My wife and daughter had planned to go to a conference in Denver. My son works in that area and we had not seen him during the pandemic. I decided to join them and we added a week of Western national parks and escape the Florida heat. It turned out to be a vacation on wheels as we traveled across Wyoming, S. Dakota and Colorado.
While the scenery was stunning (see about 50 photos in my posts from Yellowstone, Tetons, Custer State Park on my Instagram page), I got daily reminders of the work ethic of the ancestors who shaped this country. It was a sharp contrast to the decline in customer service we repeatedly observed - some of it is what I call "COVID cop-outs" by companies cutting back in the name of the pandemic. Also some of it is explained by the labor shortages we find ourselves in. It is being exacerbated by the "money for nothing" government stimulus checks which are leading to a decline in our work ethic.
Let me share a few stops and people I found inspirational.
The grit of the pioneers
We visited the National Historic Trails Center in Casper, Wyoming. It is a celebration of nearly half a million pioneers who traveled west on the Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express Trails starting in the 1840s. Most of them did the 2,000 mile trek in wagons - not in them, around them. Many of them walked, often shoeless. The wagons carried their supplies and their young. The Pony Express only lasted 18 months - the telegraph and the railroad killed it. But in that short period it became an icon for taming the Wild West. Through a series of relays, they would deliver mail over that distance in 10 days. The recruiting poster below shows the huge risks the riders took. A short drive from Casper is Independence Rock where many of them carved their names on the way west. It is so named because many of the emigrants left the Missouri River in early spring in order to reach the rock by July 4 (Independence Day). That was really the least risky way to make it further west before the first mountain snowfalls. Brought tears to my eyes - they were a different, sturdier breed than our generation.
Polymath Presidents
My favorite Presidents are Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. It was a thrill to see all three of them at Mount Rushmore and get to spend some more time learning about them. A common thread across all three is the vast range of things they tried and subjects they mastered.
In my book, The New Polymath, I had cited President Kennedy honoring a group of Nobel Prize winners in 1962 "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
This article is about Jefferson's wide range of talents. To me, one of the master strokes of his Presidency was sponsorship of the Lewis and Clark expedition west soon after the Louisiana Purchase. Meriwether Lewis, his secretary, was a Polymath in his own right. I share a birthday with him and am in awe of his skills and the amazing 3 year trek which provided maps for others to head West. Read more about him here.
As this article summarizes, Teddy was a "cowboy, a New York Police Department Commissioner, an explorer of Amazonia, and the youngest ever United States (US) president, just to name a few." Some of his accomplishments in office - trust busting, sponsorship of the National Parks, Panama Canal and much more.
Lincoln was a Renaissance Man in humbler ways. As this article says "In the next ten years he tried nearly every type of work offered in Illinois. This included carpenter, a ferry director, a store clerk, a post man, soldier, blacksmith, surveyor, lawyer and a politician"
George Washington is no slouch, but the 3 ones above have long been my favorites
I look at career politicians of today. Campaigning for the next term seems to be their only skill. Actually why just pick on them? Most of us are so darned siloed in our skills. Is it a wonder we are so myopic and opinionated?
"People of the West"
We stopped at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyo. William Frederick Cody has the reputation as one who almost drove the bison to extinction (though other research shows diseases and other causes contributed even more. ) I was more fascinated to learn about his varied career. Wikipedia lists some of his occupations - "Army scout, Pony Express rider, ranch hand, wagon train driver, town developer, railroad contractor, bison hunter, fur trapper, gold prospector, showman".
I met several people on the trip who even today have tried their hand at multiple careers. One of our tour guides in the Tetons told us he had worked in the oil patch in Alaska, in a dude ranch in Wyoming, went to horseshoeing school in Montana. I learned of a new occupation - farrier. It is a craftsman who trims and shoes horses' hooves. He had done that for over a decade. He is an outdoorsman, knows his wildlife and terrain and is a fantastic guide.
It's not just about rugged men. I learned Wyoming was the first U.S. state to allow female citizens to vote. In the media these days, that part of the country is painted as backward. In our drive throughout the state we saw oil derricks, endless trains carrying coal and plenty of wind turbines. There is a certain pragmatism and balance which was truly reassuring.
Dogged determination
When you see Mt. Rushmore and the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial, it really brings home what those people did day after day in dangerous conditions with dynamite and jackhammers everywhere. Mt Rushmore had 400 workers who worked for 15 years under the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. The Crazy Horse Memorial, in some ways is even more ambitious, as it being done without any government funding. The Lakota Indian leaders and the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski envisioned the arm of Crazy Horse at 263 feet long and the head at 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mt. Rushmore are each 60 feet high. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. However, the campus with a museum and the Indian University of North America is in some ways more impressive than that of Mt. Rushmore.
Every time, I fret about the work ethic of our current generation, I turn to history. This trip was a tonic. The country has the DNA of these pioneers and Monument Men.
I came back refreshed and encouraged. Greatness is within us. We just have to dig a bit deeper. Let's get to work.
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