19th century writers and journalists often poked fun at Americans' boundless enthusiasm for real estate speculation. Their stories pointed to the gap between the idyllic claims about western life and the harsh, often crude life travelers found in the West.

Read a passage from Mark Twain's book Roughing It to learn more about how a humorist and journalist viewed the world of the Prairie.

As you read consider these questions:

• How are the station house and its furnishings different from what a visitor might expect?
  
  
• What humorous contrasts does Twain use in describing the hostel?
  
  
• Why does Twain describe the caster and cruet (a fancy metal bottle-holder) as being in 'dignified exile'? From what are these objects exiled?
  
  
• Overall, what image of the west emerges in this passage?