This collection offers the opportunity to examine Americans' movement west as both a search for more natural resources and a story of ecological and environmental change. Browse the State Index to see images of western states. Included are many vivid images of national parks and landscapes. Compare these images of western landscapes with those of eastern landscapes. Edison Electric Plant , Quincy, MA, 1921.
Some images illustrate the changes wrought upon the physical landscape by westward expansion.
For example, search on San Francisco to see images of this city whose population exploded after the discovery of gold in California in 1848. Draw a picture of how you think this area would have looked before the effects of civilization.