Frontier Partisans

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

Once A World

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Summer of 2019 was already shaping up pretty damn good in the world of Frontier Partisans literature and cinema, what with a Deadwood movie, the return of Yellowstone and a mountain of research books to read. But this piece of news blows the whole thing up: Craig McDonald’s tale of Hector Lassiter and the Punitive Expedition is hitting the streets … [Read more...] about Once A World

Searching For ‘The Searchers’

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Kevin Smith over at The National Review took a swipe at an iconic American movie on Monday: The greatest Western of all time . . . isn’t. Though The Searchers is regularly hailed as the finest exemplar of its genre and one of the best movies of any kind (seventh-best of all time, according to the decennial Sight & Sound poll), John Ford’s 1956 … [Read more...] about Searching For ‘The Searchers’

A Paradise Of Blood

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The frontier of the Old Southwest has been something of a blank spot on the Frontier Partisans map. That’s something I intend to rectify in WoW2, because the Creek Nation Civil War and the fight over the rich black soil of the Deep South stirs up tales every bit as compelling as those that sprang from Kaintuck or the Mohawk Valley of New … [Read more...] about A Paradise Of Blood

Cossacks and Nazis

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Russia fascinates me. Every once in a while, I plunge into the forests and steppes of the Wild East and lose myself there for weeks. I recently found myself sucked into the 2017 miniseries Trotsky, which I found on Netflix, and I wrote on the strange, surreal dieselpunk fable for Running Iron Report. This, of course, led me down other trails and … [Read more...] about Cossacks and Nazis

‘A Bit Of A Tit’

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“Well you are a bit of a tit, aren’t you?” — Col. Hiram Huncks to Balthasar de St. Michel * I am, betimes, a foolish fellow. When Christopher Buckley’s The Judge Hunter came out a few months ago, I grabbed it up off the new arrivals table at the bookstore, because I will always pick up a book with a tomahawk, a flintlock, and goose-quill … [Read more...] about ‘A Bit Of A Tit’

Conflict Archaeologist

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A friend of mine believes that it is important in one’s professional life to have a quick, intriguing “elevator pitch” to define yourself. He likes mine: “I’m a storyteller...” Gets people intrigued, wanting to know more, etc. You get the picture. Well, here’s one that simply can’t be beat: “I’m a conflict archaeologist.” Ain’t nobody gonna hear … [Read more...] about Conflict Archaeologist

Working The Trapline — Fierce Beasts Of February

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A couple of deadly beasts will be profiled in major book releases in February. Hat tip to Wade McKnight for scouting the first one out—a recounting of one of the greatest hunting tales in history. No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History At the turn of the twentieth century, in … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Fierce Beasts Of February

‘Bearskin’

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It’s emblematic of my nature that, having decided that I should read novels for fun again, I have gone on a freakin’ bender. Right now, I’m poaching in Hillbilly Highways’ territory with Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin. Hope HP doesn’t get too riled. Damn, it’s good. There’s probably nothing I like better than a “literary” crime novel. … [Read more...] about ‘Bearskin’