NW: Well, that's great. Well, I don't know if everybody's had a chance to see this neat shoe that Ruth brought. . . a really interesting artifact, so it'd be great if you could tell the story that goes with that shoe.
Ruth: Up on the mountain, when I. . . I would say I was probably five years old. And ah my dad went prospecting up South Zapata Canyon—in fact, he worked a mine up there. Somebody had a mine. But he stopped at the Old Man Black's cabin, which is right above Zapata Falls, at the first creek crossing, when you cross the creek to the south. There was a black man lived there. And we called him Old Man Black, I don't know what his name was. But he was very ah. . . a loner, he didn't fraternize with people at all. Ah. . . but anyway, my dad stopped at his. . . at his old place. He disappeared a long time before this. Because he used to take gold dust to the grocery store, once a year, to buy provisions, and so of course everybody thought he had a gold mine up there, and ah. . . ah. . . were trying to find out where his mine was. And some of the soldiers from the fort, up above Fort Garland, had some time off and decided to go up there and find the Old Man Black's mine. Well, the Old Man Black disappeared, and the soldiers were never accused of doing away with him, but everyone was sure that they had. But anyway. . . this was several years later. Dad went up there, and was kind of poking around the old man's cabin. And found this shoe.
Unknown man: Show the. . .
NW: Yeah. Could you describe it, Ruth?
Ruth: Well, they said it was a confederate soldier's shoe—the top part. But apparently, the sole wore out, and the old man having nothing to sole his shoe with, cut it from. . . pine, spruce actually. And ah. . . we've had that in the family ever since. So. . .