Legendary characters who traveled west of the Mississippi included many colorful men and women who helped mold the American frontier. These characters all exhibit independence and demonstrate how opportunities are developed as a result of challenges overcome. Their stories represent the diversity of the Western population including African American cowboy Nat Love and William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s connection to the Pony Express.
Western Legends & Characters is comprisedof the following:
Supplemental teaching material and lesson plans about Nat Love give teachers a guide to the cattle trails and cowboy life in the 1800s. Students will learn about early mail service in the West by using the materials related to the Pony Express.
Videos in the Western Legends & Characters theme area feature African American cowboy Nat Love and the cattle trails that crossed such states as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana. Another story is about the Pony Express. That mail service ran for eighteen months in the early 1860s, but it made a lasting impression on American History that continues today. One of the men involved with the Pony Express, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, went on to become one of the most recognized men of the West.
