Patricia Limerick, with her 1987 The Legacy of Conquest, is regarded as having played an important role putting the Turnerian thesis and debates to rest. Turner celebrated the opportunity and positive consequences of having an open frontier. Limerick countered with the idea that the expansion of the West was destructive for the environment and did not have a positive outcome for many of the participants. Ever since Turner presented his idea in 1893, there were critics of his idea. Limerick played an important role of setting aside the debate, which had long before gone stale while still dominating Western studies: before Limerick, in all practicality one had to declare for being a Turnerian or an anti-Turnerian.

I find Limerick's book slightly overstated, but I commend her role in moving the discussion on to fresher pastures.