The commonly cited span for the Wild West varies by definition, but most historians and reference works place it roughly between the end of the Civil War (circa 1865) and the turn of the 20th century (roughly 1890s to 1900). Estimates often cluster around about 30 years, with boundaries depending on whether one emphasizes frontier settlement, popular culture, or law-and-order development in the American West. Here are the main ways this period is framed:

• Frontier-era definition: 1865 to about 1890s. This covers the rapid westward expansion after the Civil War, the era of cattle drives, ranching, mining booms, and the initial phases of rail expansion, followed by increasing formal state and federal governance in western territories.

• Cultural/popular-frontier framing: 1865 to 1900 or 1910 in some sources, which aligns with the peak of dime novels, Western films, and other media shaping the mythos of the Wild West, even as real settlements continued to mature.

• Longer-inclusive timelines: Some modern or less traditional sources extend the “Wild West” into the early 20th century (late 1910s to 1920s) to reflect ongoing frontier-style conflicts, frontier town dynamics, and continued influence on culture and memory.

If you’re looking for a precise, one-size-fits-all date, there isn’t a single definitive end date. Your best approach is to pick the framing you find most relevant:

• If you want a historical frontier end date: around 1890–1895, with major railroad and settlement completion marking the transition.
• If you want a cultural end date: around 1900–1910, when Westerns and frontier myths dominated popular imagination.

If you’d like, I can tailor a specific end-date definition to your needs (e.g., academic history, education for kids, or film/culture studies) and provide sources that align with that choice.