Where was Ennis coming from? Going to?

[RouxB]

Just noticed-after 50 zillion viewings-the door on the truck that delivers Ennis to Signal says "Sage". I've always wondered where he was coming and how he ends up in Riverton. And how Alma fits into all this. Thoughts? Anyone?

[MaineWriter]

I don't have the answer but I have wondered about this, too. He said he was at a ranch in Worland with his brother, then his brother got married "that's how I ended up here." I have assumed that Alma is from Riverton b/c her sister seems to be close by so I just decided that Alma and her family lived in/near Riverton. But how/where did Ennis meet Alma? Plus, they had to have dated a bit to get to the point of being engaged. When/where did that occur? I've sometimes thought that maybe in his "year of high school" he went to school in Riverton and met her there? (The school was an hour away--he had to drive and dropped out when the truck broke down).

By the same token, he came off the mountain in August and got married in November. Where did he go for those four months? I'm assuming Riverton, since that's where Alma was. Did he live at the ranch where he was working until he got married? Who knows...

[Kelda]

I've also kinda wondered this. For those who own it, does the screenplay give any clues?

[MaineWriter]

I've also kinda wondered this. For those who own it, does the screenplay give any clues?

No, it doesn't.

[opinionista]

The short story says Ennis was from around Sage. At one scene where Ennis and Jack are sharing a whiskey by the fire, Jack asks Ennis if his brother has treated him well. Ennis tells him about his brother and sister raising him, about his sister marrying, and moving to Casper. Perhaps Ennis went to Casper from time to time to see his sister, and somewhere along he met Alma. Also, Ennis got into ranch work early in his youth and from what I can tell from the story, ranch hands move from county to county looking for a job, so maybe that's how Ennis met Alma.

Another possibility could be that Alma was also from Sage, and wanted to move to Riverton because her sister was already there, or mayber her sister followed her to Riverton.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Wow, am I completely blind? LOL!

I never noticed the writing on the cattle truck--I'm always focusing on Ennis.

I doubt he would have had his year of high school in Riverton. It seems too far from Sage, though I admit I don't have the story with me here to "check the mileage" or my atlas to check the map. (Yes, perhaps one of the goofier things I did in reaction to BBM was buy a brand-new road atlas just after Christmas in order to have a decent map of Wyoming!)

Something else I don't remember anyone really commenting on was, How did Ennis and Jack end up at Joe Aguirre's trailer? We know 1963 was Jack's second summer on the mountain, so I've assumed, without really thinking about it, that he had worked for Aguirre in 1962. The original AP story tells us that Ennis and Jack had signed up with Farm and Ranch Employment--which sounds like some kind of employment agency--and that they "came together on paper" as herder and camp tender, so I've always assumed they had both been told to report to Joe Aguirre in Signal on thus-and-such a date.

[MaineWriter]

Google maps can't even find Sage, WY. Someone posted pictures of it on TOB and it looked like a ghost town. There is also no Signal WY (but I think I read somewhere that Signal was a made-up place).

Worland to Riverton is 88 miles.

[fernly]

This may sound like it belongs in the 'confess your most irrational reaction' thread, but it was for a story, so I'll  keep believing both my feet are on the sane side of the county line....
I checked into high schools near to Sage, and the two closest are Kemmerer High School in Diamondville, and Cokeville High School in Cokeville. Kemmerer looks to be the best bet I think.

Sage is/was just east of the junction of  Hwys. 30 and 89.

[Front-Ranger]

I recall from the story that Ennis was from Sage, down near the border with Colorado. As far as how he met Alma, I theorize that they met at church. We know that Ennis parents' were Methodist, and Alma is a church-going woman. Also at the end Alma Jr.'s wedding is going to be at the Methodist church. Ennis and Alma might have met at a get-together of Methodists sometime. I also wonder if their marriage might have been arranged by Ennis' siblings. Noticing that he wasn't naturally attracted to girls and wanting to have him settled so he wouldn't get in any trouble, they might have forced the two together. Ennis, being dutiful and never expecting to have a say in his own destiny, would have just followed along.

[moremojo]

I recall from the story that Ennis was from Sage, down near the border with Colorado. As far as how he met Alma, I theorize that they met at church. We know that Ennis parents' were Methodist, and Alma is a church-going woman. Also at the end Alma Jr.'s wedding is going to be at the Methodist church. Ennis and Alma might have met at a get-together of Methodists sometime. I also wonder if their marriage might have been arranged by Ennis' siblings. Noticing that he wasn't naturally attracted to girls and wanting to have him settled so he wouldn't get in any trouble, they might have forced the two together. Ennis, being dutiful and never expecting to have a say in his own destiny, would have just followed along.

Hi, just wanted to add that Sage is actually closer to the Utah border; Proulx mentions this in the short story. Lightning Flat, incidentally, is very near the Montana border, so Ennis and Jack came from practically opposite ends of the state. Riverton, though not exactly central, is more or less a midway point between these two places--perhaps there's some geographical symbolism at work here. It's interesting that the two most prominent communities in Wyoming, Cheyenne and Laramie, are never mentioned.

And yes, as someone mentioned above, Signal, and beautiful, lonely Brokeback Mountain itself, are both fictional places.

Regards,
Scott