In the post-Civil War era, thousands of settlers from the North, the South, and even overseas poured into the West seeking a fresh start or a way to strike it rich. Some came to farm, others to mine, others still to make their profit from the Longhorn cattle. Whatever they came for, they came in droves, hoping to succeed in the “Land of Opportunity.” However, the American Frontier, though considered by many hopeful settlers to be a “Land of Opportunity” and a “Poor Man’s Paradise,” in reality only offered limited opportunity, usually to those who had already been prosperous before they attempted to make their fortune or survive in the West. Farmers, those who worked in the cattle industry, miners, railroad workers, and American I
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