| Offering a systematic examination of the West's participation in a network of turn-of-the-century state fairs, land shows, and international expositions, this work examines the extent to which the region embraced progress and sought to hasten its unfolding. It then illustrates how zealous proponents of progress experienced a sudden change of heart when confronted with the unforeseen consequences of the forces they had helped to unleash. By the 1930s, a region long oriented to the future and championed as the "Zone of Plenty" had retreated to the past and was electing to cast itself as a "plundered province."; Viewed through the West's participation in a constellation of fairs and expositions, the process by which the region was "plundered" appears more complex than a tale of external duplicity or inevitable dependency. Moreover, there is barely a trace of the anxiety purported to have been a widespread consequence of the frontier's passing. Although some Westerners lamented the end of the frontier and decried the direction of change, the majority not only welcomed the arrival of a post-frontier era of capitalist expansion, but also aggressively promoted the development of their communities, states, and regions. Countless freelance booster, commercial clubs, chambers of commerce, promotional organizations, state agencies, and corporations worked in concert to ensure that the West's exploitable resources were displayed for all to see.; From the 1876 Centennial Exposition to the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, Western states and territories continually exhibited their commitment to progress. Boosters spoke exuberantly and optimistically of exploitation, viewed external investment as the crucial ingredient for regional development, and issued repeated declarations that the frontier had been happily closed. Capitalism did not expand inevitably across the West, exploiting the region's resources and population, while despondent residents watched on powerless to maintain a preferred status quo. On the contrary, caught up in the national zeitgeist, Trans-Mississippi state-builders worked assiduously in support of capitalist development expansion. |
