western expantion
... The homesteader/farmer comprised the largest percentage of the western frontier population and directly contributed the most to the process of civilizing it. ... The government and the railroads served as a catalyst for western expansion. Since the government made large railroad projects possible, the government was the sole institution allowed for such drastic western expansion. ... While most of these homesteads failed, many became profitable making the western economy an agrarian economy. ... Miners, prospectors, loggers, and cowboys were the other maverick pioneers of the western economy. ... Theses ventures diversified the western economy and further built up the railroads by increasing the overall volume of freight. Ultimately, the western territories belonged to the government and it appropriated the land it saw fit.