"Grown men can learn from very little children for the hearts of the little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.”
I mentioned in my previous post that I had centered my earliest versions of my books in Salem, Ma., to get a spooky setting. As I developed more of the backstory for my series, I kept Salem but decided to switch the start of the series closer to where I grew up in Southern Colorado. I did it not only to give my protagonist a different type of background but also to honor the memory of my mother. She was fascinated with the American Indian cultures of the area, especially the Anasazi, the Ute Indians, the Jicarilla Apache, and the Arapahoe. She encouraged me to get interested in the area’s history, but sadly, I never did – until I started writing these books. Now, I’m fascinated and am continually trying to learn more about the area I grew up in. For an overview, see Colorado's American Indian Tribes.
When I visited Chimney Rock, I learned of a fascinating experiment Katy Freeman, a high-school student from Farmington, NM, made years ago. She proved that the Indians who lived at Chimney Rock could communicate with the Pueblo Indians of Chaco Canyon far to the south – something academics had only debated up to that time. For more information on her amazing discovery, go to Katy Freeman experiment at Chimney Rock. You also might be interested in learning more about the Anasazi.
To learn more about the Indian culture in the region, I encourage you to visit Mesa Verde National Park, Chimney Rock National Monument, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and the Southern Ute Bear Dance (more on that in a later post).
The rock formations in the attached picture give the name to Chimney Rock National Monument, where most of chapter 3 takes place. I took it from near the Great Kiva, looking northeast to the snow-capped San Juan Mountain range. The action in chapter 1 takes place on the road far below,
Comments