O'Keeffe Country

We woke up this morning in the heart of O'Keeffe country.  Camped at Echo Amphitheater campground in the Carson National Forest, a well situated but also historically special place.  (More on this later.)

Georgia O'Keeffe came to this part of New Mexico, Abiquiu, for the special scenery, the incredible light, the blue-blue skies, and the solitude.  She rebuilt an adobe house for her winter quarters, and used Ghost Ranch for her summers.  We took the tour of her home yesterday; left with the furnishings and artwork as she had left them when she found it necessary to move down to Santa Fe for her few final years.  To walk through her home and gardens, and see the views from the many windows, gave us a special understanding of this wonderful artist.

We then drove to Plaza Blanco (White Place), which O'Keeffe used for much of her art.  The cliffs and rock colors, the shadows, the light.....in all of the places around Abiquiu are very special.  Today we take the tour of more of her favorite places to paint.

Now for the story of Echo Amphitheater:  In 1861 a band of Navajos attacked some northern New Mexico settlers and spilled some of their blood over the top of this amphitheater.  In 1864 during the forced march when Kit Carson removed over 14,000 Navajos from their lands, they traveled by this same formation.  General Carson chose the ten best warriors of the Navajos, murdered them, and spilled their blood down these same walls.  Last night, did we hear the echoes of the anguished cries of both the settlers and the Navajos?