The West

I spent about seven hours at the library yesterday, give or take a few minutes. The moment I stepped outside the oppressive heat began to beat down on my back. Yes, it’s a dry heat and when you reach points of shade it feels about 10 degrees cooler but it’s still heat, all the same. Of course I could not leave the library without checking out books, which meant I had to carry the books in addition to my laptop bag and purse. Utah is one of the driest states (I believe it is second only to Nevada) and someone from Michigan immediately notices the lack of humidity in the area. Although my sinuses and allergies greatly appreciate the dry climate, I find myself desperate for water all the time. Even cities the harshness of the western climate is noticeable. I stumbled into a restaurant with what must have been impending dehydration and offered to pay for a cup of water.

“Oh no,” the young man behind the counter said. “The water is free. Have all you want.” I thanked him and filled my bottle at the drink station. Then it was back out into the heat.

The American West as Living Space, Wolf Willow and Wilderness at the Edge, are the books I checked out from the library. The first two are Wallace Stegner books and the other one I got to feed my curiosity about Utah’s landscape. The books about Salt Lake City were unavailable, something I should have expected since school is back in session. However, they had a few of his other works so I got those.

Stegner has an interesting view of the West. He demythologizes it and encourages readers to think about what has been created in the West. I didn’t know what to expect from The American West as Living Space but Stegner hits the nail on the head. The West is defined by aridity. This land was not made for what we are putting it through. The irrigation and damming of rivers and lakes so we can supply cities splitting at their seams disrespects this land. On the train ride, as we traveled through expanses of land that had no settlements I was amazed at the beauty and fierceness. A great deal of western land in owned by the federal government, which is a good and bad thing. The good part about the federal government owning a great deal of your state is that corporations don’t get to destroy it. However, if there is a need for dumping garbage or some other potentially hazard activity, the federal government might choose your backyard. However, even the federal government has a hard time solving the land in the western United States. The terrain is too tough for most ventures.

One of the benefits of riding a train is that, if you are paying attention you can sense a change in the air as you pass through Nebraska. The change can be felt once you get out of Omaha. The land begins to reach out and fight with settlements for control. The train went through Nebraska over night and in-between Omaha and Nebraska there was a powerful light show. Streaks of lightening rippled across the flat plains in rapid succession. I stared across the vastness of Nebraska and saw a lonely shed or house here or there but between Omaha and Lincoln there was space and vastness. In-between Lincoln and the Colorado border there aren’t to many settlements because there simply can’t be.

Once you leave Denver the land begins to demand respect in a manner I’ve never witnessed before. As you twist into the Rockies absolute domination of the terrain becomes impossible. As the elevation increases you pass by mountain towns and ski resorts but eventually you are in the Colorado backcountry. If you’re out there, you better know what you’re doing. The comforts of safety, society and even something as basic as water may be miles upon mile away.

The flight from Denver to Salt Lake City is under an hour but the train ride is around 12. However, the twelve hours of train travel will be one of the best investments of time you ever make. Stegner makes a great point when he says that the West cannot be found in cities. The really attitude of the West is out There. There, far away from the comforts of mass irrigation projects, cities, paved roads and the comforts we take for granted. The attitude of the West lies in those shanty towns we passed that looked like their were uninhabited but occasionally produced a few bodies working in the ferocious Colorado heat.

Stegner also talks about the lack of homogeneity in the West. This is something I’ve noticed and would say it is completely opposed to the culture of the Midwest. Back home in Michigan towns are populated by a certain group of people and specific groups live in the particular town they settled in. The next generation grows up in that same town, marries someone from that town and lives and dies in the town that their parents’ lived and died in. In Michigan you know who lives where and those towns behave accordingly. This is true in other Midwest towns. If you go to Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis or Cincinnati, just to name a few, you can trace the ethnic heritages of those towns. Salt Lake City, the west in generally, does not afford you that comfort or tragedy.

I love walking through a city and finding my way but I am notorious for getting lost. Over the past week I have stopped several people and asked for directions and all but one have been from somewhere else. There is the underlying pulse of Mormon culture here but even the Latter Day Saints I’ve come across have been here from out of town. This curious cornucopia of people is comforting in a way. You don’t feel the culture screaming at you because it’s constantly altering itself with an influx of people from other places and those people from other places are allowed to coexist along side the mainstays until the pick up stakes and move again. Which I think many of them do.

I think the result of this constantly altering culture and influx of difference lessens stereotypes. If you can’t find the Italian, African-American, Hispanic, Irish, etc part of the city then maybe you just move in where you can. And maybe, just maybe you learn that the people with last names different from yours are people too. Or perhaps this city, due to its religious roots segregates in a different way? Can’t say I’ve seen that but it is possible. Stay tuned...