Back to May

Hello all!

Those mesa's are in Mesa Verde National Park

I'm sorry that blogging has fallen to the bottom of my to-do list.  Ever since our trip to Utah, where we made a life changing decision, it has been a busy time. 





 




You all know by now that while visiting Mancos, Colorado we decided it was time to make another move.  That's the way we roll.  We decided to move to Chester on one of our vacation camping trips to the area.  We decided to leave Chester and full-time RV during the course of a four hour drive home from Ukiah.  Once we make the decision we hit the ground running.  Lots of research is involved in our planning and ultimate decisions concerning the how and why.

Mancos

Our house went on the market in June and we've had many showings and much interest while waiting for it's next owner.  Purging the stuff that needed new homes and the garbage can in the five years we've been here and getting nonessential stuff packed to get a jump start for the big move.  

Larry was home two nights a month ago as he has been out working for the last 5 weeks or so.  I've had a birthday during this time and I had a lovely visit with my Aunt Gretchen on the phone and she mentioned missing the blog.  Yet, it has still taken me over two weeks to get going again.  

There's many, many gorgeous pics I still want to share from our vacation to Utah and our unplanned side trip to Colorado.  I decided to start here, with our excursion to the cemetery in Mancos where my Mom and Uncle Dan's paternal family is buried.  I will talk about them from my place in the line.  So this will of course be the same for Debbie and Darcy.  Their kids, mine and Lori's will have to add a "great".  hahaha.

David and America Willis are my great great grandparents, Mervin's grandparents.  They were among the first white settlers of the Mancos Valley.  Their middle son was the first white child to be born there.  They came from Kansas in 1875.  The settler's were plagued by the indians (I am not going to worry about political correctness in the telling here).  After some settlers were killed by indians, the settlers formed a posse and David was part of that.  

The posse chased the band of Ute indians into Utah and in the La Sal mountains where a battle known as the Pinhook battle ensued, there were casualties on both sides and David was one of the settlers that was killed there.  There is a lovely memorial at the battle site today, though they have wrong information on it. I'll do a second post with pictures we took on our journey there.  Beautiful country.

David Willis headstone and me

America traveled all the way to the scene of the battle with a male friend, in a wagon and retrieved David's body.  Amazing woman.  She had him buried at the cemetery there in Mancos.  There is an irrigation ditch in the Mancos valley that bears the name Willis, as David dug one of the first ditches from the river, for irrigation of their ranch.

Me and America Barber headstone

It says, "Tis the Lord who hath bereft us of the one we loved so well"

 











A little over a year after David's death, America remarried Hiram Barber and later had another son. Her obituary said she was a beloved member of the settlement. America's parents eventually came to the valley also and they too are buried in the cemetery and many other Weston's, which is America's maiden name.  So my great greats and my great great greats of one teeny branch are buried there and other distant relations.

We spent a lot of time in Mancos talking to different people and all were welcoming and friendly.  We love the southwest and the slower paced life and now with the family history this place just felt like home.

Me and the great-great-greats, America's parents.

That's the history in a nutshell.  Oh, America and Hiram's son's name is Flake.  Really?!  Wonder what it meant back then?  

The cemetery caretaker.