Sheridan

Sheridan is the first place Richard Cantwell proposes visiting on a journey through Wyoming with Renata. It is presented not as a location the novel’s characters reach, but as the starting point for an imagined itinerary: from Sheridan they will decide where to stay, explore the surrounding region, and travel toward Billings. The plan gives the town significance as a point of departure for a future the characters picture together.

A Planned Destination

Cantwell proposes going to Sheridan first and choosing their lodging afterward. Renata asks whether it is a pleasant place, and Cantwell answers with an assurance that it is wonderful. The exchange keeps the destination concrete while leaving the rest of the trip open: Sheridan is the beginning, but the route and stay are not yet settled.

The journey is imagined through its natural surroundings as well as its towns. Renata asks what trees they will see; Cantwell expects mostly pine, cottonwood along the creeks, and aspen that will turn yellow in fall. These details place Sheridan within a seasonal landscape they anticipate experiencing together, rather than presenting it as a setting already visited.

Historical Excursions

From Sheridan, Cantwell plans to drive to the site of the Wagon-Box Fight and tell Renata about the fighting there. He also describes a drive toward Billings, where they can see the markers at the place where George Armstrong Custer and the others died, and where he intends to explain the battle. The itinerary thus makes historical sites part of the projected journey: Cantwell will guide Renata through the region by connecting its marked places to accounts of past conflict.

A Place Compared

Renata tries to locate Sheridan in terms she knows, asking whether it resembles Mantova, Verona, or Vicenza. Cantwell rejects those comparisons and describes Sheridan instead as lying right against the mountains, almost like Schio. She then asks whether it is like Cortina; the available exchange does not include his answer. The comparison nevertheless shows how their imagined Wyoming destination is approached through familiar Italian places, while Cantwell’s description insists on a distinctive mountain setting.