The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," presents a copy of the order given by Chief Justice John Marshall when the bill to seize the Cherokee lands came to court.
This Archive of the West site provides selected statements and speeches of the great leader of the Nez Perce Indians. They are reprinted from Chester Anders Fee's "Chief Joseph: The Biography of a Great Indian" which was published in 1936.
This is the original report Coronado sent to the viceroy describing his journey from Mexico to what he hoped were the Seven Cities of Gold. He describes the land, people, climate, food, animals.
This document, offered on this PBS website, is the declaration of the people living in Texas objecting to the treatment by Santa Anna and asking for help from the Mexican government.
This site, a compliment to PBS's landmark series "The West," provides an excerpt from President Chester Arthur's First Annual Message to Congress. In this speech, Arthur outlines his proposals for dealing with the Native American population.
Jackson was instrumental in removing the Indian population from the South. This site presents the section from his 7th annual address to Congress which deals with his Indian removal policy.
Read the incredible story of Cabeza de Vaca in his own words. He tells of his many years-long journey across the South, and writes as an ethnologist about the Native Americans he encounters. A fascinating account!
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves. Includes lesson plans.
The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," provides the text of the Homestead Act of 1862.
This site from PBS contains a transcription of the three documents concerning the purchase of Louisiana from France. There is a link to other documents.
The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," provides the text of the actual Pacific Railway Act, designed to aid in the construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.
On this PBS website you can read the text of the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the removal of the Cherokees from Georgia by the Georgia legislature and Georgia's prosecution of a man living on those lands.