The town of Argus, like Sinclair Lewis's Gopher Prairie, is a God-forsaken burg that exists by providing services for, and extracting benefits from, the outlying farms.

In Sinclair Lewis' novel Main Street, the women's study club of Gopher Prairie is the Thanatopsis club.

And your Gopher Prairie is a lie.

When she opened them again she found herself on Main Street in Gopher Prairie.

Mrs. K. confided to Ye Editor that she would probably take up her residence in Gopher Prairie, Minn., under the name of Carol Kennicott.

The locale was "Gopher Prairie," presented as an 'ideal type' of the Midwestern town, while the heroine, Carol Kennicott, as the 'ideal-typical' Progressive.

When they marry, Will convinces her to live in his home-town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota (a town modeled on Sauk Centre, Minnesota, the author's birthplace).

Carol is appalled at the backwardness of Gopher Prairie.

The story is set in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, a fictionalized version of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Lewis's hometown.