Tracing Westward Journeys: Events That Paved the American West (1787–1890)- Katherine R. Willson

Cheri talks to Katherine about her course Tracing Westward Journeys: Events That Paved the American West (1787–1890). This course takes students on a journey through Manifest Destiny, one of the most transformative eras in American history. Beginning in 1787 with the purchase of the Northwest Territory and ending in 1890 when the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the frontier was closed, we explore the cultural, political, and economic motivations that propelled our ancestors to the West. Course sessions will examine U.S. Congressional acts and other events focused on territorial boundaries, the expansion of slavery, wars against indigenous populations and subsequent displacement, land acquisition, mining booms, westward trails, railroad development, and strategies for identifying primary sources documenting ancestral journeys westward. For more information about this course and others offered by the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, please visit: https://slig.ugagenealogy.org