O Pioneers!

I started reading O Pioneers!, the classic novel by Willa Cather that somehow managed to escape my grubby little bookworm hands for over thirty years. Sure, the book is set in Nebraska--a state we did not travel through on our westward journey--but I can't help but imagine some of it must be similar to the experience of those Oregon Trail wagoners. I'm only about a quarter of the way through the novel. Already, there are lots of references to people leaving the demanding work of farming finicky Nebraskan soil to return to the reliably bustling life of eastern commerce. I'm thinking, Obviously they knew it wouldn't be easy, so what made them head westward in the first place? 




I wonder if it's uniquely American, this concept of Manifest Destiny and the idea that exploring wide, open spaces somehow unlocks a wide, open part of ourselves. It's true that we often leave parts of ourselves behind in each place we stay (and not just our trash). I am curious if this plays into the distinct relaxed feel of life here. Sure, there are stressed out people in Southern Oregon--I couldn't possibly claim there are not--and sure, there have got to be tense interactions. Overall, though, people seem satisfied with their lives, and they seem unrushed and unpressured.

Example: I stayed home sick from work yesterday, and I felt an irrational guilt over it. It was a remnant of the constant push I experienced back east, a "Protestant work ethic" pressure that a good life was one spent in constant toil. It is pressure reminiscent of newly arrived European immigrants quickly getting to work and, everyday until they died, providing their family with the foundation for a better life. In contrast, Oregonians seem to demonstrate an attitude of, like, "Work hard, but then relax. This is the better life."  It seems embedded in the culture here, like the legacy of a hard-fought wagon journey with the land lying as the gift at the end, and I would love to latch onto that.

Anyway, all of this is a way of saying that I've become quite curious about the westward journey of the settlers who eventually landed in Oregon.*  What's awesome is that there are lots of websites listing great Oregon history books and memoirs, and I think I'm going to pick up some of them. In Ohio, children in junior high are required to take an Ohio Studies course. At the time, I thought nothing of it, because I was 12 years old. As I got older, though, I realized that a lot of what I learned in that class informed me as a citizen of the state and as a person experiencing its culture. It makes sense to me that as a new Oregonian, far too old for a junior high version of Oregon Studies, I should create my own state education.

*Note: I realize that Oregon was inhabited by Native American tribes long before white settlers arrived. No disrespect intended toward the folks who were already here; I'm just thinking more on the act of being compelled to move here, as opposed to the act of living here for ages and ages.