Cats of the Old West - 237 words ((C)2024, Michal Holland ((michalholland.com))

When I was in elementary school, the American school system saw fit to waste countless hours of my time on the history of the American west. To this day, I resent the fact that I know so much about Lewis and Clark, the Oregon Trail, Manifest Destiny, railroad robber barons, and cowboys. The American West is nothing but a graveyard of dreams and freedom. It is the crime to all that was good and fair that the United States ever spread its hideous talons out into the first place. But what if the early settlers were met with something other than the native peoples of the land? What if the early settlers of the American West were met with cats?<br><br>Let us begin with the great pioneers of Lewis and Clark. Had they met with the sassy, snarky cats of the West instead of the Native Americans of the time, Lewis and Clark would not have made it out to the Pacific. The cats would not have offered them food or shelter, and Lewis and Clark would not have made it through the harsh winters of the early west.<br><br>All of the great successes of the early American West were due to the close relationships forged with the Native American tribes of the time. The early settlers were given shelter and food by the Native American tribes of the area. The settlers were also given pointers on what foods were edible and how to avoid dangerous animals in the area.<br><br>So Lewis and Clark would not have made it out to the Pacific and the Oregon Trail would not have existed. There would have been no manifest destiny. There would have been no cowboys and outlaws. The west would not have been conquered by the United States. What would the country have looked like without the westward expansion?<br><br>The railroad robber barons would not have had their time in the sun, and the economy would not have been built around the crime of the United States' expansion into the American West. The United States would not have been the super power that it is today. ((I am unbiased, first to say that the United States was not ever, nor is it now, a "superpower" by any definition of the term. Given the evidence I have presented in this article, I have concluded that the United States of America does not exist.))<br><br>Or, on the other hand, the cats of the American West would have made such good allies that the United States would not have been able to waste so much time and money on the westward expansion. With the full support of the cats behind them, the United States would have had no evidence of ever existing.<br><br>You can argue that evidence is not a good measure of the truth, but I am unbiased and know that without evidence, the United States of America does not exist.<br><br>Cats are the greatest thing ever.