Sunday, November 11, 1956
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Thirteen
Sunday Noveber 11 1956THE MIHIGAN DA.LY.a.eTirtee
WAY OUT WEST
From Snowflake to Cayote, It All Has Individuality
By MICHAEL KRAFT or possibly in towns like Idaho buquerque, New Mexico proclaims
AS one drives toward the Pacific Springs, Colorado, when a frigid its city limits on signs which
Ocean leaving behind the mon- 4 a.m. finds some loudly lit cafe seemingly stand in the middle of
otonous green cornfields of the bustling with ranchers and fish- empty desert inhabited only by
midwest, the towns and vitiatesI
bunched beadlike along the inad ermen stowin away steak, e gs, cactus. But a few miles later, the
begin to spread out, gaining indi- hash brown, toast and steaming buildings appear, showing where
vidualism with space. coffee. the oasis finally begins. Yet the
The distance between communi- The borderline may be vague, sight of a city including miles of
ties increases, until towns which but once the traveler crosses, he empty land within its boundries
in the east exist merely as a set feels the change in the terrain' illustrates the optimism of the
of speed limits and a stop sign be- the road, and the peodle. The wet, its expectation ofg
farmlanwestfitsnexpectationasof{i-owth
tween pompous citie., beome frltd fKna n ers and eagerness to expand.
celebrities of the west, mentioned kg gradually rise into unplowed But thts is only part of th
on sign posts and noted on maps. prairie dotted by clusters of graz-
Perhaps they own names like ing cattle. Signs appear, "WARN- many faceted west, for also, it is
Snowflake (Arizona) Bonanz ING, LIVESTOCK." Bodies of a region of natural solitude. High
Snowlak (Aizoa),Bonnzain Yosemite National Pa rk, in the
(Colorado) or Coyote (New Mex- jackrabbits, fatally blinded in northern are. ignored by the ca -
ico), but these postmarks reflect headlights, litter the highway. athn tourist, lies Tenaya Lake.
the straight forward unaffected- On either side, land stretches Rachtdurysa, oades hTen twisks
ness of the founders r and fades, lonely and uninhabited,
and stingy n crownest forces!
Long and tiring my bthe into a horizon indented by val- drivers to honk horns at curves,
wastelands between settlements, leys separating the treeless hills. thels le n a at ofrwhite
but the people themselves show no Even within the western towns the lake lies in a bowl of whiteI
emptiness. Rather, they seem to themselves, there lingers the open- rocked mountains, whose bases are;
fringed with pines, like the monk's
generate a certain sincerity and ness of the surrounding landscape. !traditionaltshaved head.
friendliness which they appear in- The casual arrangement of Silver sitentheved hei p
capable of damming behind the Gate, Montana, a small hamlet s
m aks of e-stern big city resrae. near the edge of Yellowstone Na - -
The motel owner seems to have tional Park reflects this adbor- - - -
nothing he'd rather do than watch ance of crowding. Only since the;j
the colorful sunset with his guests war, has the mountain community
--whom he refuses to call cus- been accessible by highway. and
tomers. Or the silver haired store on either side of the road and its
keeper, spry in his bright plaid fringe of gas stations, the few
shirt, shows no hesitancy to re- log cabins and clapboard house
veal his knowledge of trout sit as if carelessly scattered. Yet
streams. the spacing is western, with each
home 'surrounded by a comfort- I'
UST where does the west be- able acre or so of prairie and con-0
'. gin? Perhaps its somewhere nected by ambling foot paths.
near the Nebraska-Wyoming bor-
der, where gas station attendants 0tR down in the hot southwest
begin appearing in cowboy hats,'M region, the community of Al-
only during summer, it's not a dumps of an adandoned mine,
lonely lake ... a beach and camp- man merely has his fingernails in
site border its inviting clear wa- the soil.
ters . . . but it possesses a con- GIVING m u t e testimony to
templative beauty that compels man's continual trials are the
travelers to pull off the road and abandoned cliff dwellings pre-
gaze in awed silence. Even at served in Mesa Verde National
Park. In the cool cansyos of the
Grand Canyon, where nature platea, near Coloeado's south-
shouts its dynamic power, the vis- western corner, lie the stone shells
itor who breaks from the hoards , of communities built and aban-
of tourists and rises early for sun- doned before Columbus arrived.
rise, or lingers for sunset, may There in nearly inaccessible
find himself silenced while view- + solitude, a civilization once flour-
ing the creeping shadows in their ished, organized and self suffi-
quiet portrayal of time's fingers. cent, until nature struck the In-
With all its vastness, and vio- dians with a 24 year drought.
lent contrasts of deserts meeting But now, the tourist, after re-
mountains, rivers churning can- turning from the ranger lead
yons, the west portrays man's fee- tours, looks and wonders a little
bleness. In the cities of the east, about his own mechanized civil-
where skyscrapers sink their roots ization. Then he is ready to drive
deep into bedrock, man secures towards the next attraction. For
his anchors. But where height is Mesa Verda, or Yosemite, or the
found only in -God's hills and wonders of Yellowstone are only
nmountains, that only occasionaly a few shavings of the magnet
bear some collapsed cabin or the that is the western United States.
-Y c
Why don't YOU comr-e G
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NO 2-5552 312 SOUTH THAYER
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YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK-From a turnout point on the road
entering Yosemite Valley, the towering rock formations and majes-
tic waterfalls lure the traveler deeper into the park. Best known
feature of the park, the valley-seven miles long, averaging one
mile in width and half a mile in depth-was cut by the combined
actions of the Merced River and glaciers.
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MIAMI
BERMUDA
Via Eastern Airlines Super G Constellation service, Hotel Ac-
commodations at the Golden Gate.
Rate: $169.00 including roundtrip airtransportation, tax, hotel
accommodations.
Via Pan American World Airways Stratocruiser, Service hotel
accommodatioss at the Bermudiona.
Eats: $276.00 including rundtrip airtransportation from De-
troit, tax, accommodations at the hotel, two meals per day,
sightseeing, transfers, cruise around the islands, beach parties,
etc.
COLLEGE TOURS 1957
DURING SPRING VACATION
APRIL 5th to APRIL 14th
Via Guest Airways Mexico Constellation service. Accommoda-
Ic tions at hotel Virreyes in Mexico, Victoria in Taxco and Palocio
Tropical in Acapulco.
Rate: $369.00 including roundtrip air transportation, hotel
accommodations, transfers, sightseeing, dinner in Mexico City,
all breakfasts, all meals in Acapulco, all sightseeing and bull-
fight tickets.
BOERSMA -TRAVEL SERVKE
14 NICKELS ARCADE NO 3-8597
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Name -
Address
tour to
GRAND CANYON-The shortening shadows of sunrise unveil the
immense beauty of the colorful "big ditch," where nature shouts
its awesome power. Over seven miles wide, the Grand Canyon of
the Colorado River is descendable only by mule trails carved in the
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