SLV Anthology

I am fond of saying, "The journey begins at the end of the road."
Crestone is a magical place. Unparalleled in its raw, powerful beauty, stark and sharp and awe inspiring in so many ways. I have never seen or experienced anything like it in my 48 years on the planet. It has this way of drawing you in, making you love it, and then making you think you are special for getting to be here. And we are, maybe not special, but beyond fortunate, for our time here is unique, and real, and only so many people in this whole wide world will get to experience a life of this caliber.
We are fortunate for that, if nothing else.
There is a history here, which only a few surviving residents can remember, and it reveals a sentiment that has so much to do with our current political system, and the structures that purport to manage and care for our community.
And there is a divide here, perpetuated by the assumption of boundaries between which one household resides and subjects itself to governance and authority, or rejects said authority, and hollers injustice and unfairness!
I am attaching a link to a series of interviews we conducted in the summer of 2019, pre Covid, in which we sought out a number of old timers, born and raised in Crestone, Colorado. We also interviewed a number of Baca residents, who came here between the 1970's and early 2000's, during the first influx of modern day homesteaders and urban refugees from all over the country, and beyond.
These stories expose the root of this perceived divide between what some call Crestone, and what some call The Baca. The beginning of the POA, a facade of development, with spray painted roads, a still existent air strip in the middle of a high alpine desert, rodeo clowns walking their monkeys in North Crestone Creek, the rotting, asbestos co**se of the White Eagle, security gates and gourmet chefs and barred access, and so on and so on. There was also a rush of young hippies into the town itself, though few enough to be counted on two hands, who were either welcomed or not by a generation of hard living, winter bearing old timers.
These stories also reveal a deep and profound connection between the people who call this place home, regardless of which side of which boundary any of us live on. A connection that has stood the test of time, and shown that this community is made up of strong, caring, people, who will lay it all down on the table and show up for each other in the darkest and coldest of times, in the hardest and saddest of times, carrying each others bodies to the pyre, throwing handfuls of dust on each others hand dug graves, feeding each other, singing to each other, forgiving each other.
And of course, there is so much laughter and dreaming, and climbing and building. I have never seen a people who have loved to dance like we can and do in C Town. Shaking so many roofs, rattling windows, pounding the earth with our feet and grooves and sweat and joy, it's been one of the things that has helped us all survive here, Celebration and Music and Dance!!! Let's have more of that, please!
So fortunate, we have been, to share in these things together.
The time is near for us to overstep a few illusionary lines, and look to where we intend to be in the years to come.
One community?
Please watch these raw, unedited interviews. There's a lot of content here, laden with jewels of wisdom, experience, laughter, and love, amid the monotony of growing old in a small mountain town.
Take what you will to build upon a cohesive future, knowing that there are heroes amongst us who were here long before many of us knew about this mountain.
Thank you!!!!
Special thanks to Doug Beechwood and Shoshannah Asha for their contributions to this project.

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In this chapter, we interviewed Kizzen Lakai. For me, she has always embodied so many qualities that I value about this place, and the level of fortitude it takes to create a real home here in Crestone, full of community service, kindness, and wisdom.

This episode speaks to me, and inspires me to keep working towards this grand, unintentional community that has pulled so many of us from our suburban backgrounds, only to land here as global, cultural refugees, seeking a different kind of life at the end of the road.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to do these interviews, and to capture these memories and stories, before the old timers are all gone. It gives me such a deeper understanding of this town and the people who have given so much of themselves to make it a place we have all chosen as our home.

I offer my deepest gratitude and respect to all those who have shared their stories here.

Finally, and again, we do have a GoFundMe account to receive donations to support the project, editing, and future interviews. All of this has been a labor of love, and anything you can offer will greatly help it to continue.
https://youtu.be/81i9E1Ujwcg

https://gofund.me/bd2d6bf5

SLV Anthology Volume IV: Kizzen Lakai Please subscribe to our channel. To further help Support SLV Anthology to release the stories of the Old Times, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/slv-anthol...

This latest episode, Volume III, is what originally inspired our exploration into the mid century history of Crestone.

Ann Betts takes us on a journey through time, describing what day to day life was like, growing up here in Crestone and graduating from Moffat High School in the 1950's. Remembering people's names, and where they lived, and what special ingredient they each added to the unique recipe of culture found only at the end of Road T, in the San Luis Valley.

We appreciate her authenticity, and her love of this place that was always her home, and to which she has returned to live out her days.

Please enjoy,

And remember we have a GoFundMe page, asking for donations to support this project and all the work it takes to make it possible.

Thank you!!!!

https://youtu.be/XboWyk_Dd14

https://www.gofundme.com/f/slv-anthology-fund?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

SLV Anthology Volume III Ann Betts Please subscribe to our channel. To further help Support SLV Anthology to release the stories of the Old Times, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/slv-anthol...

In Volume II of the SLV Anthology Oral History, we interviewed Matthew and Elaine Johnson.

What follows is a beautiful and nostalgic telling of what it was like to see Crestone through the eyes of a child in the 1950's, surrounded by family, fierce and independent women, and above all, a sense of place.

We also explore their hopes and visions of how to care for our community, and what is most important to protect as we inevitably grow.

This small town we call home is cradled in the arms of people like Matthew, Elaine, and Steve McDowell. People who show up everyday to provide us with basic services, dependable and generous, pushing themselves to the limit to ensure that our essential needs are met.

They are heroes, and we are all better off because they are here, and have been for generations.

Please take the time to sit and listen, and share with others, and cherish these memories and ideas we are so fortunate to have access to.

Thank you.

Post Script: If you haven't seen Volume I, please follow the link to the SLV Anthology YouTube channel to watch it.

SLV Anthology Volume II: Elaine T Johnson and Matthew Johnson

During the summer of 2019, about nine months before the whole world turned upside down, I set out to capture the stories of the Crestone "old timers". I was determined to tell a different story than the one we always hear, about land donations and spiritual centers and vortexes and all that. I wanted to hear about the folks who were born here almost a century ago, whose parents came here in covered wagons, about kids who went to school here in the early 20th century and had to ride their horses to the old school house every morning to light the wood stove for the rest of the class. I wanted to hear about Old Man Collins and the generosity of his wife at Christmas time, and how hard and special it was to cowboy on his ranch.

Mostly, I wanted to hear about how it felt for these true born locals to watch their small town transform into a destination spot that attracts a wide variety of... let's say, unique and wild people from all over the world.

I wanted to document these stories before it's too late, which in many cases, it already is. And then I wanted to share these interviews with the community at large, so that we may better understand the innate value system that has been in place here for so long, rich with history and family and constant change.

So, with the extreme generosity and quality minded help of Doug Beechwood, who filmed the entire series, and a little financial support form Elaine Johnson and the Crestone Museum, we spent several hours tracking down as many old timers as we could find, and proceeded to capture almost 20 hours of interviews. Inevitably, we were also led to speak with a number of people, not quite old timers, who were here at the beginning of the "spiritual influx". These interviews provide an equal measure of context and sense of place.

What follows is the first of many, which we hope to release about once a month for the next year. I sincerely hope you can take the time to really listen and enjoy the story that will unfold a little deeper with each interview. They end up all fitting together in ways I never anticipated, and, together, paint a beautiful, sincere picture of the place we call home.

Finally, these interviews are essentially unedited and raw. However, I am asking for donations to put together a fund to hire a local film editor, in hopes we can create a series of shorter films that highlight certain topics, and hopefully even continue the project for years to come, and reach out to the rest of the valley. So, please contact me if you are willing to make donations.

Thank you.

https://youtu.be/_0xPqdeJSnU

SLV Anthology Volume I: Mary Lowers and Whitney Strong SLV Anthology Volume I This series of interviews was shot in Crestone CO the summer of 2019. An extended interview with long time Crestone , CO residents Mar...