American pioneer

American pioneers were European American, Asian American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States of America to settle and develop areas of the nation within the continent of North America that were once sometimes even inhabited by indigenous tribes.

The pioneer concept and ethos greatly predate the migration to the Western United States, with which they are commonly associated, and many places now considered "East" were settled by pioneers from even further east. For example, Daniel Boone, a key figure in U.S. history, settled in Kentucky, when that "Dark and Bloody Ground" was still undeveloped.

One important development in the Western settlement were the Homestead Acts, which provided formal legislation for American settlers which regulated the settlement process with little to no concern for the Native inhabitants of the land.