CrimeReads is a very fine — and highly influential — website focusing on the crime and thriller genres in fiction, nonfiction and film. It recently sent me down an obscure sidetrail that somehow escaped my notice back in 1991. Here is THE DARK HISTORY OF THE INDIAN RUNNER, SEAN PENN'S MEDITATION ON AMERICAN VIOLENCE, BY WAY OF BRUCE … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Indian Running and California Dreamin’
New Jim Bridger Podcast
Well, that took longer than I like... Part II (of two) of the Jim Bridger podcast is up. You can listen here, or on Spotify, etc. I don’t like having a big gap between parts of a series like that, but it couldn’t be helped in this case. Adventures and labors made July a very busy month, indeed. But there were “creative” reasons for the delay … [Read more...] about New Jim Bridger Podcast
The Long Reign Of The Frontier Flintlock
The South African historian and historical reenactor MC Heunis recently posted on social media a shot of himself with an antelope taken with a replica of a Dutch flintlock. He noted that the weapon would have been common among Boer frontiersmen in the period 1835-45. That got me to pondering upon the long reign of the flintlock on the frontiers … [Read more...] about The Long Reign Of The Frontier Flintlock
The Meanest Valley In America
By Rick Schwertfeger Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command * “I hope you aren’t one of those Sullivans from Sullivan’s Hollow!’ Perplexed by this reaction to my name, I remember saying, ‘Well yes, I am.’ It was nothing special to me then as a child, because I thought the world was like Sullivan’s Hollow. But years later I read that, … [Read more...] about The Meanest Valley In America
‘The West’s Wildest Hell-Raiser’ — Men’s Adventure Quarterly
The Frontier Partisans mythos is built on history, folklore and pulp. Separating the one from the other in frontier history is an almost impossible task, since the frontier was being mythologized and exploited for entertainment value even as its history played out. Some of the greatest fun to be had in this field is found in picking up all three … [Read more...] about ‘The West’s Wildest Hell-Raiser’ — Men’s Adventure Quarterly
Ah, Poor Billy…
Mi compadre Lynn Woodward has insisted that we break out my original Song of the .44 this summer. The song recounts the short life and violent death of Billy the Kid. I wrote it years ago, late one night after watching The Godfather for the umpteenth time. I’d been reading Robert Utley’s Kid bio, and realized that the Lincoln County War was just a … [Read more...] about Ah, Poor Billy…
Frontier Arrakis
My brother John did not plant the seed for my lifelong obsession with the frontier — I guess I brought that into this world with me. But he sure nurtured the sapling. He took me to my first movie — Jeremiah Johnson. He introduced me to the mighty tales of Robert E. Howard. He gave me his well-read copy of The Frontiersmen, and I literally read the … [Read more...] about Frontier Arrakis
Under The Big Sky Or Bust
Raising hell with the hippies and the cowboys They don’t care about no trends They don’t care about songs that sell — Cody Jinx * It’s Oregon Country Fair for shitkicker music... — Ceili Cornelius * Given that the whole damn West is burning, and the Republic seems to be careening into a ditch at highball speed, it’s all too easy to fall … [Read more...] about Under The Big Sky Or Bust
This War!… Or Maybe Not
A good story is like a scenic trail — it tends to attract a crowd. I was fixin’ to make my next podcast series on the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona in the 1880s — I’ve done a fair bit the preliminary reading on it. Found out today that Black Barrel Media’s excellent Legends of the West Podcast beat me to it. They just dropped Episode 1 — … [Read more...] about This War!… Or Maybe Not
Dark Winds Blow
I wish my mother could have seen this. She LOVED Tony Hillerman’s mysteries; they brought her escape from a pretty tough set of circumstances into an immersive world that resonated her, as it apparently did with millions of others... From The Hollywood Reporter: AMC has greenlit an ambitious new crime drama based on a beloved book series and … [Read more...] about Dark Winds Blow
