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3OCTOBER2013WetalkaboutfuturegenerationsembracingtheWesternAmericanaworldbutIthinkitsimportantforeveryonetoreallythinkaboutwhatsaheadandourchallengesasagroup.TheWrittenRecordShapesAllButItsGoingAway...ByJayneSkeffInthiscountrythereislikelynoothergroupaspassionateaboutthehistorybehindantiquesandartifactsthanthosewhohavechosentoembracetherichWesternAmericanheritage.Youloveitandyouliveit.Youreadextensivelyandprovenanceisdeeplyrespectedifnotinfactdemanded.Itsaboutwhatstillexiststodaythatwascreatedbythosebraveundauntedindividualswhocamebefore.Nowconsiderthathavingthehistoricalknowledgewithprovenanceforwhatremainsandhowthatfuelsmorevalueforthosepieces.Itsthewrittenwordthewrittenjournalsthesignaturesthenotesscrapsofoldpaperwithquicklyjottedwritings.Thesearethefoundationsthatfuelourpassionsustainandincreasethevalueandenrichthehistory.TheimportanceofthewrittenwordreallyhithomebackinJunewhenPBSairedanencorepresentationofKenBurnsTheVoyageoftheCorpsofDiscoverytwo-partseriestracingthefouryearjourneyandexplorationofLewisandClarkintotheunchartedWest.ThroughoutthefourhoursoriginalpagesofthewritingsinthejournalsofMeriwetherLewisandWilliamClarkandmanyintheirpartywerevisualontheTVscreentoread.Byseeingtheirwrittenwordsandreadingthemitgaveadeeperandpersonalcontactwiththeincredibleexperiencestheyhad.Theykeywordhereiswritten.Writtenincursiveisexactlyhowthemajorityofimportanthistoricdocumentswerecreatedandrecordedtoday.TheywereNOTprintedinblockletterstheywerewrittenincursive.Wetakeitforgrantedandreadtheseoriginaldocumentsfuriouslytogainmoreknowledgeandlearnabouttheantiquesandartifactsweholdinourhandsandthepeoplethatcamebefore.AquickjourneyintoanyarchivesthroughGoogleoranactualbrickandmortarlibraryfindshistoricdocumentsarecursivelywritten.ButwhatifreadingandwritingcursivenolongerexistedSoundscrazybutthatswhatscomingdownthepikesotospeak.AsImsuremanyofyouareawarecursivewritingandconsequentlycursivereadingisnolongerbeingtaughtinmanyschools.Americanchildrenoverallarenotlearningtoreadorwritecursivelyanylonger.Theramificationsofthisaredaunting.WhenwearealltogetherattheHighNoonShowandAuctionorjustchattingonthephoneanunderlyingmissionforallofusisatourcorethatthehistoryandthelegacyoftheAmericanWestliveonandgrowstronger.Buthowwillthishappenforgenerationstocomecontinuedonpage4