Wild West, 1885 -- American Frontier
1885 AD -- The American Frontier
The last days of the untamed West. Railroads, saloons, and legends that are already fading into myth.
Historical Curiosities
Discover real facts hidden throughout this diorama.
In 1885 the last stretch of the Canadian transcontinental railway was completed. The Wild West was running out of 'wild.'
Real cowboys earned about 25 dollars a month. Not exactly the glamour Hollywood shows.
Dynamite, invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867, transformed mining. It also transformed a few mountains.
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were already legends by 1885. The O.K. Corral gunfight was only 4 years prior.
Saloon swinging doors were real: they let air through and let you see who was coming in without opening the door.
In 1885, Geronimo was still resisting the US Army. He wouldn't surrender until 1886.
The telegraph had connected coast to coast since 1861. Messages crossed the country in minutes, not months.
The California Gold Rush was in 1849, but in 1885 there were still hopeful miners searching for their fortune.