The Western Frontier offered new possibilities for African Americans. How did the frontier experiences of African Americans compare with those of white compatriots?

It is important to note that many of the African Americans who moved westward did so in the possession of whites who were their slave owners. Numerous territories in the West permitted slavery—particularly the Arizona Territory, which had been established by the Confederacy out of a tract of land that had been part of New Mexico Territory.
In the Minnesota Territory slavery was permitted, but there were few slaves in the West and the system was not as cruel or restrictive as it was in the South. Therefore, African Americans were able to succeed as traders and fur trappers. Some black settlers, notably James Beckwourth, one of the earliest pioneers to the West, lived among Native Americans. Beckwourth was a fur trader with posts in New Mexico and California.
Pierre Bonga, a slave to a Canadian fur trapper, was a skilled interpreter and negotiated with the Chippewa tribe on behalf of his owner's company, the North West Company. His son, George, learned numerous languages, including French and Native American tongues, allowing him to work as an assistant and interpreter for Governor Lewis of the Michigan Territory.
Those who were free and adventurous went to California between 1848 and 1855 to prospect for gold. However, not all adventures in the West went successfully. White settlers in the West were sometimes just as unwelcoming toward African Americans as they were anywhere else. Oregon, for example, has a history of racist exclusion. In the nineteenth century, it had a strong Ku Klux Klan presence that worked to dissuade black settlers from coming to the state.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/racist-history-portland/492035/