Incidentally, Mr. Bones, How Do You Feel?

Romantic tales of the Civil War, rich Creole history with dueling suitors, and sagas of stalwart hardscrabble farmers are woven into my Bartlett tapestry, some embroidered with less than truthful threads. Sewn slyly throughout the stories are teasing hints of real rascals; an outline only, without the full skein of colors to fill in the detail. The proverbial skeleton lurks in every generational closet and the bringing into the light of a genuine Mr. Bones can be challenging, as most family historians will attest. Lots of kinfolks would prefer he just stay tucked away in the tattered remains of dirt-covered overalls and moth-eaten Sunday-go-to-meeting hats; the airing of dirty family laundry is not popular with everyone.

Audayne Bartlett, son of Monroe Bartlett and Jessie Anderson Bartlett, was born in 1928. Monroe was my mom's uncle, her dad's oldest brother. A very handsome man, as evidenced by the old black and white photos in family scrapbooks, he doted on his children and his many nieces and nephews. His boyish good humor whispers to me from a picture taken many years ago. (See my post of 11-06-03)

Uncle Monroe died of influenza in 1932, and a week later his wife, Jessie, followed him into the grave, leaving seven-year old Idoma, and four-year old Audayne as orphans. Their Anderson grandparents took them in, as they lived just blocks from the elementary school. According to a few family members, the Anderson clan was less than wholesome. Grandmother Bartlett, Monroe's mother, was widowed and barely made enough of a living for herself, much less two small children. Broke her heart to let them go. It was not long before the Andersons relocated to New Mexico, and Grannie B did not hear from them again for several years.

Thinking of the unsavory Andersons, I can imagine all sorts of hardships that Audayne and Idoma might have endured; a sad childhood which most likely played a part in Audayne's unfortunate demise:



Corporal Richard C. Edstrom
Served May 21, 1951 to October 28, 1959

"On September 19, 1959, three fugitives from Aztec, New Mexico, crashed through a roadblock on U.S. 550 and headed into Durango. A wild chase through Durango ended when the fugitives turned down a dead-end alley. Two of the fugitives, Walter Duncan and Barbara Foster, gave up immediately, but the third fugitive, J. L. West (an alias used by Audayne Bartlett), escaped through a nearby cafe. Corporal Edstrom found West on the next street, trying to get into another car, and a gun battle erupted. During the gunfire, Edstrom was hit twice and West was hit five times. West died instantly. Edstrom was taken to Mercy Hospital in Durango, but he died from his wounds 39 days later."





Some notes I received from a Bartlett relative state that Officer Edstrom survived the shootout, but I found the above reference on the web that says otherwise. Another example of how skewed family histories can get. A poorly made photocopy of the front page of the Durango-Cortez Herald shows my second cousin, Audayne (aka J.L. West), lying faceup in the street, blood pooled around his head, with two cigar-smoking detectives crouched over him. The shootout culminated in an alley near this Durango landmark:



The Strater Hotel was originally built in 1887, and has been a fixture in Durango for many years. (Louis L'Amour always stayed in the room just above the Diamond Belle Saloon, room 222 because he said the honky-tonk music helped set his mood.)




I do not know for what crime Audayne was imprisoned in Aztec, but I might guess that it was just another entry in a long list of brushes with the law. His sister, Idoma, married Emil Bango at the age of seventeen and moved to Columbus, Ohio. I believed she used to correspond with Grannie B for many years afterwards, but I know nothing of her story, her pieced square on the Bartlett quilt. I wonder how this distant branch chronicles the misadventures of Audayne, or if they have managed to keep him from rattling too loudly.

Now, Mr. Bones, Mr. Bones, it's good to see you,
and incidentally, Mr. Bones, how do you feel?