The image above is one of the regions great travelers - the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterfly.

Episode 10 Synopsis - In this episode, Emily and Michelle think about movements that matter in the Mountain West. Road kill, monarchs and stars all figure in this episode about travelers. They welcome Will Wright, historian at Augustana University. He is an environmental historian who writes about the history of the Monarch butterfly. His advisor in graduate school was Mark Fiege, a historian we quote in the episode!

Postscript. Click here to listen to our Postscript on the sources that most inspired the stories we share in this episode. Coming soon!

meme via: San Jose State University Writing center

Links and Citations for Learning MORE THAN you already know!

Photo by the National Park Service of Canyonlands

The Milky Way in the middle of spaces in the Mountain West that are far from urban light is spectacular and reminds us of who we are that darkness is something to be valued. Idaho has a Central Idaho Dark Sky Preserve that you can learn more about here. Even urban places have thoughtfully regulated light so as to allow the stars to shine. Since 1958, Flagstaff Arizona has been one of those places. In fact, the first international dark sky place was Flagstaff, Arizona.

Road through Madison Canyon, Gallatin National Forest, Montana, 1930.

Road building characterizes much of the historical development of the Mountain West. Forest roads in particular allow people to move into spaces that would have been difficult to access. This is a great articulation of that history.

The first page of the original Homestead Act, 1862.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was the early public policy that encouraged Anglo Americans to further colonize the West. Another archive we haven't mentioned as much as we probably should have are the National Archives that have remarkable digital images of many of the primary sources that comprise the history of the United States.

Of course, as always, it is essential to think about the ways in which this movement (that would eventually inspire railroads and highways) required profound displacement of American Indians.

A family moving westward in their wagon.

The completion of railroads in the Mountain West was a crucial watershed moment for the region, the country, and the native peoples who experienced the arrival of the Iron Horse in different ways. For an excellent discussion of this, see this article by the Smithsonian Institute. This image shows an indigenous person looking at the railroad track following a river.

Road building for autos picked up steam in the 1920s to correspond with the increase of automobility of many Americans thanks to more affordable cars (like the Model T). The impetus to create roads picked back up after World War II. Dwight Eisenhower described the importance of roads and transportation routes thusly:

"Together, the united forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear - United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts." From the Interstate Highway Act, 1956

Roads took people into places and took things (especially natural resource commodities) out and separated as much as they connected. Particularly hard hit by the road craze in the Mountain West were the more-than-human beings who also moved throughout the region. Ben Goldfarb has written extensively about the roadside ecologies that have arisen alongside the auto paths, and you can read one of his articles here. Wildlife crossings, first built in the mid 20th century, seem to be helping decrease the high mortality of the morethanhuman on highways. Below are before and after photos on the Oracle Road wildlife bridge north of Tucson. The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection have been strong advocates for these kinds of interventions.

Photo from 2016 before revegetation efforts

Photo Credit: Thomas Wiewandt, with support from Lighthawk, Inc.

Photo from 2024 before revegetation efforts

Photo Credit: Christopher Dobrzenski

Arizona Game and Fish has produced this video. Note the initial framing of being about human life and human money. The rest of the video is more focused on the morethan.

There has been a more recent turn toward wanting to rethink road building - roadless areas are becoming more valued. Congress puts many of its deliberations online. Here you can follow the evolution of the 2023 Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2023.

Image copyright Lincoln Brower, Sweet Briar College.

Our guest Will Wright discusses Brower's Barfing Blue Jay (pictured to the left). You will have to listen to learn what the heck that is! Monarchs also inspire so much citizen science. Here is a picture of the tiny tags that go on Monarchs so that their long journey can be follow. Thanks to the National Park Service for the image.

Monarch migration map from Monarch Watch.

The Monarch has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to work to support their continued presence in our lives. Monarch Watch's way station program is an excellent example of a coordinated effort to do just that. Remember each region has different native plants that Monarchs need for their lifecycle so click here to learn more!

Fred and Norah Urquhart were the scientists who first drew attention to where Monarchs migrate to...and how they do it. The above photo is from the University of Toronto archives. Read this article about their lives.

Join us for the final episode of More Than in which Michelle and Emily collected 5 monologues from thought leaders who generously offer their hopes for the morethan in the Mountain West. Episode 11 will, we hope, be Illuminating.