Reading the Old Letters

I spent much of the late afternoon and early evening reading through many letters written by Owen Wister. I never found what I was looking for, but something did hit home as I read through about a dozen letters. Where will letters be for researchers in the future? I love Twitter, texting and sending short emails but doubt that this type of correspondence, by people of interest in today’s world, would make for much research material.

Got me to thinking that if future generations need to learn more about today’s world it may take historical research into their topic person’s blog posts to find anything. And if they didn’t blog? Well, we will be left with things like this.

 Text Messages!

C U @ 10

K

Or maybe something like this.

How R U feeling

Ok wht ur it gone

Not sure that kind of reading would give much insight into someone’s life. Maybe Twitter, but I don’t think so. 140 characters does not allow much to be said. That is also one of the reasons I like it, but there is no depth.

Possibly, video blogs and news articles, most highly slanted in today’s world, will do for research of this generation.

Sad, I love reading through those old letters, it can give insight into a subjects, real life, real thoughts, and to the person outside of the public spotlight.  This week alone I have read through three collections of letters.  Other than Wister I have spent time combing through letters from soldiers at Fort Laramie and another few hours looking at some of the personal correspondences of one of my Wyoming heroes, Edgar Wilson Nye.

Might just be nostalgia.

Great Western Novel Opening Lines

Today we will look at the first of two parts on famous, western novel, first lines. Some opening lines are great, some are all right and some are downright dreadful. See if you can guess who penned these first lines. Answers on the bottom of the page—no peaking.

1.     “It was my privilege to know the late Jack Crabb – frontiersman, Indian scout, gunfighter, buffalo hunter, adopted Cheyenne – In the final days upon this earth.

2.     “Some notable sight was drawing the passengers, both men and women, to the window; and therefore I rose and crossed the car to see what it was.”

3.     “A sharp clip-crop of Iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over the sage.”

4.     “He rode into the valley in the summer of 89. I was a kid then, barley topping the backboard of father’s old chuckwagon.”

5.     “Lil ol’ town, you don’t amount to much,” said Harry Destry. “You never done nothing an’ you ain’t gonna come to no good.”

-See Answers Below-

 

 

 

1.       Thomas Burger, Little Big Man

2.       Owen Wister, The Virginian

3.       Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage

4.       Jack Schaefer, Shane

5.       Max Brand, Destry Rides Again

 

-Another five opening lines coming up in 48 hours-