agate_ t1_j2dl4o5 wrote
American history is a constant re-definition of what "West" means. In the 1700s and early 1800s, the northwesternmost extent of the US was the Northwest Territory, which included the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
A number of things in this area are still called "northwest", including Northwestern University near Chicago, and Northwest Airlines, which was based in Minnesota.
Of course, after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the gain of the Oregon Territory in 1846, the old Northwest wasn't very northwest anymore, and so "Pacific Northwest" came to be used for the new northwest corner of the contiguous US.
Much_Difference t1_j2e6g62 wrote
Fun fact: Alabama, Mississippi, etc were once The Old Southwest for similar reasons.
chriswaco t1_j2e79fn wrote
UMich’s fight song, The Victors, still refers to the team as “Champions of the West”.
Implausibilibuddy t1_j2ebbmo wrote
> Northwest Airlines, which was based in Minnesota.
So were they just sitting around since before the Louisiana purchase waiting for someone to invent the airplane?
That-Soup3492 t1_j2ekwzf wrote
People still refer to that area as the "Northwest" sometimes, but I would say that "Midwest" has overtaken it.
Tyraels_Might t1_j2f3ivw wrote
Since it went unstated before, the massive boundary created by the Rocky mountains provides a distinction between east and west east-of-the-Rockies from the same west-of-the-Rockies
rimshot101 t1_j2ea38v wrote
The Frontier was constantly moving.
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