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

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...] about Smell The Whiskey Burnin’

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...] about ‘Plain To See Plainsman’

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...] about Legendary Hunters, Legendary Rifles