I Did Learn What I Didn't Know

The Hotel Was Once Where Things Coalesced, Where You Could Meet Both Townspeople And Travelers. Not So In A Motel. No Matter How You Build It, The Motel Remains The Haunt Of The Quick And Dirty, Where The Only Locals Are Chamber Of Commerce Boys Every Fourth Thursday. Who Ever Heard The Returning Traveler Exclaim Over One Of The Great Motels Of The World He Stayed In? Motels Can Be Big, But Never Grand.

I Contend That In The Kind Of Nonfiction I Write, And That Other People Also Pursue, Anything Is Permissible Provided The Reader Knows What You're Taking Liberties With.

To An American, Land Is Solidity, Goodness, And Hope. American History Is About Land.

Having Made The Trip From St. Louis To The Pacific Ocean Myself Going Up Up Up Against Twenty-five Hundred Miles Of The Missouri River, I Can Testify That It's One Of The Most Arduous Trips That Anyone Can Make On This Continent And Yet I Had A Power Boat To Do It In.

I Have Not Been On Any River That Has More Of A Distinctive Personality Than Does The Missouri River. It's A River That Immediately Presents To The Traveler, 'i Am A Grandfather Spirit. I Have A Source; I Have A Life.