Dreams of the Settlers - An American Journey

It’s a dream route leading from the casino metropolis of Las Vegas, to Salt Lake City, the Mormon capital. It is a journey that follows the footsteps of the first settlers: the Mormons. They came to this desert belt of the United States during the second half of the 19th century to escape persecution and in search of the promised land. Some of them founded Las Vegas. Others moved through the canyons and over the mountains of the colossal Colorado Plateau, where they found water and pasture, to establish many small settlements. The landscapes through which they trekked, had and still have, a breathtaking and bizarre majestic beauty. Bryce Canyon, the hogbacks and the Escalante Staircase plateau are dramatic scenes of wonder formed from rock. The Pajute Indians once described Bryce Canyon as: “red rocks standing like men in a basin”.

The vast Delta of the Mississippi River is the gateway to the South of the United States. It always has been. This is where our journey begins: through Louisiana along the banks of the mighty river, to the big inland city of New Orleans, founded long ago by the French. Further inland, sugarcane plantations and the villas of their former owners stretch as far as the eye can see. To the north, we leave the river and, taking spectacular roads, we pass through the swamplands of the Mississippi, which were once impenetrable, serving as the ideal hideout for many a runaway. Bordering Texas, where the swamplands end, is the beginning of the vast cattle country. This is home to the last remaining cowboys in the United States who, still today, maintain their French cultural heritage.

The Great Lakes are among the most mythical landscapes of North America: endless water, endless forest. Many Native American peoples lived there; later European settlers followed on the heels of the white hunters and trappers. They hunted in the forests and transported their furs and other goods across the water to the south where a small river situated at the southern tip of Lake Michigan flows onward towards the southern states. The settlement that sprung up there was called Checagou by the Indians. Much later, the settlement was to be the first skyscraper city in the world: Chicago, the megacity on the Great Lake.