When back and hip ailments made climbing the stairs too painful, the kitchen and living room became Thompson's writing salons. Last week, I bummed a ride from Aspen to Woody Creek. And I was standing about 10 feet away from him, with the alley-sweeper. http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/index.... http://voices.yahoo.com/the-celebratory-suicide-fireworks-funeral-gonzo-356924.html?cat=49, http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/02/remembering-hunter-s-thompson-the-writer-not-the-c.html, http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com/index.php?id=1,26,0,0,1,0/. All rights reserved. Offer subject to change without notice. in American studies in 2009 and returned home intent on preserving her husband's legacy. Two years later, he died in the kitchen after shooting himself in the head. And fans of Fear and Loathing may be disappointed to learn there will be no on-site dispensary. .......and skid into the afterlife in a cloud of smoke is exactly what eccentric cult journalist and outspoken hell raiser Hunter S. Thompson did. Thirteen years ago, she decided to quit drinking (previously, she says, she had been keeping up with Hunter) and getting high to take care of her husband, whose health was deteriorating. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Denver (rpo). Venture with us into the Colorado desert to unearth the mysteries of the prehistoric beasts that once roamed this very same ground. As serious as Thompson was about the campaign, that didn’t stop him having fun. According to the Aspen Daily News, Thompson asked her to come home to help him write his ESPN column, then set the receiver on the counter. The walls are still plastered with photos of him and "Thompson for Sheriff" posters from the 1970 Aspen election. Hunter S. Thompson prized his peacocks. The site of a defunct mill, that once supplied marble for the construction of the Lincoln Memorial. The rooms are jammed with books, art, vinyl albums, memorabilia and Hunter's words—his handwritten notes are everywhere. A year after the memorial service, she left Woody Creek for New York City, where she attended Columbia University. Hunter's fabled red shark convertible is in the garage. “All I’m … Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). He wasn't the only freeloader on the ranch. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. No purchase necessary. Former managers for the actor Johnny Depp have alleged he spent $3m firing the late author Hunter S Thompson’s ashes from a cannon. (He wanted to change the name of the town to "Fat City," but he lost by 31 votes. Thompson used to perch by an open window in his "catbird seat" and fire into the air when anyone crossed the property line. Thompson, who had been suffering a number of painful health ailments and was confined to a wheelchair at the time of his death, had been courting his demise for years. Though she drinks an occasional martini with friends, she doesn't smoke pot, which is now legal in Colorado. Thompson's original manuscripts will not be on display. Silver in the hills led to the speedy creation of this boom town and a lack of it saw the town abandoned nearly as quickly. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. © 2020 Atlas Obscura. Cemetery featuring rare glass-fronted columbarium. He and his second wife, Anita, honeymooned there in 2003. He raised his son, Juan, there. What a Ride!” ― Hunter S. Thompson. Around the same time, he wrote two letters to Paul Krassner at The Realist about the "flower-power creeps" who showed up "with all kinds of drugs.". The woods within the Aspen and Snowmass ski areas have a tradition of becoming home to shrines for celebrities and locals alike. Thompson, Brinkley wrote, pulled out a .45 and "in assembly-line fashion he had them—one by one—prop their personal copies of Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, Songs of the Doomed, et al., against a tree and then blasted bullet holes through the text.". After 67 years of brilliance, madness, and rabble-rousing, the father of Gonzo journalism ended the ride with a single shot from a .45 while sitting in front of his typewriter. His son Juan, daughter-in-law Jennifer, and grandson were visiting for the weekend. Tambourine Man” jangled dolefully in the background. "The cats were Hunter's babies," Anita says. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. It got pretty weird at the farm, judging by a game of shoot-and-putt he played with the local sheriff: "He had my Ping Beryllium 9-iron, and I had his shotgun, and about 100 yards away, we had a linoleum green and a flag set up. To this day, Anita says Hunter hajjis still sneak onto Owl Farm. Though Anita says she always intended to turn Owl Farm into a museum, until recently she didn't even consider the possibility of showcasing her late husband's belongings. Hunter Stockton Thompson grew up on Ransdell Avenue near Cherokee Triangle, at the edge of the Olmsted-designed park of the same name. The shrine is updated every year on President’s Day, and is a mishmash of photos, relevant articles, and the usual things you’d find at a memorial site, peppered in with more specifically Thompson-esque items – bullet shells, mannequin arms and booze bottles hung from the tree branches. In August of 2005, that’s exactly what happened. At 5:42 pm on February 20, 2005, Thompson died from a self-inflictedgunshot wound to the head at Owl Farm, his "fortified compound" in Woody Creek, Colorado. His wife Anita, who was at the Aspen Club, was on the phone with him as he cocked the gun. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. But the sky didn't fill up with what looked like huge bats (to my great disappointment). He blew up a Jeep Wagoneer there after packing it with dynamite and dousing it with gasoline. Next year, she hopes to open the place to the public as a part-time museum. After prominent gonzo journalist and long-time resident of Woody Creek, Hunter S. Thompson took his own life, his followers erected a shrine to his memory in the woods of the Snowmass ski area by Aspen, Colorado. Hunter S. Thompson lights a cigarette in archival footage. Doctor Gonzo at home with his wife, Anita. Hunter S. Thompson photographed at home on Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colorado, circa July 1983. The descendants of those birds are alive and well and living at Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colorado, the homestead where Dr. Gonzo wrote while chain-smoking Dunhills through gold-tipped cigarette holders. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Am 20. And my objective was to blow his ball off course, like a clay pigeon. Anita will fix you the same breakfast she always made for Hunter at 2 in the afternoon: grapefruit, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee, and fresh fruit suspended in Jell-O, with gin and Grand Marnier drizzled on top. A 153-ft tower in the shape of Thompson’s iconic fist was fitted with a cannon, and in a private ceremony, his ashes were launched into the Colorado sky along with a … Anita recently sent 800 boxes of Hunter's writings to Depp, who "soon, with proper encouragement, will open those archives to scholars and Ph.D. students," she says. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. The shrine is located near the Gunner's View run at Snowmass. "Hunter had a beautiful relationship with his readers," she says, "but he shot at anybody who tried to trespass. Visitors will be shown the barn, which houses a green Cadillac (Anita notes that the vehicle "still technically belongs to April and Lyle Lovett") and an airplane simulator. Er habe nicht aus Verzweiflung gehandelt, sondern zum richtigen Zeitpunkt abtreten wollen. A burial ground of rusting metal grave markers. What are these goddamn animals?". Then he used it for target practice for hours at a time. 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An exact replica of the infamous "War Room" (featuring a taxidermied bat, IV bags on a pole and a Richard Nixon mask) appeared in Where the Buffalo Roam, the 1980 film in which Bill Murray played the "legendary outlaw journalist." No souvenir shop, so don't get your hopes up for a Steadman coffee cup. Anita said she mistook the coc… "I'm only barely smarter than my smartphone," she says. Winner will be selected at random on 12/01/2020. See why nearly a quarter of a million subscribers begin their day with the Starting 5. ", More attractions await his fans in town, most notably Hunter's favorite haunt, the Woody Creek Tavern. To continue reading login or create an account. So much so that the late, lamented author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas once shot a maimed fox that … I wanted to talk to Anita, who still calls Owl Farm home. "I like to keep it that way.". Whaaaa-reuuuuh-whaa-wha-wha-wha. A year after his death, a small group of friends and admirers created a shrine for Thompson in the Snowmass ski area, near his home in Woody Creek. The house is a two-story log cabin, with "many, many rooms," says Anita. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our cookie policy. A 153-ft tower in the shape of Thompson’s iconic fist was fitted with a cannon, and in a private ceremony, his ashes were launched into the Colorado sky along with a fireworks display while Bob Dylan’s “Mr. "With fireworks," she recalls. Hard-core Thompson fans may be disappointed to learn that their hero's basement office is no longer an office. The group, who call themselves “GLUM”, standing for “Glorious Leaders of the Underground Movement”, have built a bench and devoted several trees to remembering the fallen anti-hero. "A specific count is not advisable, as Hunter had some of them built off the grid." "After a year of living like that, I knew I needed to stop, or end up in rehab, or end up leaving Hunter." You have 4 free articles remaining this month, Sign-up to our daily newsletter for more articles like this + access to 5 extra articles. If all goes according to plan, you'll be able to sign up for the tour on the Gonzo Foundation website. Credit: Press. ), Near the main house are signs that bear a Wizard of Oz line ("Nobody gets in to see the wizard, not nobody, not nohow") and the Hunter motto ("It never got weird enough for me"). Großzügig selbst nach dem Tod: Hollywood-Star Johnny Depp finanziert einen spektakulären Abgang für den verstorbenen US-Schriftsteller Hunter S. Thompson. She built what she calls a stone "labyrinth" (a sort of rock crop-circle maze) on the spot from which Hunter's ashes were shot out of a cannon. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders. The price tag on the funeral of his own design is said to be around the $2 million mark, the majority of which was covered by actor and friend Johnny Depp. "Hunter loved explosions. "I was participating fully in a daily drug & alcohol lifestyle with Hunter," Anita wrote me in an e-mail. She received a B.A. After you've more or less digested this feast, Anita will lead you on tour of the house and grounds. "After Hunter died, it brought me comfort to not move anything," she says. “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! So much so that the late, lamented author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas once shot a maimed fox that got too close to a couple in his personal flock. Just warning shots, thank God." Februar 2005 nahm sich Hunter S. Thompson an seinem Schreibtisch in Woody Creek mit einem Kopfschuss das Leben. Exclusive: Inside the Mysterious 'Death' of Mullah Omar, Ukraine Says Pro-Russia Rebels Are Building a Dirty Bomb, New Tech Will Give You Superman-Style Hearing, The Oldest People in the U.S. Live in the Geographic Center of the North American Continent, Museum Dioramas Are as Endangered as the Animals They Contain, The Eurozone's Death by a Thousand Bailouts, HBO's 'Show Me a Hero' Goes Deep on the Nitty Gritty of Racial Politics, Two Numbers: Humans Have Burned Up Half the World's Biomass, Why Donald Trump Is Crushing the GOP Field. He was pitching toward the green. He hosted Jack Nicholson in the 1980s and Johnny Depp in the '90s. Suicide, the coroner called it. Science fiction's grandfather has a fittingly marvelous tomb. All of which means Dr. Gonzo's acolytes will soon be allowed to sit in his final writing room and bask in his presence, between spoonfuls of his favorite Jell-O. Besides peacocks, Owl Creek is home to chickens, a German shepherd and two Siamese cats, Caesar and Pele. Off-limits: the bedroom, and areas where firearms are stored. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Visitors, maybe five or fewer a day, will be allowed to book tours online for free. See. I ran out of the car to the high wooden fence heavily barricaded with chicken wire to spy what was going on. Only a shrine remains at the site of the catastrophic nightclub inferno that killed 100 Great White fans. The highest point in Colorado is a dangerous mix of lightning, jealousy, and thin air. ", When Hunter moved to Owl Farm in 1967, he wrote to newsman Charles Kuralt that he had "now fairly permanently sunk into this Woody Creek fortress" but that his checks were still bouncing. A peacock perched in a window at Owl Farm. Hunter's cartoonist friend Ralph Steadman set up a memorial fund to bankroll tours for Thompsonphiles who pass Anita's vetting process. Despite being one of the most photographed vistas in the Rockies these twin peaks are rightfully known as the "Deadly Bells.". He often spoke of his own death with family, friends and interviewers, and in a 1977 documentary by the BBC, he casually suggested how it should be properly celebrated – by shooting his ashes out of a cannon encased in a giant, two-thumbed fist clutching a peyote button, an image he had created as his insignia. Uncover Colorado - Vacations, Travel & Tourism | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer. Google Street View Cars to Track Urban Air Pollution, The Neuroscience of Meditation, and the Virtues of Shutting Up. Anita says she's probably the only person to ever get sober in the Owl Farm kitchen. His misanthropic, drug-addled, sometimes savage stories were, in part, reflections of his true self, and his tendency toward self-destruction was well recorded. And I heard my voice screaming: "Holy Jesus! Bob Marley, John Denver, Elvis, and others have been memorialized among the trees, but the great Gonzo’s is the only one where you can sit, have a pull of whiskey thoughtfully left behind by GLUM, and reflect on buying the ticket, and taking the ride. Hunter S. Thompson prized his peacocks. Today, Anita calls the sheriff first, but has no compunction about following Hunter's lead. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. Then again, literary scholarship never much interested Thompson. Suddenly, there was a terrible roar around us. Entsprechend Thompsons letztem Willen wurde auf seiner Farm in Woody Creek, nahe Aspen, ein 153 Fuß (46,6 m) hohes steinernes Monument in Form der Gonzo Fist err… He accidentally shot his assistant, Deborah Fuller, there in 2000. It was primal and screeching. In a 2005 Rolling Stone story, Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University, remembered bringing students to Owl Farm. Thompson, who sometimes used the alias Sebastian Owl, liked to play with explosives at his 42.5-acre spread. Anita Thompson's peacock Jesse at Owl Farm. Nach Aussage seines Sohnes Juan Thompson hatte der Schriftsteller seinen Suizid lange geplant und oft angekündigt. "It took me years to even move his toothbrush from the bathroom."