Dad’s Buddy

John Pilati, a buddy of Gaspare LaRosa in Aguilar, has shared with me many stories about their lives as young boys. I was put in touch with John by his nephew who responded to my internet genealogy message board request for information about LaRosas in Aguilar, CO. John wrote many letters to me with stories about his and my Dad’s capers in the rough Spanish Peaks, which they attempted to climb. The mountains were full of mystery and adventure for the young boys. John told me the same story that Dad told about the Spanish Penitentes, religious folks who beat themselves with nail-studded clubs and wore haircloth shirts as penance during Holy Week at the nearby mud church. While visiting Aguilar about five years ago, I actually saw the stone footers, all that remain of the church from that story.

Dad had frequently told stories about the “mudville” where he lived. John acknowledged that roads in and around Aguilar were indeed nothing but mud. John’s job as a youngster was to clean up the mud tracked into his parent’s meat market.