Charles said–

That end of the “dream space” could argueably been part of the reason for the emphasis on alcohol and drugs. Of course, I wouldn’t push this notion.

Neither would I. We were here–my ancestors–from the beginning of the settling of this patch of frontier, and there was plenty of boozing then, according to reports. If drugs had been available, those would have been used to, I believe.

And, lest we think it was Paradise before we whites came, I recall for you that when Lewis and Clark came back from the Pacific Coast, on their return, they witnessed, near where I am sitting, humplillieps, or whatever his name was, just back from a trip to the south, to Shoshone country, with a necklace of human scalps around his neck.

Twas a rough place.

The trick is to be really really out on the far edge of the frontier, ahead of the misusers, even ahead of the indigenous, or, if one finds oneself trapped, as we all are now, to find a frontier in one’s home and one’s mind.