My Long Absence

I have traveled the past four weeks to Denver and the Northern Kingdom of Vermont. I had classes in Denver I needed to take and family business in Vermont. I eschewed traveling by airplane because I choose peace and tranquility over long lines and irritable travelers any day.

I set out for Oklahoma City the latter part of September, then I took back roads all the way to Denver. I saw little towns like Forgan and Guymon, Oklahoma. I traveled desolate prairie roads where I dodged armadillos and tumble weeds more than errant drivers. I traversed dirt roads for miles looking for obscure historical events I never knew occurred. One of these places was in Eads, Colorado. This obscure historic place was eight miles off the main road. It was on this spot where an eight hour massacre changed the Plains forever.

The Sand Creek Massacre is unlike any other site in America. No wonder few Americans have ever heard about it. I’d try to forget this ever happened if I could. On November 29, 1864, 675 cavalrymen came around a bend to the camp of Chiefs Black Kettle, White Antelope, and Left Hand and proceeded to kill as many men, women and children as they could. Why? No one knows.

Over this hill rested the peaceful encampment before they were massacred. The site looks exactly like it did in 1864.

Notice the sacred emblems left by ancestors even today

For more information on this historic site visit http://www.nps.gov/sand/index.htm

Two weeks later I found myself in the Northern Kingdom of Vermont. It was here I had the task of doing some chores to get my parent’s home ready for the winter. It comes early to northern Vermont. As I left, it was flurrying, and later in the day my mother called and said the ground was covered with snow. I prefer to remember Vermont this way.