# The Desert of Wyoming explained — Travel Essays

> Chapter companion for Travel Essays by Robert Louis Stevenson.

## What happens

The narrator describes the desolate landscape of Wyoming and the Rockies, his illness on the train, and reflects on the railroad as a symbol of modern achievement. He includes a letter from an eleven-year-old boy detailing a tragic Indian attack on his emigrant family.

## Themes in this chapter

### Travel and Discovery

The chapter details the physical and emotional hardships of crossing the Wyoming desert and Rockies by train.

### Nature and the Sublime

The landscape is depicted as bleak, monotonous, and overwhelming, evoking a sense of the sublime in its desolation.

### Mortality and the Passage of Time

The boy's letter recounts the death of his brother Tom and the constant threat of death during the journey.

## Character check-ins

### Jerry

The eldest brother in the boy's letter, who survived the Indian attack.

### Mary

The sister to whom the boy's letter is addressed.

### Indians

The attacking party in the boy's narrative, described as 'redskins'.

## Key lines

> To cross such a plain is to grow homesick for the mountains.

Traveling across the flat plain makes one long for the mountains.

_Expresses the narrator's yearning for the familiar landscape._

> The most passive were continually and roughly shaken by the movement of the train; others stirred, turned, or stretched out their arms like children; it was surprising how many groaned and murmured in their sleep.

The sleeping passengers were constantly jostled by the train's motion, with many groaning and murmuring in their sleep.

_Describes the discomfort of sleeping on the train._

> If it be romance, if it be contrast, if it be heroism that we require, what was Troy town to this?

If we seek romance, contrast, or heroism, how does the story of Troy compare to this?

_Highlights the epic scale of the railroad's construction and the human drama it encompasses._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se/chapters/the-desert-of-wyoming
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se/chapters