I headed to Grapevine Canyon Ranch for the weekend when I came across a cemetery. This wasn’t a weekend for rounding up cattle. I went to the ranch for rest, relaxation and a bit of riding. Eve, the owner of the ranch, told me that grasses were way up over one’s knee from all the monsoon rains. The cattle were so fat and sassy, from eating all that good grass, that pregnant heifers were fetching $1,600 and up at the Willcox Cattle Auction. This was a very good price, indeed.
It wasn’t too far from this area, back during the 1860's, Cochise and his Chiricahua Apaches raided a group of cowboys in the Sulphur Springs Valley. The cowboys were trying to get a herd of cattle from Texas to California. It wasn’t unusual for the Chiricahua Apaches to raid and steal cattle.
I chose this particular cemetery because I knew some of the folks that were laid to rest here were either victims or witnesses to some of the attacks of the Apaches on the settlers. This is the only cemetery I’ve ever seen that had a windmill right in the middle of it. A convenient source of water? Was the windmill there before it was actually a cemetery? Don’t know.
There was a particular grave that I was drawn to. It was that of “Elizabeth Livingston” - 1840-1934.” I placed, documented and photographed #49 on her grave. Now this was a local woman whose life would’ve been impacted by the unrest and conflict with the Chiricahua Apaches. This is the first time I actually left a Cowboy and Indian Icon Art Piece on someone’s grave. Her small grave stone was broken up and the ground around it unattended. I assumed that she either had no family left in this area or if she did, they didn’t care about the resting place of her remains.
When I arrived at Grapevine Canyon Ranch, I checked on where I left Cowboy and Indian Icon Art Pieces #19 (left on 11/27/09) and #31 (left on 4/12/10). The plastic cowboy figure on #19 was severed off at the ankles. Since the art piece was destroyed - probably by weather - I took it with me and placed it on my car floor until I got home. It was in bad shape so I decided to retire it. Maybe give it a bit of a burial ceremony on my property since it met its demise in the line of duty. Now #31 was still in place and in great shape. Seeing that encouraged me.
Since the climate here can be so unmercifully hot, I’ve been trying to place most of the Cowboy and Indian Icon Art Pieces in a spot where they would be sheltered from the sun.
But there will always be the placement where it can’t be sheltered from any of nature’s elements. Just like the flesh and blood Cowboys and Indians. Survival of the fittest. Art, once again, imitating life.
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