Dave Alvin is a hero to me. He’s a genuine modern-day troubadour, a road warrior and a fellow history buff. I’ve learned so much from him — about songwriting, about performance, about making the most of a limited but compelling baritone voice. He’s been a part of the family for decades. When my now-20-year-old daughter was a colicy infant, … [Read more...] about King Of California

“It was made by a country blacksmith, and is one of the homeliest things I ever saw; but it has outlived in my affections the score of other knives that I have used in competition with it, and has done more work than all of them put together.” — Horace Kephart This was bound to happen. Marilyn and Ceili and I went to a huge tattoo expo at … [Read more...] about Stuff That Works — I Got Me A Kephart Knife

A remarkable craftsman has gone on up the trail. A block down Main Avenue from my newspaper office, Preston Thompson Guitars produces some of the most highly regarded guitars in the world, recreating the sound of golden age Martin Guitars. After nearly a year of battling serious illness and severe complications from a major surgery, Preston … [Read more...] about Preston Thompson Has Gone Up The Trail

This is going to make me feel like an old coot grousing that things ain’t as good as they were back in my day. That’s because I am an old coot grousing that things ain’t as good as they were back in my day. Last weekend, Ceili and I did a quick recon at Banana Republic. Stylewise, she considers BR her wheelhouse and she is scheming to raid it … [Read more...] about Yes, We Have No Bananas

As my moccasins pound down the warpath in the Mohawk Valley c. 1775-1882, I continually cut sign of a medieval implement that remained an effective weapon through the era of the muzzleloading musket and rifle. Talking about the Spontoon. That’s a fancy term for a military spear. Officially, it’s a half-pike. The pike — a spear ranging anywhere … [Read more...] about Spontoon

As you all know, I carry some deep ambivalence about this digital platform we share. Make no mistake I am deeply gratified that we have created a digital campfire here at Frontier Partisans — it’s the dark wilderness outside that circle of light that raises my hackles. Had an interesting conversation with a relatively new freelancer at The Nugget … [Read more...] about Digitizing Daniel Boone

By Rick Schwertfeger Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas My wife, sons and I were swimming in Texas’ slow flowing Guadalupe River during the annual Kerrville Folk Festival on the morning after seeing a remarkable performance by Ian Tyson. The Canadian western singer/songwriter had blown away the traditional folkies … [Read more...] about ‘Songs Of The Plains’

Posts on firearms are the most popular ones on Frontier Partisans. For several years, my post on The Guns of Blood Meridian was always at the top of the analytics pile. That's dropped off a bit, supplanted by The Guns of Pancho Villa, which has been viewed something like 16,000 times over the past three years, and The Mountain Man’s Rifle, which … [Read more...] about Purty, Purty Guns

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...] about The Mad Hatter Of Hollywood