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African
American pioneers helped shape the character of the West by participating
in all the varied occupations of frontier life.
They
served in the military as Buffalo Soldiers, trapped, led expeditions,
lived with local Indians, rode for the Pony Express or in rodeos, and
joined the thousands of families seeking new homes on the Frontier.
Lands east of
the Mississippi River were already settled. Cheap or free Federal lands
now lay beyond, luring settlers westward. Land promoters, railroads and
dime novels popularized the West as a land of adventure and boundless
opportunity.
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