But a part of our national identity, and architectural part, has been the notion of our ancestors having arrived to gain a toehold on this continent (never mind the nomads who were here before us), and moving westward with their homes across prairies and plains. “The local architecture was prone to go hiking when left unattended. Familiar landmarks vanished, then popped up again, a mile or two distant from their proper stations. It was a common sight to see a house or a barn moving slowly but distinctly along the skyline, making it appear, disquietingly, that the whole prairie was somehow skidding sideways in this radical reorganization of the landscape.” (Jonathan Raban, Bad Land, 225)