“There are always dreamers on the frontier,” as quoted in Willa Cather's novel, O Pioneers!. Cather was especially one of these dreamers, as she moved to Nebraska at just nine years old; a move that would transform his world. Cather's life was changed by her move to the arid state of Nebraska, brought on by the historical events that occurred at that time. The government had just passed the Homestead Laws and the Civil War had just ended, causing shifts westward. Cather immediately changed her emotions in her new environment, so she used writing to express them. In Nebraska, Cather befriended many settlers and immigrants with whom she was infatuated. These elements of influence are evident in all of Cather's works, but especially in her first major novel, O Pioneers!. This novel is inspired and influenced by her life experiences, the Homestead Laws created in 1862, and the many settlers Cather encountered in Nebraska. During Cather's lifetime, many historical markers occurred that greatly influenced her life. The Homestead Laws were passed in 1862 by Congress, which allowed many people to afford farmland in the Midwest and western parts of the United States (Wooten 17). Additionally, the Civil War had just ended, forcing many people to move west. In addition to being able to get free land from the government, people could also purchase land from the railroads for very little money. Railroads also helped encourage the settlement of the West. When word of these opportunities reached Europe, many foreign immigrants decided to band together and live in the West. By 1880, more than a million people began to fill the unsettled lands west of the Mississippi River. (Wooten 17) Much of the land set aside by Homestead Laws with…half of paper…laws or other influences to head west, Willa Cather would never have become the person she did. Her family's move to Nebraska is what sparked her interest in writing in the first place; he needed a way to document his memories and also express his feelings. Many of Cather's books are considered in some way a memoir of her life. They're not entirely accurate, but Cather tends to turn people she's met in her life into characters in her books. Much of his inspiration came from the immigrants he befriended in the newly settled region of Nebraska. All this inspiration and emotion is extremely evident in Cather's first great novel, O Pioneers!. Cather not only makes a character extremely similar to herself, but she also makes the distinctions between ethnic groups very clear and expresses her feelings toward the land of Nebraska using imagery..