Roughing It · Chapter
XII explained
The narrator describes the journey through the Rocky Mountains, including the South Pass, encounters with emigrant trains, a reunion with a former friend, and observations of natural wonders like snow in August and a natural icehouse.
What happens
The narrator describes the journey through the Rocky Mountains, including the South Pass, encounters with emigrant trains, a reunion with a former friend, and observations of natural wonders like snow in August and a natural icehouse.
Themes in this chapter
Frontier Myth vs. Reality
The narrator's amazement at seeing snow in August contrasts with the romanticized 'eternal snow' of books, illustrating the gap between expectation and experience.
Humor and Exaggeration
Bemis's quip about the South Pass City official being a 'perfect Allen's revolver of dignities' exemplifies the chapter's humorous exaggeration.
Work and Labor
The description of the Mormon emigrants walking for eight weeks and the rapid mule changes at stations highlight the grueling labor of westward travel.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Reflects on the journey, drops a leaf with a message into a stream, and reunites with a former schoolmate.
- George Bemis
Makes a humorous remark about the South Pass City official being a 'perfect Allen's revolver of dignities.'
- John Smith
The schoolboy friend whom the narrator meets atop the Rocky Mountains; they reconcile after a past prank.
Key passages
“I freighted a leaf with a mental message for the friends at home, and dropped it in the stream. But I put no stamp on it and it was held for postage somewhere.”
The narrator sent a mental message home by dropping a leaf into the stream, but jokingly notes it was held for lack of postage.
A whimsical metaphor for communication across vast distances.
“Bemis said he was 'a perfect Allen's revolver of dignities.' And he said that if he were to die as postmaster, or as blacksmith, or as postmaster and blacksmith both, the people might stand it; but if he were to die all over, it would be a frightful loss to the community.”
Bemis joked that the South Pass City official, holding many titles, was like a multi-barreled revolver, and his death would be a huge loss to the town.
A humorous commentary on the multitasking nature of frontier officials.
“Truly, 'seeing is believing'—and many a man lives a long life through, thinking he believes certain universally received and well established things, and yet never suspects that if he were confronted by those things once, he would discover that he did not really believe them before, but only thought he believed them.”
The narrator reflects that people often think they believe common facts, but only truly believe when they see them firsthand.
A philosophical observation on the power of direct experience.