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Abstract
The frontier myth or frontier tall tales is a term given to the popular romanticization of the Wild West frontier. The frontier was the term applied to the zone of unsettled land outside the region of existing settlements of Americans. The notion of the frontier was the edge of the settled country where unlimited free land was available and thus unlimited opportunity. The history of Frontier tells the story of the defense and creation of communities, the use of the land, the development of markets, and the formation of states. This is a tale of subjugation, but also one of endurance and the merging of peoples and cultures that gave birth and continuing life to America. The American frontier comprises the geography, history, folklore, and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of American expansion that began with English colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended after the civil war with the development of the transcontinental railroad. This era of massive migration and settlement was particularly encouraged by President Thomas Jefferson.