A cowboy in the western United States, between 1898 and 1905

Go West, You Nervous Men

The "Rest Cure" for women is notorious. But the "West Cure" for men, though little known today, is a fundamental part of American mythology.
Nuns and cows

How Frontier Nuns Challenged Gender Norms

Scholars Carol K. Coburn and Martha Smith write that nuns were an important part of westward expansion—and in Colorado, nuns quickly learned how to use their gender to their advantage.
Winter Shack Landscape

A Feminist Reading of The Long Winter

In The Long Winter, often praised as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s greatest novel, the villain may be not the snow, but oppressive gender roles.
antique cans

Frontier America in a Collection of Tin Cans

For Jim Rock, tin cans were as important as shards of ancient pottery. Each can told a story of nineteenth and twentieth century life in America.
Barista Coffee Shop Cafe in Portland Oregon

How Portland Became a Hipster Utopia

How did Portland, Oregon become a hipster haven? While other cities declined in the 60s and 70s, Portland looked at what they did and planned the opposite.
Forest fire burning, Wildfire at night in Chiangmai, Thailand

Welcome to the Age of Megafires

It's been a terrible year for fires in California and elsewhere around the world. Because then it always is now in the age of megafires.
Winnetou

Why East Germany Loved the Wild West

During the Cold War, both the West and East Germany film industries made popular westerns. Yes, westerns. What was that all about?
Yellowstone wolf

Wyoming’s War on Wolves

Gray wolves in Wyoming recently lost their protected status. What will become of a species burdened by myths about its "fierce and furious" nature?
Buffalo Bill Cody

The Truth Behind Buffalo Bill’s Scalping Act

“Buffalo Bill” Cody was among history’s most intriguing showmen, fascinating a nation with a show that helped weave the modern myth of the Wild West.
Billy Schenck painting

Retelling the American West in the Museum

In a time filled with “alternative truths,” historian Marsha Weisiger argues for more sophisticated approaches to telling the history of the American West.