I just got done reading Seldom Seen – A Journey into the Great Plains by Patrick Dobson. It was published in 2009 and describes Mr. Dobson’s 1995 journey, mostly on foot, from Kansas City to Helena. Along the way, he meets and interacts with an extraordinary number of Great Plains characters – from townspeople to right-wing zealots and holy rollers to carnies and other fringe characters to young idealists and old wise men – it nearly runs the spectrum.
It’s a personal memoir. Dobson had hit a rough patch in his life when he was about 30. Work was becoming an unfulfilling farce, and as he reflected on happy moments, he alighted on trips from his childhood to the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. He had also been a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and he had fond memories of trips back and forth across the Plains.
I found a lot to relate to in this book. My own journies were similar in many respects but happened earlier in my life, and I mostly avoided confronting the existential wall that he faced in his early thirties. That’s not to boast. I was envious of the ease with which he spent quality time with strangers. Perhaps his relative maturity to mine allowed him to relate to the real world better than I did.
As you can see, this book struck quite a few personal chords for me, and that’s a good thing!
As for the Great Plains, he writes often of their stark beauty and also realizes how much he has missed them when his journey takes him through Yellowstone. It’s a welcomed vacation full of tourist delights but lacks the groundedness of the Plains.
However, in one quote, from a less than scrupulous character he met, he summarizes quite well, if unfortunately, the overriding national opinion: “Great Plains! Who the hell gives a shit about the Great Plains? It’s a shithole! Look at this place. A shithole on the edge of the mountains.”
Both you and I know that’s not true. Not even close.
I am very much looking forward to reading what is essentially the sequel, Canoeing the Great Plains – A Missouri River Summer where Dobson returns to Kansas City via the Missouri River by canoe. Look for a future blog post about this one.
Steve Myers
