< PREVIOUS ] [ 1989 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Historical claims are always interesting, even if they come with complications. For instance, which is the oldest ski area in the state: Winter Park, Timberline (nee Berthoud Pass), or Monarch? I've seen claims for all three, but it would appear that only one can be the oldest.
Or is San Luis really the oldest town in the state? Some historians claim that nearby settlements like San Francisco and San Pablo were established shortly before San Luis. It could be argued that Bent's Fort and environs have been more or less continually inhabited since 1833. And what of Mesa Verde, occupied a millennium ago? You run into some slippery problems with definitions.
Anyway, the beleaguered furriers of Colorado have
launched a public-relations campaign which announces The
Colorado Fur Industry -- Our state's oldest
business.
I like the idea of appealing to tradition, but I don't think it's going to work.
The anti-fur zealots are the same kind of maniacs as the anti-smoking crowd, and the tobacco industry can afford some public-relations powerhouses. If the historic approach worked, then the Tobacco Institute would have already used it, perhaps like this:
George Washington grew and used tobacco. So did
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and many of the others
who fought for and defined our American freedoms, in a
struggle financed by tobacco interests. Without tobacco,
there wouldn't be an America.
And as a wholesome patriot, you'd ignite and enjoy long, dark stogies in elevators and on airplanes. Since that is not the case, the furriers must be taking the wrong tack when they appeal to history and tradition.
They might instead run folksy human-interest ads:
Little Jim-Bob Joad's family will be able to eat this
winter. Pa got laid up when his chainsaw got loose on him
last fall, and the larder got mighty scant. But it turned
out that Jim-Bob, just 11 years old, could help his kin by
running a trap line. His first week's muskrats brought in
enough for a hundred-weight of pintos, and now they're
eating regular, without no food stamps, welfare or other
creeping socialism. Furs -- self-support for rural
America.
Or they could go after the excesses of the animal-rights
activists, while claiming a certain moral high ground:
Some folks don't think we should use animals. They'll
tell you that you can't buy furs in Aspen so as to protect
the animals -- but how many elk had to find new homes on
account of those ski runs? They'll tell you what kind of
footwear is best -- but what do you want on your feet: good
organic leather, or some laboratory concoction which has
never been tested for carcinogenicity? How should you best
battle the blasts of Boreas? With polyester fabricated from
imported petroleum, or with warm American fur?
The other problem with the announcement that furs are
our state's oldest business
is that it's very likely
wrong. The Arapahoe and Cheyenne didn't arrive until 1720;
the Utes were here long before that, but you can't really
call anything that they did with furs business,
which is a European concept.
The first European who may have visited was Coronado in
1541. He came because a captive Indian, called the
Turk,
had assured him that the Seven Cities of Cibolla,
where the streets were paved with gold, lay ahead somewhere
out on the Great Plains.
Of course the Turk was lying, in the hope of deriving a personal profit. His tales attracted wealthy tourists who were interested in acquiring Colorado real estate.
That was long before anyone ever sold a pelt in Colorado, so our oldest business consists of creating and promoting delusions in the hope of getting out with a quick buck. The furriers had better try again.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 1989 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >