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| Fence and Meadow, San Juan Mountains, Colorado © Doug Hickok All Rights Reserved A long wooden fence boarders this montane meadow near Mt. Sneffels Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains. This scene shows a distinctive Colorado character, with its timber wood fence, green aspen groves, dark subalpine forests, white rocky peaks, and cinematic blue sky. Not far from here are the towns of Telluride and Ridgway. These two towns were originally settled in support of mining operations... for gold, but also zinc, lead and copper. Oddly enough they both also have a Hollywood connection. In Telluride in 1889, Butch Cassidy (of the infamous Wild Bunch gang of outlaws) robbed his first bank. You may remember his character being glamorized by the dashing actor Paul Newman in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In Ridgway and the surrounding area, John Wayne's classic western movie True Grit was filmed, with eye-patch and all. Dennis Weaver made his home in Ridgway. This award winning actor played a roll in the long-running western TV series Gunsmoke. So it is not surprising I made my attempt here at Hollywood stardom by showing off my horse riding skills, my lassoing skills, my whooping and hollering skills, my walking bow-legged-with-spurs-on skills, and my talking like a cowboy skills. But alas, Becky gave me a sharp poke in the ribs, waking me up from my daydreaming skills. |