I've been on a particular kick of geography and history lately. After being told about the book Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose enough times I finally bought it in Davis, California. For the following three weeks I all but disappeared into the book. It was not easy to keep my mind on gigging, the presidential debates, or even baseball. I kept seeing things along the road where Lewis & Clark had been before.

While in Portland, Oregon I took a side trip to hike in the Columbia River Gorge up into some of the falls. I swear I saw some dugout canoes floating down that wide Columbia. I saw ghosts of Lewis & Clark again further up on the Columbia the following week on my way to Montana. It was in Eastern Washington where the desert is high and stark, and all is vast including that river that flows through it all. Then again over the Continental Divide and into Missoula where I climbed up to the "M" on Mount Sentinel, above the campus and beheld the entire Bitterroot Valley. The "Clarks Fork" below bordering the town held their canoes. In fact they walked right up what is now Main Street.

At the rest stop near the 200 mile marker on I-90 nearing Spokane I wrote this and put a fiddle melody to it -

Spokane
The horizon is a line that circles me around
At my feet there is a road that will take me where I'm bound

My pockets they are empty but oh my heart is full
And I am for want of nothing but a life that is not cruel

Now I am steady rolling the Columbia by my side
And Spokane is where I'm heading then across the Great Divide

Tell me who are your heroes tell me who are your friends
Tell me who are your loved ones who will hold you in the end

My advice is go and find them to them you must be true
So across this parched desert I am riding back to you

Now I am steady rolling the Columbia by my side
And Spokane is where I'm heading then across the Great Divide

After Missoula, I followed the Yellowstone River on I-90 and was conscious that this was part of the trip where Lewis and Clark separated and it was only Clark with his smaller group of men who came down here while Lewis searched the Marias River in hopes it would extend north to 50-degrees in latitude thereby making the Louisiana Purchase larger than first estimated. The next day (Thursday, October 12th) I drove from Bozeman, MT to Casper, Wyoming to put myself within six hours of my gig in Denver on Friday. I put on a tape of a live show of Utah Phillips. He began the set with Railroading on the Great Divide. I looked around and found myself in Crow country just north of the border with Wyoming driving right next to the Burlington Northern line. HA! Here I was again, transported into another era in history about 100 years after Lewis & Clark and 100 years before this present day. This was a moment of epiphany, and indeed the perfect primer, for I was planning to see Utah Phillips and the Rose Tattoo, just three days later in Marysville, Kansas where the theme of the performance was "Trains, Tramps and Traditions".

A couple of the countless gems from that show: About elections - "Never be deceived to think that the rich and powerful will allow you to vote away their wealth" Concerning the demise of the caboose: "A train without a caboose is a lot like wearing a hospital gown"

One thing before I go: I'd like to let y'all know that by now my song written last fall What Would Woody Do is *almost* available for listening and downloads on MP3. It will be located at www.mp3.com/fenario which is the Folk Music e-Zine from About.com. Check it out, and all the great songs from folks like Andrew Calhoun, Annie Gallup, Small Potatoes, and more.

Today is October 19th , and I'm soon on my way to Iowa City. I'll end my chapter here and pick up the thread again in Novembers "Notes". Don't forget about leaving your comments in the guestbook.

Keep in touch, and I'll see you in your own town sometime!
Lots of love,
Dana