Memories of the Wild West?

[BriarRose]

I think any small town in the American West looked like that place. Tombstone is infamous because of the Earps, and because it has BootHill cemetery, where it was said they buried men with their boots on. I have visited Calico, a ghost town with a silver mining past in California. Walter Knott, of Knott's Berry Farm fame, bought, and restored it in the 1950's. It's three miles from Yermo, where my "outlaw" brother actually lived for years. I don't think the Saguaros would be there, but otherwise, they all look alike. I would describe them as "God-forsaken holes". You're right - it's too soon to jump to conclusions in your case.

 

[argonne1918]

I think the cactus would narrow it down to southern Arizona or maybe southern California east of San Diego along the Mexican border. Tombstone was not the only mining town in that area, but it's the only famous one. Yuma, Ariz. is another place to check out. Fort Yuma on the California side of the river was built to protect white settlers from the Native Americans. And maybe protection from the Confederate troops during the Civil War. California supplied much or most of the gold that paid for the War. Underneath the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco is an old Civil War fort that was built to keep Confederate ships from coming in to steal the gold. I'm not sure about cactus in the Yuma area.

 

[azgrl25]

I have to agree with Argonne, the saguaros pretty much narrow this down to the southwestern portion of AZ. Tombstone is just barely out of the range, so you'll see a few over there but not nearly as many as you would see closer west towards the Tucson area.


Here is a map showing the range of these:


http://paulmirocha.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/SD-map_faq_saguaros.jpg


AZ is filled with mining towns, but Tombstone is the most famous one given it's history.

 

[argonne1918]

Based on the map I would say it's not Tombstone. Further west. Maybe even in Mexico. Maybe Chris will get more info in a regression.

 

[Shiftkitty]

Here's a wiki link showing the growing area of the saguaro:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro


I had heard that there are some saguaro growing naturally in Italy, but haven't seen anything.

 

[argonne1918]

I had heard that there are some saguaro growing naturally in Italy, but haven't seen anything.

You're probably thinking of the palm tree.

 

[Shiftkitty]

I've seen more than my share of palm trees, ugh! No, it was something I'd read long ago that "spaghetti westerns" got that name because they were filmed in Italy, and there were saguaros growing there. Like I said, though, I haven't been able to find anything confirming this. It just doesn't strike me as the right climate.

 

[argonne1918]

I think Clint Eastwood got his start making "spaghetti westerns".

 

[BriarRose]

They were made in Italy. The actor, Lee Van Cleef, was a big star there, and I think all those Clint Eastwood "Dollar" films were made in Italy. I wouldn't know this, except I have been "cursed" to live with fans of those films. ShiftKitty is right, they must have found some Saguaros, somewhere! I would volunteer to watch one of the films, and check, but I wouldn't be able to do it without falling asleep. Someone else will have to "take a bullet" for the team.

 

[ChrisR]

I know the 'Dollar' movies were shot in Almeria in Spain, but several of the other 'spaghetti' westerns were shot in Italy. Despite the locations not being authentic, the 'flavor' of those movies is still enough to provoke that sense of nostalgia whenever I watch them.

 

[BriarRose]

You mean my ex-husband "lied", Chris? Imagine that! :laugh: Sergio Leone must have thrown him off. I once was subjected to a 4th of July, all-night "drive-in" marathon of those "Dollar" films. That may give me "faux" memories in my next life. Seriously, I hope you figure it out. I think childhood dreams about past lives should be taken seriously. Perhaps there are reasons that you are thinking about this now. Didn't you say in the other thread, that you had a reproduction Colt pistol on your wall? My brothers were given toy guns, called "fanner 50's", which helped them simulate gun fights. Did British parents do that, or was it an American thing? Even I had a cowgirl outfit, and pink wallpaper with people shooting each other.

 

[Totoro]

Chris, one thing I do know is that .45 was the predominate side arm at the time. Back then, they used slow burning gun powder that made lots of smoke.


Those old B&W Western films where someone is shooting them by fanning and they become shrouded in smoke, I'd say that was fairly accurate.

 

[argonne1918]

Even I had a cowgirl outfit, and pink wallpaper with people shooting each other.

Did you grow up watching Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on Saturday TV? One of my female cousins wanted to be a "cowgirl" when she grew up.

 

[BriarRose]

Of course! We all watched those - but the cow girl outfit was my Dad's idea. He bought the toy guns for my brothers. They were really heavy and well-made, with hand-tooled leather holsters. This thread has me thinking. I didn't have a PL in the "Old West", but my Dad and brothers probably did. I pulled up pictures of the Earps yesterday, and was rather astonished to learn that Morgan Earp is buried in the town next to mine. Wyatt brought his body there, after he was shot in a revenge killing after the "O.K. Corral". By the way, Wikipedia says that name is a Hollywood invention.Those stories sold "dime novels", long before the movies existed. My brothers had an unfortunate kind of mythos in our hometown. My sister married into another legendary "bad boy" family, and it was widely predicted in town that their children would be "outlaws". This whole discussion is proof of reincarnation - how else would you explain my existence in this family? Chris's early dream about a cactus is probably more of an anomaly, though, because the supporting culture for the Western interest wasn't there.

 

[ChrisR]

Didn't you say in the other thread, that you had a reproduction Colt pistol on your wall? My brothers were given toy guns, called "fanner 50's", which helped them simulate gun fights. Did British parents do that, or was it an American thing?

I don't know about today, but when I was a kid, most boys had toy guns and would play 'Cowboys and Indians', and if you didn't have a gun, you just used your two fingers instead! I used to play along with the rest of them, but it never did anything to trigger any memories, neither did it remind me of the dream. Maybe I didn't get involved in any of the violence if I had a past life back then. But the fascination and the replica Colt on my wall would suggest that maybe I was armed, but never had reason to use it? I just don't know, I don't have enough personal information to go by.

 

[argonne1918]

I think that the fact you have a Colt .45 mounted on your wall in this day and age is a very significant PL clue.

 

[Marc Ross]

Spaghetti Westerns - muisc in movies.

I know the 'Dollar' movies were shot in Almeria in Spain, but several of the other 'spaghetti' westerns were shot in Italy. Despite the locations not being authentic, the 'flavor' of those movies is still enough to provoke that sense of nostalgia whenever I watch them.

The music in Spaghetti Westerns from Ennio Morricone, and Hugo Montenegro yields profound experiences to the movies.


Hence can the experience of viewing these movies act as "a trigger of sorts" for either a past-life in the West, or simply a past-life of viewing these movies back when they were being shown in theaters in the 1960s?


Marc

 

[Shiftkitty]

Something to remember about Westerns is that many of them are glorified. An authentic memory of the Old West probably wouldn't be so glamorous. Even the spaghetti westerns tend to glam things up a bit.


There was this one actor whom I saw in a few westerns that were filmed in Canada. The actor himself was from Italy, I think. I can't remember his name but I recall reading that the last movie he thought he'd be in was a western because of his accent. In fact, many people from many different nations went to the American West and accents were heard everywhere. He was perfect both due to his accent and to the fact that he wasn't a "pretty boy". In fact, there weren't very many "pretty" people in these movies. The costumes also didn't look as tailored as they tend to in Hollywood, and the women didn't wear quite so much makeup unless they were dance-hall girls. (And nobody showed off a pearly-white "Colgate smile"!)


The sets were also better, in my opinion. As well as the rugged wilderness, the buildings looked like they belonged there. The rough streets, often mud-covered or crusted, the more haphazard look, it was almost perfect. Hollywood tends to groom things too much. Roads even in remote little towns are always clean, wide, and smooth with things laid out too neatly. They do fine when recreating a historic town like Tombstone, but fictional towns always just look wrong, IMO.


I wish I could remember the names of those movies. They were terrific.

 

[Marc Ross]

Cont...


I'm originally from Suburban Los Angeles, and I'm familiar with the movie locations where Westerns were filmed.


I had seen the studio tours, as well as driving through, hiked, and rode-horseback through places where the Westerns were made. I once visited Tombstone, AZ as a kid.


Some of these Westerns were popular during the time I feel my PL lived (1920s through the 1950s). Yet, despite the actual experience of where Western movie history took place, I've felt no deja-vu memories of interest at a movie theater showing Westerns.


Go figure!

 

[Obie]

I was looking at pictures of abandoned ghost towns on the internet before I clicked on this thread.


I know I have had a wild west lifetime. I love warm weather. I love dry climates. 70-80 degrees F is too cool for me. Low 90's are PERFECT for me. I'm deathly afraid of snakes though. Every time I plan a trip to AZ, I start thinking about snakes and that derails my plans to go there. Tarantulas also scare me.


A while ago I had a flashback to a wild west scenario while I was meditating.


I saw the mountains in the distance. It was evening and the sun was setting. It might now be a ghost town, but it was a populated town with people and businesses. I had some connection to the saloon. Either I was there as a patron or I worked as a saloon girl. I felt a sadness like the day was about to be over type of thing as the sun was setting.

 

[Misty8723]

I've always been fascinated by the old west, and my husband and I both think he may have been a gunfighter in one of his lives. In tense situations, he will always "go for this gun" - that is, get in the stance you see the gunfighters when they're getting ready to draw. It's not conscious, just happens.