trast in the Far West and Southwest.=--As George Rogers Clark and
Daniel Boone had stirred the snug Americans of the seaboard to seek
their fortunes beyond the Appalachians, so now Kit Carson, James Bowie,
Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and John C. Fremont were to lead the way
into a new land, only a part of which was under the American flag. The
setting for this new scene in the westward movement was thrown out in a
wide sweep from the headwaters of the Mississippi to the banks of the
Rio Grande; from the valleys of the Sabine and Red rivers to Montana and
the Pacific slope. In comparison with the middle border, this region
presented such startling diversities that only the eye of faith could
foresee the unifying power of nationalism binding its communities with
the older sections of the country. What contrasts indeed! The blue grass
region of Kentucky or the rich, black soil of Illinois--the painted
desert, the home of the sage brush and the coyote! The level prairies of
Iowa--the mighty Rockies shouldering themselves high against the
horizon! The long bleak winters of Wisconsin--California of endless
summer! The log churches of Indiana or Illinois--the quaint missions of
San Antonio, Tucson, and Santa Barbara! The little state of
Delaware--the empire of Texas, one hundred and twenty times its area!
And scattered about through the Southwest were signs of an ancient
civilization--fragments of four-and five-story dwellings, ruined dams,
aqueducts, and broken canals, which told of once prosperous peoples
who, by art and science, had conquered the aridity of the desert and
lifted themselves in the scale of culture above the savages of the
plain.

The settlers of this vast empire were to be as diverse in their origins
and habits as those of the colonies on the coast had been. Americans of
English, Irish, and Scotch-Irish descent came as usual from the Eastern
states. To them were added the migratory Germans as well. Now for the
first time came throngs of Scandinavians. Some were to make their homes
on quiet farms as the border advanced against the setting sun. Others
were to be Indian scouts, trappers, fur hunters, miners, cowboys, Texas
planters, keepers of lonely posts on the plain and the desert, stage
drivers, pilots of wagon trains, pony riders, fruit growers, "lumber
jacks," and smelter workers. One common bond united them--a passion for
the self-government accorded to states. As soon as a few thousand
settlers came tog