How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Leadville roared toward civilization like a runaway train. Amid talk of an opera house, three mine managers [...] were planning houses on Ditch Walk. (4.4.61)
The times they are a-changing, huh? In only a few years, this tiny mining town has transformed itself into a mecca for wealthy Westerners. This just goes to show the massive economic impact that the then-burgeoning mining industry had on the western United States.
Quote #8
The West was not a new country being created, but an old one being reproduced; in that sense our pioneer women were always more realistic than our pioneer men. (4.7.15)
Interesting point, Lyman. In many ways, Susan is attempting to recreate the East Coast of her youth out west, shaping this wild country into something more familiar. That's a vastly different mindset from that of Oliver, who looks at the West and sees a blank canvas just waiting for him to jot down his masterpiece on it.
Quote #9
Mexico was indeed her Paris and her Rome [...] her only glimpse of the ancient and exotic civilizations that in her innocent nineteenth-century local-colorish way she craved to know. (5.1.26)
While most of the West is desolate and isolated, Mexico is a bustling hub of activity. What's more, it's an old country—quite the contrast from the West, where it's hard to find a building that's older than five years. While there are plenty of downsides to this traditionalism, Susan finds herself in awe of this mighty civilization.