Western History
History with the broader view of all "the west"
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In Good Company
The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame shares its mission, and more than a few of its honorees, with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Chester Reynolds had a dream. He was a Kansas City native who rose from sales manager to president of Lee Jeans. He had a creative mind and came up with the idea of Buddy Lee, a doll who “modeled” miniature samples of his company’s clothing line. But Chester’s greatest dream was to find a way to enshrine the cowboy and his era. He worried our great western heritage was being lost in the modern world. The idea for a national museum first came to…
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Who was Benjamin Henry?
Who was Benjamin Henry? Historians and those knowledgeable of guns would be familiar with his name, but for most his significance is unknown. Conversely, the name Winchester sparks immediate recognition. Yet in one of history’s many ironies, it was Henry who was directly responsible for the Winchester rifle and Oliver Winchester’s place in American history. As a young man Henry worked as a gunsmith apprentice and rose to foreman of a small arms company in Vermont. He worked with Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson who went on to form the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Oliver Winchester, a clothing manufacturer, was one of their main investors. Winchester was able to take over…
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War Bonnet!
The old steamer trunk has been in the family attic for generations. The treasure it holds comes out from time to time to be admired and pondered. Who wore it? What moments in history did the wearer see and experience? What stories are hidden in this honorary headdress? Over one hundred years ago the US government opened up a strip of land to homesteaders between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. There were over 100,000 applicants but only 2500 families won a claim. One of these families was that of Henry and Margaret Lutgen, who established their farm along the path the local Native Americans…
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“Come and Get It”
She’s all done up like she would have been back in her heyday when she was perhaps the most important entity in a cowboy’s life on the trail. The horse was a cowboy’s first love, but to start and end the day what could be more important than the chuck wagon!
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National Day of the Cowboy: Preserving Pioneer Heritage and Cowboy Culture
“We celebrate the Cowboy as a symbol of the grand history of the American West. The Cowboy’s love of the land and love of the country are examples for all Americans” President George W. Bush The thirteenth annual National Day of the Cowboy is July 22, 2017. The American cowboy has firmly taken his place in American history. He is an almost mythological character of the American west; often a lone rider embracing a simple life, loving and living off the land with hard work and nobility. The cowboy culture is firmly embedded in the character of many western states; the cowboy hat and boots are more than just a…
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The Legacy of the Horse in the Lives of the Great Plains People
The Great Plains spread in a boundless swath of land across ten states running from Texas through North Dakota and into Canada. The Northern Plains, including North Dakota, have vast open expanses dominated by short and tall grasses. The climate is one of extremes; cold harsh winters and hot humid summers. The grasses change from a vibrant green in the spring to a sea of gold as the summer ends when land and animals prepare for the winter. Sometimes as you look across the plains, those wide open spaces of flat and rolling grasslands can seem to go on forever. The wind and sunlight will create waves in the ocean…
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The Railroad and Settlement in Early North Dakota
As you drive around the prairies and badlands of North Dakota you will find countless ghost towns; old structures abandoned and falling victim to the weather and lack of use and upkeep. The majority of these ghost towns were once thriving railroad towns along a giant web of railroad tracks that spread across North Dakota. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century there was a huge wave of immigration and settlement in North Dakota. This influx of pioneers and settlers was largely due to the development of railroad lines.
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The Western Trail
American cattle drives loom large in our imagination, but in reality they only lasted a short time in our history. The Chisolm Trail is iconic Americana and often what people think of when they envision an old west cattle drive. However, the lesser known Western Trail which succeeded the Chisolm was longer, carried more cattle and was traveled for more years.
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History of the Western Saddle
A good saddle would often cost a month or two of wages. This was money well spent; a well-made saddle would serve its owner well for thirty years or more. A good saddle and a considerate rider could travel 70 miles a day and still have a healthy horse. A thoughtless rider in a poor saddle could make a horse sore in an hour.
