Where Did People Live in the "Wild West"? The American Frontier, 1860s–1900s

The term "Wild West" (or American Frontier) refers to the period c. 1860s–1900s when Euro-American settlers moved into the vast region west of the Mississippi River.

Geographic Scope

• Core area: Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, Great Basin, Pacific Coast.
• Territories/States: Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho.
• Frontier line: Census Bureau defined it as areas with <2 people/km²; it moved westward until "closed" in 1890.

Who Lived There

• Indigenous nations: Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, Apache, Navajo, Ute, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and dozens more—displaced by settlement.
• Settlers: Homesteaders, miners, ranchers, railroad workers, merchants, lawmen, outlaws.
• Diverse origins: Eastern US, Europe (Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia), China, Mexico, African Americans (Exodusters), Civil War veterans.

Not Global

"Wild West" specifically denotes the US expansion. Other "western" regions (Canada's Northwest, Australia's Outback, Argentina's Pampas, Siberia) had frontiers but distinct histories.