Mr. Taylor, a black man, used to come in and talk
to Manuel in his store. Bella
remembers one conversation about Mr. Taylor's trail and acquittal on
manslaughter charges. Manuel was sheriff for a while in Costilla County.
Mr. Taylor, traveling alone through Colorado, had
hired on to help build the new dam in Costilla County. He saw the beautiful, unbiased people,
the communal forests and meadows and decided to stay.
He married and learned how to speak Spanish. Bella remembers him at the dances. He was very popular. His history is recounted in the Taylor family genealogies.
His family lived next door to Manuel's grand kids. My great-uncle Reggie was Esteban Taylor's
best friend. Reggie said that
Esteban Taylor was one of the handsomest men he'd ever met, with Spanish
features and black skin. Esteban
married the George girl. Esteban's son and Reggie's son now live in Denver
and are best friends.
Mr. George was a Lebanese man who managed the
theater. He had asked a priest in
Denver for a good place to raise his two girls by himself. He brought his family to begin their
new lives in San Luis and who should the old soldier meet in the street but
Manuel Pacheco. They had fought in
the trenches in France in World War I courtesy of the U.S. army. They couldn't believe the co-incidence
of meeting again half way around the world, in an isolated Hispanic village in
America.
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