Catch up on blogs because I’ve been a bit naff with them...

My first blog will be from week 2, the historical images of the west.

This photograph shows the Mexican border in 2008 and 1898. Its the Nogales border of Mexico and Arizona. I thought this was interesting as you can see the direct split of the two countries in 1898. It shows the direct distinction between America and Mexico, which is still so relevant today. I think this is a good image of the west as it still shows that America wanted to be distinguished as its ‘own country’. In 1898 anyone could cross the border, there was no border control, and however there was still the need to differentiate between America and other countries. The Turner’s frontier plays on this by saying that America was made through ‘Manifest Destiny’ rather than European influences. I find it interesting that even back in 1898 there was this visible separation of America and the rest of the world. The settlement shown in Arizona, (the left hand side of the photo) is very built up, this surprised me was I never expected to find a photo of the west, showing a village/town that was so built up. This suggests to me that not the entire west was arid wasteland, with a few houses dotted across vastness.
Secondly I found a very interesting webpage, about a town called Virginia City. It accounts events within the city and its place in history and in the west.



This image is a painting of ‘C’ Street, I believe it is from the early 1900’s although no specific date is given, (I’m sure the automobile specialists amongst us will be determined enough to date this picture from the cars shown!) I found this image interesting as despite it being up to 20years after the first image it paints a different picture of the west. Obviously the first image is black and white, but this is shown with blue skies, orange sunset, calm and peaceful settlement. Also the cars in this picture suggest that residents in western towns, cities and villages weren’t entirely isolated from modern technology (as many films, pictures and stories depict). They also have either telephone masts or electricity pylons, which suggests technology defiantly wasn’t absent in west.
The website I found these images on is

http://www.greatstreets.org/MainStreets/MainVirginiaCityHistory.html

It actually makes quite an interesting read.
My next blog is from week 3, concerning the first person narrative on the west.
Once again I returned to my ‘first-person-narrative’ problem, again Google is trying to make me buy books, books that I cant afford, and randomly a pc game called ‘Call of Juarez’ a western themed first-person shoot em’ up! (not quite what I had in mind, someone is going to have to show me where all these first person narratives are!!!)

However I’ve managed to find a website all about life in the west, old, modern, stories, poetry, tales and films, Rope and Wire A Western Lifestyle Online Community.

http://www.ropeandwire.com/index.html

The website is run by Scott (no second name given I’m afraid!) who originally set up the website to create networking amongst farmers and ranch owners, however in his words ‘Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that either no one likes to brag or no one lives on a farm or a ranch. Whatever the case, no one submitted an article so I felt it was high time to try something different.’ He’s created a space in the internet for people to write fictional stories about the west, poetry, factual accounts of life in the west and appealing to my interest, jokes about life in the west. Despite it not being a truly academic, historical first person narrative, I think the website in itself shows the impact the west still has on modern Americans. I also emailed the website asking them a few questions-

Hi my name is Tiffany and I was wondering if you would be able to answer a few questions for me. I'm a student at Winchester University in the UK, and am writing about the American West in an assignment. I am also asking for your permission to put the questions and answers into my blog, it would be really helpful and I'm really grateful for the time you’ve taken to read this.
How many members/visitors have you had to website since you started it?

Do you get many visitors from anywhere other than Western America on your site?

Do you think that Western Lifestyle and Culture has a place in Modern America? Can modern Americans learn anything from Western Lifestyles?

Thankyou for taking the time to read this, I look forward to a reply if you choose to do so.
Many Thanks
Tiffany

About 18 hours later I received a reply from Scott

Tiffany
I'd be glad to answer your questions as best I can.

How many members/visitors have you had to website since you started it?

Although I don't have exact numbers as to the total number of visitors, I can tell you that Rope and Wire gets thousands of visitors each month. We have increased our viewership each month for the past two years.

Do you get many visitors from anywhere other than Western America on your site?

Rope and Wire has been visited by over 120 countries worldwide. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and China are our biggest fans.

Do you think that Western Lifestyle and Culture has a place in Modern America?

Absolutely. I'm not sure how the UK sees America, but I can tell you, modern America is more than just big cities and shopping malls. A large percentage of this country is open land. We have millions of acres of forested lands and open prairies. The stories found on Rope and Wire are reminiscent of how things were as the western portion of this country was being settled, during the 1800's. It was a time some people refer to as the "wild west". It's not like that now but there is still a western lifestyle and culture in this country that grew out of that time in our history. Like most things, it has changed over time and it's place in "modern America" may not be as prominent as the culture that promotes the lifestyle of those who live in cities like New York or Los Angeles, but believe me, the western lifestyle is still alive and well.

Can modern Americans learn anything from Western Lifestyles?

I think modern Americans can learn a whole lot from western lifestyles.
In my opinion, over the years, this country has drifted away from its core values.
There is something called "the code of the west". It's an unwritten code, I guess you could call them guidelines to certain rules of conduct that western cowboys held onto back in the day. I don't know if you have heard of it, but it's something that holds true to those who live the western lifestyle even today. They go something like this...
Be there for a friend when he needs you.
Honesty is absolute - your word is your bond, a handshake is more binding than a contract.
Do not practice ingratitude A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an enemy.
Live by the Golden Rule.

There are more, but this is the jest of it. It's basically a moral compass and that is something I believe modern America is losing, or quite possibly abandoning. Quite frankly, it scares the hell out of me. I think modern America needs to take a look back to its western roots and rediscover its values. In my humble opinion, It's riding off the trail.

I hope I did you some good.
Scott

I find it interesting that someone can have so much passion in a lifestyle that helped create an American identity. I also find it very interesting when Scott talks about how America needs to take a look back to its western roots to rediscover its values. I think in turn this provides me with an insight into western lifestyle. Its not just about ‘cowboys and indians’ or pig farming or tractors, it’s a set of strong beliefs about your friends, your country and your morals. It makes me kind of happy in a way, that Scott believes in this so strongly, I don’t think enough people think of the events, the people in history who helped create their ideology and their culture. And I also agree with Scott on his last statement, ‘I think modern America needs to take a look back to its western roots and rediscover its values. In my humble opinion, It's riding off the trail’. During economic crisis I don’t know if people would make the time to ‘rediscover their values’, I don’t know if people of any country in the world thinks their values matter anymore. With the exception of highly religious people the only value that seems to be prominent in the world is ‘more money, more wealth, bigger car, bigger tv, latest ipod, latest film- more, bigger, latest’. And that’s why it makes me happy to see someone like Scott, who truly has faith in what he believes in.

My final missing blog is week 5, about the controversial issues in the west today.
I took my usual route of looking at healthcare within rural areas. Its well known that because areas in the west are sparsely populated healthcare is difficult to administer to those in need. I found a website which states that 1 in 3 adults are ‘poor to fair health’ and nearly half have at least one major chronic illness.

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/rural.htm

I found another website which includes data from all states concerning child poverty, pre and postnatal care, infectious disease rates and cancer death rates.

http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2008/index.html

Another issue that came to my attention was suicide rates in the west. One website I found covered West Virginia, but there were statistics available for other states.

http://organizedwisdom.com/Suicide_Statistics_in_West_Virginia

As I’ve said before in previous blogs, healthcare is of particular interest to me. Reading the first website, it made me wonder whether or not healthcare in rural areas is just a fantasy or an achievable vision. I don’t think its possible to put a hospital in a town with a small population, that has every kind of outpatient clinics, surgical theatres and doctors there is. It just wouldn’t be economic. Which lead me on to think as to how this could be dealt with? I think that maybe towns in the west, with small populations should make healthcare part of education in schools. I could be being naïve as I’m not sure if these kinds of classes already occur in American schools, but to tackle healthcare I think basic first aid should be taught in schools. At least that way if someone suffers from an injury at least the basic knowledge would be there to treat it. Also education about lifestyle is necessary. Smoking, drinking and drugs needs to be tackled, as well as eating habits and exercising. I think these things should be installed in the minds of young people at an early age in school.