The frontier is a major part of American history. It is a huge factor in our identity.
From about the end of the American Civil War in 1865 until around the turn of the century, the frontier was wide open.
What was the appeal?
New opportunities.
You could leave the crowded, rodent infested tenements of the East Coast for lands of unlimited opportunities.
Get in a covered wagon, head across the plains, stake a claim, work the land, and make as good a future for you and your family as you wanted.
What was the price for admission? Hard work, drive, and initiative.
You had to get a covered wagon. Outfit it. Travel a long time making sure the horses were fed and watered every day. Make sure you have enough water and food to care for your family. There weren’t any restaurants or grocery stores along the way.
Once you arrived and staked out a claim there was a tremendous amount of hard work. Digging a hole in the side of the hill. Cutting sod into brick shapes to build a roof over the hole in the hill for protection from the elements. Breaking the soil, which means getting rid of all of the wild grass on the surface so you can work the dirt.
Planting crops. Working them while they grow. Harvesting. Carrying the food to market. Storing food so your family has enough to eat through the winter.
To start with you had to have enough money and food to carry you and your family to the first harvest.
The land may have been at no charge but the price of admission was steep.
At about the turn-of-the-century, give or take a decade, the frontier was considered closed.
It ahs been closed for over a century.
The frontier in America is again open.
This series of posts will examine the bright future that exists in America and around the world. It is so bright we need sunglasses.
I’ve been wanting to start this series for a long time. Seems like every day I see an article or three that show my point.
The direction I plan to go?
- The frontier experience – so I can compare it to today.
Then describe the frontiers I see:
- The oil patch
- Publishing
- Education
- Space exploration
The opportunities are tremendous. The price of admission is still steep. Hard work, drive, and initiative.
On some frontiers you actually need money. But not all of them.