WendyMcElroy.com: Voluntaryism on the Western Frontier – American politicians experienced the same problems in governing their western frontier during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, as did the English in governing their distant north American colonies during the 16th and 17th Centuries. In both cases, it was difficult to exercise coercive political control because the great distances made troop movement and communications slow and difficult. The people on the American frontier usually lived in a de facto state of voluntaryism, even though the government in Washington, D.C. claimed a de jure political jurisdiction over the land on which they lived. One of the last areas to be conquered' by the United States was its far western frontier in California. Until this conquest was completely effected, most people there lived beyond the bounds of political laws, restrictions, and statutes. This article briefly describes how they behaved and what institutions they developed in the absence of coercive political ones. Tags: none