The Myth of the Independent American West
How the romantic vision of a hard scrabble and independent American West was backed by connections to the settled East
The Frontiersman of the American West are often romanticized as hardscrabble independents making their way in an empty Prairie devoid of outside help, but while their lives were difficult, they were heavily sustained by the wealth of the Eastern States.
The US Army is the most potent example of Eastern Power clearing the way for Western Expansion. Settlers were little match for Raiders like the Sioux and even the US Army would face significant setbacks against such a martial people, infamously demonstrated by Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Without the backing the Eastern Army, there was little hope for many of the Native peoples to be dislodged and for the land to be opened up so quickly.
But the power of the Army pales in comparison to the money and resources which poured into the Western Plains and Prairies from merchants, lenders and investors to help make the land bloom. While the US government was willing to underwrite much of the cost of the land itself to boost settlement, the other critical components for a thriving homestead or farm, namely the home and plow were left up to settlers to fund.
Images of Sod Houses help romanticize the hard scrabble nature of Western Settlement, most settlers erected their homes and farm buildings out of wood. Wood that had to imported in on rail, largely from the forests bordering the Great Lakes. These rail lines provided much more than just wood to build homes, most of the necessities of building Agrarian Civilization were brought in by rail car. Western States often did not become net exporters of goods for many decades, long after their primary settlement phase had ended.
Only once their explosive population growth had subsided, and developmental levels had reached certain parity with the Eastern States, could farmers now justify trying to sell goods as far East as New York instead of their swelling local Boom Towns. Growth begat growth.
As always, Growth made a great story for Eastern financiers. Most farms in the West were bought on Eastern credit:
"A specialized business investing Eastern money in Western farm mortgages began during [..] 1865–73, and 60 per cent of Kansas farms had mortgages by 1890. Homesteaders proving up could not raise mortgages, but they still had to have some cash or credit."
- James Belich, Replenishing the Earth
Urban banks and wholesalers lent their credit to small-town merchants, and they in turn lent merchandise to their rural customers."
- William Cronon, Nature's Metropolis
Even the Cowboy, that most independent and romanticized of Western Americana was ultimately a cog in a great Eastern financial machine:
"Great Plains ranching appeared a license to print money—a ‘beef bonanza’. British speculators invested $44 million, Easterners even more" - James Belich, Replenishing the Earth
In many ways, this should not come as a great surprise: Buffalo Bill and J.P Morgan were contemporaries.
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Very interesting