What is the main conflict in the novel, The Virginian?

A social dilemma that haunted early twentieth-century America was a growing tension between East and West.

This conflict was rooted in the cultural mores each region embraced. Eastern America was closely aligned with traditional European values of civil order, social restraint, and genteel intellectualism. Western America rejected these values and created a cultural matrix based upon rugged individualism, social freedom, and common sense skills.