The Open Territories

As part of the peace accords, an area defined as "XXXX days hard ride from the current American border" was declared as an open territory, free from the law of America or Mars. This area is a largely lawless buffer zone between the two sovereign states and, not surprisingly, has a lot of criminals using it as a haven. It is also very fertile land and so many farmers and ranchers live there as self contained and well defended settlements.