Project Topic Research

For my first project I am choosing to look a little deeper into how a fictional story relates to history. I will of course be answering the questions in the project prompt:
1. In what ways could this story be considered an artifact of history?
2. What does this story teach us about history?
3. How does a story teach us about a time or place differently than a history book?

The reason that this project is intriguing to me is because I find it extremely interesting how an author of a fictional story does not have to be neutral and stick to strictly the facts in a period of history. I think that an author of a fictional work can dive a lot deeper into the feeling and day to day life of a time period rather than a history book that looks at "this battle took place on this date".

An area that I would be interested in focusing on is the expansion of the west in the 1800's. I find this time period really interesting, because it really was the "Wild West", where there were bandits that could come in and rob and kill you at anytime, with lawmen chasing them all around. I am currently taking a history class and our last two chapters have focused on the expansion of the west, and I would really enjoy comparing this history textbook to the work of a fictional author of this time period. I recently watched a Netflix series called Godless, which focused on a gang of outlaws wreaking havoc in New Mexico in the 1800's, and it was extremely interesting to see how people dealt with these outlaws only having a sheriff and a deputy in their town responsible for protecting around 50-100 people.

I need to find a good short story that revolves around the expansion of the west and take a look at how it relates to the objective historical events of that time period. I look forward to getting started on this project, and to learn more about the history of this time period.