Who says there aren’t any screened-in porches in New Mexico? We do, I guess. But there it is! Covered with plastic, looks like, but it might be screened. Slowly being eaten by termites and sinking into the ground, I’ll bet, just like our old porch in Merryland. Interesting tilt, anyway.
Looks like that place even has a basement. This town is messing with my head.
John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on .png)
Looks good. Does Kit Carson lie in his grave somewhere in the vicinity? –I loved the tales of the Mountain Men when I was a kid. If memory serves, Carson put Taos on the map as the site of an annual “Rendezvous” of trappers, Indians and the purchasers of their goods from back East. There must have been some gambling, some horse-racing and some alcohol mixed in with the wampum and silver coins. A fellow or two must have got himself scalped or shot. Did Carson himself die with his boots and his hair on? Does anyone think of him anymore in that town he more or less founded?
You’re a mite confused but basically right. The trading came long before Carson, though, and the thing about the trade fairs was that that’s when people didn’t kill each other. You need to come to Taos to see the Carson influence, which is considerable. His house is a museum downtown. There’s a locale named Carson, Kit Carson Park, an electrical coop, a major street, etc. His grave is in the park. Check out this 2008 FarrFeed post. There’s an essential book recommendation there, too, Blood and Thunder, by Hampton Sides.
Governor Bent was killed during the Taos Revolt. It was a big deal, very bloody business. One poor fellow was skinned alive and eaten by pigs in the main plaza. Natives massacred afterwards when the U.S. Army used howitzers on a church. It’s all in the book. Most people have no idea.
Why is the Subaru so common in Northern NM? I’ve been wondering about this for years.
I assume it’s because of all the snow and mud. Then again, in Taos at least, it’s something of a cult. The dark green ones with all the bumper stickers are especially favored by militant gluten-free tin foil hat types. In the old days, Subarus had a reputation for being rugged, good in snow, and so forth. There also weren’t very many choices when it came to 4WD vehicles! That’s probably the main reason the brand found a niche. You see them all over places like West Virginia and Vermont as well.
You must log in to post a comment. Log in now.