I took some outside pics for my landlord, and gave him a couple of inside pics, but I've got some decluttering to do and some baseboard cleaning and rug and tile cleaning before this house is ready to show. Then, there's still the problem of all my mom's stuff.
Aidan's trying to get packed up and moved in with a friend this week. She wants to move with us, but she wants cats without having to actually take care of them, so she'll move in with someone who'll take care of her cats for her. Lol.
Anyway, still LOTS of work to be done. I've got some time, though, which is good!
Forrest is releasing SB's like crazy. I liked the ones about Quanah Parker. Quanah was an interesting guy, even with his seven wives and brood of young uns.
I'm finding a lot of discreet references to two types of people that you might not think about when reading the stories casually. Peta Nocona, Quanah's dad, was born into a tribe known as "The Wanderers."
"The Wanderers" kidnapped Cynthia Ann Parker, thus provoking "The Searcher's" to take up the chase to find her. A movie of the same name was made with John Wayne depicting this search, but using different names, and probably highly fictionalized.
So we have wanderers and searchers. In my mind, there are two kinds of wanderers-- the intense wanderers are those that go on search after search after search spending wads of cash, wandering willy nilly, and almost frantically in vague spots. Then there are the happy wanderers-- those that are excited to get out into the mountains, sunshine, and fresh air, and they may have several search areas, too, but their main goal is fun, not necessarily fortune. However, one secret they discover is that fortune is not always monetary, and fortune and fun often go hand in hand.
We also are hearing stories of the good guys and the bad guys. Quanah played both in his lifetime. But "good" and "bad" are often a matter of perspective. Reading the accounts of Quanah by his descendants, they revered him as being always "good." He fought only when his ancestral home and family were threatened.
However, Quanah was undoubtedly fierce and merciless when it came to war with the white man. As I and Forrest related on Dal's, Private Gregg was shot and killed at nearly point blank range when his horse faltered and Quanah galloped by. I think it's pretty cool for Forrest and his friend, Bill Griggs (maybe a relative of the fallen Gregg?), searched for the trooper's grave.
I did a quick search online for a picture of Private Gregg, but couldn't find one. That says something, huh?
So the young soldier had a story, too, but we don't know much of it. He undoubtedly was a young man filled with patriotism and a love of the country he also called home.
Forrest said he wished he could have thrown a rock at Quanah as he sped by on his black pony (pony may be another hint to Quanah's actual height of "around six feet"). My first thought was that it was a hint for the "lead horse" in the chase to slow down a little and notice the tidbits of useful info F was throwing out.
But maybe, it was simply because he wanted Quanah to stop and see the young soldier lying dead on the ground. Maybe, if Quanah had paused long enough to see the young man's blood seeping into the hungry soil, his heart would have broken and in that instant of epiphany, he would have seen that killing the "enemy" might not have been the best way. Maybe Quanah would have seen something in the young man that resembled one of his own sons.
I don't know, but I can certainly imagine that the distraction caused by Forrest's rock may have been enough to prevent more senseless killing.
Or maybe Forrest was hinting that killing everyone that stands in your way may be one way to win a race, but it certainly isn't the right way, the best way, or the most honorable way.
It's amazing to me that this beautiful canyon hold such dark secrets:
Is it possible for both men, fighting on opposite sides, to be heroes? And not just heroes on one side of the fence, but heroes we all can recognize? Yeah, I think it is. Maybe that's why Forrest often wonders why we just can't leave each other alone.
Sometimes our "enemy" is someone fighting for what they hold dear, and their cause is as just as ours. Sometimes "friend" and "enemy" are often blurred as the edges merge.
One thing I like about the story of Quanah Parker is that he overcame the prejudice and strove for peace. Rather than seeing his race annihilated, he sacrificed himself, realizing that his people could live on, and that he could make sure they weren't forgotten, as they surely as Private Gregg was when his death came too soon. He learned to read and write, and used the peace he helped usher in to be an advocate for his people.
As a side note, if this photo is any indication, I don't think Quanah was 7' tall, as Forrest stated. I believe Forrest was providing us a metaphor for Quanah's larger than life legendary status.
The government eventually built QP a house. It has eight stars on the roof, and was appropriately named "The Star House." One relative said it was a "visual manifestation to far and wide that proclaimed 'The general lives here.'"
And when Quanah passed away in 1911, one of his daughters, Neda, wrote his epitaph, which echo the Native American way of life Quanah personified:
“Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanches,
resting here till the day breaks, the shadows fall and
the darkness disappears.
What a subtly beautiful and lyrical tribute to a man who strove to be the leader his people needed, a protector of his ancestral home, and later, a symbol of peace for all people.
But let's also remember that Private Gregg is also just as an important symbol of why peace is important.
But let's also remember that Private Gregg is also just as an important symbol of why peace is important.
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| This may not be Private Gregg, but it could be. |
Very well researched Mindy. I was interested to read how Quanah lived in the "star" house. Gotta keep following those stars...
Great work!