The New Frontier

4 Pages 1063 Words

Why Would Anyone Want To Travel To The New Frontier?

Throughout history many people decided to abandon their civilized lives in the cities of the East Coast of America, and travel westward. These people were known as Frontiersman. They left everything they had in the cities, sometimes including their families and set out west. They set out in search of wealth and power that they could not acquire in the east. Many of the people that set out west were considered well built and tough. They were willing to take serious risks with no guarantee of any return. There were a few “frontiersman” that made it big the way they had hoped, unfortunately there were many more who did not. The life of a “frontiersman” was not for the faint of heart. There were fights between Indians and other “frontiersman”. Food was scarce because of the limit of civilization. All food had to be created or hunted in order for survival. There were many risks associated with living on your own hundreds of miles away from anyone else. The “frontier” lifestyle was not as glamorous as some people thought it to be. There were many dangers, and it was survival of the fittest at its best. Who in their right mind would want to do this?
After the first frontiersman left and settled out to the west, many of them died just from the fact that they had to survive by themselves. For the ones that survived, living alone became boring. In the winters there was nothing to do but try and keep warm. During the summers they were constantly working. Many of them hunted beavers for their prized furs. They would skin the animal after catching them and when the wagon trails from the east came out with supplies, trade them in. This sounds pretty easy, however the people coming from the east with supplies such as rifles and tobacco knew they had a monopoly the goods they brought. They often raised the cost of the supplies to nearly 2,000 percent. (AFC ...