The Middle West in American History Author:Dan Elbert Clark A few lines from the Forward: The American frontier was more than a century old when pioneers first pushed through the gaps in the Appalachian Mountain ranges to begin the conquest of the Mississippi Valley... Within a half century the interior was occupied, but the pioneers' coming was of more lasting significance than this brief time span wou... more »ld indicate. The pages of this book tell the story of that transformation...« less