David Wrolson passed along the sad news that the great African wildlife and hunting history painter John Seerey-Lester has died of throat cancer at the age of 74. You seen his work on these pages, depicting scenes of historic hunts in Africa and North America. Karamojo Bell, Frederick Courteney Selous, Jim Corbett and most of all Theodore … [Read more...] about John Seerey-Lester Has Gone Up The Trail
Western Swing & Waltzes
The cowboy campfire at Frontier Partisans is active these days. As Craig Rullman works on the trailer for the Len Babb Movie Project and Paramount TV gets set to drop Season 3 of Yellowstone (aka Jim’s Cowboy Soap Opera), Colter Wall has announced his third album Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs. I won’t dwell on the fact that … [Read more...] about Western Swing & Waltzes
Pioneer Down!
The quest for Year Zero continues. EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) — Two historic statues have been torn down on the University of Oregon campus this weekend — the Pioneer Mother and the Pioneer outside Johnson Hall. That’s my daughter’s university. I’m sure the activists vandals are simply seeking a deeper “conversation” about frontier history. Happy to … [Read more...] about Pioneer Down!
Wild Things — More From The Trapline
Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers is now on the shelves. My bookstore gave me an advanced reader copy back in February, and I will be popping for the HC for the library — which should give you an indication of its quality. As I noted in the March trapline, it’s revisionist history of the best kind — the kind that gazes … [Read more...] about Wild Things — More From The Trapline
1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle
Our own Dave Allen has scouted up a most enticing tribute to one of the greatest of the Frontier Partisans. As those who frequent this campfire know, I am deeply enamored of Frederick Courteney Selous. The great hunter was, in many ways the archetype and ideal of the Frontier Partisan, playing a role similar to that of Daniel Boone in Kentucky, … [Read more...] about 1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle
Late To the Gather, But Oh What Fun!
By Rick Schwertfeger Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas Lowlands get settled first. Later arrivals head for the hills. The mountainous backcountry becomes the outback, the frontier. It takes hard, hardy people to make it there. In Australia by the1880s cattle and sheep stockmen had moved their herds into the Snowy … [Read more...] about Late To the Gather, But Oh What Fun!
Snowing On Mena
I am fascinated by the drug trade. Not a user, myself. My preferred intoxicant was alcohol, which I used to swill in unseemly quantities, but that was years ago — and, anyway, it’s not about the high. My interest in El Narco is an offshoot of my explorations of the Latin American frontier(s), U.S. interventions from the Mexican war to the … [Read more...] about Snowing On Mena
The Buckaroo Life
My amigo Craig Rullman has sunk his spurs into a very exciting new project — a documentary film on buckaroo and Western artist Len Babb. I put together a story on the project for The Nugget Newspaper, and thought I’d post it up here. I figure many of you will find it of interest... * Film will capture life and legacy of buckaroo artist “I … [Read more...] about The Buckaroo Life
Working The Trapline — June 2020
Spring is upon us in the Central Oregon Cascades, bringing us our first 80-degree day last Wednesday. Ceili and I took advantage to revisit an old favorite spot near the foot of Black Crater — my sacred mountain. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve climbed it; it took a pounding in the Milli Fire of 2017. Ceili and I will trek to its summit this … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — June 2020
’That’s What Makes A Life So Rich‘
I don’t care for politics and try to avoid getting caught up in the hurly-burly, especially the mindless tribal monkey dance that passes for political discourse these days. As my guitar-slingin’ buddy Mike Biggers says, “The only kind of partisanship we tolerate in these parts is frontier partisanship.” T-shirts will be issued. However... every … [Read more...] about ’That’s What Makes A Life So Rich‘
