In Search of Who We've Been - Day of the Dead

Dan Layton at Archie's grave.

My father usually visits his father's grave every November 3, alone, but this birthday he wanted company. He's not as sure on his feet, and he nearly tripped walking to the tree near the grave. His expressions and the way he walks reminds me very much of my three-year-old nephew. I suppose the old saying is true: Once a man, twice a boy.

James Archie Layton 122th Nov. 3, 2010 birthday remembrance.

It was the 122th birthday remembrance of my father's father yesterday. My grandfather was a character. I remember him as an old man with a predilection for wine and singing bawdy songs.

Daniel Layton at Richard Layton's grave.

My father visiting his good friend and cousin's grave. Dick passed just recently after a year-long struggle with pneumonia and a plethora of ailments following back surgery. I always loved to see his new stack of books. My father called him an "egg-head" and "the professor" even though he taught high school. I wonder why he didn't teach at a university, where his intellect and bent were better suited. He spoke three languages, and wrote for Humanist journals.

William Clyde Layton.

William died in France, in transit to the front. He was on a troop train that was compromised by a German pulling a switch and sending another train head on into it. He was twenty-one when metal pierced his throat. He'd been married for one month. I've written his imagined life before and after his death, in a connected series of stories.

Levi Roberts.

Levi Roberts came west with the Mormon Pioneers and settled near KaysCreek, on Shoshone ground. He eventually built a cabin. From what I know of him, he was a bodyguard to Joseph Smith, the Mormon's first prophet. You should know Smith was shot dead in Carthage Jail, but I don't know if Levi was there or not, and even if he were, he would have been a target of the mob, and wouldn't have been allowed a gun. What I do know for certain, is that he settled next to the creek because of the abundance of reeds. Levi was a basket weaver and the lane is now called Weaver's Lane. His cabin was relocated to the This is The Place historic park.

Mary and Henry Roberts.

It's more than a little ironic that these two have to spend the rest of time next to each other, since in life they loathed each other, so much so, that after years of beatings and the rest that goes with living with a small man, Mary obtained a divorce, rare for that time. But, some ex spouses just don't get the hint. Henry persisted in his small ways, until Mary took a knife and ended him. My Uncle Snowden, who was five at the time, found him dead outside his cabin, next to the creek. And no, Mary was never accused, nor stood trial. The community knew the kind of man Henry was, so the official story was that a drifter jumped the train and killed Henry for the gold rumored to be buried on his land. The drifter escaped, not that anyone ever looked for him.