ABSTRACT
The Western frontier has always been considered an area of opportunity. Drawing information from one of the small towns typical of the frontier scene, Racine, Wisconsin, the author of this study explores the extent to which urban places fulfilled the promise of opportunity. Property ownership in Racine revealed patterns of socioeconomic status and mobility very similar to occupation. Racine was born as an incident in a great mass movement of people in search of a dream – native Americans and European immigrants, fugitives from persecution, wanters and hopers on the hunt for the better life, thousands upon thousands who came pouring into the Great Lakes region where the rewards promised were great if a man but worked for them. Measuring socioeconomic mobility in historical perspective posed many problems and required several rather arbitrary value judgments about status. Previous studies, and the nature of the material available for Racine, suggested two basic measures: occupation and property ownership.
