The cowboy, the quintessential symbol of the American frontier,
circa 1888 |Location||United States/North America| |Date||1607 -
1912| The American frontier comprises the geography, history,
folklore, and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of
American westward expansion that began with English colonial
settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the
assimilation of the last mainland territories into states in the
early 20th century. Enormous popular attention in the media
focuses on the western United States in the second half of the
nineteenth century, a period sometimes called the Old West, or
the Wild West. As defined by Hine and Faragher, "frontier
history tells the story of the creation and defense of
communities, the use of the land, the development of markets,
and the formation of states." They explain, "It is a tale of
conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the merging
of peoples and cultures that gave birth and continuing life to
America." Through treaties with for