Emerging Frontier Towns

The urban frontier grew just as the rural frontier grew.  Back east the popular view was the civilized society came as the towns came a reality.  They evolved from trading posts like Denver and San Francisco or from supply stations along the trail like Kansas City and St Joseph did.  Some were once just rest stops like Salt Lake City or destinations like Portland.  Interestingly enough, the population ratio of men to women stayed close to that of eastern cities.

American frontiersmen were not only farmers but also town builders, planners, and speculators,  Phoebe Judson noted in her journal in 1854 Missouri:  " New buildings spring up in all directions and everything wore that indescribably air of excitement and thrill that accompanies the carving out of a town in the wilderness"

25% of pioneer families stayed 10 years or more.  To pack up and move a family, find a new homestead, build another house, plant another farm or start another business - it was expensive and stressful.  The longer a family stayed in one place, the more successful they became.  A family that moved often were searching for success, economic stability, better farm but seldom did they do better in the next place.

In growing rural communities, there also grew transiency, social and economic division and conflict.   The town's population was young, with most families living outside the town's limits.  During a 20 year period, 40-50% of the town's younger women had no children at all, and 20-30% had but one child, quite a shift in trend from that of their parents and grandparents.

Next time... Women are called to civilize the frontier.