Author Topic: Lightning Flat (Read 47360 times)

masetane · « **on:** Apr 17, 2007, 05:18 PM »

In the short story, it says Ennis was from around Sage,Wyoming. Jack was from around Lightning Flat. Where is Lightning flat? I can see Sage but not this.

(and I understand that Signal, Wyoming does not exist but it came up on my Google earth???"

I love maps so just was curious to look at these places geographically.

jackster · « **Reply #1 on:** Apr 17, 2007, 05:44 PM »

Lighting Flat is in NE WY up near the border with Montana. Try searching on MapQuest.

jackster

JT · « **Reply #2 on:** Apr 17, 2007, 07:24 PM »

Lightning Flat used to be on older maps but not the newer ones. I have scanned my 1993 map of northeast portion of Wyoming that still show where Lightning Flat was. It sits near the Montana border near the center.

tpe · « **Reply #3 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 08:03 AM »

Ethan had the opportunity of visiting LF and other locations in WY that were mentioned in BBM. He showed pictures of this in last year's meeting in Montreal.

I don't remember if these pictures were posted here in the forum. But the pictures of the area around LF seem bleak and lonely. It didn't seem like a town -- more like lonely ranches set apart from one another. And the roads seem barely roads... For me, the pictures were very moving.

masetane · « **Reply #4 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 09:41 AM »

Oh those pics would be so neat to see!!

Maybe it's off the map b.c there isnt a town anymore? I Google Earth'd Sage, WY and it looked like about 10 buildings in the middle of no where!!!

jackster · « **Reply #5 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 09:55 AM »

masetane:

I've spent some time trying figure out where Ennis's family place might have been. 'Course AP says in the SS "from around Sage" - so it's probably not actually in Sage. He had to drive an hour to high school, so Ive tried to piece that together with no great sucess, high schools were pretty far afield in those days. Looked for a Dead Horse Road in WY and found one, but it's way over north of Casper. I love the way AP was able to pull out these places and yet leave so much unsaid to allow our imaginations to roam endlessly.

masetane · « **Reply #6 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 11:32 AM »

Oh good point, I forgot he had to drive. Well Sage looks pretty tiny so no wonder.

For some reason, I'm very compelled to see what this kind of life is like -. I'm just outside NYC so it's a different way of life. Or maybe I'm just trying to bring these characters to life somehow. They feel so real, I've never had an experience like this!

I even went to realtor.com to look at houses b.c then you can sometimes see some of the backgrounds. Some in Riverton looked like they were in the middle of no where. Sort of how Ennis' first house (the one Jack drove up to for a surprise) and his trailer felt to me....I think there were some other trailer neighbors but it felt no where.

jackster · « **Reply #7 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 12:17 PM »

Quote from: masetane on Apr 18, 2007, 11:32 AM

I even went to realtor.com to look at houses b.c then you can sometimes see some of the backgrounds. Some in Riverton looked like they were in the middle of no where. Sort of how Ennis' first house and his trailer felt to me....I think there were some other trailer neighbors but it felt no where.

If you can plan a trip out there you should try an' go (in summer) it's awe inspiring. I located the pics I took, their at topic:

http://www.ennisjack.com/index.php?topic=7743.0

There's one shot of a distant trailer house way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, but actually about 10 mi. outside Riverton. The Wind River Mountains (where Jack 'n Ennis went alot) are in the background. A beautiful but desolate place. Be sure and check out the "Ennis & Jack" 1930s mural in the Riverton Post Office.

JT · « **Reply #8 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 02:32 PM »

Quote from: masetane on Apr 18, 2007, 11:32 AM

Oh good point, I forgot he had to drive. Well Sage looks pretty tiny so no wonder.

For some reason, I'm very compelled to see what this kind of life is like -. I'm just outside NYC so it's a different way of life. Or maybe I'm just trying to bring these characters to life somehow. They feel so real, I've never had an experience like this!

Maybe they were real at one time in the past. I heard it somewhere that Annie Proulx said something guided her hand when she wrote the Brokeback Mountain SS. Maybe our boys?

JT · « **Reply #9 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 02:37 PM »

Quote from: jackster on Apr 18, 2007, 12:17 PM

If you can plan a trip out there you should try an' go (in summer) it's awe inspiring. I located the pics I took, their at topic:

http://www.ennisjack.com/index.php?topic=7743.0

There's one shot of a distant trailer house way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, but actually about 10 mi. outside Riverton. The Wind River Mountains (where Jack 'n Ennis went alot) are in the background. A beautiful but desolate place. Be sure and check out the "Ennis & Jack" 1930s mural in the Riverton Post Office.

Thanks for the link, Jackster. The pictures of Riverton really brings me back to the movie and stirs me up emotionally. I can't help but think of Ennis and Jack and their way of life. That mural was really something.

masetane · « **Reply #10 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 03:08 PM »

thanks so much!! Maybe AP saw the mural and used that for inspiration? Or a casting person did???

lamusica · « **Reply #11 on:** Apr 18, 2007, 09:40 PM »

Annie lives ( or did live) in Wyoming for a long time. She was very familiar with the surroundings, so probably just randomly chose sites without worrying too much about their exact location. Her other short stories are also placed in Wyoming. The countryside obviously means a lot to her; it figures prominently in all her stories. There is always the bleakness and unsettledness of the distant west.

tpe · « **Reply #12 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 07:31 AM »

Quote from: jackster on Apr 18, 2007, 12:17 PM

If you can plan a trip out there you should try an' go (in summer) it's awe inspiring. I located the pics I took, their at topic:

http://www.ennisjack.com/index.php?topic=7743.0

There's one shot of a distant trailer house way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, but actually about 10 mi. outside Riverton. The Wind River Mountains (where Jack 'n Ennis went alot) are in the background. A beautiful but desolate place. Be sure and check out the "Ennis & Jack" 1930s mural in the Riverton Post Office.

Thanks Jackster for providing the link! It is most helpful, especially since it spares many the task of searching through the forest of threads.

We should ask Ethan if he ever posted the pix he took around LF... It's been a while, and I can't recall just now of he did...

jackster · « **Reply #13 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 10:45 AM »

Quote from: tpe on Apr 19, 2007, 07:31 AM

We should ask Ethan if he ever posted the pix he took around LF... It's been a while, and I can't recall just now of he did...

He did, I'm pretty sure because I've seen some, but can't tell you where.

welshwitch · « **Reply #14 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 11:44 AM »

That the name is a real one makes it more interesting - I wonder who named the place and why.

tpe · « **Reply #15 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 11:45 AM »

Quote from: jackster on Apr 19, 2007, 10:45 AM

He did, I'm pretty sure because I've seen some, but can't tell you where.

Thanks jackster. I hope he remembers.

tpe · « **Reply #16 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 11:46 AM »

Quote from: welshwitch on Apr 19, 2007, 11:44 AM

That the name is a real one makes it more interesting - I wonder who named the place and why.

Good question: where the name originated from.

welshwitch · « **Reply #17 on:** Apr 19, 2007, 11:57 AM »

Is there an American equivalent of the English Placename Survey? I know you can find out about weird names like Truth or Consequences and we all know why NY, NJ, etc were names, but lots of American place names are pretty unusual.

chameau · « **Reply #18 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 12:31 AM »

I'm totaly out of topic here and maybe we shall start a new topic about this

I mean weird names for cities and villages and their origination...

There's a village in Newfoundland (Canada) called... Dildo.

I'm aint' joking.

At least I wrote it with a capital D

It's as remote (if not more) and one horse town as Lightning Flat by the way... Huh? They don't have horses in Dildo

Whatever

jackster · « **Reply #19 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 05:52 AM »

Quote from: chameau on Apr 20, 2007, 12:31 AM

It's as remote (if not more) and one horse town as Lightning Flat by the way... Huh? Whatever

It's easy to find though, it kinda' stands out on the map.

welshwitch · « **Reply #20 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 05:58 AM »

I kind of thought the "Flat" bit described a flat expanse of land, but then it didn't seem to make much sense in association with lightning, which strikes high points or the tops of spires, etc. and the other meaning of lightning, to do with speed, doesn't fit either.

The flat is also what horses race over in the UK if they're not steeple-chasers, ie jumping fences and water, so then I went off on to the idea of a horse that went like lightning on the flat, but that's a bit of a stretch too.

tpe · « **Reply #21 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 06:51 AM »

Quote from: chameau on Apr 20, 2007, 12:31 AM

I'm totaly out of topic here and maybe we shall start a new topic about this I mean weird names for cities and villages and their origination...

There's a village in Newfoundland (Canada) called... Dildo. I'm aint' joking.

At least I wrote it with a capital D

It's as remote (if not more) and one horse town as Lightning Flat by the way... Huh? They don't have horses in Dildo

Whatever

OT: Cham, a new topic about this would be most interesting.

Back to the topic:

From http://www.ultimatewyoming.com/sectionpages/sec3/lightningflat.html:

Right by the border of Montana, this one-time post office town was named for the violent lightning storms that often occur on the plain.

jackster · « **Reply #22 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 07:04 AM »

Thanks tpe I knew I'd seen an explanation of that somewhere. American place names, especially Western American place names have a wonderful utilitarian romance. (take Brokeback for instance, or Signal) There is a famous poem by Stephen Vincent Benet titled "American Names" with a well known last stanza:

I shall not rest quiet in Montparnasse.
I shall not lie easy at Winchelsea.
You may bury my body in Sussex grass,
You may bury my tongue at Champmedy.
I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass.
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

The poem can be found at:

http://home.comcast.net/~bryant.katherine/names.html

For some it might go: Bury my heart on Brokeback Mountain.
jackster

tpe · « **Reply #23 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 07:06 AM »

Quote from: jackster on Apr 20, 2007, 07:04 AM

Thanks tpe I knew I'd seen an explanation of that somewhere. American place names, especially Western American place names have a wonderful utilitarian romance. (take Brokeback for instance, or Signal) There is a famous poem by Stephen Vincent Benet titled "American Names" with a well known last stanza:

I shall not rest quiet in Montparnasse.
I shall not lie easy at Winchelsea.
You may bury my body in Sussex grass,
You may bury my tongue at Champmedy.
I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass.
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

The poem can be found at:

http://home.comcast.net/~bryant.katherine/names.html

For some it might go: Bury my heart at Brokeback Mountain.
jackster

Beautiful jackster. Just beautiful. Thank you.

welshwitch · « **Reply #24 on:** Apr 20, 2007, 10:48 AM »

That's where the Dee Brown book title comes from, then, but I wonder where the place-name originated?

All the place-names in the ss are interesting, if odd in various ways. It would be good to be able to look them up.

lamusica · « **Reply #25 on:** Apr 21, 2007, 09:29 AM »

OT, but interesting:
Two places in southern Indiana:
French Lick ( a famous resort. mineral springs, in there.)
Floyd's Knob (a lookout area over a declined railroad).

tpe · « **Reply #26 on:** Apr 23, 2007, 08:23 AM »

There is a sense of desolation and dread in the name "Lightning Flat", no?

lamusica · « **Reply #27 on:** Apr 23, 2007, 07:17 PM »

I took the name at its face value. It is in a high elevation, so lightning often strikes, and it is rather flat, making decent farmland.

JT · « **Reply #28 on:** Apr 23, 2007, 07:34 PM »

Well, after all, it sits on the northern high plains which is famous for it's voilent thunderstorms. The rest of the great plains is famous for that and vast grass land. Look at the yellow area below LF. Thunder Basin NG. Again, a flat grassy area with violent storms. Also, there seems to be only one (gravel) road in town. Is that the only road that Jack knew?

tpe · « **Reply #29 on:** Apr 24, 2007, 07:36 AM »

Ethan did seem to indicate that the roads were all country roads -- mostly gravel or dirt roads.

From Google Maps, it looks like Ridge County Road was the only "Main" road close to LF, and that road doesn't even go through it. From the sattelite images, you can't tell that there is even a town. It looks like cultivated land, without houses or settlements.