End of a Long Era The 'Frontier Thesis' is different from previous portrayals of American growth. It casts American history as a great pageant, which pits eastern forces (which seek to control) against western forces (which always strive for freedom). A simpler explanation is that seemingly limitless cheap land, and railroads access, gave choices to Americans that few others in history ever enjoyed.

	Just Getting By Prairie farming is difficult in the best of conditions, and grimly disheartening at other times. Irrigation can ease the burden, but keeping the ditches repaired and the water flowing is a constant chore. Still, farmers manage to get by, in a lonely life where the sudden energy of the harvest is only a brief interruption. The rest of the time, settlers have little company beyond the relentless wind, and tormenting visions of perhaps having to finally chuck it all in, defeated by a hostile environment.
	Getting There Here you can see why so many western mining towns are eventually abandoned. They're just too far from anything else. Today, ski resorts like Aspen, in Colorado, have reclaimed some of these locations.