Just about my age
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
Today, the local police reported that a fellow with my same name, and just about my age, had been killed down in the 400 block of St. Vrain Street, in Colorado Springs.
"Some
grandfathers told the story of the great grizzly bear, who captured the
Great Spirit Manitou's daughter and forced her to marry him. They had
many children, who became the Ute Nation after the Great Spirit took his
grandchildren back. To punish the grizzly, Manitou forced it to walk on
four feet instead of two.
It
is true that the Ute's venerated the grizzly bear above all others and
celebrate the arrival of spring by having a great feast, and performing
the Bear Dance, which shows the great bear coming out of hibernation and
this announcing the arrival of spring, a time of rebirth."
__ from The Boy Who Slept With Bears, A Southern Ute Story, by George R. Douthit, III
Just so you know, this is NOT me.
A different Robert Carrigan.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION RELEASE #1511-005
NEWS RELEASE: COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, November 5, 2015, 2:00PM {Release at Will}
The El Paso County Coroner’s Office has completed the autopsy on the
deceased male. He has been identified as Robert Joseph Carrigan, a 54
year old male from Colorado Springs. The cause of Mr. Carrigan’s death
was determined to be a gunshot wound. His manner of death is a homicide.
This CSPD Violent Crimes – Homicide Unit is continuing this
investigation while maintaining close contact with the 4th Judicial
District Attorney’s Office. As such, the name of the homeowner will not
be released at this time.
NOTE TO MEDIA: All updates will ONLY come from the Public Affairs Unit when available.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 2:00AM {Release at Will}
On Tuesday, November 3, 2015, at 9:59PM officers from the Gold Hill
Division received an initial call for service of a burglary in progress
in the 400 block of West St. Vrain Street. During the response the call
was upgraded to a shots fired call for service.
Officers arrived and located an adult male who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.
There are no additional safety concerns for the community at this time.
Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit are conducting the
investigation. They have contacted all of the individuals known to be
associated with this investigation.
NOTE TO MEDIA: All updates will ONLY come from the Public Affairs Unit when available.
###
UPDATE: DEATH INVESTIGATION
400 BLOCK OF WEST ST. VRAIN STREET
"A recorder of what has been done is equal to the greatest hunter, the
bravest warrior, or even the holy man," he said. "To be such a
historian, such a recorder, you must learn to see all things, know how
they look, and how they are done. You must see that the young colt swims
on the downstream side of the mother, behind the wall of her body, and
that the wind does not always push arrows of the just. As the hills of
one's youth are mountains, and the hunts all seem fat after the meat is
long eaten, so memory makes every man the bravest in his long-ago
encounters, and the enemies faced in battle become very many as the
warrior days retreat. The picture is the rope that ties memory solidly
to the stake of the truth."
__ Picture Maker, member of the Lakota Nation from The Story Catcher, by Mary Sandoz.
From Robert Joseph Carrigan's Obituary IN THE CARE OF Chapel of Memories:
Bob was born to Ed and Rosemary Carrigan in Aug 5, 1961 in Colorado Springs, CO. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Helen Elizabeth, who died at birth. Bob’s remaining brothers and sisters are: Edward Michael Carrigan of Colorado Springs, Ritamarie Smith of Lakewood, CO, John Patrick Carrigan of Colorado Springs, Rosemary Ann Brunell of Coos Bay, OR, Annmarie Copeland of Omaha, NE, Jeanmarie Elliot of Colorado Springs, Teresamarie Easton of Monument, CO, and PaulFrancis Carrigan of Olathe, KS. He was briefly married to Deborah Smith of Nixa, MO. He left behind a legacy in his beloved partner and pet, Rocco
Bob battled many demons in his life, resulting in his violent and underserved death. Although he faced many challenges in his life, we will remember him as a kind, loving, and gentle man. He will no longer suffer from the pain and sorrow that haunted him throughout much of his life.Things like this have happened in the past
From The Public Ledger, Maysville, Kentucky,
It has been difficult at times. Just this week, I lost a friend, and
fellow story teller. They don't always give us enough yarn to stretch
out into a long, comfortable tale with a happy ending.
The bear lives in a mean environment. Over time, he is witness to things
that aren't fair. The truth is painful. Winter is coming. You can't
effectively train bears to dance, without taking some risks.
In general, the story of some of my bear friends has brought to me, great sadness.
There is a little hill called tqnts'i'se ko just across the Mancos
Canyon, which used to be a house. It was the home of 12 brothers. The
brothers were great hunters and hunted all over the mesas. They had one
sister. The girl grew to be a beautiful maiden, and the holy men came
from far and wide to ask her to marry them. The maiden's name was
Ataed' diy ini. When her brothers were away hunting she stayed at home
alone. Now the Coyote came to the brothers and called out
"Brother-in-law." He wanted this maiden to become his wife. Ataed' diy
ini told him "No," for only the one who killed the giant would become
her husband. The Coyote sat there with his head down for a moment, then
he said "Very well." He left her and went to the home of the giant. -
Coyote tricks the giant into a sweathouse where he tricks him into
sawing off his leg in order to gain swiftness and strength. - He tried
to make them grow together. But the Coyote grabbed the giant's severed
leg and ran away with it, saying "I never heard of a bone growing
together in a day." The Coyote took the giants's leg to the maiden and
told her that he had killed the giant. But the maiden said that before
she would marry him she would have to kill him; and if he could return
to life, then he could be her husband.
The Coyote hung his head and covered his eyes with his hand for a
moment. "Very well," he said, and he went away. - Coyote hides his
vitals in mountains and wind, thereafter the maiden kills him four
times altogether. - but after a little while the Coyote came in and said
"Now are you my wife?" The maiden asked him how he could do these
things. He told her that after she became his wife he would show her
his magic. He became her husband and she became his wife. Then he
took her to the east and showed her the mountain and the tunnel that
he had made. And he took her to the south, and west, and north. She
learned to do what the Coyote had done. He taught her his ways. -
After this her brothers return and notice that she "is not the same,"
whereupon they deal with their new brother-in-law by moving out.
They go out hunting and Coyote joins them despite the rejection of
his new in-laws. He invites himself into trouble which causes him
his death at the hands of the Swallow people. The maiden upon the
brothers return without her husband, accuses them of killing him,
despite their denials. She tracks him and finds his remains. - After
the woman left her brothers to go look for the Coyote the eldest
brother said "Listen now to my words our sister is about to do
something still more evil." When the woman returned to the house she
told her brothers that the people in the canyon had killed her
husband. She would not sit down in the home. She prepared herself to go
against the cliff people. First, she took her sewing awls and
sharpened them; then she hid her heart and lungs as the Coyote had
taught her, and turned herself into a great bear with sharp teeth and
claws, and she went forth against the people of the canyon. - Her
war with the Swallow of cliff people cost them many lives but did not
harm her. - Always when she returned to her brothers she was in her
woman form. But her name was now Esdza' shash nadle, the Woman who
Became a Bear. - Her violence turned from hatred to a bloody rage as
she now killed during the daytime, whereas she had only killed at
night. Her brothers fearing reprisals too, hid the youngest brother
in their dwelling.
After returning home the Bear Woman divined their location, and
catching up with her brothers killed them all save the last. She saw the
youngest was missing so she divined again to locate him beneath the
ashes of her brother's dwelling. She tries to kill him while grooming
him but the wind warns him in to be wary and helps thwart her
deception. - Now the boy watched her shadow, and each time that he
caught her changing into the bear form he turned and looked at her
and she became a woman. After the fourth time he had his muscles set,
and jumped away from her. Sure enough she grabbed his belt; but the
tie was loosened and he escaped. She was near him when he reached the
cactus. He jumped over it; she ran around it. The second time she was
near him he jumped over the yucca; the third time he jumped over the
fallen log; and the fourth time, over the great boulder. Then her
heart became nervous, and the chipmunk who was guarding it screamed.
The heart and the lungs were beating up and down just ahead of the
boy. They were covered with oak leaves. The Bear Woman cried out "Oh,
brother, brother, stop! There are my heart and lungs. There is my
life." Now when the boy saw the leaves beating up and down in fright
he jumped over them, and he shot his arrow into them. The Bear Woman
fell, and the blood gushed out of her mouth and nostrils. The boy
returned near her, and the little breeze told him to stop the blood.
It must not flow, for if it met the blood from her heart she would
become whole again. So the boy pulled the Bear Woman's carcass away. ...
After these things happened many
people planned to leave the mesas. They were afraid of the Woman who
become a bear. They buried the Calendar Stone; they wrapped their
dead; and leaving their belongings, they went away. But before they
left they drew pictures on the rocks of all the things that trouble
came from.
___ The Dine' Origin Myths of the Navajo Indians; 1956, Aileen O'Bryan.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) A jury in Colorado Springs has acquitted a U.S. Army Green Beret who shot and killed an intruder in his detached garage.
The Gazette reported jurors found 35-year-old Michael Joseph Galvin not guilty Monday of negligent homicide in the November 2015 death of Robert Carrigan.
Galvin was charged after an autopsy showed that Carrigan was shot three times in the back.
Attorneys sparred over whether Galvin's actions were justified under a Colorado law that protects homeowners who use deadly force against intruders they fear could harm them.
Prosecutors say Galvin confronted Carrigan at night inside the garage. The defense argued that Carrigan lunged for Galvin's pistol before the shooting, and that Galvin was protecting his family.
Michael J. Galvin, 35, was found Not Guilty of the sole count against him in the Nov. 3, 2015 death of Robert Carrigan, who authorities say was shot three times in the back, allegedly as he tried to escape through the garage door.
After a two-week trial, a seven woman, five-man jury rejected the charge after roughly a half day of deliberations
"The jury worked very hard in this case, and we're grateful that the jury got it right," said one of Galvin's attorneys, Julia Stancil.
During trial, Galvin's attorneys highlighted Galvin's military training in arguing that he knew how to identify a deadly threat. They argued that evidence showed Carrigan "lunged" for Galvin's pistol in the dark, forcing the homeowner to defend himself. They also accused the prosecution of mischaracterizing autopsy findings to support their theory that Carrigan was shot in the back.
Galvin, 35, serves at Fort Carson as a communications sergeant and Arabic language expert. He has been a member of the Army Special Forces for 12 years. The Associated Press reported June 28, 2017.
But hind sight gets better as time goes on. As we approached 2020 and beyond — then moved on.
The bear puts on weight for the expected long winter. Cranky and prone
to growls, yes. Hairy, smelly and awkward, yes. But easier to live with
than a snake or coyote. And more entertaining, if you don't try to make
him dance.
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