But now we must conceive of our Western man as not now in dress so
near a parallel to that of the savage whom he had overcome. There was
falling into his mien somewhat more of staidness and sobriety. This man
had so used the ax that he had a farm, and on this farm he raised more
than he himself could use--first step in the great future of the West
as storehouse for the world. This extra produce could certainly not be
taken back over the Alleghanies, nor could it be traded on the spot
for aught else than merely similar commodities.
Here, then, was a turning-point in Western history. There is no need to
assign to it an exact date. We have the pleasant fashion of learning
history through dates of battles and assassinations. We might do better
in some cases did we learn the times of happenings of certain great and
significant things. It was an important time when this first Western
farmer, somewhat shorn of fringe, sought to find market for his crude
produce, and found that the pack-horse would not serve him so well as
the broad-horned flatboat which supplanted his canoe.