Land Races
A way that the U.S. government got people to settle west was by having land races. These were things held by the government where they let people stand behind a line and they'd tell them to start. When the race started, tons of settlers had stakes in their hands quickly looking for land to live on. This land was free land where if they wanted it, they could put the stake in the ground and wherever they put the stake, that would be their land. One state where these races were held was Oklahoma. Some settlers would go and steal the land the night before the race, they were called "sooners" because they left earlier to get the land. The people who actually got the land on the day of the race were called "boomers". Because of these land races being held, westward movement was a success.