u/Wyomingite26

There's always been debate in the community about the map of RDR2 and the inspiration of the map. Southeast WY is where I call home, but this corner of the state and many areas near it are damn near similar to The Heartlands and Cumberland Forest. This part of the country here, which is where the West begins, is where Red Dead takes place if it was IRL. Red Dead 2 is based East of the Grizzlies, which would be the Rockies IRL. Still learning this part of the country, but here is some of my observations

• The prairie parts of the Heartland are taken straight out of southeast Wyoming, northeastern Colorado and Western Nebraska. Twin Stack Pass in Red Dead, is a combination of the Pawnee Grasslands in Colorado and Scottsbluff Nebraska. Check out my previous post on the bluffs https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption2/s/sbln49qMxO
  • A couple of the photos look exactly like the hills around the Heartlands
• Cumberland Forest takes a lot of inspiration from Medicine Bow National Forest, the plants and trees in Cumberland Forest, are exactly what we have in Medicine Bow. Many places on the Front Range of the Rockies would look very similar to Cumberland Forest. Basically, all the wildlife in this part of the country was used for the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest (except for the iconic Prarire Dogs!
• In Red Dead, Valentine was a very prominent and important town. Valentine was probably inspired by many towns on the plains. Cheyenne, Wyoming was a huge livestock and railroad town during its wild west days, earning it the nickname "The Magic City of the Plains". Cheyenne definitely seems to be a huge portion of the inspiration, but other towns such as Deadwood, Witchita, and Dodge City I'm sure, were also used. Of course, we can't forget about the IRL Valentine. I have not been there yet, but I will share it when I do. Valentine, NE would be the geographical location for Red Dead's Valentine.
  • The church in the photo actually looks like the Valentien church! (To be fair, many churches out here can look like the Valentine church!)
• Many ranchers and farmers call this part of the country home thanks to the 1862 Homestead Act which helped settle the plains. Cattle is still huge in this part of the country, but it started because of the Texas Trail, which started in Texas and Mexico and helped drive cattle to northern markets, including all the way to Canada. Stops in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming were very frequent, which helped establish many towns. By the time of II, the cattle drives are a thing of the past.
• The main river system in this part of the country is the North Platte, MAJOR river for WY and NE. This river was probably used as inspiration for the Dakota river, along with the Niobara River in Valentine, NE. Bards Crossing in Red Dead, seems to be an actual location IRL which I have yet to visit.
• Haven't seen the Dakotas yet, but the Black Hills and Northeastern Wyoming I would argue were the primary inspiration for The Eastern Grizzlies.
• The Lakota Sioux, Arapaho and the Cheyenne called this region of the country home for centuries. In Red Dead 2, the Wapiti are pretty similar to the many tribes irl. I think the language they speak in Red Dead 2 is the Lakota language, and the reservation is inspired by Pine Ridge.

Let me know your thoughts, but I absoutely love this part of the country and can't wait to explore more of it. Like I said, you can really see where the inspiration for RDR2 came from! Planning on going up to the Black Hills and Western Nebraska, aka East Grizzlies, and more of the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest!

In my first post I shared some of the surroundings in Southeast Wyoming that was used to inspire the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest. If Red Dead was irl, the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest would've been the eastern portions of CO, and WY, and the western portions of SD, NE, and KS. Towns like Cheyenne, Wichita, Deadwood, Dodge City and many other towns across the plains served as the inspiration for Valentine, but those four towns in particular gave the most inspiration I believe. You can't just slap 2's map over the US and say that's it for the inspiration. It was very specific regions of the country used as inspiration, and if the game took place IRL it would have taken place in those regions.

This place here in the Pawnee Grasslands is a location that was included in RDR2 that we know as Twin Stack Pass. This was my first time here, but it felt VERY familiar. Here's my first post with my analysis on this part of the country and the inspiration it gave for 2. Looking forward to checking out more of Cumberland Forest, the East Grizzlies, and The Heartlands... I mean the Black Hills, and Western NE!

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedDeadOnline/s/klZJfnyESf

In my first post I shared some of the surroundings in Southeast Wyoming that was used to inspire the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest. If Red Dead was irl, the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest would've been the eastern portions of CO, and WY, and the western portions of SD, NE, and KS. Towns like Cheyenne, Wichita, Deadwood, Dodge City and many other towns across the plains served as the inspiration for Valentine, but those four towns in particular gave the most inspiration I believe. You can't just slap 2's map over the US and say that's it for the inspiration. It was very specific regions of the country used as inspiration, and if the game took place IRL it would have taken place in those regions.

This place here in the Pawnee Grasslands is a location that was included in RDR2 that we know as Twin Stack Pass. This was my first time here, but it felt VERY familiar. Here's my first post with my analysis on this part of the country and the inspiration it gave for 2. Looking forward to checking out more of Cumberland Forest, the East Grizzlies, and The Heartlands... I mean the Black Hills, and Western NE!

https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption/s/H6Kh4xtL3R

There's always been debate on this sub about the map of RDR2 and the inspiration of the map. Southeast WY is where I call home, but this corner of the state and many areas near it are damn near similar to The Heartlands and Cumberland Forest. This part of the country here, which is where the West begins, is where Red Dead takes place if it was IRL. Red Dead 2 is based East of the Grizzlies, which would be the Rockies IRL. Still learning this part of the country, but here is some of my observations

• The prairie parts of the Heartland are taken straight out of southeast Wyoming, northeastern Colorado and Western Nebraska. Twin Stack Pass in Red Dead, is a combination of the Pawnee Grasslands in Colorado and Scottsbluff Nebraska.
  • A couple of the photos look exactly like the hills around the Heartlands
• Cumberland Forest takes a lot of inspiration from Medicine Bow National Forest, the plants and trees in Cumberland Forest, are exactly what we have in Medicine Bow. Many places on the Front Range of the Rockies would look very similar to Cumberland Forest. Basically, all the wildlife in this part of the country was used for the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest (except for the iconic Prarire Dogs!
• Valentine was probably inspired by many towns on the plains. Cheyenne, Wyoming was a huge livestock and railroad town during its wild west days. Cheyenne definitely seems to be some of the inspiration but most likely areas like Wichita and Dodge City was used as well. And of course, the real-life Valentine. I have not checked out Valentine yet, but its somewhere on the list to go. Valentine, NE is probably the geographic location of Red Dead's Valentine.
  • The church in the photo actually looks like the Valentien church! (To be fair, many churches out here can look like the Valentine church!)
• Many ranchers and farmers call this part of the country home thanks to the 1862 Homestead Act which helped settle the plains. Cattle is still huge in this part of the country, but it started because of the Texas Trail, which started in Texas and Mexico and helped drive cattle to northern markets, including all the way to Canada. Stops in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming were very frequent, which helped establish many towns.
• The main river system in this part of the country is the North Platte, MAJOR river for WY and NE. This river was probably used as inspiration for the Dakota river, along with the Niobara River in Valentine, NE. Bards Crossing in Red Dead, seems to be an actual location IRL.
• Haven't seen the Dakotas yet, but the Black Hills and Northeastern Wyoming I would argue were the primary inspiration for The Eastern Grizzlies.
• The Lakota Sioux, Arapaho and the Cheyenne called this region of the country home for centuries. In Red Dead 2, the Wapiti are pretty similar to the many tribes irl. I think the language they speak in Red Dead 2 is the Lakota language, and the reservation is inspired by Pine Ridge.

Let me know your thoughts, but I absoutely love this part of the country and can't wait to explore more of it. Like I said, you can really see where the inspiration for RDR2 came from!

There's always been debate on this sub about the map of RDR2 and the inspiration of the map. Southeast WY is where I call home, but this corner of the state and many areas near it are damn near similar to The Heartlands and Cumberland Forest. This part of the country here, which is where the West begins, is where Red Dead takes place if it was IRL. Red Dead 2 is based East of the Grizzlies, which would be the Rockies IRL. Still learning this part of the country, but here is some of my observations

• The prairie parts of the Heartland are taken straight out of southeast Wyoming, northeastern Colorado and Western Nebraska. Twin Stack Pass in Red Dead, is a combination of the Pawnee Grasslands in Colorado and Scottsbluff Nebraska.
  • A couple of the photos look exactly like the hills around the Heartlands
• Cumberland Forest takes a lot of inspiration from Medicine Bow National Forest, the plants and trees in Cumberland Forest, are exactly what we have in Medicine Bow. Many places on the Front Range of the Rockies would look very similar to Cumberland Forest. Basically, all the wildlife in this part of the country was used for the Heartlands and Cumberland Forest (except for the iconic Prarire Dogs!
• Valentine was probably inspired by many towns on the plains. Cheyenne, Wyoming was a huge livestock and railroad town during its wild west days. Cheyenne definitely seems to be some of the inspiration but most likely areas like Wichita and Dodge City was used as well. And of course, the real-life Valentine. I have not checked out Valentine yet, but its somewhere on the list to go. Valentine, NE is probably the geographic location of Red Dead's Valentine.
  • The church in the photo actually looks like the Valentien church! (To be fair, many churches out here can look like the Valentine church!)
• Many ranchers and farmers call this part of the country home thanks to the 1862 Homestead Act which helped settle the plains. Cattle is still huge in this part of the country, but it started because of the Texas Trail, which started in Texas and Mexico and helped drive cattle to northern markets, including all the way to Canada. Stops in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming were very frequent, which helped establish many towns.
• The main river system in this part of the country is the North Platte, MAJOR river for WY and NE. This river was probably used as inspiration for the Dakota river, along with the Niobara River in Valentine, NE. Bards Crossing in Red Dead, seems to be an actual location IRL.
• Haven't seen the Dakotas yet, but the Black Hills and Northeastern Wyoming I would argue were the primary inspiration for The Eastern Grizzlies.
• The Lakota Sioux, Arapaho and the Cheyenne called this region of the country home for centuries. In Red Dead 2, the Wapiti are pretty similar to the many tribes irl. I think the language they speak in Red Dead 2 is the Lakota language, and the reservation is inspired by Pine Ridge.

Let me know your thoughts, but I absoutely love this part of the country and can't wait to explore more of it. Like I said, you can really see where the inspiration for RDR2 came from!