All America benefited from the massive agri-business that has its roots in the West as well as the settling and the construction of the railroad during the 19th century. When we think of the western expansion of the United States we are conditioned to imagine the loner. The self-reliant, unattached roaming the prairie in search of lost calves, or the half-addled prospector who was broken from reality thanks to the solitude of his single-minded quest for gold dust. Many of the pioneers who settled the west were family groups, immigrants and major corporations. The big losers in the westward expansion were Native Americans, who were killed or moved onto
