[The feedback I’m getting suggests that I should warn readers that the following article may be painful or disturbing, especially if you have lost or are threatened with the loss of a child. I chose it because it is so direct and candid, and because it memorializes the short life of a boy who otherwise would be invisible to our history. Do brace yourself, though, before reading it.]

These extracts from the 1884-85 diary of Lafayette Guymon have been selected and edited by his daughter Lucy.

Mancos, Colorado, Sept. 30, 1884

I believe I’ll try and keep a journal. Wish I’d kept one for many years past, but now I’ll try and record things as they happen to us.

My little Heber boy who is eleven years old does not act right. Phebe noticed it first. He eats well but acts so tired and, after I notice, he is pale.

Continue reading Lafayette Guymon: “I’ll Let God Keep the Records” →