History

JOHN MACK FARAGHER , SUGAR CREEK - QUESTION ONE

The myth of the rugged individual ' conquering the frontier remains a popular image in American culture , more than a century after historian Frederick Turner proposed it . However , as John Mack Faragher demonstrates in Sugar Creek , the frontier was settled and transformed not by fearless individual settlers but by groups of people who worked socialized , and cooperated with one another in to create viable communities , which were the real agents of taming ' the frontier

Faragher clearly shows that communities of individuals from similar backgrounds and

engaged in similar pursuits turned frontier regions into stable , secure , economically viable places , particularly because of their group efforts . However , Sugar Creek 's first settler fit the rugged individual ' image . Virginia-born Robert Pulliam had previously been a subsistence farmer at Wood River , near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers , far from commerce , government authority , and medical care . His family 's existence was isolated , far from prosperous , and vulnerable to misfortunes . In fact , Pulliam suffered a leg injury that grew infected and required a painful amputation , since no doctors were near enough to treat it promptly Faragher writes that Robert Pulliam 's peg-leg stood as a lifetime symbol of frontier isolation (Faragher 6 , illustrating some of the perils frontiersmen faced in the absence of community

In addition , being an individual on the frontier meant added vulnerability to Indian attacks . Both in Wood River and Sugar Creek the Pulliam family witnessed the murders of their neighbors , whose small numbers meant minimal protection against the well-armed , belligerent Kickapoo , who refused to assimilate to encroaching white culture and fought viciously against whites until the 1820s . Faragher claims that the Kickapoo hatred of assimilationists and their belief in the efficacy of violent resistance (Faragher 23 ) made Sugar Creek a dangerous place for rugged individuals who lacked the strength afforded by a surrounding community

On the Illinois frontier , as elsewhere , group solidarity was completely necessary for turning uncultivated regions into stable farming communities . Few pioneers sought to be completely isolated , unless they dared to face Indian retaliation and other hazards . Also , economics played a major role in being part of a community at almost every level At the most basic one , the presence of neighbors (whether as legal owners or squatters ) was not only tolerated but welcomed , mainly to ward off speculators who inflated land prices and discouraged squatters from eventually buying their farms

In addition , family bonds were important in settling the frontier particularly at Sugar Creek , where 80 percent of the long-term settlers arrived as part of extended kin networks (Faragher 56 , reflecting the settlers ' Southern origins and pioneering style . The presence of relatives helped communities remain stable , says Faragher , adding that many , if not most , of the single men and families who came without associates passed through the community . A lack of kin . accounted for their lack of permanence (Faragher 59-60

Families were really the fiber that held frontier communities together and kept them viable , because they provided mutual...