Certainly a bit of insight into how times have changed and our perceptions of the "regions" have changed. I think today that most of us -- if encountering a reference to the "three regions" of the US -- would think of these as the East coast, the West coast, and the center (from north to south -- i.e., the "heartland"). But in Sousa's time, the country was still much in the mind set of the West having been "won" (Manifest Destiny, and all that), the Civil War (and Reconstruction) being still present in everyone's minds, as were the Mexican and Indian wars, and the major cultural/ethnic/economic differences splitting along the North/South/West lines rather than East/Center/West. Partly, I suppose, this is because anything west of St. Louis was still thought of as "the West" (and still quite "wild").
I've just been reading (now about half way through) Blood and Thunder, and recommend it as a highly readable, detailed, and seemingly objective and well documented account of the western expansion of this country in the 19th century. It's amazing what all those people went through (friends and enemies alike) and how astonishingly focused and tough they all were. The book is also an eye-opener about Kit Carson and his role in all that. Talk about tough ...
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)