W.K. Patterson Manuscript Collection, Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library, call # Z-6631.

Moving west often meant an escape from the racism in the east and south, but it did not mean total equality and freedom.

These two African American men, 'Haley' (left) and 'Pate' (right) were prison guards at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canyon City between 1880 and 1900---a good job. However, on the back of the photograph someone wrote "No Negro officers until 1970's after this - Klan got them out."

Sadly, African Americans in the West often suffered the same kinds of violence and discrimination that was faced throughout the rest of the United States.

In one of the worst cases on record, early on June 1, 1921, whites set fire to and destroyed 35 city blocks of Tulsa, Oklahoma--the entire black section of the town. This neighborhood was a thrivng and prosperous community, even called "Black Wall Street." In response to the riot, the governor called in the National Guard. All the black residents of Tulsa, over 6,000 people, were arrested and interned at the Covnetional Hall at the local fairgrounds. Some of these indivuduals were not released for eight days.

The official death toll is listed as 39, eleven white and 28 black, however historians now believe the death toll was close to 300, if not higher.

In 2001 a report was issued by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Click here for a pdf of that report.

Photo by Russell Lee. Library of Congress, neg #: LC-DIG-fsa-8a26761.

Racism in the West was not limited to race riots. It was a daily experience for many African Americans throughout the region. Up until after World War II, Oklahoma followed Texas in having the largest African American population in the West. Both states also firmly adopted the Jim Crow policies that existed throughout the South. In Oklahoma City, for example, there were separate facilities such as water fountains and bathrooms as shown in this 1939 photograph of the Oklahoma City street car terminal.