The disappearance of the frontier

During the final decade of the 19th century, the open frontier disappeared from the map. Scattered areas still remained to be settled, but the building of the continental railroads had given them easy contact and means of communication with the rest of the country. The physical frontier was at an end. Its influence had not come to an end, however. It was to remain, in picture and in story, as a colourful reminder of the American tradition of individualism, of freedom, of opportunity, and of daring.