Mumble Herder

I think the key to this is in exactly how you put it: "we seem to thrust our European-derived mythologies onto American landscapes..." Yup, that we do. I think you can see it two different ways, though. The way you've interpreted it (which I think is incredibly valid) and also in the way that it mirrors not just the imperialist conquest of the New World, but the immigrant experience as well, bringing their mythologies with them, rather than thrusting them onto the landscape. Usually it's the thrusting I see in fiction, though, not the "bringing over". I'm not as bothered by the "bringing over" type as I am by the "thrusting" sort that pretends these mythologies were always a part of this landscape and culture.