The 52 ancestors in 52 weeks prompt was Records that Add Color.
Well, I had picked out my own ancestor but then I went to genealogy meeting, and I thought I would share a tale I heard there. Oral history provides something that regular records don't. They bring color.
I meet once a month with other people who are researching their family history. We have our meetings at a local library. Well, this time the internet was down so we couldn't research because basically most of our research is done on the internet. (this is really annoying)
In walked a guy I am going to call Will. He is a lifelong New Mexican. He had been researching his family. Will had lost his dad when he was 8 and then his mother when he was 18. He also suffered an injury in 2023 that made his memory not as reliable. So, he was researching his family to put the pieces of memory and history back together. His family came from Otero County New Mexico. This is near where the Lincoln County War happened and Billy the Kid and lots of stories of the wild west.
He asked me if I wanted to hear an old western story. I am always up for a genealogy story. He said his Uncle Shorty was a purveyor of meat and also a teller of tales. Uncle Shorty had a very wide definition of meat could be beef, horse, chicken, or wild game. Well, Uncle Shorty was out of meat to sell. So, he went out in the hills basically poaching for meat. He had a wagon of deer when he was caught by Fish and Game. The Fish and Game agent was on a horse. So, he ran but he got his revenge by shooting off the horn of the saddle. Will said his Uncle Shorty had a lot of stories many including this one which he didn't believe were true. However, years later when working a late shift at the refinery when guys spill yarns. He told this story, and it was confirmed by someone else to be true. A lot of family tales can't be proven true especially the more colorful ones, but Will got unofficial confirmation that his uncle's tale had kernel of truth.
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