I don’t know what I think about this. From Deadline Hollywood: Mel Gibson has been set by Warner Bros to direct The Wild Bunch, a new version of the 1969 Sam Peckinpah-directed classic Western. Gibson is writing the script with Bryan Bagby. Gibson will be executive producer. In The Wild Bunch, an aging group of outlaws look for one last big … [Read more...]
Firearms Of The Frontier Partisans — Of Hawkens And Hybrids
For many years, the Hawken Rifle had the reputation of being “The Mountain Man’s Choice.” That’s largely thanks to the classic 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnson (the first movie I saw in a theater). At the opening, the narrator explains that Johnson sought a .50 caliber Hawken Rifle before heading alone into the Rocky Mountains. “He settled for a … [Read more...]
‘To Bastards Of All Nations’
I am fond of bastards. Truly. I love the way the word rolls off the tongue in a Tom Russell song, the way Breaker Morant bellowed it into the muzzles of a Cameron Highlander firing squad. And I am always sympathetic to the illegitimate sons of empire. One of the areas of frontier history that fascinates me most is the mingling of peoples in … [Read more...]
More From The Trapline — September 2018
• I neglected to mention the Coen Brothers’ anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival where it earned Best Screenplay honors. Netflix drops it upon us in November. The Hollywood Reporter offers a synopsis: The Joel and Ethan Coen film, which was directed, written and produced by the brothers, is … [Read more...]
Ancient Games — Barbaric Yawp
Wayne Williams scouted up story that drives an arrow right through the ol’ Frontier Partisans Barbaric Splendor Cortex. The Nomad Games ran at the beginning of September and the whole thing just makes the heart soar. The New York Times reports: CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan — The American team that played a brutal version of polo at the World Nomad … [Read more...]
Baxter’s Rhodesia Is On Kindle
Rhodesia is one of my primary areas of interest in Frontier Partisans history. Tales of hunting, prospecting and pioneering in this rich and beautiful land rival anything from the Ohio River Valley frontier, the days of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade or from the harsh borderlands of Apacheria. You can well imagine my delight when I discovered that … [Read more...]
The Shamrock, The Thistle And The Rose — Wayfaring Stranger
Sisters Folk Festival 2018 is history. After a gut-punch cancellation in 2017 due to the smoke impacts of the Milli Fire, it was a grand thing to be back, and stronger than ever. Ceili’s friend Odin and his mother Shauna joined us — which was a very great pleasure. The Clan works hard through the weekend. I manage a venue and emcee, and assist … [Read more...]
This Ain’t No Place For No Hero
Et tu Texas? Deuce Richardson scouted this up — from the Dallas Morning News: AUSTIN — A panel advising the State Board of Education on what seventh-graders should learn in their social studies courses has urged deleting the label “heroic” from a curriculum standard about the Alamo’s defenders… …Current seventh-grade social studies … [Read more...]
Horseman, Pass By
A giant has packed his possibles and trekked out to Frontier Partisan Valhalla. Edwin R. Sweeney might seem at a glance to be an odd candidate for any Valhalla. He was, after all, an accountant by trade. But the counting of beans was by no means the measure of the man. The man who rode into the final sunset yesterday, September 6, 2018, was the … [Read more...]
Crime & Justice In The Great North Woods
What can I tell you: I’m addicted to Story. I didn’t mean to find another tale to dive into, especially right now, when I can barely run the traps I’ve got out there. But then, I also think it’s a sin — make that a SIN — to pass by a good tale. A SIN, BAD LUCK — nothing good. There I was, in the bookstore, minding my own business while my dad … [Read more...]
