctive points of the mountain states include the large
Mormon population in the
Mormon Corridor, including southeastern
Idaho,
Utah, Northern
Arizona, and
Nevada; the extravagant
casino resort towns of
Las Vegas and
Reno,
Nevada; and the numerous
American Indian tribal reservations.
Major metropolitan areas
These are the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) with a population above 500,000 in the 13 Western states. Population figures are as of April 1, 2020 as enumerated by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
:
Other population centers
* The MSA of
El Paso, although belonging to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, considered part of the
Southern United States, it is sometimes also considered part of the Western United States. Its enumerated population in April 2020 was 868,859.
* The largest MSA in
Alaska is
Anchorage; it has an enumerated population of 398,328, as of April 2020.
* In the outlying areas of the Western United States, the largest population centers are
Tafuna
Tafuna ( sm, Tāfuna) is a village on the east coast of Tutuila Island, American Samoa. It is home to Pago Pago International Airport (Tafuna Airport). It is one mile south of Nu'uuli, American Samoa. The Ottoville district is a part of Tafuna. Ne ...
in
American Samoa;
Dededo in
Guam;
and
Saipan in the
Northern Mariana Islands.
Politics
The region's distance from historical centers of power in the East, and the celebrated "
frontier spirit" of its settlers offer two clichés for explaining the region's independent, heterogeneous politics. Historically, the West was the first region to see widespread
women's suffrage, with women casting votes in
Utah and
Wyoming as early as 1870, five decades before the
19th Amendment was ratified by the nation.
California birthed both the
property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...
and
conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...
s, and spawned such phenomena as the
Taxpayer Revolt and the Berkeley
Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The Movement was informally under the central leadership of Be ...
. It has also produced three presidents:
Herbert Hoover,
Richard Nixon, and
Ronald Reagan.
The prevalence of
libertarian political attitudes is widespread. For example, the majority of Western states have legalized
medicinal marijuana
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
(all but
Utah and
Wyoming) and some forms of gambling (except
Utah);
Colorado,
Oregon,
Washington, and
Montana have legalized
physician-assisted suicide; most rural counties in
Nevada allow licensed brothels, and voters in
Alaska,
Colorado,
Nevada,
California,
Oregon, and
Washington have legalized recreational use of marijuana.
California,
Oregon,
Washington,
Colorado,
Hawaii and
New Mexico lean toward the
Democratic Party. In recent times, as seen in the
2020 United States presidential election,
Arizona and
Nevada are also beginning to lean towards the Democratic Party as well.
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
's two main political parties are the Green Party and the
Democratic Party. One of the Democratic leaders of the Congress is from the region:
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi of
California.
Alaska and most
Mountain states
The Mountain states (also known as the Mountain West or the Interior West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau. It is a subregion of the Western Un ...
are more
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, with
Alaska,
Idaho,
Montana,
Utah, and
Wyoming being Republican strongholds, and
Nevada and Arizona being swing states. The state of
Nevada is considered a political bellwether, having correctly voted for every president except twice (in 1976 and 2016) since 1912.
New Mexico too is considered a bellwether, having voted for the popular vote winner in every presidential election since statehood, except in 1976. The state of
Arizona has been won by the Republican presidential candidate in every election except three times since 1948, but in 2020 Arizona voted Democratic. Also, in 2018 and 2020, the GOP lost both Arizona Senate seats to the Democrats. The states of
Idaho,
Utah, and
Wyoming have been won by the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1964.
Wyoming,
Idaho, and
Utah have been some of the country's most Republican states.
As the fastest-growing demographic group, after
Asians,
Latinos are hotly contested by both parties. Immigration is an important political issue for this group. Backlash against undocumented immigrants led to the passage of
California Proposition 187 in 1994, a ballot initiative which would have denied many public services to them. Association of this proposal with California Republicans, especially incumbent governor
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
, drove many Hispanic voters to the Democrats.
The following table shows the breakdown of party affiliation of governors, attorneys general, state legislative houses, and U.S. congressional delegation for the Western states, .
The following table shows the breakdown of party affiliation of governors, attorneys general, state legislative houses, and U.S. congressional delegation for the outlying areas of the Western United States, .
Health
The Western United States consistently ranks well in health measures. The rate of potentially preventable hospitalizations in the Western United States was consistently lower than other regions from 2005 to 2011. While the proportion of maternal or neonatal hospital stays was higher in the Western United States relative to other regions, the proportion of medical stays in hospitals was lower than in other regions in 2012.
See also
*
Autry Museum of the American West
The Autry Museum of the American West is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including le ...
*
California cuisine
California cuisine is a food movement that originated in California. The cuisine focuses on dishes that are driven by local and sustainable ingredients with an attention to seasonality and an emphasis on the bounty of the region.
The food is hi ...
*
High Country News
*
History of the Jews in the American West
The 19th century saw Jews, like many other people, moving to the American West.
Early history of Jewish congregations and community
San Francisco, California
In 1849, the first Jewish service of San Francisco began as a minyan at Lewis Abrah ...
*
History of the west coast of North America
*
Intermountain West
The Intermountain West, or Intermountain Region, is a geographic and geological region of the Western United States. It is located between the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada on the wes ...
*
New Mexican cuisine
*
Professional sports in the Western United States
*
Sunset magazine
*
Territories of the United States on stamps
Territories of the United States on stamps discusses commemorative postal issues devoted to lands that have been ceded to the nation or purchased by treaty in conjunction with both war and peace. Thirteen states have been created from colonial t ...
*
West Coast hip hop
*
Western Canada
*
Western US wildfire trends
*
Western White House
Listed below are the private residences of the various presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States § Residence.
Private homes of the presidents
This is a list of homes where ...
References
Notes
Further reading
* Abbott, Carl. ''How cities won the West: Four centuries of urban change in western North America'' (U New Mexico Press, 2008).
* Avella, Steven M. "Catholicism in the twentieth-century American West: The next frontier." ''Catholic historical review'' 97.2 (2011): 219–249.
* Beck, Warren A., Haase, Ynez D.; ''Historical Atlas of the American West''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
* Brilliant, Mark and David M. Kennedy, eds. ''World War II and the West It Wrought'' (2020
excerpt* Everett, Derek R. ''Creating the American West: Boundaries and Borderlands.'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
* Gates, Charles M. "The West in American Diplomacy, 1812-1815." ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 26.4 (1940): 499-510
in JSTOR
* González, Jesús Ángel. "New Frontiers for Post-Western Cinema: Frozen River, Sin Nombre, Winter's Bone." ''Western American Literature'' 50.1 (2015): 51–76.
* Lamar, Howard. ''The New Encyclopedia of the American West.'' (Yale UP, 1998).
* Lamont, Victoria. "Big books wanted: women and western American literature in the twenty-first century." ''Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers'' 31.2 (2014): 311-32
online
* Lehan, Richard. ''Quest West: American Intellectual and Cultural Transformations'' (LSU Press, 2014).
* Milner II, Clyde A; O'Connor, Carol A.; Sandweiss, Martha A. ''The Oxford History of the American West.'' Oxford University Press, 1994.
* Newark, Peter. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Old West''. Godfrey Cave Associates Ltd, 1984. ISBN 0 906223 99 7.
* Phillips, Charles; Axlerod, Alan; editor. ''The Encyclopedia of the American West.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
* Pomeroy, Earl. ''The American Far West in the Twentieth Century.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
*
Turner, Frederick Jackson. ''Rereading Frederick Jackson Turner: 'The Significance of the Frontier in American History' and Other Essays.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.
* Weber, David J. “The Spanish Borderlands, Historiography Redux.” ''The History Teacher'', 39#1 (2005), pp. 43–56.
online
*
White, Richard. ''"
It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West.'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
* Witschi, Nicolas S. ed. ''A Companion to the Literature and Culture of the American'' (2011
excerpt* Wright, Will. ''Six Guns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western'' (U of California Press, 1975), movies.
* Wrobel, David M. ''America's West: A History, 1890–1950'' (Cambridge UP, 2017).
External links
Photo collection at ''Library of Congress''
''US National Archives & Records Administration''
Institute for the Study of the American West Center of the American WestHistory: American West Vlib.us
Collection: "Manifest Destiny and the American West"from the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
{{Coord, 40, -113, region:US_dim:1000km, display=title
Lists of cities in the United States
Census regions of the United States
Regions of the United States