The Tales in Crosses, Mint Juleps, and A Store That Sells Tack

Kebler Pass, CO

Glorious mountain majesty, aspens of gold, peaks reaching to the heavens glazed with a frosting of snow.  This is how I often talk about where I live.The mountain community I call home, nestled at 7700 feet in Colorado, certainly fits all this lush description. However, there is another side to our community that defines our local culture.

Gunnison was originally inhabited by the Ute Indians. During the mid-1800s, settlers came to the valley in hopes of cashing in on the rich minerals believed to be in the soil. Mining soon busted, but the community continued in a ranching tradition. Because of our climate—long, cold winters and relatively arid—successful ranching required leveling of land and irrigation systems. But the lifestyle took hold. Today, we still have a 114-year-old national rodeo tradition and 4-H thrives. 

Cattlemen's Day Rodeo

One of the things I love best about traveling across the US-- our own "homogeneous" country-- is noting how different and unique it really is. The businesses, graffiti, religious institutions, landmarks, sports, arts, billboards and traditions, the symbols and icons, all provide a visual story and breathe life and spirit into each region.

This past summer when we drove through the Midwest, I was fascinated with all the obvious religious influence. From huge crosses outside Missouri to billboards with giant Bible verses juxtaposition to warehouse-sized, highway-side, porn shops. One of my favorite signs was a billboard, no words, just Jesus in the midst of a corn field. I wished I could have got a picture of it. It wasn’t near a place we could pull off, but what a reflection of the values and culture of the area.

The  huge cross somewhere in the Midwest.

One of my favorite destinations is Santa Fe, New Mexico. Embedded in the art culture is a religion imbued with mysticism. Even the Christian religion takes on a more mystical quality. The famous Loretto Chapel and its miraculous, winding staircase is a great example. It’s as if the ancient beliefs of the Indians and Catholicism swirled and blended together.

A hand-painted cross from
Santa Fe. 

Of course, unique attributes of a region aren’t all religious. I’d never heard of a Bob Evans restaurant or biscuits and gravy until I went to college in Indiana. I grew up in Pittsburgh, which is still strongly associated with the steel mills and working class, even though the industry hasn't darkened the sky or buildings for decades.

I loved visiting Louisville, KY—an area where horse races, mint juleps and bourbon are the symbols of the city. 

I spent a long weekend, several years ago, for a work-related conference, in Memphis, TN—home of Beale Street, blues, great BBQ, and the restored Lorraine Hotel, where Martin Luther King was killed.

A sculpture in Louisville, KY

About a month ago, a new store--a chain store no less--was built in town. Now while this may not sound iconic or even vaguely startling, it was kind of a big to-do here. A huge Tractor Supply Company warehouse now sits at the end of town. I’ve never lived in an area that could support or would have use for this kind of store before. Today, my son and I went on a “field trip”, as we call our little outings, and took a gander at the new place in town. I was in awe. Plaid shirts and Wrangler jeans, overalls and Carharts, feed for livestock, pet supplies, rabbit hutches, all kinds of tools and parts for tractors, bits and bridles, and even an array of books on farming, canning, raising dogs and building cabins. An entire store devoted to the symbols, supplies and preservation of a lifestyle.

Aside from all the ranching stuff, foreign to my background and knowledge base, I realized that, in a sense, this is a part of our culture—a consumer-directed icon of our heritage in this area, as much as the fly and tackle shops, “welcome hunter” signs on sporting good and liquor stores and the various ski and snowboard rental shops.

I don’t hunt, or snowboard or ranch but I'm interested in and proud of all the bits and pieces that make up my community, its history and spirit, and that somehow we've managed to retain our unique flavor and not succumb to a mass-commercial, blase personality.

What does your area have that you would say represents its culture or heritage? Maybe I'll plan my next adventure out your way.