Frontier Partisans

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

Desert High

, by

A couple of videos videos crossed my screen today that struck me powerfully, maybe in different ways, but for similar reasons. The first is a new teaser for Craig Rullman’s Len Babb Movie Project. I am most proud and honored to be contributing music to this work, and it’s my good buddy’s film, so, naturally, I respond to the content. But this one, … [Read more...] about Desert High

Working The Trapline — Who Are Those Masked Men?

, by

No, no — this ain't a COVID-19 post. After a long sojourn in the woodlands of the 18th Century Ohio River frontier, I’m turning my focus back on one of my other favorite theaters of operations: Southern Africa. And in so doing, I ran across news of a coming re-issue of Charles van Onselen’s Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Who Are Those Masked Men?

Piney Woods Frontier

, by

By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command Frontiers. We tend to think of vast, empty vistas. Perhaps a line of cavalry far off in the distance. Or the isolated cabin of movie scenes, a frightened woman, shotgun at the ready, standing in the doorway as strangers approach. Or Chingachgook, Natty Bumpo, and Uncas moving fast … [Read more...] about Piney Woods Frontier

Tonight We Ride!

, by

They’re trying to break me. First it’s a new bio of Jim Bridger (first in half a century); now it’s ace narrative historian Jeff Guinn shouting “Tonight We Ride!” I figure if you’ve read Guinn’s The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Gunfight at the OK Corral and How It Changed The American West, you don’t really need to read another Wyatt … [Read more...] about Tonight We Ride!

Simon Girty — Operator

, by

After he defected from the American Patriot cause in 1778, Simon Girty became a highly successful agent and operative for the British Indian Department, and a key figure in the long struggle for the Ohio Valley frontier. A skilled operator, he joined native war parties on raids and major expeditions, and rallied the native warriors to defend … [Read more...] about Simon Girty — Operator

Working The Trapline — Freedom Without Remorse

, by

Looks like I’ll have to be picking up Sebastian Junger’s next tome, which drops on May 18. You will have no trouble discerning why… Throughout history, humans have been driven by the quest for two cherished ideals: community and freedom. The two don’t coexist easily. We value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Freedom Without Remorse

RIP Rory Young

, by

Rory Young, Zambia-born Irish anti-poaching and wildlife preservation activist has been murdered by jihadis in Africa. From PBS: OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Two Spanish journalists and the Irish director of a wildlife foundation were killed Monday in an ambush in eastern Burkina Faso, the Spanish government and officials in the African country … [Read more...] about RIP Rory Young

Concrete Cowboy: Black Equestrians On Today’s Urban Frontier

, by

By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas There were 51,000 horses in Philadelphia in 1900. It takes some imagination to call back the reality that horses were essential to the fabric of 19th century American cities. For in the days before internal combustion engines were connected to the axles of … [Read more...] about Concrete Cowboy: Black Equestrians On Today’s Urban Frontier

Simon Girty — Patriot

, by

Simon Girty is famous as a renegade who fought with the British and their Ohio Indian allies against the American Patriots during the American Revolution. But for the first two-plus years of the conflict, he was in the service of the Americans, working to keep the northern and western tribes neutral and participating in a military campaign against … [Read more...] about Simon Girty — Patriot