Marian L Lunt’s book, Heaton Lunt of Colonia Pacheco, was a lot of fun to read.  The biography was written from audiotapes recorded by her father-in-law, Heaton Lunt, I don’t think that Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey could have written better stories than the life Heaton lived.  It is like a Hollywood screenwriter had John Wayne or Clint Eastwood in mind as he created a script filled with banditos, hermits, army scouts, wild animals, and gunplay.

Marty Robbins must have been singing about Heaton in his western gunfighter ballads.  Heaton even uses the words outlaw when referring to an extra ornery horse that needed to be “broke” and mentions riding underneath a hanging tree where the nooses were meant for he and his compadres.  I was hoping he would use the word iron when referring to the six-shooter he smuggled back into Mexico, but I guess that would have been too Hollywood.

This is one of those books that you don’t mind staying up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning reading (I did). Even the next day while you are dragging because of lack of sleep, you can’t wait to stay up until the wee hours of the morning again to finish it.

Although the book starts out with great stories of adventure, it wasn’t until near the end of the narrative that I realized just how Heaton was able to live through these ordeals—his positive attitude and outlook on life. Heaton had a great attitude.  Here’s an example:  I remember people describing how hard it was, during that Depression.  Many a time I’ve told people, when they were bellyaching about what a hard time they were having, I used to say, “I don’t think it’s so hard; my kids are just as fat now as they were in the good times.  It must not have hurt them.”

He goes on to say:

The Depression…as bad as it was, we make it sound worse that it really was.  I think it was a good lesson for the country in general.  It’s getting about time for another lesson.  They’re getting so ungrateful, so wasteful.  To me, I can’t pity people who holler about hard times when they’ve been wading through such good times  (pg 420)     

Heaton remarks are straightforward and honest.  He shows humility while staying self-confident in his perspectives and abilities.  He shows us extreme clarity when he said, “Well, it’s like I believe, lots of times, success is management, and we managed.” This is sage advice for our day as we deal with trials we face in our lives.

You’ve heard people say that we need wilderness to remind us that there are still wild places and wild things in the world; well, we need to remember that there really were men like Heaton Lunt who overcame tremendous adversity and dangerous situations.

Heaton Lunt was a man’s man who lived a life full of adventure, but was faithful to his Latter-Day Saint tenants to the end.   It’s good to know that these kind of really existed and their lives were much more exciting than even Hollywood can contrive.

It is stories of people like Heaton Lunt that made me want to start Las Colonias magazine.  We need to keep these stories alive and in our collective conscious. These stories need to be saved and shared with future generations. Click on the link below to purchase the book through Amazon

Heaton Lunt book