Romeo Models - Frontiersman, 18th C.

Romeo Models - Frontiersman, 18th C.

75mm white metal figure

Figure requires assembly and painting.

The American frontier is not a boundary line, but rather a starting line for the thousands of emigrants of European origin who colonised and conquered the first frontier, that is, the Eastern territories along the North American Atlantic coastline. Around 1800 they then pushed west beyond the Appalachian Mountain chain towards the second frontier represented by the vast territories crossed by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and beyond there, towards the Rocky Mountains. The settlers along the first American frontier felt a strong European influence; those whose interest lay in the second frontier kept contact with the American coastal settlements, while looking towards the independent territories of the west. The so-called frontiersmen opened up the trails for the migratory masses. These were hunters who, armed with rifle, axe and dagger, headed into unknown and hostile territories with courage and audacity. They managed to live in conditions of hardship, and crossed vast territories on foot or by canoe, just like the indians; indeed they frequently lived with the indians and married squaws. They sometimes lived by fishing and they were also skilful in the use of traps. Most of these men soon abandoned the life of nomadic hunters, and became farmers. They built comfortable houses, irrigation systems and water wells, and raised cattle, and in this way created outposts of civilisation that paved the way for new emigrants. Men and women of all social classes followed these frontiersmen and established permanent settlements based on agriculture, which was the most important activity. Those with a strong nomadic spirit sold their land and pushed further west in search of new frontiers. Romeo Models has drawn its artistic inspiration for the creation of this model from the painting by Randy Steele, entitled "Fort Duquesne's Sentries" (www.fineartamerica.com), in which a man from the first frontier can be seen, one of those men who felt the ties with his European motherland, and for this reason, during the European Seven Years' War which was also fought in America , depending on his country of origin, sided with France or England, acting as guide for the regular troops and keeping contact with allied tribes. Once they became American colonists, these frontiersmen took part in the American War of Independence, between the American colonies and England.