This page from PBS's "New Perspectives on the West" is part of the interactive timeline which charts significant events in the history of the American West The focus for this page is the decade 18501860 and includes themes such as the treatment of the Native Americans rising immigration slavery the Chinese immigrant population the "Mormon War" and the discovery of gold and silver This resource is referenced in the EDSITEment lesson titled "I Hear the Locomotives The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad"