I gazed out my window as we wove through the Adirondacks, a patchwork of villages, abandoned barns, wilderness landscapes and shops, an eclectic mix of places, which quilt the landscape. Several times and in several places my eyes were drawn to a object, which seemed to be everywhere. It's a rather simple and commonplace item, a piece of cloth on a pole rippling in the misty cold mountain air. But, its power and symbolism is undeniable. As we drove for hours exploring the landscape, ecology and culture of the Adirondacks, all around me was the American flag. I began to notice it in stores, outside the olympic center and even along the roads or by entrances of towns. In one particular instance, an abandoned barn sat in a slush of snow with a tattered American flag hoisted near its entrance. Its presence got me thinking. What is the relationship between "Americanness" and wilderness?
If I have learned anything from the history of the Adirondacks, it's that as the nation changed, so did the concept of wilderness. In our nation's history, wilderness has been something man has "feared, romanticized, felt he had to conquer and change, wished to preserve, used as a refuge from an unsatisfactory culture, and in most cases despoiled." Thomas Pownwall, one of the first to explore the Adirondack landscape, reported it was "a broken unpracticable Tract; I own I could never learn any Thing about it" (Terrie, 5). However, about a century later, Emmons accounts the natural beauty of the Adirondacks urging people to see it. The "echo from the thousand hills must be heard before all the truth in the scene can be realized" (Terrie, 9).
Whether it be art or literature, some of the first depictions of wilderness were uniquely "American." Beginning in the early 19th century, paintings began to emerge that glorified the American landscape, romanticized nature and shaped Americans' notions of wilderness. Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School in 1820, made paintings that became national images giving a young america the opportunity to create a cultural identity around the environment. Around the same time, several writings and teachings of novelists and philosophers emerged including the works of Emerson, Thoreau and Leopold. By tying the landscape to narrative, these writers gave it value in American society.
In peeling back these layers, what has become clear is the fact that wilderness has been constructed, articulated and depicted in congruence with a national sense of place. The Adirondacks in many ways exemplify this relationship. There is a sense of pride that Americans and Adirondackers possess for conquering and surviving despite the odds and for believing in the American landscape.
Sources:
Kelly, Franklin. "Hudson River School." Grove Art
Online.
Terrie, Philip G. "Contested Terrain". Syracuse University Press. New York
http://www.jstor.org/stable/489986?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
I love how you decided to touch on the pride that we feel for this landscape. Because the wilderness is in many ways fragile, it's easy to immediately victimize humans as unnatural, destructive, selfish and manipulative. I think it's important to remember throughout our studies of the Adirondacks how proud we are to feel connected to such a place that is so rich in history and beauty. So many historians, scientists, explorers and philosophers alike have invested their time and studies to learning, researching and contemplating the Adirondacks. It's inspiring to remember that as humans who share an inevitable relationship with nature, we're not entirely bad! We're lucky, and rightly feel pride, that we get to experience such an unfathomably incredible landscape.
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