It was a couple of Sundays ago, and it still reverberates…
I was at a custom car show in the park. I’d just gotten a hot dog and a Dr. Pepper and needed somewhere to sit. On the edge of the car show, under some trees, was an unoccupied stretch of grass, so I sat down to have my lunch. I was really happy, looking at all the amazing cars, and the hot dog wasn’t bad, either. When I finished, I stood up to brush myself off. For some reason I happened to turn around, and this is what I saw:
The bones of the man himself are in there somewhere
I recognized Kit Carson’s grave at once, but this was still a shock. I’d only seen it before from the other direction, on the other side of the fence. I’d also only recently finished reading Hampton Side’s Blood and Thunder (“The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West”), which I unreservedly recommend to the entire world. You don’t know what really happened unless you read this book, and if you do, you’ll both be glad and wish you’d never had a clue. Suffice it to say that in this context, turning around and getting smacked in the eyeballs by the familiar grave was one of “those moments.”
Hot rods and Kit Carson: blood and thunder, indeed.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with your comments about the Book And Kit’s grave…have been there myself. What is also sad to me considering her Taos history (debatable I suppose) is the Pauper appearing grave of Mabel Dodge Luhan nearby!
Just my two cents……Steve
Hoist a glass to Mabel Dodge Luhan! I didn’t know that this intellectual hostess, social butterfly and avante-garde philanderer died a pauper, and that touches me. But so did Mozart die.
How does our financial condition at death matter? Is God counting our shekels? I’d happily go to my death with Mozart’s achievements behind me. Even Mabel Dodge Luhan’s.
My favorite mountain man was Jim Bridger. Kit was a little too much of a civic booster for my taste (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). I liked the way Bridger fought with Brigham Young and never made a buck on anything during his life. Kit may have died without much, but he very much aspired to be a bigshot (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).
Reading the book (Blood and Thunder) now, almost finished. Heartily agree, great read and surprising things I never knew. Thanks to Hampton Sides for enlightening us.