I yearn for the days when the Rocky Mountain West was not infested with liberals.
I'm really not sure that the spirit of the independents & the cultists in the Rocky Mountain West was all that better...
I mean, are you hearkening back to the day when the Rocky Mountain West had...
...goldmines (& silvermines) with poor working conditions,
...open gambling,
...frequented saloons that double-served as tucked-away brothels,
...some street justice (gunslinging),
...wide open polygamy with "prophets" "marrying" 14 yo...
...the first 9/11 terrorist act in this country (Sept. 11, 1857) when 120 children & their parents were slaughtered by Mormons at point-blank range...with 17 of their kids kidnapped for a few years & their goods all ransacked & stolen...
...when "prophets" who taught blood atonement & "Adam is God" doubled as territorial governors who covered up this massacre and ensured only ONE person would ever be brought to justice 20 years down the line...
...Or when young Mormon men were castrated...one particular man who wouldn't yield to a regional Lds leader re: giving up his chosen bride-to-be -- and would refuse the mission field...a leader maneuver to get the young man out of the way so he could "move in" on the pretty young wife...
...Is this or the examples above the kind of "glory" of the past you're thinking of?
Or how about the treatment of the Native Americans in the Rocky Mountain West? The Sand Creek massacre by the Cavalry as led by a Methodist officer...
Shall I go on & on...or do you want to remove those rose-colored glasses you have on?