Western frontier life in America

Western frontier life in America marks one of the most exciting chapters in American history. The settlement of the West represented the dreams of gold-hungry prospectors, and of homesteaders whose back-breaking labor transformed barren plains into fields of grain. It is the story of cowboys and the open range. It is the drama of Indians and outlaws, of the trains and stagecoaches they attacked, and of the citizens who brought order to the frontier. It is a living tradition that symbolizes to men and women everywhere the American achievement of taming a wild and beautiful land.

The far western frontier appeared about 1850, and vanished about 1890. Adventurous settlers had crossed the Appalachian Mountains during the 1700's and come through the Cumberland Gap in the 1770's. They built homes along the Mississippi River a few years later. Traders and scouts reached the Pacific Coast in the early 1800's, and settlers arrived in the 1840's. But the area between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains did not attract many settlers until the 1860's. The final period of western settlement lasted from then to 1890. For the complete story of western expansion in the United States, see Westward movement in America.

Early settlers in the Far West crossed the plains to Oregon or California. Their high Conestoga wagons had already become museum pieces by the time of the last frontier

The western frontier produced many colorful figures. Some, such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid, symbolize outlaws who "died with their boots on." Others, such as Pat Garrett, gained fame as fearless defenders of law and order. "Buffalo Bill" Cody—scout, Indian fighter, and showman—probably did more than anyone else to create interest in the old West. Other figures, though less well-known, did more to develop the area itself.

Charles Goodnight, a fiery rancher and cattle breeder, helped settle the Texas range. Granville Stuart of Montana, who had been an illiterate prospector, became U.S. minister to Paraguay and Uruguay. Adolph Sutro, a German immigrant, built a vast tunnel through Nevada's Comstock Lode, and was later mayor of San Francisco.

A stagecoach roars across the desert with Indian attackers in close pursuit. In Downing the Nigh Leader, the American artist Frederic Remington caught the drama and excitement that symbolize "the Wild West" to people throughout the world

The West promised to satisfy the needs and dreams of immigrants fresh from Europe as well as those of thousands of Americans unhappy with their life in the East. Some went west to find adventure, others to find happiness in the green valleys or among the tall mountains. Many sought wealth, but only a few were lucky.

The West was a place where American Indians fought to keep their land, where accidents were common, and where hard work was the rule for all. Life on the western frontier seems colorful when we look back on it today. But the people who settled there found it difficult and dangerous—and even dull at times.