West

Chapter 16 - The American West

In Chapter 16 , The American West ' Henretta describes the growth of United States across the Great Plains and the western frontiers . Through the description of the changing landscape of this region , he illustrates the reliance of this expansion on the dual force of individual dreams and commercial and cultural exploitation

Prior to the 1860s and the development of the railroad system across the plains , as a means to link the Oregon territory to the East , the Great Plains was viewed as uninhabitable and unprofitable to the general

br American public . However , with the construction of the railway systems by Union Pacific and Central Pacific railway companies the potential for the area began to grow in the eyes of business magnates in the East Almost more importantly , in the population boom that occurred afterward the area grew in the imaginations of individual Americans . Figures such as William F . Buffalo Bill ' Cody and stories of his escapades as an Army scout and buffalo hunter became part of the myth of the Wild West Such dramatization of the Wild West lifestyle increased desire but did little to foster a true understanding of the incompatibility of the physical and cultural geography of the land

Despite the sometimes misleading propaganda sold to potential settlers the potential for agricultural profit and the independent spirit of this new frontier drew homesteaders of many nationalities and races . Blacks and whites came in droves to farm the land and carve out a piece of prosperity...