"O Pioneers" by Willa Cather

Until the late eighteenth century, any land located beyond the Alleghany mountains was believed to be savage, uninhabited land. Thus, it became known as the American frontier. According to Turner, the definition of frontier means, 'the meeting point between savagery and civilization and a region of sparse settlement.' 1 With the overwhelming number of frontiersmen invading this uninhabited land, many myths about winning the West arose, some containing truth, while others neglecting to tell the …

…land and as a result went to live on the white man's reservations.         In the short tale, O Pioneers, by Willa Cather, 1913 tells a tale about the oncoming future of the Great Plains. Although this tale is told about the great fortune of the pioneers, the book and the myths that were created during this time about the Winning of the West, forget to mention the heartaches and loss of land among the Native tribes.