But the point was that once the trail was blazed, everyone else could follow, like pioneers going to California in the early 20th century. California had been

But the point was that once the trail was blazed, everyone else could follow, like pioneers going to California in the early 20th century. California had been explored by Europeans early by the 1500's, and you are talking about settlers in a period 400 years later. It's insane to expect that the process of settling a different celestial body would take a mere fifty years from first setting foot there. And that's just the moon - we haven't even set foot on Mars yet. When it comes to space travel you can't think in terms of things happening during your lifetime, which I suspect is really why the public has lost interest. People don't seem to care in the least about anything they won't live to see happen, be it environmental destruction, the results of reckless economic policy, or long-distance space travel.