I am continually amazed how prescient are The Four Agreements posited by Don Miguel Ruiz. Do your best, be impeccable with your word, don’t make assumptions and don’t take things personally. What an extraordinary guide for keeping one’s mind engaged in a positive way, while admitting that our knowledge is limited and hopefully continually evolving.
When I first started my job with Pitkin County Open Space in 1999, I sought advice from many as to which lands we should seek to preserve through our nascent acquisition/preservation program. Perhaps no one in the Roaring Fork Valley at that time better understood wildlife habits than Kevin Wright, the district wildlife manager for what was then called the state Division of Wildlife. Kevin urged me to protect a property known as Red Wind Point.
In those days, the struggling Avalanche herd of bighorn sheep were still gathering there. At Wright’s urging, we purchased Red Wind Point, thereby protecting it from subdivision and development. The wild sheep seldom venture there anymore, but we keep a light on for them should their numbers and range begin to expand again.
Shortly after Open Space bought the property, an old timer explained to me that the name Red Wind Point referred to the sharp curve in the rail line there — abutting red sandstone — and the need for trains to slow as they would “wind” around it. The name stuck, and I included the name and the story in the official Open Space management plan for the site.
A couple of years ago, my confidence in the old timer’s story was unsettled after seeing an old map showing a “Redwine” Creek coming off Mt Sopris just downstream. Adding to the mystery, another map — this one predating the railroad in 1890 — showed a cabin there labeled “Redwing.”
Research into yet another matter some years later brought into my possession the actual survey maps for the Crystal Railroad, each with a list of adjacent landowners who granted the rights of way (ROW). At the spot in question, between the Nettle Creek and Crystal County Estates, the railroad obtained its right of way in 1892 from one John Redwine.
A quick digital search within the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection archives for the Crystal Valley revealed that John Redwine lived in our valley during this period and was known as an expert in the building of mine tunnels. It was he who homesteaded at this location and granted the ROW.
I now understand that “Red Wind” must have been a corruption of “Redwine.” I further surmise that the label “Redwing” on the 1890 map was most likely a typographic error, perhaps stemming from the thick European accents of those sharing information at the time.
The story about the name coming from trains slowing to “wind” around the point was apparently a fiction that suited someone’s misunderstanding of the actual name. Oral histories will morph words and meanings over time, like an extended game of telephone. I now have to admit that something I once confidently reported as a fact was simply wrong. The name should be Redwine Point!
For me, one of the most shocking things about our current political climate, and especially our chief executive, is the intolerance for intellectual curiosity. The President’s withering treatment of reporters simply asking hard questions is an assault on critical thinking. Environmental advocates constantly face the need to take action based on best available information. Those of us who attempt to know landscapes must simply do our best. We can attempt to be impeccable with words, but should continue to question all of our assumptions.
Things of which we were once certain may turn out to be myths. Let us all have the courage to bow gracefully to the deepening of our knowledge. The CVEPA board is dedicated to passionate advocacy regarding the protection of the Crystal Valley. We also like to learn new things.
To learn more about the Crystal Valley Environmental Protections Association, visit cvepa.org