The Rose of Cimarron

January 17, 2012

Last night I was killing time before Kathy got home from work and I found myself watching "The Cimarron Kid" (1952) starring Audie Murphy on the Westerns Channel. At about eight, Kathy walked in and joined me in the living room. Intrigued, she sat down to watch a bit of it with me. In addition to the Daltons and Bitter Creek Newcomb, there is a character in the film called The Rose of Cimarron. Kathy asked me if Rose is based on a real old West character.

I smiled, put the movie on pause, went out to the studio and grabbed this cover (which I found over the weekend while cleaning), came back and plopped it down in front of her.

"That depends on who you believe," I said as casually as I could.

"Should history be taught as a mode of contrarian argumentation, a communion with past Truth and Beauty, or just one f---king thing after another?"
—Alan Bennett