In his classic treatise, Walter Prescott Webb argued Western culture required three inventions before the Great Plains became a destination and not an obstacle: barbed wire, windmills (technically, wind pumps) and the revolver. Given these three items, outsiders became residents*.
Today, outsiders propose Buffalo Commons and Pleistocene rewilding to make the area less 'nowhere', or massive renewable energy installations so it can usefully support 'somewhere'.
*None of these items need be carried by cycletourists today.