THE AMERICAN GUIDE

SUNRISE TO SUNSET AT GRAND CANYON - ARIZONA
National Park Week - April 20-28, 2013
There is no better place to accidentally find yourself during the National Park Service’s free week than the second most visited park, Grand Canyon.
With nearly 5 million visitors a year, Grand Canyon is as good for its people watching as it is for the view itself. You can go a long time without hearing a single word of English, but easily make out that everyone has the same mix of marvel and disbelief as they walk up the trail to Mather Point and catch their first glimpse of the South Rim.

The dark pines of the Kaibob National Forest conceal the Grand Canyon of the Colorado till the rim is reached. There, spread out for seemingly endless miles, is an ocean of color. From misty blue depths rise gigantic islands of crimson sandstone. Their undulating bands of red and purple grow softer in color and outline towards the horizon, where a single firm stroke seems to separate the rosy depths from the sky above. Its immensity is awful; the boldness of its contours overwhelming; its immobility terrifying.
—Arizona, The Grand Canyon State: A State Guide (WPA, 1940)

Guide Note: National Park Week occurs each spring.
* * *
At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to atinlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.

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SUNRISE TO SUNSET AT GRAND CANYON - ARIZONA

National Park Week - April 20-28, 2013

There is no better place to accidentally find yourself during the National Park Service’s free week than the second most visited park, Grand Canyon.

With nearly 5 million visitors a year, Grand Canyon is as good for its people watching as it is for the view itself. You can go a long time without hearing a single word of English, but easily make out that everyone has the same mix of marvel and disbelief as they walk up the trail to Mather Point and catch their first glimpse of the South Rim.

The dark pines of the Kaibob National Forest conceal the Grand Canyon of the Colorado till the rim is reached. There, spread out for seemingly endless miles, is an ocean of color. From misty blue depths rise gigantic islands of crimson sandstone. Their undulating bands of red and purple grow softer in color and outline towards the horizon, where a single firm stroke seems to separate the rosy depths from the sky above. Its immensity is awful; the boldness of its contours overwhelming; its immobility terrifying.

—Arizona, The Grand Canyon State: A State Guide (WPA, 1940)

Guide Note: National Park Week occurs each spring.

* * *

At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to atinlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.

HONOLULU & WAIKIKI, HAWAII

It has beauty not derived from magnificent architecture, grand boulevards, shaded avenues or spacious parks. Yet it has charms of its own, charms almost impossible of description and not susceptible of analysis. There is scarcely a single feature which is not surpassed by other cities, but there is a harmony, a combination of the whole that renders it matchless.
—The Aloha Guide (1915)

* * *
Jordan Lum, your State Guide to Hawaii is a sushi-rolling, self-motivated, freelance photographer. He shoots film and digital. He enjoys shooting the streets and the people in them, as well as landscapes, friends, and family. He’s more than happy to take your picture, too. Peep his work at leafybug.tumblr.comor on flickr.

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HONOLULU & WAIKIKI, HAWAII

It has beauty not derived from magnificent architecture, grand boulevards, shaded avenues or spacious parks. Yet it has charms of its own, charms almost impossible of description and not susceptible of analysis. There is scarcely a single feature which is not surpassed by other cities, but there is a harmony, a combination of the whole that renders it matchless.

—The Aloha Guide (1915)

* * *

Jordan Lum, your State Guide to Hawaii is a sushi-rolling, self-motivated, freelance photographer. He shoots film and digital. He enjoys shooting the streets and the people in them, as well as landscapes, friends, and family. He’s more than happy to take your picture, too. Peep his work at leafybug.tumblr.comor on flickr.

THE SPACES BETWEEN THE PLACES – UPSTATE & SOUTHERN TIER, NEW YORK
There have been numerous references throughout history to “the journey, not the destination”; the idea that one should savor the road being traveled, it being the actual reward above and beyond the destination itself. For me, the journey that consistently offers up its bounty is the vast expanse of upstate New York and its Southern Tier.
To travel this region is a great reminder not only of the current state of things in rural America, but also of what used to be. The forests and watersheds allowed much of this area to thrive in the late 1800s, which made way for the prosperity of farms and small factory towns in the first half of the 20th century. You’ll see many stores, farms and factories, some still thriving, some barely hanging on and some in a state of disrepair, now only a remnant of what was and likely will never be again.
It’s the ruralness of this area that can take you by surprise; the fact that these folks make do much by themselves so far from any greater metropolitan area. You can imagine that everyone must know their neighbor’s business. For the traveler passing through it seems that so little must have changed over the years, except that the vacant store fronts must once have been open for business, and the barns that are now collapsing in on themselves must have strongly stood upright in the afternoon sun.
For the rare small town that somehow shrugged off decay and demise and manages to carry on despite it all, it offers a glimpse of how it used to be better. It can genuinely give you a sense of stepping back in time, of driving into a town from decades past. And then you blink your eyes and you’re through it, back into the farmland until the next small town appears.
* * *

Guide to the Northeast Brett Klein lives in Connecticut and works in New York, but prefers small town life and his homestate of Maine. Any chance to get rural is a mental vacation. Follow Klein on Tumblr at The Coast is Clear. His curatorial collection of Americana, rural life, other artists and ephemera can be seen on Tumblr at Tons of Land.

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THE SPACES BETWEEN THE PLACES – UPSTATE & SOUTHERN TIER, NEW YORK

There have been numerous references throughout history to “the journey, not the destination”; the idea that one should savor the road being traveled, it being the actual reward above and beyond the destination itself. For me, the journey that consistently offers up its bounty is the vast expanse of upstate New York and its Southern Tier.

To travel this region is a great reminder not only of the current state of things in rural America, but also of what used to be. The forests and watersheds allowed much of this area to thrive in the late 1800s, which made way for the prosperity of farms and small factory towns in the first half of the 20^th century. You’ll see many stores, farms and factories, some still thriving, some barely hanging on and some in a state of disrepair, now only a remnant of what was and likely will never be again.

It’s the ruralness of this area that can take you by surprise; the fact that these folks make do much by themselves so far from any greater metropolitan area. You can imagine that everyone must know their neighbor’s business. For the traveler passing through it seems that so little must have changed over the years, except that the vacant store fronts must once have been open for business, and the barns that are now collapsing in on themselves must have strongly stood upright in the afternoon sun.

For the rare small town that somehow shrugged off decay and demise and manages to carry on despite it all, it offers a glimpse of how it used to be better. It can genuinely give you a sense of stepping back in time, of driving into a town from decades past. And then you blink your eyes and you’re through it, back into the farmland until the next small town appears.

* * *

Guide to the Northeast Brett Klein lives in Connecticut and works in New York, but prefers small town life and his homestate of Maine. Any chance to get rural is a mental vacation. Follow Klein on Tumblr at The Coast is Clear. His curatorial collection of Americana, rural life, other artists and ephemera can be seen on Tumblr at Tons of Land.

CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA
Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time.
The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground.
The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.
* * *
Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.

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CAT SQUARE PARADE - VALE, NORTH CAROLINA

Whenever people had asked me if I’d ever been to the Cat Square parade it’d always be followed by a chuckle and knowing look in their eye. They’d tell me about that one time they went and there were elaborate homemade floats on old cars, parade-goers tossing out cans of beer and cigarettes, and lines of horses as far as the eye could see, five for each person there. For the past several years and since I graduated from college, I’ve been wanting to attend this much talked about and surely rowdy time.

The Cat Square Christmas parade has taken in place in Vale, North Carolina for the past few decades. Each December, this little census-designated community of Cat Square sees an influx of a couple thousand people turn out to line up along the side of Zur Leonard and Cat Square Road to watch the parade trot by. Each year I’ve been told the number of spectators and participants grow larger. A few high school bands join in, almost every female in Lincoln County it seems is a beauty queen of some sort and is escorted in a convertible. North Carolina is not short at all of celebrations of its culture, but the Cat Square parade seems a little bit more special to me. I know because almost everyone I know in my hometown has been at least one time and they always have a story about it along with a slight shake of the head, smile, and quick look at the ground.

The parade is a big part of this area around Christmas and a tradition that’s been going strong for years with few people outside of the area taking notice. It’s uniquely ours. It’s the people of the community that keep all this afloat. The parade’s participants and its visitors are the subject of these pictures. A street preacher with a lazy eye handing out tracts, a man selling new and used knives, teenagers watching from their vehicles and younger volunteers in costume or in floats. Just a few people out of the thousands that caught my eye that day and sometimes let me talk to them a little. I’m anxious for next December to come around or the next time I’ll be able to tell my own story about the parade to someone who has never been.

* * *

Aaron Canipe is a State Guide to North Carolina. He was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina and received his BFA in photography from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. Aaron also helps operate Empty Stretch, a DIY-publisher and blog. He’s exhibited work throughout the South and has been published in the Washington Post and the Oxford American’s “Eye on the South” blog. Follow him on Tumblr at mysteriesmanners and see more work on his website, aaroncanipe.com.

FIDDLEHEAD FERNS - VERMONT

Of ferns, the highest class of flowerless plants, there are eighty-one distinct species in Vermont.
—Vermont: A Guide to the Green Mountain State (WPA, 1937)

Fiddleheads are the tightly curled fronds of a young Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Ostrich ferns grow wild from northeastern North America, across Europe, and into central Asia, but the fiddlehead is especially prized as a traditional delicacy in Vermont (where harvesting is a rite of spring). Until January of this year when a bill was introduced in the legislature naming kale the state vegetable of Vermont, the fiddlehead unofficially held the title.
From “Neighborhood Cooking,” published in 1993 by the East Barnard Community Club of East Barnard, Vermont, a recipe courtesy of Sabra Field:

Pick fiddleheads in early May on the sandy banks of a brook. Look for last year’s dry black “plume” to locate the new growth. Once the fronds begin to uncurl, they are “gone by.” You don’t need a knife, just use your fingers. Allow to dry a few hours. Shake in a lettuce basket to loosen brown outer “wrappers” and discard. Place in cottage cooker in large saucepan. Blanch and discard water. Add more water and steam until bright green and just tender. Toss with a little butter and lemon juice.

Other recommended preparations include triple blanching, then topping with cheese sauce. Under no circumstance should fiddleheads be eaten raw, as they can be quite tannic and bitter, even toxic, when undercooked.
They have been known to taste like wild asparagus with the crisp texture of a slightly undercooked brussel sprout. Some people from outside the region say they taste a bit like wet dirt.
* * *

Tara Wray is the State Guide to Vermont. A photographer and award-winning documentary filmmaker (but mainly a mom of two-year-old identical twin sons), she is drawn to photography as a means to combat the otherwise general and fleeting nature of life. Follow her on Tumblr at Tara Wray Photography. Also, see her chapbook, “Barnard People, Vol. 1, Photographs of Vermonters.”

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FIDDLEHEAD FERNS - VERMONT

Of ferns, the highest class of flowerless plants, there are eighty-one distinct species in Vermont.

—Vermont: A Guide to the Green Mountain State (WPA, 1937)

Fiddleheads are the tightly curled fronds of a young Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Ostrich ferns grow wild from northeastern North America, across Europe, and into central Asia, but the fiddlehead is especially prized as a traditional delicacy in Vermont (where harvesting is a rite of spring). Until January of this year when a bill was introduced in the legislature naming kale the state vegetable of Vermont, the fiddlehead unofficially held the title.

From “Neighborhood Cooking,” published in 1993 by the East Barnard Community Club of East Barnard, Vermont, a recipe courtesy of Sabra Field:

Pick fiddleheads in early May on the sandy banks of a brook. Look for last year’s dry black “plume” to locate the new growth. Once the fronds begin to uncurl, they are “gone by.” You don’t need a knife, just use your fingers. Allow to dry a few hours. Shake in a lettuce basket to loosen brown outer “wrappers” and discard. Place in cottage cooker in large saucepan. Blanch and discard water. Add more water and steam until bright green and just tender. Toss with a little butter and lemon juice.

Other recommended preparations include triple blanching, then topping with cheese sauce. Under no circumstance should fiddleheads be eaten raw, as they can be quite tannic and bitter, even toxic, when undercooked.

They have been known to taste like wild asparagus with the crisp texture of a slightly undercooked brussel sprout. Some people from outside the region say they taste a bit like wet dirt.

* * *

Tara Wray is the State Guide to Vermont. A photographer and award-winning documentary filmmaker (but mainly a mom of two-year-old identical twin sons), she is drawn to photography as a means to combat the otherwise general and fleeting nature of life. Follow her on Tumblr at Tara Wray Photography. Also, see her chapbook, “Barnard People, Vol. 1, Photographs of Vermonters.”

QUAKE LAKE, MONTANA
Nature is so amazing. Late one night in August of 1959, a huge earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale sent a massive 80 million ton landslide rushing 100 miles an hour down Sheep Mountain in southwest Montana. It buried homes and cabins, destroyed roads and buildings, and killed 28 people who were camping on the shores of Hebgen Lake and the Madison River. (And you thought bears were all you had to worry about when camping, right?) The landslide completely choked off the flow of the Madison River, which began to backfill in the valley upstream, and within a month the six-mile long Quake Lake was created. Today you can drive around the lake, over the visible landslide and stop in the visitor’s center to learn more.
(Archival images: USGS)
* * *
KC O’Connor is a Guide to Wyoming for The American Guide. He’s a writer and photographer based in Lander, Wyoming. Follow him on Tumblr at kcowyo.tumblr.com and on Twitter.

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QUAKE LAKE, MONTANA

Nature is so amazing. Late one night in August of 1959, a huge earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale sent a massive 80 million ton landslide rushing 100 miles an hour down Sheep Mountain in southwest Montana. It buried homes and cabins, destroyed roads and buildings, and killed 28 people who were camping on the shores of Hebgen Lake and the Madison River. (And you thought bears were all you had to worry about when camping, right?) The landslide completely choked off the flow of the Madison River, which began to backfill in the valley upstream, and within a month the six-mile long Quake Lake was created. Today you can drive around the lake, over the visible landslide and stop in the visitor’s center to learn more.

(Archival images: USGS)

* * *

KC O’Connor is a Guide to Wyoming for The American Guide. He’s a writer and photographer based in Lander, Wyoming. Follow him on Tumblr at kcowyo.tumblr.com and on Twitter.

$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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$PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off. Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale. The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation. The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable. It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used. Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado. While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973. Then they just had to clean it all up. To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero. Guide Notes: Plowshare, the Movie Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others. Carson National Forest * * * At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.$

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PROJECT GASBUGGY - FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO

Once upon a time in the west, December 1967 to be exact, some men from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and some men from the EL Paso Natural Gas company buried a 29-kiloton nuclear bomb (Hiroshima was around 13-kilotons) in the ground just west of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest. Then they set it off.

Project Gasbuggy was the first of three industry-government experiments conducted in the Four Corners area under the Operation Plowshare program to turn swords into plowshares. The grand idea was to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons, in this case to stimulate energy production by fracking for natural gas on an epic scale.

The bomb used at Gasbuggy was 13 feet long and 17.5 inches in diameter. It took three days to lower the bomb 4,240 feet underground. Once there, it was cemented into place in the dense, but natural gas rich Lewis shale formation.

The resulting explosion — and 5.10 magnitude earthquake — left a crater on top and an underground glass lined chimney 335 feet high and 160 feet in diameter. As predicted, the detonation shattered the shale and dramatically increased the amount of gas that was recoverable.

It also made the gas so radioactive that it couldn’t be used.

Somehow feeling that unleashing that much natural underground radiation with a nuclear explosion might turn out differently, the experiment was tried two more times: first with the 40-kiloton Project Rulison near Parachute, Colorado, and finally with Project Rio Blanco’s three simultaneous 33-kiloton detonations near Rifle, Colorado.

While the public was initially supportive before Gasbuggy, by the time of Rulison in 1969 the tide had changed. With a new national sense of environmentalism taking root, Operation Plowshare would come to an end after Rio Blanco in 1973.

Then they just had to clean it all up.

To visit the Project Gasbuggy site, look for mile marker 115 on Highway 64. Turn onto the Jicarilla Apache reservation road J-10, and follow it for 7.25 miles. At that point you will enter the Carson National Forest, and the road will turn into Forest Service 357. Go one more mile and you are at ground zero.

Guide Notes:

Plowshare, the Movie
Plowshare background, including a list of planned but not executed tests in such places as Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Australia, Canadian tar sands and Buffalo, Wyoming, among others.
Carson National Forest

* * *

At-Large Guide to the West James Orndorf was born in Minnesota, but knew at a very young age that the future lay out west. He is currently photographing and illustrating outside of Durango, Colorado. You can see what he’s up to at inlandwest.tumblr.com and roughshelter.com.

THE RUINS OF WINDSOR - NEAR PORT GIBSON, MISSISSIPPI

The amazing RUINS OF WINDSOR loom up at 10.3 m. (L). Twenty-two gigantic stone Corinthian columns remain as testimony to what was perhaps the supreme gesture of the grand manner of ante-bellum Greek Revival architecture. These columns, joined by Italian wrought-iron railings which were once at the upper gallery level, form a perfect outline of the house, which was rectangular in shape with a narrow ell, the service wing, at the rear. Windsor was built by S. C. Daniel, a wealthy planter who had holdings in the vicinity and across the river in Louisiana. When completed in 1861, it was considered the handsomest home in Mississippi. It had five stories topped by an observatory. The furnishings were imported and the library housed rare old books. Rich tapestries and velvet draperies adorned it. During the War between the States for a short period the Confederates used its lofty tower, which commanded a view of the Mississippi River, as an observation point; then the Federals used it as a hospital. Mark Twain, when a pilot on Mississippi steamboats, used to chart his course at this point by the peak of the tower. In 1890 Windsor was destroyed by fire. Except for a few pieces of jewelry nothing was saved.
— Mississippi, A Guide to the Magnolia State (WPA, 1938)

Guide Note: The site was donated to the state of Mississippi in 1974.
* * *

David Jones is a State Guide to Mississippi, where he’s a Professor/Extension Specialist. While going to school, he lived in five of the Southern states, from Virginia to Texas. His career path has landed him in some pretty remote places, but has also allowed him to meet some amazing people and see some astonishing things. Currently he can be found traveling the highways and back roads of Mississippi, helping people out when he can and exploring the hidden treasures of the state. You can find him on tumblr at woodprof.tumblr.com.

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THE RUINS OF WINDSOR - NEAR PORT GIBSON, MISSISSIPPI

The amazing RUINS OF WINDSOR loom up at 10.3 m. (L). Twenty-two gigantic stone Corinthian columns remain as testimony to what was perhaps the supreme gesture of the grand manner of ante-bellum Greek Revival architecture. These columns, joined by Italian wrought-iron railings which were once at the upper gallery level, form a perfect outline of the house, which was rectangular in shape with a narrow ell, the service wing, at the rear. Windsor was built by S. C. Daniel, a wealthy planter who had holdings in the vicinity and across the river in Louisiana. When completed in 1861, it was considered the handsomest home in Mississippi. It had five stories topped by an observatory. The furnishings were imported and the library housed rare old books. Rich tapestries and velvet draperies adorned it. During the War between the States for a short period the Confederates used its lofty tower, which commanded a view of the Mississippi River, as an observation point; then the Federals used it as a hospital. Mark Twain, when a pilot on Mississippi steamboats, used to chart his course at this point by the peak of the tower. In 1890 Windsor was destroyed by fire. Except for a few pieces of jewelry nothing was saved.

— Mississippi, A Guide to the Magnolia State (WPA, 1938)

Guide Note: The site was donated to the state of Mississippi in 1974.

* * *

David Jones is a State Guide to Mississippi, where he’s a Professor/Extension Specialist. While going to school, he lived in five of the Southern states, from Virginia to Texas. His career path has landed him in some pretty remote places, but has also allowed him to meet some amazing people and see some astonishing things. Currently he can be found traveling the highways and back roads of Mississippi, helping people out when he can and exploring the hidden treasures of the state. You can find him on tumblr at woodprof.tumblr.com.

HORN ANTENNA - BELL LABS HOLMDEL COMPLEX, NEW JERSEY

HORN ANTENNA has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. Scientists Arno Penzias and Bob Wilson with the antenna found the evidence confirming the “Big Bang” Theory of the creation of the universe, forever changing the science of cosmology.

The antenna is now used as a speaker at company picnics.
* * *
Erin Chapman is co-editor of the American Guide.

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HORN ANTENNA - BELL LABS HOLMDEL COMPLEX, NEW JERSEY

HORN ANTENNA has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. Scientists Arno Penzias and Bob Wilson with the antenna found the evidence confirming the “Big Bang” Theory of the creation of the universe, forever changing the science of cosmology.

The antenna is now used as a speaker at company picnics.

* * *

Erin Chapman is co-editor of the American Guide.

HOT MESS / RCA - OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
The Hot Mess/RCA is a squatted compound in Oakland that’s “housed literally hundreds of freaks, queerdos, radicals, hustlers, lovers, and comrades.” It was recently involved in a lengthy court battle against eviction. But the court case was dropped in March, the eviction cancelled and the squat has now won quiet title.
Visit Hot Mess/RCA on Tumblr at theoaklandcompound.tumblr.com.
* * *
Loco Lark was born in Fremont, California, but now resides in Oakland. Follow Loco on Tumblr at locolarkphoto.tumblr.com.
This dispatch arrived care of The American Guide submission page. Be a guide yourself and send a post from your state: theamericanguide.org/submit.

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HOT MESS / RCA - OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

The Hot Mess/RCA is a squatted compound in Oakland that’s “housed literally hundreds of freaks, queerdos, radicals, hustlers, lovers, and comrades.” It was recently involved in a lengthy court battle against eviction. But the court case was dropped in March, the eviction cancelled and the squat has now won quiet title.

Visit Hot Mess/RCA on Tumblr at theoaklandcompound.tumblr.com.

* * *

Loco Lark was born in Fremont, California, but now resides in Oakland. Follow Loco on Tumblr at locolarkphoto.tumblr.com.

This dispatch arrived care of The American Guide submission page. Be a guide yourself and send a post from your state: theamericanguide.org/submit.

NEW LLANO, LOUISIANA
We are looking for the ghost of the longest running secular socialist commune in American history, a town named New Llano that lies some twenty miles north of DeRidder. On some maps it is Newllano. In some mouths it is pronounced New YAW-no, but many locals say New LAN-no. Confusion around basic details- the spelling, the pronunciation-seems to be a defining characteristic of the place. The geographic roots are also muddled. In 1914, the commune was born as the Llano del Rio Corporation in the California desert, and struggled there for three years before decamping to this rural corner of Louisiana. In 1917, Llano del Rio purchased the entire town of Stables, Louisiana from the Gulf Lumber Company, dreaming of a fresh start in the fertile South. Out of the 900 people living at Llano del Rio, only 65 journeyed from California to Louisiana. They re-christened the town New Llano, but the new name did not change the massive organizational and social problems within the community.
The historical record surrounding the colony is strange. Much of what can be found speaks of New Llano, of Llano del Rio, in glowing terms. Colony members, and outside supporters, claimed New Llano was the first step towards dismantling capitalism, a community designed to share burdens and successes, a place where no man exploited the weak or favored the ruthless. All community members had equal say in how the town was run. The children and the elderly were well cared for, and no one wanted for food or clothing. These were all lies.
This is an excerpt from an article by our new Louisiana guides, Breonne DeDecker and Darin Acosta.
Read more. Trust us.
(Archival Images: Birds-Eye View of the Llano Cooperative Colony. Artist Unknown. Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University; As Picket Sees It. Llano Colonist. August 28, 1937. Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University.)
* * *
Darin Acosta has spent his entire life exploring and documenting the wetlands, oil infrastructure and forgotten blight of South Louisiana and studied urban and environmental planning at the University of New Orleans. Breonne DeDecker was born near the headwaters of the Mississippi River and now resides at the end of it. She has degrees in photography and sustainable development.
Their current work, The Airline is a Very Long Road, is an experimental biography of Louisiana, which you can find at airlinehighway.tumblr.com.

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NEW LLANO, LOUISIANA

We are looking for the ghost of the longest running secular socialist commune in American history, a town named New Llano that lies some twenty miles north of DeRidder. On some maps it is Newllano. In some mouths it is pronounced New YAW-no, but many locals say New LAN-no. Confusion around basic details- the spelling, the pronunciation-seems to be a defining characteristic of the place. The geographic roots are also muddled. In 1914, the commune was born as the Llano del Rio Corporation in the California desert, and struggled there for three years before decamping to this rural corner of Louisiana. In 1917, Llano del Rio purchased the entire town of Stables, Louisiana from the Gulf Lumber Company, dreaming of a fresh start in the fertile South. Out of the 900 people living at Llano del Rio, only 65 journeyed from California to Louisiana. They re-christened the town New Llano, but the new name did not change the massive organizational and social problems within the community.

The historical record surrounding the colony is strange. Much of what can be found speaks of New Llano, of Llano del Rio, in glowing terms. Colony members, and outside supporters, claimed New Llano was the first step towards dismantling capitalism, a community designed to share burdens and successes, a place where no man exploited the weak or favored the ruthless. All community members had equal say in how the town was run. The children and the elderly were well cared for, and no one wanted for food or clothing. These were all lies.

This is an excerpt from an article by our new Louisiana guides, Breonne DeDecker and Darin Acosta.

Read more. Trust us.

(Archival Images: Birds-Eye View of the Llano Cooperative Colony. Artist Unknown. Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University; As Picket Sees It. Llano Colonist. August 28, 1937. Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University.)

* * *

Darin Acosta has spent his entire life exploring and documenting the wetlands, oil infrastructure and forgotten blight of South Louisiana and studied urban and environmental planning at the University of New Orleans. Breonne DeDecker was born near the headwaters of the Mississippi River and now resides at the end of it. She has degrees in photography and sustainable development.

Their current work, The Airline is a Very Long Road, is an experimental biography of Louisiana, which you can find at airlinehighway.tumblr.com.

ANGEL PEAK SCENIC AREA - NEW MEXICO
Angel Peak Scenic Area, south of Bloomfield, NM, is a bit like the Grand Canyon in that it doesn’t look like much until you actually get there. Angel Peak itself is over 7,000 feet tall, so you can see it from miles away. But from a distance it just looks like a smallish, rocky mountain.
When you get close, the plateau falls away and you see the 10,000 acres of spectacular, surreal badlands that make up the scenic area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The area has been open to natural gas development for decades. Drilling and extraction operations are plainly visible, but the landscape is still awe inspiring. And the energy infrastructure makes the canyon itself very accessible (though driving in calls for GPS, plenty of water, and a high clearance vehicle).
Last summer was the first time I noticed a new kind of development in the area near Angel Peak. It didn’t stand out much at the time, but it was called a landfarm and seemed to involve lots of bulldozers. When I visited again in March 2013, I got a much clearer look.
It turns out that a landfarm operation, like this complex managed by Envirotech, is a place where “soil remediation” takes place. This is where contaminated soil from all over the San Juan Basin oil fields is processed by covering it with other soil. High Country News described the landfarm like this:
Don’t look for fresh produce: This is where contaminated soils from the energy industry are plowed back into the earth and treated, or, as they say, “farmed.”
The landfarm consists of several hundred fenced acres of bare dirt on the sage plain you cross to get from Highway 550 to Angel Peak on County Road 7175. There is no going around it. On a windy day the blowing dust smells strongly of chemicals.
But it is still well worth the trip.
* * *

Amadee Ricketts is an At-Large Guide to the West. She’s worked as a cemetary groundskeeper, a shoeshine valet, and a bill collector. More recently, she’s been a children’s librarian in five states. She takes a lot of pictures and lives near Durango, CO. You can see her photos at textless.tumblr.com.

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ANGEL PEAK SCENIC AREA - NEW MEXICO

Angel Peak Scenic Area, south of Bloomfield, NM, is a bit like the Grand Canyon in that it doesn’t look like much until you actually get there. Angel Peak itself is over 7,000 feet tall, so you can see it from miles away. But from a distance it just looks like a smallish, rocky mountain.

When you get close, the plateau falls away and you see the 10,000 acres of spectacular, surreal badlands that make up the scenic area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The area has been open to natural gas development for decades. Drilling and extraction operations are plainly visible, but the landscape is still awe inspiring. And the energy infrastructure makes the canyon itself very accessible (though driving in calls for GPS, plenty of water, and a high clearance vehicle).

Last summer was the first time I noticed a new kind of development in the area near Angel Peak. It didn’t stand out much at the time, but it was called a landfarm and seemed to involve lots of bulldozers. When I visited again in March 2013, I got a much clearer look.

It turns out that a landfarm operation, like this complex managed by Envirotech, is a place where “soil remediation” takes place. This is where contaminated soil from all over the San Juan Basin oil fields is processed by covering it with other soil. High Country News described the landfarm like this:

Don’t look for fresh produce: This is where contaminated soils from the energy industry are plowed back into the earth and treated, or, as they say, “farmed.”

The landfarm consists of several hundred fenced acres of bare dirt on the sage plain you cross to get from Highway 550 to Angel Peak on County Road 7175. There is no going around it. On a windy day the blowing dust smells strongly of chemicals.

But it is still well worth the trip.

* * *

Amadee Ricketts is an At-Large Guide to the West. She’s worked as a cemetary groundskeeper, a shoeshine valet, and a bill collector. More recently, she’s been a children’s librarian in five states. She takes a lot of pictures and lives near Durango, CO. You can see her photos at textless.tumblr.com.

HOLLY, MICHIGAN (ANYTOWN, USA)

Left from Fenton on State 87 is HOLLY, 5 m. (980 alt., 2,252 pop.), a small industrial city with some regional fame as a flower center. Flower gardening, encouraged by the Holly Flower Lovers’ Club, is a feature of the civic program.
— Michigan, A Guide To the Wolverine State (WPA, 1941)

The town I grew up in was always quiet. It was always small and it always seemed as if it was about 20 years behind. Fifty miles north of Detroit, it was one of hundreds of other small towns that had auto and factory workers looking to live with their families away from the more traditional suburban spread of identical factory-produced homes and packed strip malls. The homes were old, but well kept. The businesses were small, but frequented by the people who lived there, grew up there and raised their kids there. By all definable standards Holly, Michigan was a thriving small town.
Not unlike the rest of the state of Michigan, Holly has been hit hard by the auto industry crash, as well as the general weak economy of the state. People have lost their homes, businesses have closed. Walking down the main through road that runs north and south within the town, Holly looks like it has literally stood still. Each time I go back to visit, I’m further saddened by the continuing spreading emptiness.
Holly, unfortunately, is not unlike a million other towns in the U.S. It’s actually totally average. Although I’d like to think the town of my childhood and the town I love so dearly is beyond being categorized as average, it really is Anytown, USA.
* * *
EE Berger is a photographer Detroit bred and Brooklyn based. She seeks out emptiness, solitude and peaceful moments and was recently selected as one of Photoboite’s “30 Women Photographers Under 30” for 2013. You can find her on Tumblr at eeberger.tumblr.com, and find her website at eebergerphoto.com.

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HOLLY, MICHIGAN (ANYTOWN, USA)

Left from Fenton on State 87 is HOLLY, 5 m. (980 alt., 2,252 pop.), a small industrial city with some regional fame as a flower center. Flower gardening, encouraged by the Holly Flower Lovers’ Club, is a feature of the civic program.

— Michigan, A Guide To the Wolverine State (WPA, 1941)

The town I grew up in was always quiet. It was always small and it always seemed as if it was about 20 years behind. Fifty miles north of Detroit, it was one of hundreds of other small towns that had auto and factory workers looking to live with their families away from the more traditional suburban spread of identical factory-produced homes and packed strip malls. The homes were old, but well kept. The businesses were small, but frequented by the people who lived there, grew up there and raised their kids there. By all definable standards Holly, Michigan was a thriving small town.

Not unlike the rest of the state of Michigan, Holly has been hit hard by the auto industry crash, as well as the general weak economy of the state. People have lost their homes, businesses have closed. Walking down the main through road that runs north and south within the town, Holly looks like it has literally stood still. Each time I go back to visit, I’m further saddened by the continuing spreading emptiness.

Holly, unfortunately, is not unlike a million other towns in the U.S. It’s actually totally average. Although I’d like to think the town of my childhood and the town I love so dearly is beyond being categorized as average, it really is Anytown, USA.

* * *

EE Berger is a photographer Detroit bred and Brooklyn based. She seeks out emptiness, solitude and peaceful moments and was recently selected as one of Photoboite’s “30 Women Photographers Under 30” for 2013. You can find her on Tumblr at eeberger.tumblr.com, and find her website at eebergerphoto.com.

LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT
Connecticut’s largest county, Litchfield, is also its least populous. Tucked in the northwest corner of the state, bordering both New York and Massachusetts, Litchfield is fairly rural with lots of farmland and small town centers that look and feel like they were plucked from a Norman Rockwell painting—which they certainly could have been, as Rockwell’s home was not far away in Stockbridge, Mass.
Connecticut has over 500 miles of dirt roads and you’ll find the majority of them here in Litchfield. In the summer this is an area that city people retreat to, to breathe the fresh air of the outdoors that the county offers with its camping and hiking; taking advantage of the Berkshire Mountains, the Housatonic River, the antique stores and the farmers markets.
In the winter, Litchfield seems more isolated and it becomes apparent why private schools like Kent and Hotchkiss are situated in an area that is so quiet, removed from anything that might distract from their studies. It’s a quiet time of year; the farmers’ fields seem larger and the woods seem deeper without their foliage, and the deer have fewer places to hide.
* * *
Guide to the Northeast Brett Klein lives in Connecticut and works in New York, but prefers small town life and his homestate of Maine. Any chance to get rural is a mental vacation. Follow Klein on Tumblr at The Coast is Clear. His curatorial collection of Americana, rural life, other artists and ephemera can be seen on Tumblr at Tons of Land.

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LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

Connecticut’s largest county, Litchfield, is also its least populous. Tucked in the northwest corner of the state, bordering both New York and Massachusetts, Litchfield is fairly rural with lots of farmland and small town centers that look and feel like they were plucked from a Norman Rockwell painting—which they certainly could have been, as Rockwell’s home was not far away in Stockbridge, Mass.

Connecticut has over 500 miles of dirt roads and you’ll find the majority of them here in Litchfield. In the summer this is an area that city people retreat to, to breathe the fresh air of the outdoors that the county offers with its camping and hiking; taking advantage of the Berkshire Mountains, the Housatonic River, the antique stores and the farmers markets.

In the winter, Litchfield seems more isolated and it becomes apparent why private schools like Kent and Hotchkiss are situated in an area that is so quiet, removed from anything that might distract from their studies. It’s a quiet time of year; the farmers’ fields seem larger and the woods seem deeper without their foliage, and the deer have fewer places to hide.

* * *

Guide to the Northeast Brett Klein lives in Connecticut and works in New York, but prefers small town life and his homestate of Maine. Any chance to get rural is a mental vacation. Follow Klein on Tumblr at The Coast is Clear. His curatorial collection of Americana, rural life, other artists and ephemera can be seen on Tumblr at Tons of Land.

THE AMERICAN GUIDE

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