Frontier Partisans

The Adventurers, Rangers and Scouts Who Fought the Battles of Empire

Working The Trapline — Old Ephraim Attacks, Apache Marathon, Rangers

September 11, 2023, by JimC

“Caught Off Guard,” by the great David Wright.

Any place that has wolves and grizzlies is wild — and potentially dangerous. Feller can get Hugh Glassed out there…

From Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

A hunter was severely mauled by a grizzly bear Friday, prompting authorities to close a section of parkland south of Big Sky.

The injured person was taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center. The Yellow Mule Trails, along with all access to Buck Ridge Trail, were closed until further notice as authorities seek the bear, which may have been shot.

The hunter had been tracking a deer when the bear attacked, according to a Saturday news release from the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office. After the hunting party called 911 at 1:47 p.m., Madison County dispatch requested help from Gallatin County due to the incident’s location near of one of the Yellow Mules Trails. Teams from multiple agencies responded and took the patient to a Life Flight Helicopter waiting at a nearby helicopter pad.

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Dates & Dead Guys compiled all nine episodes of the channel’s series on the Apache into an Apache Marathon, clocking in at just under three hours. This is solid work, and well worth your time.

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Here’s a nice slice of Continuity & Persistence courtesy of LionHeart FilmWorks:

This tracks nicely with the thesis of Spirited, though if it was to serve as a “trailer,” I’d back off of Robert Rogers a bit. I believe that Robert Rogers has been overemphasized in Ranger history, at the expense of other equally — or more — worthy Frontier Partisans. My own work will seek to correct that. No, I am not out to debunk Rogers’ reputation; he had mixed success and we ought to be able to take a good hard look without sliding either into hero worship or cheap debunkery. And I want to foreground some of the other men who operated on far-flung frontiers — men I consider to be at the top o’ the heap, like Sam Brady.

LionHeart also serves up a video that focuses largely on sharpshooter Timothy Murphy.

The video rolls with the Saratoga Shot, with which Murphy is said to have taken out British General Simon Fraser, who was rallying his troops, thus turning the tide of battle. It acknowledges, though, that the incident is subject to debate. We explored the debate over the legendary kill shot here. I am gratified that the video also emphasizes his service on the Schoharie Valley frontier, where his exploits are well-documented. Tim Murphy, like another of his surname, World War II’s most-decorated Audie Murphy, was an extraordinary American fighting man. Maybe someday we’ll get a really solid biography. And a miniseries.

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And… speaking of riflemen, I am much taken with this new Dave Hasler Painting “In the Wrong Place.” It’s one of those paintings where you can’t help spinning out a narrative of what happens next…

Are the warriors tracking him? Did he double back for cover, or are they on another’s trail? Does he fire on them or warily watch them pass on by? Or do they sense his presence and spot him? What happens then?

Just love it.

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of putting in some serious reps on the range under the excellent tutelage of Craig Rullman. Move, shoot, communicate. That’s on top of my usual Frontier Partisan Biathlon sessions. This is a Very Good Thing.

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Watched the first episode of Netflix’s Spy Ops. It’s worthy, especially as we mark the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Operation Jawbreaker was the CIA’s immediate post 09/11 infiltration of Afghanistan to mobilize and support the Northern Alliance to drive the Taliban from power. It’s mighty poignant to assess the events of December 2001 in light of the events of August 2021.

 

Filed Under: Chapters, On Your Own Hook

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Comments

  1. Matthew says

    September 11, 2023 at 7:40 am

    It’s hard to believe it has been so long since 2001. I know legal adults who aren’t old enough to remember 911. Me, that morning is seared in my brain. I was eating breakfast when my dad came down stairs to tell me that a national tragedy had occurred.

    I was shocked and surprise but in the back of my mind there was the thought that the world had always been like this. The world has always been chaotic and dangerous. I think some people of my generation did not realize that and it was a greater shock to them.

    Reply
    • JimC says

      September 11, 2023 at 8:52 am

      It badly disrupted our normalcy bias, that’s for sure. For a while.

      Reply
  2. Mike says

    September 11, 2023 at 7:45 am

    “The Yellow Mule Trails, along with all access to Buck Ridge Trail, were closed until further notice as authorities seek the bear, which may have been shot.”

    I just can’t decide how I feel about this step. On the one hand, I get it. The animal is dangerous in the best of times, and perhaps more so if it’s wounded. And people are, by and large, not that bright. And not everyone may read the local news to know of a potential issue. On the other hand, at one point do we say “if you’re going into the wild, take responsibility for knowing the local conditions and dangers.” Do they keep the closure in place unless/until they find the bear? How much safety do we reasonably impose on people who voluntarily choose to head for the hills?

    Reply
    • JimC says

      September 11, 2023 at 8:51 am

      Yeah, the “until further notice” element is questionable. Like you say, do they just keep it closed till they find the bear? Indefinitely?

      Reply
      • Matthew says

        September 11, 2023 at 9:27 am

        There is a strange belief of some that the world should be perfectly safe. That’s never going to happen and that is good since such a world would be horrible. I think it is related to the totalitarian impulse.

        Reply
        • Rick Schwertfeger says

          September 11, 2023 at 5:22 pm

          Matthew, as someone who worked in government for over two decades, my experience is that it’s quite the opposite of a “totalitarian impulse.” For government leaders and decision makers are extraordinarily vulnerable to massive criticism and even loss of job it they don’t do everything possible to protect the public from dangers. However much one may criticize a”nanny state,” there are huge numbers of the public who will eviserate and want the heads of any public official who in their opinion didn’t do enough to protect citizens. In my experience, public officials must take perhaps extreme measures to avoid getting hammered and fired, in this case if that bear attacks another victim. You may not like it. But I been in local and state government. And that’s the way it is.

          Reply
          • Matthew says

            September 11, 2023 at 6:11 pm

            Rick, I didn’t say that it was those in government that have the totalitarian impulse. Or at least not only them. Citizen’s who would, as you say, eviscerate government officials for every little thing that have the totalitarian impulse. It’s them that I was talking about.

        • Padre says

          September 12, 2023 at 1:49 am

          It could also have something to do with CYA from the litigious impulse.

          There was a tragic incident just outside of Anchorage a few years back where a teenage boy was killed by a black bear during a trail race. My wife knows one of the bear guards who helped with the search and she said the protocol was to close the trails while teams were in the field hunting the bear. I imagine they want to minimize the amount of new spoor that could obscure the bear’s trail, as well as know where everyone is while they’re actively hunting.

          Reply
  3. Ugly Hombre says

    September 15, 2023 at 3:10 pm

    https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/9781546005308-1.jpg?fit=1757%2C2600

    “It’s mighty poignant to assess the events of December 2001 in light of the events of August 2021.”

    https://www.c-span.org/video/?530100-3/jerry-dunleavy-james-hasson-2021-us-withdrawal-afghanistan

    Yes it is- for damn sure, the book “Kabul” by Dunleavy and Hasson spells it out in spades only to clear..

    I got the book from a web vender and wrote a review of it I guess I took the truth to far it was spiked and well you know the drill lol.

    No matter I printed it and sent it to the authors with a letter of thanks for doing the work and telling the truth that is so difficult to handle,

    Also plan to buy some more copies and donate them to libraries military and civilian.

    Republic is in a fix. I fear we are gonna get a very hard to handle wake up call. Soon.

    Reply

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