A messenger from the Wild East came bearing messages about the History presentation on the Polish Frontier Partisans, Born For The Sabre (I’ll post as soon as I have word as to how and where to watch this in the U.S.) The scout’s report included concept art by the great Anatoly Telenik. Frontier Partisans has featured some of his art portraying … [Read more...] about The Majestic Frontier Partisan Art of Anatoly Telenik

Editor’s note: This series on Canyon de Chelly and the Navajo Campaign of 1863-64 were inspired by my friend Jack McGowan’s trip through the American Southwest this fall. The first two parts of the series can be found here and here. * Kit Carson was a desperately sick man. By 1864, the robust mountain man of decades gone was beginning to fade. He … [Read more...] about Canyon de Chelly — Part III — The Long Walk

I’ve long been drawn to the Wild East of the 17th Century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth frontier. For the frontiersmen of that time and place, the far-famed Polish saber was the national weapon, much the way the long rifle came to symbolize the American frontiersman. The algorithmic sorcerers conjured up a new docudrama and sent it across … [Read more...] about Born For The Sabre

OK, Lane Batot — ask and ye shall receive.... * Bob Boze Bell, publisher of True West Magazine, has published a new entry in his Illustrated Life & Times series. Bob Boze Bell’s controversial new book on The Illustrated Life & Times of Geronimo lays out the long and bloody path of Goyathlay (He Who Yawns) from warrior to … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — December 2019

From: “An Account Of The Remarkable Occurrences In The Life And Travels Of Col. James Smith During His Captivity With The Indians In The Years 1755-1759” (Hat tip to James Hornsby: Skills of the 18th Century Woodsman Facebook page):   In February there came a snow, with a crust, which made a great noise when walking on it and frightened … [Read more...] about A Thanksgiving Message From Col. James Smith

The ship Mayflower that put in to the coast of New England in the fall of 1620 was not the first vessel full of white men the Wampanoag Indians had seen. They’d had many encounters with the European fishermen, traders and sailors who had been poking around up and down the coast in recent years — not all of them positive. Sometimes the white … [Read more...] about The First Thanksgiving Through Wampanoag Eyes

* The Navajo — who called themselves Diné, The People, were pastoralists and orchardists. They were also raiders. For generations, they had preyed upon the settled peoples of New Mexico: Spanish, Mexican and Pueblo. The Utes of southern Colorado were persistent enemies. The Navajo raided for sheep and other livestock, and for slaves, which they … [Read more...] about Canyon de Chelly — Part II — Kit Carson’s War Of Attrition

My friend Jack McGowan has been drawn to Canyon de Chelly for decades, ever since obtaining a magnificent  R.C. Gorman print of the iconic Southwest canyon network — which  hangs in his home. Last month, Jack and his wife Jan ventured into the canyon with a Navajo guide — a high point in an epic seven-week trek across the Great Southwest, which … [Read more...] about Canyon De Chelly — Part I — An Ancient Refuge