# How did folk "on the American frontier" view travelers/home security? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148 "2025-11-26T12:54:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/21 "2025-11-26T22:22:22Z")
@LSLGuy, I know you don’t really believe everyone in rural areas is like that. I am. I don’t have a sign on my gate sayin’ “Insured by Smith & Wesson”. Mainly because I like a Winchester. But no we don’t have a 100 trespassing signs. Wait maybe we do. Lots of land. I was very leery of strangers driving up when my kids were small. So we put up a locking gate after a couple of incidents. That stopped that problem. Yes you take precautions. Does not mean you shoot first, ask questions later. No sane gun owner would do that. Yes, I know. Lots of not sane people have guns. Hence, my locking gate. You don’t gotta be mean or paranoid with locking gates. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/22 "2025-11-26T22:40:47Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I’m sure someone approaching in daylight down the main pathway to the front of the property would be assumed to be friendly. Not sure I’d agree with this statement. If your house is many miles from your nearest neighbor and well off the beaten path (as specified by the OP), you would have no idea what the intentions of the stranger might be. I would be very suspicious of anybody approaching my house. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/23 "2025-11-26T22:46:45Z")
Wasn’t there a tradition of “hello[ing] the house” to suggest that your intentions were honorable and you’d prefer it if they didn’t sic their dog (or firearms) on you? Or was that just for people already known to the homedwellers? Obviously not entirely foolproof. Still! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/24 "2025-11-26T22:48:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > @LSLGuy, I know you don’t really believe everyone in rural areas is like that. I realized later I didn’t say that as well as I should have. You’re right I don’t mean to suggest every rural person is a prickly antisocial gun nut. Far from it. Some are, and it depends some on which state we’re talking about. But most are not. I was responding to a different poster who implied all city / suburban people are paranoid shooters and all rural people are welcoming. IMO / IME that opinion is both exaggerated and backwards. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/25 "2025-11-26T22:55:01Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > When people are genuinely remote, and the nearest neighbour may be a day’s horse-ride, then you do welcome company when it turns up on your doorstep, the news and gossip they bring Yes; I was going to come back to say that while caution with a stranger would have been warranted, before radio, television, and routine frequent rural mail delivery that stranger on the road was very likely your only source of news. Or for that matter of stories and/or music you hadn’t already heard so often you’d memorized them. > [@Johanna](#): > > One night while the dad is away on a hunting trip, a Lenni Lenape Indian shows up at the door and asks to crash at their place for the night. So they let him in and put him up for the night, no questions asked. Next day he goes on his way. Made it sound quite ordinary for the time and place. In the Little House books, IIRC, Laura’s mother feeds several Indians who stop by. She’s a bit nervous about it, but they just eat and go on their way. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/26 "2025-11-26T22:55:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > When I think about “frontier” situations, I realize how fleeting most frontiers were. And that makes this one of the ultimate “it depends” question. The “frontier” moved inward from the Atlantic coastline, the border with Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean. Three separate regions with three timelines, three separate groups of originating migrants, three separate sets of conditions, and three million individual circumstances, which changed rapidly in their own lifetimes. The only answer to “Do you view them as someone you can help out? A potential source of news? A potential threat?” is “all of the above” and many more. Maybe a specialist historian could talk about a specific place and time with some generalities. I doubt they could say anything meaningful. Even then, individuals were individuals just as much as now and the answer for any two houses at any two times could differ wildly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/27 "2025-11-26T23:28:46Z")
[Moderating] A reminder that this is FQ, and that the OP asked about a historical period. Let’s avoid the present-day anecdotes, please. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/28 "2025-11-27T13:00:33Z")
At Passover, we still say “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/29 "2025-11-27T13:09:30Z")
This article and others discuss a tradition of hospitality extending into America. The frontier is discussed around page 15. [https://www.brooklinema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/24076/Exhibit-B-entire-Welcoming-the-Stranger-title?bidId=](https://www.brooklinema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/24076/Exhibit-B-entire-Welcoming-the-Stranger-title?bidId=) Many such articles emphasize a perceived need to help each other, as one did not know when they might be in need of assistance. And there is lengthy European lore - including the Bible, urging hospitality towards strangers. I read a lengthy Reddit post by a professor who reported that Jewish traders in remote areas would often trade goods for housing, explaining that tho some feared such “foreigners”, most realized that this was a necessary aspect for folk living too far to get to town. Somewhat related, I recall reading often of frontier townspeople sharing responsibility for housing the local teacher. While some articles discussed the constant fear some frontier folk perceived, I was surprised at how little such material I turned up. And I saw no reports of theft/murder/mayhem committed by strangers. Conversely, one article discussed a lengthy history in European folklore of homeowners killing travelers after inviting them into their homes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/30 "2025-11-27T20:05:31Z")
> **Off-topic, hidden** > > I would guess that a very large amount of people where armed at home where I used to live 6 months ago. No sheriff at night, so no help. Not that that really matters I suppose. That knowledge must be known by people with criminal intent. > > We did start locking our doors, but that was for bears. The guns where also good to have for that. I kept 4 guns (I want to start target shooting again, and my cousin wants me to teach her), gave the rest to my friend that still lives up there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/31 "2025-11-27T22:36:24Z")
[Moderating] Again, this is not the place for modern anecdotes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/32 "2025-11-28T01:30:43Z")
There are a couple of stories in the book “Death in the Great Smoky Mountains” that mention strangers in the early 20th century being fed and offered lodging for the night by families they encountered on long treks through wild country. “The house of the (Ownby) patriarch always welcomed guests who brought a fresh face to the table, and perhaps fresh news to the ears of the family. Allowing travelers to spend the night was a well-established part of the tradition of hospitality in the mountains.” \*both of the travellers in these two stories later wound up dead, but through accidents in the woods, not at the hands of their hosts. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/33 "2025-11-28T01:36:13Z")
Oh, she’s terrified. The tension in the house when the men show up is such that the girls, Laura and Mary, consider unchaining the bulldog, Jack, against their father’s orders. Ma does feed the visitors but not because she wants to; with her husband away, she’s afraid of what will happen if she refuses. The series sets up Ma (and Mary, and Jack) as “Indian haters,” while Laura and Pa are slightly more nuanced in their views of the Native Americans. (Slightly.) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/34 "2025-11-28T02:00:24Z")
I’m sure that large portion of the reaction is based on the _appearance_ of the visitor. Ulf touched on the perception (at least in fiction, though I doubt the reality was much different) of Native American visitors, but I also suspect any large group of only men would be suspected more than a moving wagon full of an extended family. And of course, I suspect various missionaries/preachers would get a lot more tolerance. In fact, this question reminded me of the Johnny Appleseed column from the Cecil Columns of 2023. > [@Straight Dope 6/6/2023 - What did Johnny Appleseed actually do?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-6-6-2023-what-did-johnny-appleseed-actually-do/985098): > > What did Johnny Appleseed actually do? I know what you’re thinking. In an age of global upheaval, existential threats, and outrageously overpriced Taylor Swift tickets, why is your columnist writing about a guy who’s been dead for the better part of two centuries and whose chief claim to fame is that he … planted trees? I’ll tell you why. Because, to the inquiring mind, Johnny Appleseed, whose real name was John Chapman, is the most inexplicable figure in American history – a matter worth some… Which should fit the time frame and settlement period as suggested by @Dinsdale. Perhaps a slightly more established section of the expansionist era - but the refocus on his preaching work establishes a different class of traveler’s and the expected security risks. In a different vein, I also suspect travelling tinkers and merchants that could do critical repairs and staples that might be otherwise out of reach would be very welcome and given much hospitality. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/35 "2025-11-28T03:35:05Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > In _The Woods_ by Conrad Richter, an 18th-century pioneer family moves from Pennsylvania into the deep wilderness of the Ohio Country. One night while the dad is away on a hunting trip, a Lenni Lenape Indian shows up at the door and asks to crash at their place for the night. So they let him in and put him up for the night, no questions asked. Next day he goes on his way. Made it sound quite ordinary for the time and place. Using this as a jumping off point, on some level, people may have come to a realization. You can stockpile all you want, but at the end of the day, eventually, you have to sleep. If someone is willing to do you harm, they can help themselves to your home, your property, and your life easily enough by waiting for nightfall. You don’t really have a way to stop them unless and until you’re willing to use deadly force, and I doubt most settlers would have been willing to shoot all passersby on sight. The ones that were probably didn’t last long, as they would quickly have been identified as outlaws. So in the alternative, the best option really may have been to spare a little something if you can, within reason, and take the opportunity to get to know the stranger just a little while meeting them head on. Might help to let you ascertain their intentions (and decide whether you need to stay alert for a few days). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/36 "2025-11-28T03:47:20Z")
I can imagine settlers to the frontier hid and buried as much as they could. I know live stock were often hidden in the woods, part of the year. Hogs, especially. They had some recourse to thievery. I don’t know how they determined who was friend on foe. Who was carrying an infection or who was up to no good. Like kidnapping and/or rape. Or murder. The frontier was sparsely populated for awhile with white people. Indians had a bad taste in their mouths about settlers and grievances with America.(rightly so). A frontiersperson had to be prepared to make difficult choices and be extremely lucky. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/37 "2025-11-28T04:30:04Z")
In early Mormon history, non-Mormon travelers were seen with suspicion, and some were [even massacred](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/38 "2025-11-28T04:31:39Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > In _The Woods_ by Conrad Richter, an 18th-century pioneer family moves from Pennsylvania into the deep wilderness of the Ohio Country. One night while the dad is away on a hunting trip, a Lenni Lenape Indian shows up at the door and asks to crash at their place for the night. So they let him in and put him up for the night, no questions asked. Next day he goes on his way. Made it sound quite ordinary for the time and place. Reminds me of a visit to one of those historic reenactment towns around the Stroudsburg, PA area we took our kids to (similar to Old Sturbridge Village, MA or Colonial Williamsburg, VA but smaller). I don’t know if it’s true, but the backstory the reenactors laid out for us IIRC was that the gentlemen was a Hessian mercenary who found himself unemployed after the American Revolutionary War. So he acquired a pair of sheers and made a living as a traveling tailor (they traveled because towns back then didn’t have an economic need for full time tailors). He came across what would be his future wife’s home because their family set a candle to welcome travelers to their home as a waystation. He hit it off with the family, made frequent excuses to come by that way and yada yada yada eventually they were married. So if based on actual customs at the time, it would seem that people tended to travel around a lot of foot or horseback and didn’t automatically murder and/or rob everyone they encountered. For some reason, we modern people seem less trusting of outsiders and that seems to have gotten worse within my lifetime, ironically, as crime has gone down. I suppose people back in the day didn’t have a steady diet of clickbait news stories, given it took an entire day to print a few pages. I’ve always been a bit fascinated about how people actually lived in the olden days before all our technology. Just dealing with basic stuff like what happens to your home if you go away for three month trip to Boston or wherever? Or like how frequently would you actually encounter someone on the road? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/39 "2025-11-28T05:59:14Z")
A frontierspersons didn’t necessarily have bars of gold or excess cash laying around. If they had any valuables I’m sure they would take them on the trip. If a traveller came by while they were on a trip he/she could just stay there awhile til time to move on. No loss for anyone. Maybe a little less firewood. Not exactly Rock Stars renting the place just to trash it up. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148/40 "2025-11-28T11:38:09Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So if based on actual customs at the time, it would seem that people tended to travel around a lot of foot or horseback and didn’t automatically murder and/or rob everyone they encountered. > > For some reason, we modern people seem less trusting of outsiders and that seems to have gotten worse within my lifetime, ironically, as crime has gone down. When it is socially and economically commonplace to be an itinerant [whatever] tradesperson, the folks doing it aren’t outliers. In the modern era, folks trying to eke a living that way are definitely marginalized people. And as such, worthy of more side eye before deciding to trust them. I recall as kid back in 1960s suburbia that there were still lots of local “guy in a truck” services that plied the streets looking to sharpen your scissors, fix your shoes, etc. These folks weren’t itinerant, but they also didn’t have a storefront. Their truck was their business and their business was their truck. IMO that was sort of a halfway house between the itinerants of the frontier and small villages era, vs the “almost every business has a storefront” era that prevailed just pre-WWW. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-folk-on-the-american-frontier-view-travelers-home-security/1025148.md?page=3)