the Burlington hardly qualifies as western, from the

perspective of a native westerner, as Denver and Cody, WY are only on the
extreme eastern edge of the true west).

I don't know anybody named "Hedrickson," much less a noted geographer. But
having grown up on the west coast and spent most of my life here, I can
tell you that, for us far westerners, the west begins at the Front Range.