"We're all Americans. We all need to sit down and talk and communicate," said John Tassi, who rides with the Montrose flag rally. "So let's get together and talk more."
On Saturday, Oct. 17, KVNF spent the day in Montrose with people on both sides of the political divide, asking what they actually agree on. The morning started on the south side of the library, at a rally organized by Montrose and Ouray Counties Indivisible for a national day called No Kings: Vote Early. Lynn Gillum came on a cane, with a sign in Spanish: "no kings, just voters." "I don't care how disabled I am. I'll do it until I die," Gillum said.
Diane Thompson, from Ridgway, sang with the San Juan Singers for Resistance before the rally. "It feels invigorating and reinforcing to have so many people here, even in Montrose where it's very red," Thompson said. Len and Corley Donner called for President Donald Trump's impeachment. "We want this country back," they said.
Later, at the flag rally, a woman who gave no name, also wants her country back: "If people would just start reading the Bible and believing in God again, we could have our country back."
Back at the No Kings rally, one protester wore a "Don't Tread on Me" hat, and another flew the American flag upside down, in part because "the MAGA movement does not own it."
Late in the morning, the flag rally drove past: big diesel trucks and lifted Jeeps, some pulling trailers, festooned with flags, Trump signs and Republican election signs. People on the sidewalk gave thumbs up, thumbs down, peace signs and a few middle fingers.
John Brown, who pulled a trailer full of flags, said the flag rallies "celebrate the country that we live in." A rider who gave only a first name, Tom, had a question for the people giving the riders the finger: "I understand your opinion, and I respect your First Amendment rights to express it, but why all the vulgarity?"
The two rallies did share a goal: more people voting. "I believe in getting out the vote, and I believe in voter integrity too. So we're on the same page," said Ed Lafferty, the Republican running unopposed for Montrose County commissioner in District 3, who was at the flag rally. "We might come by it from a different perspective."
At the No Kings rally, asked about the tension between the flag rally and the sidewalk protestors Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, urged people on "whatever side of the street you're on" to ask each other a question or two. "If we can have more curiosity and less judgment and demonization, we're going to be better as a republic," Weiser said.
That afternoon, across town, the Annual Uncompahgre Traditional Pow Wow held its Grand Entry at the Montrose County Event Center, hosted by the Western Slope Native American Resource Center and History Colorado's Ute Indian Museum. (KVNF covered last year's powwow.) "We will die Indigenous because we are a proudful people, and we are here to stay," the MC told the crowd.
The night before, KVNF's Audrey McCabe asked the arena director, Ronald Goodeagle Jr., about Grand Entry. It's "led by our veterans," Goodeagle said, and carrying the American flag in front "showed the unity." "We're still who we are … but we are also Americans," Goodeagle said. "This is our homeland."
The MC, Jackson "Rollingthunder" Tahuka, told McCabe what people should take away: "Everyone here is created equal. Everyone is here to be celebrated, no matter what culture, no matter what hair color, eye color, skin color."
Last Saturday, both sides made clear how much this country means to them, and both were out to get people voting. And apart from the partisan bickering on the sidewalk, the flag that represents everyone led the dancers into the powwow arena, carried by Native American military veterans.
Audrey McCabe contributed reporting.
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