“The Prairie Looking West” at Lord Selkirk’s settlement in Canada. Photograph by Humphrey Lloyd Hime. Courtesy of Yale University.

While historical photographs are popular with the public, they have both strengths and limitations as primary sources.

By analyzing photographs, students gain critical analysis skills while also building a greater understanding of this transitional period (1860s–1870s) in which the economy of the West changed as it joined the national market, Anglo-American settlement expanded greatly, the marginalization of American Indian tribes continued, and a grieving nation looked to the West as a land of national healing.

Because photographers pick and choose what to photograph, learners have to think about why some people and activities were deemed important enough to photograph while others were not. Fortunately for educators, historical photographs are readily available online and in the public domain.