Beyond the black hills were the mountains, not far off, waiting for him. He had always loved the mountains… There was always the vast distance with the grass bending in the wind, the whispering leaves of the aspens, the gold of them when autumn came. How could a man who had known such vast distance…

The river went on and on, growing dimmer, becoming a mere thread, to vanish in a blue haze out of which the Rocky Mountains rose, first obscure and like low masses of clouds, and then clear blue, to rise up and up magnificent reaches to pierce the sky with their snow-like peaks.”       …

The university of the wilderness that I now attended had simple tests but they came often.”                     –Louis L’Amour  (The Ferguson Rifle)        “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things you have.  For He Himself has said, ‘I will never…