A State of Mind

Legendary Hollywood director John Ford saw it and made movies about it. Authors John Steinbeck and Elmer Kelton felt it and wrote books about it. Artists Charles Russell and Frederic Remington studied it and painted it. Lewis and Clark explored it and journaled its secrets. Environmentalist John Muir walked in it and helped preserve it. Singer John Denver wandered its land and sang about it.

The American West.

Mountains so high and rivers so wide you almost couldn’t cross them. Deserts so barren and forests so thick you almost couldn’t find your way. Plains so deep with tall grass and hills so heavy with brush you got lost.

And the people.

Indians and Spaniards. Russians and Canadians. Brits and Yankees. Germans, Dutch and Asians.

And the reasons why they went West.

Discovery and Exploration. Beaver furs and buffalo hides. Gold and silver, cattle and oil. And land, lots of free land. Farms, ranches, and cabins. A place to call home, raise a family, settle down. The adventurous cattleman and the entrepreneurial general store owner or blacksmith. A place to build wealth, a test of your abilities to succeed.

Oregon—or California—or Bust, and many busted, buried in graves dug only a few inches deep and now long forgotten after the others had pushed on. They’re gone, too. A few markers remain by the side of the road for tourists to see. Park the car, step outside and take a couple of pictures. Get back in and drive on.

Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. And history.

The Old West, and today’s New West. It’s a blend of times gone by and stories, fact and legend. The old dreams and hopes get picked up by each new generation.

Families still go West, still look for a life, for a chance to build and make a home, to teach their children core values, talk about what it means to give your word, make a promise, and keep that promise. To understand what it means to be true to yourself, to your family, your community and your Creator. To trust, to welcome, to accept others for what they are. To treasure, to protect, and value the individual way of life.

Yes, the West remains alive, and it’s a very personal thing; you might even say, a state of mind.

Have you found your West?

Have you explored its parks and rivers, historic towns, or gone to see a rodeo, visited a museum, picnicked or camped? Have you shown your children its wonders? Have you read a book about the West, searched someone’s biography, or perhaps read some of your grandfather’s or grandmother’s letters?

Have you and yours stopped in a quiet place in the West—maybe along the Snake River or the Missouri or the Mississippi—and listened to the wind, felt the water or touched the soil? Have you taken time to think about your life, where you’re going and what you want to do?

About what does it mean to be a Westerner? Have you figured that out?

What’s your West? Have you found it? Have you?

Write me. Drop me a note. I want to know. Tell me about your West.

And if you want to discover places in the West to visit, explore, do camping, hiking or sightseeing, visit OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine at http://www.oldwestnewwest.com/ for some ideas.