Gallery:
The West

Originally western artists and writers, gold miners, entrepreneurs and pioneers, all sought the opportunities of the west.  Thriving on dreams, west they came.  Promoted by western artists, writers and Wild West shows of the time, the west continues to be glamorized by western artists work.

Seldom were mentioned the hardships of the climate, the isolation or the lack of conveniences seen in the populated states back East.  The West tested the courage and strength of every person with only the strong surviving.

From why people decided to move to how they would transform the places that they settled, western movement was a landmark phenomenon in American history...

It was spring and the beginning of the end of the Hippie movement, 1969. I was nineteen.

Convinced it was time to leave the insane lifestyle taking place in a Boston loft apartment behind me, I headed out on a cross country exploration that would literally crash land me in Berkeley California.

Berkeley in the late 60's was a weird and happening scene. There was a gathering taking place known as People's Park and the California National Guard had just shot and killed a UC student over this magic little plot of land, which today, is no more than an aging Bay Area Rapid Transit train station.

There was no force on this planet that could keep me from heading in that direction, not even the US Army draft board.

"Go west young man and grow up with the country."

That was my plan.