This story just broke on NPR: Thomas Gavin may be one of the most prolific artifact thieves in U.S. history... Gavin's crime spree was so under the radar, no one caught on until 2018, when he tried to unload a rare, Revolutionary-era rifle to a local antiques dealer...It wasn't just any old gun, but one of the few surviving rifles made by master … [Read more...] about Taken Down By Long Rifle
Reacher Goes Big
Lee Child found his own stash of Urca de Lima gold in the person of his character Jack Reacher, who is can readily be seen as a throwback Frontier Partisan, wandering the wilderness of contemporary backroad America. I’ve read a couple — my brother has knocked ’em all down. Every one. They’re Westerns. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a … [Read more...] about Reacher Goes Big
Working The Trapline — On The New Highway
My musical hero Dave Alvin (aka the Voice in Raylan Givens’ head) has committed authorship again (a book of poetry was published in 1996). You can bet it’ll be in hand as soon as it rolls off the press. Celebrated singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Alvin is, first and foremost, a storyteller. The Grammy winning artist’s disarmingly well-crafted … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — On The New Highway
Kurt Sutter Heads West
Sons of Anarchy was a frontier tale. Now it appears that its creator, Kurt Sutter is going full-bore into the genre. He’s inked a deal with Netflix to create a Western series called The Abandons. Sutter told Deadline: “I’ve always wanted to do a Western, even before Sons, and then Deadwood came out,” he said. “There’s that great lore of Ian … [Read more...] about Kurt Sutter Heads West
The Cowboy And The Cossack
A Review By Matthew Ilseman * There are more good books than one can read. Those who say otherwise are either those with extremely narrow reading or those that find criticizing a work more enjoyable than any aesthetic pleasure the work itself. The fact is if you are willing to look for them you can find extraordinary books in any … [Read more...] about The Cowboy And The Cossack
Blood & Gold And Murrieta’s Head
Blame Bob Boze Bell for this one. The publisher of True West Magazine posted a picture of himself reading this book to his dog as a bedtime story. As one does. It’s written by a friend of his (Mariotte) and a well-known TV showrunner who happens to share the name of the protagonist. Well, you know what happens next, right? Gold Camps of … [Read more...] about Blood & Gold And Murrieta’s Head
Joe Pickett
The contemporary Western is a big thing these days, with the Empire of Taylor Sheridan spreading from Yellowstone to 6666 to Y:1883. There’s plenty of room for more, especially when its drawing from top-flight source material. On December 6, Joe Pickett arrives, and it looks like hell’s comin’ with … [Read more...] about Joe Pickett
Burnham And The Matabele Wars — Podcast Episode Part II
Part II of The Frontier Partisan Podcast series on Frederick Russell Burnham is up. You can listen here or on Spotify and a variety of other podcasting platforms. This episode focuses on Burnham’s role as a scout in the Matabele War of 1893 and the Matabele Rebellion of 1896. Burnham’s actions in these brief but intense colonial conflicts … [Read more...] about Burnham And The Matabele Wars — Podcast Episode Part II
Know The Tale Of The Donnellys-o
All you who hail from Ontario Know the tale of the Donnellys-o Died at the hand of the mob that night Every child and man by the oil-torch light Jim Donnelly was no angel, sure But they burned his barn, broke down the door And the children cried while they killed Old Jim Then they killed his wife and they turned on them No judge, no jury, … [Read more...] about Know The Tale Of The Donnellys-o
Working The Trapline — Photographs, Amusettes, and Captain N.
Lynda Sanchez scouted up a remarkable photographic odyssey undertaken by Pacific Northwest photographer Matika Wilbur, whose 562 Project seeks to photograph members of every federally recognized Native tribe in North America. From her website: Photographs are captured on traditional black and white film and shot in the zone system. Once … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Photographs, Amusettes, and Captain N.
