Kelsei Harris US History The Conquest of the Far West By the early nineteenth century, most cities in western America had become overpopulated. Many people, including immigrants, started moving to the land west of the MS River. The Homestead Act of 1862, which sold cheap plots of land, and the increase in transcontinental railroads were the main causes of western expansion. “The New Frontier” was romanticized by a lot of authors, but people who lived in the west told the true story of what life was like. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” was written by historian Fredrick Jackson Turner in 1893. In his paper, he claimed that the newly created frontier was central to developing the American character. His first reason was that the western frontier was a place for people to create a new social life and establish a new form of civilization. Tuner also claimed that the new settlers were independent of the government and free to live their own way. As stated, “.. the dominant individualism which comes with freedom- these are traits of the frontier…” The last thing Turner claimed was that settlers traveled in the “savage lands” and overcame obstacles such as dangerous natives. Fredrick Jackson Turner was well known for his theories about the west, but many people disagreed with him and exposed the truth about the life on the frontier. A homesteader, E.V. Smalley, was interviewed by the Atlantic Monthly in 1893. He discussed the problems settlers faced in the west such as harsh weather conditions, poverty, lack of a social life, and no social bonding. Fas Smalley stated, “a short hot summer is followed by a long, cold winter”, “the new settler is too poor to build of brick Kelsei Harris US History The Conquest of the Far West or stone”, “there are few social events in the life of these prairie farmers to enliven the monotony of the long winter evenings:no singing schools, spelling schools, debating clubs, or church gatherings”, and “it is hard to establish any social bond in such a mixed population, yet one and all need social intercourse.” Smalley’s depiction of the west completely disputed Fredrick Turner’s idea that the west was a place where new civilizations could be formed. In reality, the west was a place where the weather was terrible, settlers were poor, and there was no social life because of ethnicity and the placement of people. Turner also portrayed the west a place where everyone was free and could make their own decisions. Richard Phillips, a cowboy from Texas, describes his life in the workplace. When his mother died, he headed to the west and was hired by the Western Union Beef Company. Phillips was paid only $15 a month and was given chuck. As he stated, “the boys that are out with a herd must be real good riders willing to take chances with their lives”. His story showed that people weren’t as independent as it seemed and the same problems that were in the industrialized workplace also existed in the west. Richard Phillips story showed that men often worked for big companies for low wages just as they did in the cities. Indians were described by Turner as savage people who were dangerous and harmed anyone who weren’t like them. Chief Joseph , the leader of the Nez Perces tribe, told the true story of the interactions between white settlers and Indians. After General Howard told the Indians to move away to reservations, Chief Joseph says he “remonstrated with him against bringing more soldiers to the Nez Perces country” and Kelsei Harris US History The Conquest of the Far West his tribe “decided to move immediately to avoid bloodshed”. This shows that the Indians didn’t mean any harm to the settlers. They just wanted to keep their land that they had lived on for centuries. Chief Joseph went on to say that he “went up to General Miles and gave up his gun” and removed his tribe from the war. Throughout the reading it is clearly shown that the Indians were peaceful people and didn’t want to fight with settlers. Historian Fredrick Jackson Turner described the “new frontier” as a place where a new form of civilization could be formed, people could be independent of the government, and settlers faced obstacles such as violent natives. In reality, the diversity of people and spacing of people prevented civilization from properly forming. Cowboys and other settlers worked for big companies and the natives were actually peaceful groups of people. Throughout the years, many have discredited Turner’s theory about the frontier being significant in American history by using primary sources to observe the true life in the west.
