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Tag: Frieda Lawrence
Visiting the DH Lawrence Ranch in New Mexico
*Note that this article was originally written in April 1998
Saturday Morning: The Paintings
“Personally, I don’t know how that H.G. Lawrence guy ever made any money”, said Robert, our driver, as he dropped Donna and me off at our accommodation in Taos. Donna, the traitor, agreed with him. We were spending a week of our U.S. vacation in New Mexico and, as we were unwilling to drive in America, we had hired Robert and his company to drive us from hotel to hotel and to take us on various tours. One of the tours, the following Sunday, was to include a trip to the D.H. Lawrence Ranch – so long as it didn’t snow, Robert warned, as that might make it impossible to get up to the Ranch. However, it was a lovely warm Friday afternoon in Taos and I couldn’t imagine it snowing.
The following morning, Donna and I went to explore Taos Plaza, which was only a 10 minute walk away from El Pueblo Lodge, the Bed & Breakfast we were staying at. Donna, who had seemed intent on buying up most of the silver jewelry produced by the Native Americans in Santa Fe, where we’d spent a couple of nights, now seemed equally determined to buy up most of Taos. “John, we just HAVE to go into this store,” she said about a dozen times before we finally reached the La Fonda Hotel at the other side of the Plaza.
I truly don’t know how I restrained myself – even though I didn’t really think Lawrence was much of a painter, I very much wanted to see the small exhibition of his paintings in the La Fonda. Donna, who hates, loathes and despises Lawrence, didn’t want to see them and continued shopping nearby, as I went into the hotel alone, paid my $2.00 admission fee, and was shown into the room where the paintings were hung. I stayed there for about 25 minutes, having the place all to myself, and was won over a little bit by some of the paintings, especially by ‘A Holy Family’. Altogether, there are nine paintings by Lawrence on exhibition, all signed ‘Lorenzo’, along with a small, telling portrait of him by Knud Merrild. There are also a number of framed documents and newspaper articles relating to the paintings, which make fascinating reading. I’m glad I saw the paintings; I came away liking them a bit more than I had done previously.
Sunday morning: The Mabel Dodge Luhan house
Came Sunday morning, and so did the snow; actually, it had come overnight and it was still snowing heavily. Robert phoned at 9 a.m. – our tour was cancelled as part of the route might well be impassable. I could have wept. We would only be in Taos for one more day, and if we couldn’t get to see the Lawrence Ranch then, I might never get the chance to see it again. Lawrence is the writer who has made the deepest impression on me of all those I’ve read, and it meant a great deal to me go to the place where he had lived and written some of his most powerful stories. Monday would be my last opportunity.
Despite the snow, Donna and I decided to walk to the Mabel Dodge Luhan house, which was only about 25 minutes away. It was, of course, Mabel Dodge Luhan who gave Frieda Lawrence the Kiowa ranch; in return for which she was later given the manuscript of Sons and Lovers. A very friendly black dog followed us along the road to house, which is now run as bed & breakfast accommodation. At first, we thought we wouldn’t be allowed in as there was a notice on the door saying that a wedding party was in progress and so no-one could enter – but fortunately, the last of the wedding guests were just leaving as we arrived.
When we entered, we were welcomed by a very friendly and chatty woman who was in charge. She herself was planning to get married in the Mabel Dodge Luhan house in a few months time. To my disappointment, she told us that they didn’t show the bathroom windows that Lawrence painted anymore. But as I was a Lawrence fan, she relented after a few minutes and led us upstairs to see them. The bathroom itelf is quite small. Some of the paintings on the windows are currently being restored; the rest of them have already been restored and are bright and colourful. I thought they were wonderful, and I felt priviliged and delighted to see them.
After a little while, we came back downstairs and wandered through the various rooms that are open to the public. Donna thought it was a lovely place, despite it’s DHL connection. I, too, thought it was very nice. It’s certainly a beautiful place in which to have a wedding.
Deciding to brave the snow again, we thanked the woman in charge for her kindness in showing us the bathroom windows and for letting us look around. She told us that outside and to the right was the house that Lawrence himself had stayed in, but that it was now private property.
On the way back, we stopped in at the Taos Bookstore, which boasts a very friendly cat and a very good selection of Lawrence related books. As the cat jumped up onto Donna’s shoulders, I bought a book on the three versions of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. My ‘best buy’ had actually been a few days earlier in Santa Fe, where I’d picked up a lovely 3 volume set of Edward Nehls’ ‘D.H. Lawrence: A Composite Biography’.
Monday morning: The Shrine
On Monday morning Robert phoned. The tour was on. We were going to the Rio Grande Gorge, the Lawrence Ranch and to drive along the ‘Enchanted Circle’ route. Whether or not we actually made it to the ranch still depended on how snowy the road was that led up to it. Shortly afterwards, Kyle, one of Robert’s drivers, showed up. Kyle turned out to be a psychic/healer in addition to being a driver. We also discovered that this would be the first time he’d ever taken anyone on a tour. We really liked Kyle: he was a great guy -very friendly and easy to get on with.
After a brief stop at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, we headed for the ranch. To my relief, the roads were free of snow but the ranch was at a higher altitude and the unsurfaced road that led up to it might well have snow on it. For the most part, though, it didn’t – except near the top, as we approached our destination. Our little bus skidded a bit in the snow and the wheels spun uselessly occasionally but, thanks to Kyle, we made it – and just in time, for they were apparently about to close the road.
As Kyle parked, we saw a woman walking towards us with a dog. She seemed to be in charge of the place. Kyle jumped out and went to have a word with her. When he returned, he suggested that we’d better not wait too long, so, as he turned the bus, Donna and I walked up through the snow to the Lawrence shrine. On either side of us stood immense snow covered pine trees. The snow lent the place an air of extraordinary beauty. The shrine, which may or may not contain Lawrence’s ashes, is a small white building. As Lawrence Brown says in his account of his own visit to the ranch, it is reminiscent of a little roadside chapel.
Frieda’s tombstone is just outside the building, to the left of the entrance. Inscribed on it are the words: “In memory of twenty five years of incomparable companionship – Angie”.
We entered the shrine (or ‘shed’ as Donna insisted on calling it) and saw the memorial block at the back, which has some yellow flowers and green leaves painted on it, and has the initials ‘DHL’ carved on the front. Feeling a little bit rushed, I snapped some photos as Donna went outside to take some more pictures of the breathtaking scenery.
Monday Morning: The cabin
I was delighted to see the shrine, but more than anything I wanted to see the house where Lawrence and Frieda had actually lived. So I descended the slope and joined Donna, Kyle and the woman we’d seen. She offered to answer any questions I might have, so I asked where the ranch building was that Lawrence had stayed in. ‘There is no ranch,’ she said. ‘He just called it that to make himself feel big.’ She also called it a ‘freebie’. ‘Well, which building did he stay in while he lived here?’ I persisted. She indicated a building farther up, on the right. Somewhat surprised at the way in which she’d spoken, I walked up to see the house.
All the time, a large black dog named Montana barked ferociously in the compound next to us. As I walked past one of the buildings, Montana’s head suddenly poked through the snow-covered roof and he barked wildly at me. Needless to say, I almost collapsed as everyone behind me laughed their merry little heads off. Luckily, the dog couldn’t get out.
And so at last I stood next to the immense pine tree that Georgia O’Keeffe had painted, in front of the house that Lawrence and Frieda had lived in, at the ranch in exchange for which Mabel Dodge Luhan had been given the manuscript of one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. It was a wonderful feeling. When I’d seen ‘Priest of Love’ many years ago – the movie version of Harry T. Moore’s fascinating biography, which was partly filmed at the ranch – I’d never dreamed that one day I would really see the place for myself. I sat on the snow-covered bench next to the tree for a few moments, amazed that I was actually there. Feeling that perhaps I’d better not wait too long, I got up and photographed the tree and the house, and looked through the windows. Then, after lingering for a few more moments, I turned reluctantly away and went down to join Donna and the others.
Later, I asked Donna what she and the woman had been talking about. ‘I told her that I don’t like Lawrence,’ she said. ‘She doesn’t like him either.’
As we drove away, I felt that my visit to the Lawrence ranch hadn’t exactly been welcomed, and that spoiled the experience for me a little – but only a little. Overall, the experience was immensely satisfying.
Donna and I are still together, incidentally. Despite her treachery, she’s pretty wonderful really. Italy next year, Donna?
Update: Just to add, this was written in 1998 and Donna and I are no longer together – we broke up a few years later. I’m now with a lovely lady called Gwyneth and we’ve already been on some wonderful literary adventures, with many more to come.
Notes:
1. The DH Lawrence Ranch was bequeathed to the University of New Mexico by Frieda following her death in 1956. For further information about it, see the University’s DH Lawrence Ranch Initiatives website at:
https://dhlawrenceranch.unm.edu/d.h.-lawrence-ranch/index.html
2. The Mabel Dodge Luhan house is now an Historic Inn and retreat style Conference Centre with a number of rooms that can be stayed in on a bed and breakfast basis. For further information see the house’s website at:
https://www.mabeldodgeluhan.com/
3. For a fascinating account of DH Lawrence’s time in Taos, New Mexico see the memoir ‘Lorenzo in Taos’ by Mabel Dodge Luhan herself.
4. For a history of the Mabel Dodge Luhan house, see ‘Utopian Vistas: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House and the American Counterculture’ by Lois Palken Rudnick.
5. Lois Rudnick has also written a biography of Mabel Dodge Luhan called ‘Mabel Dodge Luhan: New Woman, New Worlds’
6. DH Lawrence wrote a marvellous book of essays about his experiences in New Mexico called ‘Mornings in New Mexico’
7. For further information about Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting of The Lawrence Tree see this entry in Wikipedia:
The Literary Tourist 