That is almost precisely two people per square mile. The 1890 census declared America's frontier closed because it was no longer possible to trace a continuous line defining where population ranged from two to six people per square mile. The 2000 census, continuing a trend that began in the 1930s, showed that the closing had been vastly exaggerated. Nationwide, there are about 400 such counties, Lang said, nearly all of which are on the Great Plains. The majestically rolling plains, almost entirely treeless before settlers arrived, average 15 to 20 inches of precipitation.
Real cities are scarce.
A very few towns have attracted a meatpacking plant or other industry that brought newcomers and county growth. For nearly all the rest in this vast region, population continues to dwindle. But in the 1890s, Popper said, frontier meant a place that was sure to fill up and develop. Talk like that, and the apparent readiness of outsiders to dismiss their hometowns as dry, flat and cold, have hurt and angered many Plains residents, who see themselves as descendants of sturdy pioneers enjoying a wonderful quality of life. But they can all see that unless things turn around, their corner of small-town America faces extinction.