7 Writing Today 1:2 (Jan. 2014): 7-18. ISSN 2230-8466 The AŵericaŶ Hero’s Passage to IŶdia: Geography, Frontier Myths, and Planetary Perspectives—American Vistas Alan Johnson The mountain ranges of southern India, where I studied, are similar to the ones surrounding my home institution in the western United States. My institution, Idaho “tate UŶiǀeƌsitLJ, is loĐated iŶ a hillLJ ƌegioŶ of the U.“. Đalled the iŶteƌŵouŶtaiŶ ǁest that, although it cannot compare to the sacred role hills play in Indian narratives, holds a special place in American popular history. In what follows, I will describe some national and folk heroes in the United States and suggest some ways of explaining their popularity. I will make three primary, though not original, points: First, geography is an ineluctable part of any mythic of folk tale. Second, we need to recognize the intercultural and global interconnections among such stories so that they can speak to us in meaningful, moral ways. Finally, the genres of history and folktale overlap in fascinating ways, and it is important for us to evaluate how this overlap helps define our present. In the United States, many groups have their own folk heroes. Only by examining how these stories compete with or complement one another can we begin to recognize how we are all implicated in narrating our world. The explorers Lewis and Clark, sent by President Jefferson two centuries ago to find a passage to the Pacific, passed through Idaho and have been deified by writers, filŵŵakeƌs, aŶd aƌtists eǀeƌ siŶĐe. Paƌt of JeffeƌsoŶs eageƌŶess to fiŶd a ƌoute thƌough what was then considered wild Native American territory was to increase trade, including the