Frontier Partisans

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

Ned Kelly Gets His Freak On

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Looks like we’ve got us a trippy Ned Kelly movie coming down the pike. From The Guardian: Justin Kurzel detonates a punk power-chord of defiance and anarchy with this brutally violent and unflinchingly stark tale that unfolds in a scorched, alien-looking landscape. The film is adapted by Shaun Grant from Peter Carey’s Booker prize-winning … [Read more...] about Ned Kelly Gets His Freak On

Dangerous Coureur Du Bois Spotted In 1757 Photograph

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Archival researchers have located what appears to be an authentic photograph from the 1757 siege at Fort William Henry at the foot of Lake George.* The photograph is the only known likeness of a particularly dangerous French and Indian War-era coureur du bois known to the English as The Dog Man (L’Homme Chien). He can clearly be seen at third from … [Read more...] about Dangerous Coureur Du Bois Spotted In 1757 Photograph

More From The Trapline — December 2019

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Bass Reeves was a helluva man, by any man’s measure. The first black man to become a deputy u.S. Marshal west of the Missisippi River, Reeves was a holy terror to bad men in the notoriously dangerous jurisdiction Judge Isaac Parker’s federal court. By the end of a storied career, he’s arrested more than 3,000 wrongdoers and planted 14 men. He was a … [Read more...] about More From The Trapline — December 2019

The Majestic Frontier Partisan Art of Anatoly Telenik

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A messenger from the Wild East came bearing messages about the History presentation on the Polish Frontier Partisans, Born For The Sabre (I’ll post as soon as I have word as to how and where to watch this in the U.S.) The scout’s report included concept art by the great Anatoly Telenik. Frontier Partisans has featured some of his art portraying … [Read more...] about The Majestic Frontier Partisan Art of Anatoly Telenik

Canyon de Chelly — Part III — The Long Walk

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Editor’s note: This series on Canyon de Chelly and the Navajo Campaign of 1863-64 were inspired by my friend Jack McGowan’s trip through the American Southwest this fall. The first two parts of the series can be found here and here. * Kit Carson was a desperately sick man. By 1864, the robust mountain man of decades gone was beginning to fade. He … [Read more...] about Canyon de Chelly — Part III — The Long Walk

Born For The Saber

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I’ve long been drawn to the Wild East of the 17th Century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth frontier. For the frontiersmen of that time and place, the far-famed Polish saber was the national weapon, much the way the long rifle came to symbolize the American frontiersman. The algorithmic sorcerers conjured up a new docudrama and sent it across … [Read more...] about Born For The Saber

A Thanksgiving Message From Col. James Smith

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From: “An Account Of The Remarkable Occurrences In The Life And Travels Of Col. James Smith During His Captivity With The Indians In The Years 1755-1759” (Hat tip to James Hornsby: Skills of the 18th Century Woodsman Facebook page):   In February there came a snow, with a crust, which made a great noise when walking on it and frightened … [Read more...] about A Thanksgiving Message From Col. James Smith

The First Thanksgiving: Beer, Sport And Feasting

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The Pilgrims didn’t really think of the First Thanksgiving as a “thanksgiving” at all. Within their Puritan theology and practice, a "day of thanksgiving” would have required fasting and prayerful contemplation of their gratitude to God for seeing them through a terrible series of trials and tribulations. The actual feast they organized in … [Read more...] about The First Thanksgiving: Beer, Sport And Feasting