I am privileged to live in the same town as one of the nation’s few traditional custom hat makers, Mr. Gene Baldwin. Craig Rullman, Lynn Woodward and I all proudly wear Baldwin Hats. You should, too. I have no intention of getting a hat anywhere else — but I do want to tip my Baldwin Hat to another craftsman, whose work I admire from … [Read more...]

I was living in Berkeley, California, with a woman I thought I was gonna marry. The wheels were coming off big time and I didn't know what the fuck was happening to my life. I was drinking. A lot. I had a stupid job that sent me driving all around the Bay Area in a little white Toyota pick-up. On October 17, 1988, I was walking down Telegraph … [Read more...]

I cut through the Rockies like some unholy blade The icy depths of the Pacific I have bade Forever I wander, forever I stray The rustle of wheat fields starts callin’ my name Callin’ my name Let me die in the country that I love the most I’m a plain-to-see plainsman, and this I will boast A heart that lies far from the east or … [Read more...]

Brian H.’s mention of the magnificent book The Tiger in a comment sent me exploring on Youtube Sunday night. You don’t have to go very far down the path of tigers and hunting before you run into the towering figure of Jim Corbett. One of the finest men to ever pick up a rifle — and a pen — Corbett was a slayer of man-eaters, leopards and tigers … [Read more...]

Last night I was doing a bit of reading on the Krag-Jorgensen rifle — the main arm of U.S. forces during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, which is a key element of Cowboy Revolutionaries: Rough Ride Into The American Century. More on that dark chapter in a future post. The Krag was a good rifle, but its .30-40 cartridge was underpowered … [Read more...]

You may have noticed that many of the Latin American fighters depicted in my Cowboy Revolutionaries post a few days ago wield Remington Rolling Block Rifles. To refresh your memory — the feller on the right is armed with a Remington.   The Remington Rolling Block Rifle doesn’t get as much attention as its sexy sister, the Sharps, but … [Read more...]

Amazon’s magic algorithms decided I would like Larry Sweazy’s Texas Ranger novels — which may be so. The Cougar’s Prey kicked up on my Kindle, but the thought it triggered wasn’t “Buy that!” It was, “Damn! That bandito stole the Death Dealer’s horse!” Seems like a mighty risky proposition to me, but a stout sawed-off double-barreled … [Read more...]

I bought my first Gurkha Ghost Cigar for the Frontier Partisans history. I bought the second and the third and the... because I like the smoke. A lot. It’s stuff that works. Of course I was drawn to the Gurkha. These badass highland Nepalese warriors have been recruited into the British Army since the early 19th Century. Their magnificent … [Read more...]

Want to pull up a piece of blanket by the campfire and hear stories from a real-deal buckaroo and Western artist? Link up to the Running Iron Report Podcast No. 1. Craig Rullman and I could not have done better for an inaugural podcast than to spend an hour with the likes of Len Babb. He’s an authentic example of a way of life that is harder and … [Read more...]

Longtime readers of Frontier Partisans know that Tom Russell is a giant in my pantheon of storytellers. His music has been the soundtrack for many an adventure down dusty desert roads and mountain trails, and he’s a key influence on my own songwriting and music. I learned to fingerpick because he said I should — and just as he promised, it opened … [Read more...]