You’ll find Elliott West’s articles and monographs cited in several “resources” sections for this issue. In addition, you might enjoy these essays and books by Dr. West:

“The American Frontier.” In The Oxford History of the American West, eds. Clyde A. Milner, Carol A. O’Connor, and Martha A. Sandweiss, Oxford University Press, 1994.

“Great Dreams, Great Plains: Jefferson, the Bents, and the West.” In Thomas Jefferson and The Changing West: From Conquest to Conservation, ed. James P. Ronda. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press; St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1997.

Growing up with the Country: Childhood on the Far Western Frontier. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1989.

The Saloon on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1979.

“Trails and Footprints: The Past of the Future Southern Plains.” In The Future of the Southern Plains, ed. Sherry L. Smith. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press in cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University, 2003.

The Way to the West: Essays on the Central Plains. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Good introductions to the history of the Plains region, its geography and people are:

Bamforth, Douglas B. Ecology and Human Organization on the Great Plains. New York: Plenum Press, 1988.

Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.

Licht, Daniel S. Ecology and Economics of the Great Plains. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.

Wood, W. Raymond, ed. Archaeology on the Great Plains. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

Walter Prescott Webb’s famous 1931 study, The Great Plains. (New York, Grosset & Dunlap) has been reprinted many times and still influences Great Plains studies. If you’re interested in historiography, see:

Tobin, Gregory M. The Making of A History: Walter Prescott Webb and The Great Plains. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976.

The Indian nations of the Plains have been the subject of extensive study. You might begin with:

Fowler, Loretta, ed. The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.

Keyser, James D. Art of the Warriors: Rock Art of the American Plains. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2004.

Schlesier, Karl H., ed. Plains Indians, A.D. 500-1500: The Archaeological Past of Historic Groups. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.

Wedel, Waldo R. Prehistoric Man on the Great Plains. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1961.

For early encounters of these tribal nations with European settlers and traders, see:

Clark, Laverne Harlem. They Sang For Horse: The Impact Of The Horse on Navajo and Apache Folklore. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1966.

Roe, Frank Gilbert. The Indiana and the Horse. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1955.

Vigil, Ralph H., et al., eds. Spain and the Plains: Myths and Realities of Spanish Exploration and Settlement on the Great Plains. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1994. Pay special attention to “The Villasur Expedition and the Segesser Hide Paintings” by Thomas E. Chavez.

Wood, W. Raymond, and Thomas D. Thiessen, eds. Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders Among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, 1738-1818: The Narratives of John Macdonell, David Thompson, Francois-Antoine Larocque, and Charles Mckenzie. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985.

Wood, W. Raymond. Prologue to Lewis and Clark: The Mackay and Evans Expedition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003.

Calloway, Colin G. Our Hearts Fell To The Ground: Plains Indian Views Of How The West Was Lost. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996. Useful collection of primary accounts.

Websites:

There are some really fine Internet sources for Great Plains studies. Theses are of general interest:

The Geologic Story of the Great Plains by Donald E. Trimble. A non-technical description of the origin and evolution of the landscape of the Great Plains Geological Survey Bulletin 1493 United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1980.

http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/govdocs/text/greatplains/text.html

The Center for Great Plains Studies at University of Nebraska, Lincoln, provides some excellent images. So far, there is nothing on the Web designed for the K-12 classroom, but keep checking. This is likely to be invaluable in the future:

http://www.unl.edu/plains/

EdSitement offers an excellent 9-12 lesson plan on Life on the Great Plains that allows students to examine the concept of geographic region by exploring the history of the Great Plains. Very good links and suggestions for resources for maps:

http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=265

More specialized Web resources are:

The marvelous photographic archive in American Memory: The Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ndfahtml/ngphome.html

If you’re lucky enough to be in Kansas, you’ll want to consider a visit to the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita. Their website will be helpful for those of you live further away:

http://www.gpnc.org/

The Native Web website providing links to sites maintained by and concerning American Indian culture. You’ll find the “K-12” resources especially helpful:

http://www.nativeweb.org/resources/education_and_youth_resources/k-12/

The Nebraska Studies site provides a very nice piece on the Villasur expedition including images from hide paintings:

http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0300/frameset_reset.html

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/indian_horse.htm