My Father's Hat Part 2

My Father's Hat
Part 2
[see part 1 also earlier in the blog]

fiction
edward w pritchard


Some things must end badly to be successful such as a love affair or a stint of employment; so I wasn't surprised that my Father's hat had caused a permanent rift between my Grandfather and his Father, who was my great grand father.

My search for the origins of my father's hat began unglamorous at the local library where I used the internet extensively. Unfortunately, after about a week of research I was getting no-where trying to find out the history of my father's hat. My wife seeing my efforts and lack of success suggested I try talking to my Father's remaining relatives. My Father's closest remaining relative was my uncle in in the next State which was about an hour drive from my house.

I went to see my uncle six or seven times in a month period at he nursing home where he stayed to try to question him about my Grandfather's hat. My Uncle had an usual form of what was previously called senility, and each time when he first saw me he would remember me, but as I had been as teenager, and would then after about 5 minutes forget who I was, and be unable to talk to me. The Doctor there at the nursing home said that since I had only seen my Uncle sporadically, mostly during my teenage years, my Uncle was because of his condition losing me in his mind after the initial emotional jolt of connecting me to his past.

Piecing together the story of my Father's hat was frustrating because of my Uncle's condition and the frustration was exacerbated by his practical need to have me intervene in small annoyances in his life at the nursing home, during those five minutes when he was cognizant. On one visit, after a drive in winter to the next State, i spent over an hour at the nursing home, coordinating and moving a small chest of drawers from one floor to the next so my Uncle could have a place to keep magazines. Eventually, however my Uncle, gave me the clue I was looking for to continue the search for the origins of my Father's Hat. My Uncle and told me that the hat came from Juarez Mexico, and that his Dad, [and my Father's Dad] had told them as boys that the hat had been stolen a few days after it was bought it in Juarez Mexico in July of 1898.
Cow rustlers had attacked my uncle's father and my uncle's grandfather in Juarez Mexico in July of 1898 and stolen their herd of cows,supplies and rifles and even their hats.

I found the story of the rustling attempt on the internet so there was no real reason for me to go to Juarez Mexico but on a lark I went to Juarez in person. But before I get into what I found out in person let me reproduce a newspaper clipping from the Juarez newspaper. Incidentally, the story was easy to find on the internet under hat robbery because it had won a journalism award for the reporter involved way back in 1898.


July 17, 1898
Juarez Times

Two American men , a father and son were arrested for murder today for shooting a Mexican citizen fatally with an arrow. The American men are from Texas and were in the area to buy breeding cattle. When arrested Sheriff Lunas noted that the Father and his son were near blows in a fist fight and if the Sheriff hadn't intervened he was afraid that the son who was a strapping lad of 17 might have hurt his 40 year old father.
The two Americans claim they had been robbed and rustled by a Mexican citizen and the man was killed in their attempt to regain their property, which included 20 cows, two horses, two hand sewn saddles, two Winchester rifles and one new, handmade Pino hat, made and purchased here in Juarez. Apparently the father and son were fighting over the hat when the Sheriff arrived.
The Sheriff commented that all of the gear and cattle were topnotch, but the hat was a thing of beauty to behold, and except for an arrow hole and a little blood, the Hat was one anyone would be proud to own.
end

I arrived in Juarez, in late May of 2008 and it was a very hot day when i went to the hotel washed up and headed for the site of the robbery, a location I also had found on the internet. Combining a little detective and archeology work, at the robbery site i had with the help of a local I hired as a guide, found what he thought was the exact site of the robbery. I walked the location looking carefully for physical evidence but found none. For fun, at a small tourist "museum" nearby I had bought a few arrowheads made of local flint. I also found at the museum the original story of July 17th 1898 and the second story below more evidence on the missing hat, and also evidence that the missing hat was of continuing interest to the citizens of Juarez way back in July of 1898. I pulled briers and stickers out of my my pant legs, caused by my walk through the field, site of the robbery, and read:

July 25, 1898
Juarez
by L N Martinez

The two Americans arrested initially for the murder of Juan Kilar of Juarez have been acquitted. A witness came forward who had seen Kilar steal the Americans cattle and the Father and son were released from custody yesterday.
It was a case of old fashion Mexican frontier justice said Sheriff Lunas, also of Juarez [ who will be up for re-election this October].
Lunas continued, the two Americans, father and son of Texas, had come to Juarez as they did every year to buy some of our world's finest breeding cattle and were ambushed at gunpoint by Kilar who not only took 20 cattle but their horses, guns, saddles, boots and a new Pino hat that the Dad had purchased especially for his son a few days earlier upon arrival in Juarez.
They had a twenty mile walk to town, without boots or hats and after thousands of blisters, and being sunburned badly on the way to town they found the camp of Kilar. The Father took matters into his own hands, made a homemade American Indian style bow and shot Kilar with an arrow. Kilar was in the process of raising the Father's own stolen rifle with plans to shoot the Father and then the son.

Sheriff Lunar had initially been called by Junas family of Juarez of Octavia Street on the South side a few hours after the standoff because Manuel Junas reported that two Americans were fist fighting on the outskirts of Juarez later that day. The son had said to Sheriff Lunas as he arrived that the reason for the fist fight was he objected to his Father killing the outlaw, preferring that they attempt to capture him. The son seemed confused as to why he and his Father had come to blows, said our sheriff.
Sheriff Lunas said he didn't think the boy's naivety was an American, north of the border issue, noting our youth here in Juarez can, at least based on his 24 years experience as a Sheriff, be just as gullible as the American boy seems to be.
The sheriff sadly noted in conclusion that neither Father or Son would speak to each other as they left the jail, something sheriff Lunas and this reporter think is a sad State of affairs. [end]

When I returned from Juarez, I saw my Uncle one more time before he died about a month later. He remembered one more thing-- that his Father had never worn the hat again after the arrest and it had set in his closet for over 50 years. My uncle added that his older brother, my Dad, had inherited the hat after the death of their Father. Dad apparently wore the hat for a long time, had it cleaned several times, and always kept one eye on the hat wherever he went.

I have been offered over a thousand dollars for the Pinar hat now that its age and "birthplace" have been established but as I am sure you the reader know by now I wouldn't sell it for any price. I am however, having trouble deciding which of my family to leave it to after I am gone. For now my hat keeps my head warm and is an old friend. It is my tie to a lot of my family's ancient history that I had never taken the trouble to care about before.

Like my Dad before me, wherever I go I wear my hat and always keep one eye on it when it is off my head.