A Re-Tramp is Inspired

One of the scroundrels of Lummis’s Tramp Across the Continent is the pied piper who leads people out West on trumped up visions of wealth and prosperity, only to bring these hapless Easterners to a hardscrabble land of poverty.

So it really says something when Lummis gets on a stump and pitches hard for Golden, New Mexico, giving his readers an earnest and heartfelt sales pitch for the tiny upstart mining town.  Ladies, he said, you’ll have your pick of the finest men in the country out West for a husband.  He extolled the likelihood that Golden would blossom into a prosperous mining town, if only a few good men with the gumption worked up the will to sink some mines and wells.  He in fact, was strongly tempted to set some roots down here himself, he said.  In addition to praising this small settlement on the make, he also recounted the heroic struggle of the poor indpendent miners fighting the greedy, unscrupulous monopolists out to own all the land and mining rights.  He tells us about the Golden Retort, a highly admirable rag fighting bravely against the mega companies for the miner’s rights.

His description of the town was so intimate, so filled with human interest, that I was prompted to write down “Golden New Mexico” on a scrap of paper to look up later.

Thus produced one of the more poignant “moments” of reading the Letters.  Lummis’s strong pitch and predictions practically beg the reader of today to wonder about it’s current state.  So knowing nothing about the modern Golden New Mexico and genuinely curious to see how history unfolded for this little town Lummis spent several days in, I googled it, and here’s what came up first: “Golden New Mexico – A Ghost Town Near Santa Fe”.

As I looked at desolate pictures of the modern abandoned Golden and read about the history, I was genuinely moved.  My heart seemed to rise up inside me a little—I was sad for Golden, New Mexico.  I felt like I had made a genuine emotional connection with history—something that is usually elusive.  How often do we really connect with historical people and places on a human level?   Lummis had visited Golden, talked to people, visited mines, really brought the town to life.  But lo, it didn’t make it, it became one of the West’s iconic ghost towns.   How many people really comprehend the full meaning behind these famous ghost towns?

Check out the photo to the right by
http://www.panoramio.com/user/1129730

Experiencing the land and its history first-hand and seeing how it has changed since Charles F. Lummis walked over it 125 years ago is the goal of the Re-Tramp.

So here is my simple premise:

Drive the route Lummis walked on his tramp across the continent, reading his letters closely as I go, then visit where he went, take notes, take pictures, share.

But here’s the thing: I don’t really know exactly how this is going to go down.  Other than reporting on the state of the sights Lummis saw, I also hope to bring to this blog the process of the journey, the decisions that have to be made.  It’s not really as simple as saying, I’m going to drive where Lummis walked.  Lummis walked on train tracks crossing the country 125 years ago.  First of all, how many of these railroad lines still exist?  I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of them do.  Even assuming the same rail lines are still in the same basic place, I can’t hop up on the tracks with my Ford Focus and start rolling down the track, a la suicidal Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

When I showed a friend who lived in New Mexico a basic map of the route, he speculated an interstate highway exists where Lummis walked (how convenient that would be).  Would I find that many of the train routes had been turned into roads?