Discuss: Out West

I plain like the story.  I grew up kittycorner to the Moose Lodge in Harlowton in the 50s.  Saturday nights were the worse with brawls & fights where a man would lay another man’s front teeth on the curb and then stomps his face into the concrete.  A meaness there.  One tradition says that sometimes what we need more than food, or water is a story.  And if we take care of our stories, telling them and receiving them, then they will take care of us.  Dag Hammarskjöld said that when a man tells his story he begins to take some responsibility for it, for himself. I hope he is right.

What a beautiful piece!  Moving and sad and evocative.  Growing up on the East and West Coasts, it’s easy for me to forget that life out in the West can be so different and so much harder.  A distinct culture, a distinct world.  Thank you for trying to capture the sadness and beauty of that world for us.  This is a lovely story and inspires me to take a trip out West!!

Joe Wilkins you are much appreciated. There’s a purity and eloquence in your depiction of a harsh environment and way of life. I too grew up in the West.Ft. Collins Colorado in the 1950’s We had real cowboys on our sidewalks and no Yoga Studios. I miss it more than makes any sense. I too am reminded of Annie Proulx who I also love to read. Your writing should take you far. Thanks Brian Scheffer Oct. 8

Note from the editor (3/11/10): This story has been announced as a finalist for the 2010 National Magazine Award in the category of Essay.

I want my 27-year-old son, who was reared on our small family ranch in Wyoming and now has a degree in biology from MSU, to read this.  Today, he texted me a photo of the barbequed elk ribs he had cooked for dinner—ribs from the elk he shot this fall.  I want my 24-year-old daughter, who was reared on the same ranch, to read this.  Today, she texted me for help to file her tax return—she’s a graduate from CSU with a degree in animal science and range ecology.  She earned $9,000 from part-time jobs, one of them riding cattle on an 87,000 acre ranch 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Part of her pay was in beef, which the Federal government doesn’t tax.  But once they read this fine essay by Wilkins, what will I tell them?  What conclusions will they draw about their West?  About the 6 generations of ranching roots in their blood?  What will the rest of us tell ourselves about “our” West?  Even the horses are dying useless deaths.

Check out Joe’s essay “The Book of Water” in the current issue of Terrain.org, as well: http://www.terrain.org/essays/25/wilkins.htm.

I’ve not read anything about the west as powerful or as dead-centered intense in years.  I am in awe.

You should’ve swung.