Among the Mongols

Steppe by steppe, the hordes are descending on Denver.

A A A Comments By Adam Cayton-Holland Thursday, Jul 6 2006

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"More people in the Mongolian community need to start businesses," Bold says. "Like the Vietnamese and the Koreans in Denver. That way, we can grow stronger as a community."

Lunch over, the crew heads back to the construction site and, after going over a few things with the foreman, Bold says goodbye. The crew will stay on the site until late that night, but he needs to check on another Mongolian crew at the far end of the state.

Devon Bowman

Anthony Camera

Jim Wagenlander is Mongolia's honorary consul in Colorado.

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Bold likes to tell a story of his great-grandfather, a Tibetan trader who migrated to the Bulgan province of Mongolia and became quite successful, amassing an impressive collection of treasures and religious items. In the 1920s, as word of Communism's impending control spread across Mongolia and people started hearing that those in the upper tiers of society were being jailed or slaughtered, Bold's great-grandfather awakened a servant who'd always been fond of his daughter, and had him help load the family fortune into ten yak carts, then secretly buried it. The servant later married Bold's grandmother, using some of the hidden fortune to take care of her. Bold's great-grandfather was eventually arrested, but legend has it that he escaped. No one is certain what became of him -- the prevailing theory is that he either collected his fortune and returned to Tibet, or was devoured by wolves.

Bold isn't sure how his great-grandfather's story ended. For his own life, though, he's betting on the fortune.