Willa Cather's "O Pioneers" Until the late eighteenth century, any land located beyond the Alleghany mountains was believed to be savage, uninhabited land. Thus, it became known as the American frontier. According to Turner, the definition of frontier means, "the meeting point between savagery and civilization and a region of sparse settlement." 1 With the overwhelming number of frontiersmen invading this uninhabited land, many myths about winning the West arose, some containing truth, while others neglecting to tell the truth about treatment of Indians. Many of these myths referred to them as being the victims of white man's progress. In the short tale, O Pioneers, writt