"An American Indian Wilderness" by Louis Owens.

An American Indian Wilderness
A short story by Louis Owens
The Reflective Lone Ranger
In Louis Owens' essay "An American Indian Wilderness" the author projects a self-reflective and, in the end, pessimistic persona. As a young man Owens works as a park ranger in the American Wilderness of Washington State. He has the task of burning down an old log shelter in the wilderness, to return the surrounding area back to its natural state. After completing his task, he meets two elderly Indian women, who tell him that their father had built the shelter in the previous century. He suddenly feels…