The Semler family of Custer County, Nebraska, were among the settlers who built houses and farms in the West.
In 1890 the superintendent of the U.S. Census Bureau, Robert Porter, announced that there was no longer an identifiable frontier line. The West had been settled. Cities, towns, and villages could be found across the country. Each region was slightly different, but all of them added up to make a rich tapestry that was the United States of America.
The settlers who moved west were part of an amazing journey. They had left the settled East and started new lives in a new place. People who had never owned anything now owned the land they lived on.
The Semler family of Custer County, Nebraska, were among the settlers who built houses and farms in the West.
Most of the land in the western interior of the United States is considered semi-arid. It receives an average of less than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain each year. In order to grow crops, irrigation is often needed. Farmers had to dig deep wells and build windmills to pump water to the crops.
Not everyone who settled the West made smart choices about the land. There was so much land available that people sometimes acted as if there was a never-ending supply of trees, fresh water, and fertile soil. Some settlers were wasteful when it came to protecting their new land. Some cut down too many trees or ruined the soil by overplanting. Still others were careless when they mined such metals as gold, copper, and silver, wasting minerals in the process and polluting the surrounding land and streams for generations to come.
Not everyone went west to build farms and towns. On January 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered gold near Sutter’s Mill, California. That discovery led to “gold fever.” People from all over the country rushed to California to pan for gold. By the end of the year, 8,000 men searching for gold had moved to California, which became a state in 1850. By 1851 that number reached 100,000.
The Gold Rush lasted only a few years, peaking in 1853. But it forever changed the West. California’s population continued to grow, reaching 380,000 in 1860.
Most settlers did everything they could to make their new homeland a good place to live. They worked to build productive farms and ranches that were able to support their families. The long, difficult trip west made them grateful for their new lives, and they wanted to make the most of it.
The United States had become a nation that stretched from one ocean to another. Instead of many regions sharing a continent, the U.S. became one united land. Settling the frontier gave Americans a sense of pride. For the people who made it to the new land in the West, their dream had come true.
