How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The boy came to believe that going west was [...] a part of his soul, a missing ounce that could only be made whole on some far-off mountain or plain. (1.6.34)
Bridger isn't messing around, people. Although he's spent his entire life chasing excitement and adventure, they always seem just out of reach. That's not true on the frontier. On the frontier, simply going from Point A to Point B is a serious undertaking, one requiring bravery, skill, and a hearty sense of adventure.
Quote #2
It was the polar opposite of the life he imagined for himself, a life of wandering and exploration through country unknown. (1.6.35)
Initially, Bridger tries to satiate his thirst for adventure by working on the Mississippi, but that proves to be a wash (pun totally intended). By now, people have traveled up and down the Mississippi a million times—Bridger wants to do something new.
Quote #3
The source of Hugh's fascination lay not in the abstract representation of places, but rather in the places themselves, and above all the vast masses marked terra incognita. (1.7.17)
As a youngster, Hugh Glass becomes totally obsessed with cartography. As it happens, however, this interest doesn't derive from the act of actually making maps—it's rooted in the mysterious places those maps depict.