After the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France, Thomas Jefferson sent explorers to find their way across. The main purpose of the Lewis and Clark expedition was to find a navigable water route across the continent that would facilitate commerce.

There is no navigable water route across the continent. A meandering line runs the length of North America, and no water crosses it. We call this line the Continental Divide.

The Continental Divide

(Strictly speaking, there is more than one continental divide. The Great Divide is the most well known, but there are lesser divides that distinguish waters draining into the Gulf of Mexico and those draining into the Atlantic, waters that drain into the St. Lawrence seaway, and waters that flow north into the Arctic Ocean. Today I’m just looking at the Great Divide.)

Now, these days, crossing the United States is a straightforward matter. A car will get you across in a matter of days, an airplane in a matter of hours. But there was a time before cars and airplanes, and back then crossing the country was a big deal. It was a 2000-mile trip from Missouri to the west, across country that had no improved roads, no towns, and, as I’ve pointed out, no navigable waterways.

That last part is key. Had it been possible to take a boat across the country, the going would have been fairly easy. Considerable material and supplies can be loaded on a boat. People can live on boats. Civilization can be moved wholesale on a boat. If one could take a boat, then one could cheat. Within the confines of a boat, it is easy enough to carry all the trappings of home, to carry one’s world along for the ride. A vast landscape might exist outside the window of the boat, but one can draw a shade over that window.

Fortunately or unfortunalely, a boat was not an option. At some point, any traveller headed west had to get out and walk. Because of the continental divide, there was no way to cross the country without touching the country, no way to reach the west without engaging the land and all its challenges. And the land, any ground traveller was surely quick to discover, was huge. The United States is a big place. Not only are the distance vast, but the scale of things is big. Here’s the easy version of a 3,000 word essay to show you how big:

These pictures were taken all on the same continent, all in the same country. Yet these locations are hundreds of miles apart from each other. America is big. Such size gave the land rich opportunity to work on its travellers. The pioneer’s route west took four months, minimum, and usually more like six or seven. That is a long time to be away from the bulwarks of civilization. And once the travelling was done, they still had to carve out a life in this country. While the people worked the land, the land in turn worked the people.

To travel that kind of land takes preparation and planning, of course, but it takes other things as well. It takes bravery. It also takes clear, honest thinking. Nature, unlike people, cannot be lied to, and must be dealt with honestly. If the wagon breaks an axle in an inconvenient place, there is no easy solution; you cannot continue on with a promise to fix the axle later. Setbacks of this sort have to be acknowledged and dealt with. It is little wonder the trip took so long– anyone playing it fast-and-loose never would have made it at all.

Honesty and bravery are well-regarded qualities pretty much everywhere one goes. Throughout the world, it is only some very cynical, bitter, and small-minded people who scoff at honesty and bravery. (For some reason, those folks tend to be found near cities.)

But why would anyone scoff at honesty and bravery at all? One reason could be fear, and such a fear is not entirely without grounds. If one is honest in one’s dealings with nature– honest enough to admit that the wagon can go no further– and if one is brave in the face of dangers– brave enough to travel treacherous country– then what happens when this honesty is bravely turned inward? If a man is brave enough to cross the Rocky Mountains on horseback, then might he not also be brave enough to face himself? If he is honest enough to admit when his wagon is broken, then will he not also be honest enough to admit when he is broken? We are all imperfect, and it takes bravery and honesty to face those imperfections just as it took bravery and honesty to cross the west. In both endeavors there will be those who choose to stay home.

For an example of what I am talking about, we consider Waylon Jennings.

It takes considerable honesty to admit: Picking up hookers instead of my pen/ I let the words of my muse slip away. Yet beneath the grim sadness of the song, there is an understated beauty. It may take considerable honesty to write those lines, but the bravery it requires is superhuman. Yes, this person may be sad for the things he’s done; his regret causes him nightmares. But his strength is incredible. He is a flawed man, but deeper than his flaws he is a good man. Good enough to make it across the Continental Divide.

The map was generated at http://nationalatlas.gov and is in the public domain.

The ”3,000 word essay” pictures are copyrighted by the author’s wife, and used with permission.