West Elizabeth

"Civilization in all its glory."

- John Marston

West Elizabeth is one of three states (or territories) in Red Dead Redemption. It is the smallest and composed of two constituent regions, Tall Trees and the Great Plains.

New Austin is situated to the Southwest, and separates West Elizabeth from the Northern Mexican territory of Nuevo Paraiso. The territory is characterized as possessing the most modern and industrialized settlements in the West, such as the thriving port town of Blackwater, which is also the capital. The territory is distinguished from others as having a uniformed police force.

The territory is also home to extensive coniferous and deciduous forests, boasting a wide variety of fauna.

Being farther north, the region strongly resembles Oklahoma as it has the great plains to the east and the mountains and forest (Tall Trees) to the west. The Buffalo is also present in the territory, which is happens to be the national state animal of Oklahoma. This too would explain the high population of Native Americans in the area.

This territory hosts the largest amount of wild animals in the game, especially hostile animals.

Storyline
The game's introduction opens up with John Marston arriving in the gameplay region by means of a steamboat, escorted by Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham.

West Elizabeth features as the third chapter in the game's storyline. It is here John Marston will work directly under the Bureau of Investigation to take down Dutch.

Locations in West Elizabeth
The following is an alphabetical list of the 15 locations found in the West Elizabeth territory:

Great Plains

 * Beecher's Hope
 * Blackwater
 * Broken Tree
 * Wreck of the Serendipity

Tall Trees

 * Aurora Basin
 * Bearclaw Camp
 * Cochinay
 * Dixon Crossing
 * Manzanita Post
 * Mason's Bridge
 * Montana Ford
 * Nekoti Rock
 * Pacific Union Railroad Camp
 * Tanner's Reach
 * Tanner's Span

Trivia

 * This is the only region not to have any hideouts because of the efficiency of the Blackwater Police, which uses its size to patrol Blackwater and the surrounding areas. However they still have gang members that can be captured via bounty hunting.
 * Looking west from Beecher's Hope, one of the mountains in the distance appears very similar to Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, giving credence that West Elizabeth is in that state.
 * West Elizabeth is very small and is roughly the size of Cholla Springs.
 * There appears to be no definite boundary between New Austin and West Elizabeth. Even after crossing a bridge into one of the territories, the game may still recognize you as being in the territory you just left (music from that territory will still be playing). Only after you walk a certain distance will the name of the region appear, and you will be recognized as being in the new territory. Some players have reported that the game still recognized the player as being in New Austin after crossing Tanner's Span as far as just outside of Manzanita Post. This may be a developer oversight, or just a bug in the programming. A simmilar issue happens sometimes when going from New Austin to Nuevo Paraiso.
 * It also resembles the Canadian Province of Alberta, which has a western mountain range and an eastern great plain region. Alberta is named after a female member of British Royalty (Princess Alberta) and it is possible that West Elizabeth is as well. However, it could also be a nod to the state of West Virginia, which lies in the north-eastern United States. West Virginia was named after the then reigning British monarch Queen Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen". This is also further backed up by the town of Blackwater, which shares some architectural features with towns in Virginia.
 * This region is host to a wide variety of game for hunting, as the player can hunt for Bear, Wolf, Cougar, Elk, Bighorn, and Boar along with many other species in Tall Trees.
 * Due to the climate, West Elizabeth is sometimes erroneously reffered to as Canada - despite the American Flags and U.S. Army - among players.

Early Access to West Elizabeth

 * Look for a cliff near the waterfall north of the MacFarlane's Ranch. A display reading "Tall Trees" will pop up when you get to the edge. Get arrested here, and you will be transported to Blackwater. To get back to New Austin, auto-save the game and then die. However, if you buy the Manzanita Post property, you'll have to use your horse to jump the unfinished bridge north of Thieves' Landing to return.
 * Another simple way over is to just follow this video. Once you're over the river, head to the Pacific Union Rail Road Camp and walk over to the stagecoach so it is marked on your map. When you are done you can use the stagecoach to head back. You must skip the ride or the stagecoach wont go anywhere. Anytime you want to go back to West Elizabeth you can either follow the video or go to Thieves Landing and use the stagecoach to go to to any stagecoach you marked on the map in West Elizabeth.


 * Both exploits still work as of August28 2024

Achievements/Trophies
The discovery of locations in West Elizabeth count towards the following Trophies/Achievements: