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A study in American character. Our two traveling French aristocrats enjoy the wildlife in the forrest, a frontier, ready for the taking. They describe the cabin of a pioneer who had taken them in. . Despite the humble cabin, it held the cell of civilization. They listened to what was told them about the frontier, but also kept their eyes open to form their own observations.
Pretending to take interest in settling in Michigan, our Frenchmen get advice from a rough looking frontiersman. For the matter of about $200, and the desire to clear trees, land can be had for the sweat and labor a man wants to put into it. Cleared land becomes prime farmland for cash crops. The concept is reversed from the European idea that land is precious, and labor is cheap. More description of life in rude cabins, but filled with all the artifacts of civilized life. Even the occupants talk and are dressed like those in the city, not as a peasant. as supposed.
Traveling on to Buffalo, New York, more westward pioneers are encountered. Valuable ideas are exchanged as the Frenchmen continue to pretend interest in the lands of Michigan. Untamed forrest, and the realization that to take them means to displace the native indians. Compared to the atrocities of the Spanish, the Americans seem to live in near tranquility with the natives.
Pioneers talk about the lottery for tracts of land. New towns spring up that are little more than a few shacks, built on the edge of a seamp. Life isn’t without its loneliness, and sacrifice, giving up life in the city for the remote wilderness. The frontier is also the place where men can go who can’t fit in to the law and order of the East. Brave the West, and find your own way.
