The American people had always expected much of their frontiers<br > These outlying regionswhether located in the Connecticut River valley<br > or in the blue grass hillS of Kentuckyserved as a constant pull upon<br > the American imaginationTheir challenges and promises suppied a<br > part of the generative energy that propelled the settlers westwardIt<br > was little wonder that a grateful people invested their frontiers with hazy<br > images of the garden regaineddescribing them in language reserved<br > for Edenic landscapes onlyThe people who lived within them were<br > thought to enjoy the favors only an Eden could supply<br > The vast material wealth the frontier Ofieredthe fertile soil and<br > benign and productive climateafrorded predictable and conventional<br > rewardsthere a man could make a decent 1ivingSimilarlyas the<br > number of settlers increasednew resources and markets would be<br > made available to the more developed regions farther eastA nation<br > constantly growingit was thoughtwas a nation constantly prospering<br > and tiffs growththis westeringwas central to the thinking of those<br > who envisioned a powerful and self-sufficient nationBut economic<br > prosperity was not the only benefit Americans could expect to receive<br > from their frontiersThere were political and spiritual rewards as well<br > A frontierby definitionwould be settled by agriculturalistsand most<br > Americans shared JefiersonS belief that these were the chosen of GodS<br > peopleThe American agriculturistthe yeomanhad been selected as<br > the standard-bearer of American cultureSimple in his tastesfrugal<br > jn habitshe was the ideal republicanand upon him rested much of this<br > nationS cultural and political identityA constant supply of frontiers<br > must be provided for his occupation1<br > 1The literature of the garden and the yeoman is vast and extensive The seminal<br > work is Henry Nash SmithVirgin LandThe American West as Symbol and My th<br > (New YorkVintage Books1962)but see also Leo MarxThe Machine in the<br > Garden(New YorkOxford University Press1964)Charles SanfordThe Quest<br > J<br >