Frontier : The Frontier

The Frontier in the United States and Canada was the zone of unsettled land to the west of the original settlements. As settlement occurred the frontier moved west and by about 1890 ceased to exist when the Pacific shore was reached. The frontier by official definition of the census was a line west of which the population was less than 2 persons per square mile. The frontier was very productive of both adventures and stories. Western movies are generally set on the frontier.

Compare The West (U.S.) and Wild West.

See also:

• Frederick Jackson Turner: "The Significance of the Frontier in American History[?]" (1893) (full text online (http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~flhisqtr/turner.html))