An exploration of the African-American experience in the context of western migration history. This presentation demonstrates African Americans contributed in every narrative of western development, but their contributions were ignored as racism promoted a frontier mythology centered on whites.

1. Julian C. Chambliss, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History & Coordinator of the Africa & African American Studies Program
Rollins College
African Americans and the West

2. What does the
“Frontier
Experience”
mean?

3. Context

4. York, slave to William Clark, is one of the earliest
example of African Americans in the west (1804-
1806).

5. Battle of New Orleans
600 black troops help Andrew Jackson defeat the British

6. Manifest Destiny
leads to a brutal
Civil War
that creates a new context
for the African American
western experience.

9. RESISTANCE TO
RECONSTRUCTION

11. The Redeemed South?
"Everything Points to a Democratic Victory This Fall”

12. • OUT OF THE SOUTH

13. • INTO THE
WEST
–Exodusters

14. • In 1874 Benjamin Singleton and his associates formed the Edgefield Real Estate
and Homestead Association in Tennessee. This association sought out the best
locations for black settlements. Singleton tried to establish a well-planned and
organized movement to Kansas, but by 1879, the unruly, mass Exodus had
overwhelmed his efforts.

16. Aerial view of Nicodemus from the Northeast, 1953
http://www.nps.gov/features/nicodemus/buildings.htm

17. ALL BLACK TOWNS IN OKLAHOMA
http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/content.php?pid=348131&sid=2847897

20. Main College Building in Langston, OK, ca 1900

23. THE BATTLE
FOR THE WEST

25. Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry, Ft. Keogh, Montana
9th Cavalry Regiment / 10th Cavalry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment / 25th Infantry Regiment

26. Other Duties: Johnson Country War

27. Spanish
American
War

28. THE ROLE OF
MINORITIES IN THE
INDUSTRIAL WEST

29. The Cowboy’ Diverse Reality
• MEXICAN
COWBOY
– VAQUERO (from
Spanish for cow)
– Starting in 1500s
these Spanish
landowners
mounted Native
Americans on
horse to manage
cattle.

30. Black Cowboys
Often omitted from the popular dialogue countless African
American served as cowboys in the west.

31. MYTH & MARVELS

32. Telephone lines over NYC 1880s

33. AS THE 19TH CENTURY CAME TO A CLOSE,
RAPID URBANIZATION TRIGGERED A
COMPLEX ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FRONTIER.
THE DIVERSITY OF THE REAL FRONTIER WAS
REPLACED BY AN IMAGINARY FRONTIER.

34. Dime Novel as Collective Mythology

35. The Real Nat
Love
• Former slave
• Worked in the
emerging cattle
industry after Civil
War.
• Worked across the
southwest and
Mexico
• Won cowboy contest
in 1876 that garnered
nickname Deadwood
Dick.

37. THE NEW
MYTHOLOGY

38. FILM JOINED PRINT IN CREATING
A NEW WHITEWASHED MYTHOLOGY OF THE WEST

39. Birth of a Nation
https://archive.org/movies/thumbnails.php?identifier=dw_griffith_birth_of_a_nation

40. COUNTERPOINT:
Race Films
• Films produced by
African-American
for African
Americans allowed
them to show a
fuller memory of
the western
experience.

41. IN THE END, THE RE-IMAGINED
WESTERN NARRATIVE SUPPORTED
VIEWS THAT DIMINISHED AFRICAN-
AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
U.S. EXPERIENCE. THE TRUTH
HOWEVER IS THAT AFRICAN-
AMERICANS WERE A PART OF THE
WESTERN EXPERIENCE.

42. Thank You!!
• Dr. Julian C. Chambliss
• Twitter: @JulianChambliss
• www.julianchambliss.com