Christmas is a time for nostalgia. We look back on our own childhood memories —and sometimes we project ourselves back to an early, purportedly simpler time when things were better in our fair land. But if we’re looking for a quaint snowglobe scene in an early American Christmas, we’re looking in the wrong place. In the years of America’s … [Read more...] about Christmas In The Colonies
Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice greetings, compadres! This is always one of my favorite days of the year, when the mystical connections feel strong and deep. The long night is not threatening or depressing to me — I find it soul stirring. This morning, the wind was howling around the house, as a series of fronts moves through the Pacific Northwest. The … [Read more...] about Winter Solstice
Working The Trapline — The Colorado X, The Trusty Side-By-Side & The Call Of The Wild
“I feel so stuck. I have no income. I’m a failure as a writer. I’ve shut down my business. I’ve got an empty nest. My career is at a standstill and I’m reworking my relationship with my spouse. I thought, ‘I have to get moving.’” — India Wood. Hiker. Frontier Partisans Patron Chas Clifton scouted up an article on a woman who decided that … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — The Colorado X, The Trusty Side-By-Side & The Call Of The Wild
Training To Fight The Modern Wars Of Empire
By Rick Schwertfeger Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command I jumped. At night, on oxygen, out of a plane from 20,000 feet! Cold as hell, well below freezing. I’d be airborne for thirty or forty minutes, and land a good 40 miles upland from where I dropped! This was a HAHO: High-Altitude, High-Opening operation: the aircraft drops … [Read more...] about Training To Fight The Modern Wars Of Empire
The Renegade’s Journey
Frontier Partisans reader Monk has scouted up a forthcoming tome that is going to send me on a good three-day bender come the end of February. A Tip o’ the Baldwin Hat to him for this shot straight into the Frontier Partisans x-ring. Spanning 13 years, two continents, several wars, and many smoke-filled and bloody battlefields, John … [Read more...] about The Renegade’s Journey
In The Black Spot Of Fennario
In the timbers of Fennario Wolves are runnin’ ’round... — Hunter/Garcia; Dire Wolf The Almighty Algorithm is on to me. It knows that I’m a sucker for dark, gloomy, possibly sinister forests; folklore; atmospheric folk music... I had not heard of the French/Belgian production Zone Blanche until this morning. Two seasons of it have been … [Read more...] about In The Black Spot Of Fennario
Working The Trapline — 10 Years Of Cabin Fever
A startling realization struck as Lady Marilyn and I enjoyed Corb Lund’s set earlier this month. His masterpiece album Cabin Fever is 10 years old. Damn — that decade went by quick. Cabin Fever has a special place in Clan lore, and not simply because it is a damn fine album chock full of expertly crafted songs. In the winter of 2012-13, it served … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — 10 Years Of Cabin Fever
Talkin’ Tomahawk Blues
Thriller author Jack Carr loves his Daniel Winkler tomahawks. He’s made the crossed tomahawks his brand (literally; he has a branding iron — as one does). His most recent podcast includes a sit-down with Winkler, whose reputation was built on crafting period-correct frontier knives and ’hawks, and evolved into crafting purpose-built knives and … [Read more...] about Talkin’ Tomahawk Blues
Cimmerian Winter
Synchronicity rides the Frontier Partisans trail again. The Regal theater in Bend is hosting a Fathom Events 40th Anniversary screening of John Milius’ Conan The Barbarian on Monday, December 12. As I wrote in a post on the anniversary of the release date last May, the movie premier in 1982 was a moment for my older brother and me. John introduced … [Read more...] about Cimmerian Winter
On The Run In The Colonies
Henry Every (or Avery, if you prefer) is among the most remarkable Frontier Partisan outlaws in history. He took the Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai, (Anglicized as the Gunsway) off the coast of India in 1695, outraging the powerful Muslim ruler, endangering the position of the East India Co., and kicking off the first worldwide manhunt, recounted in the … [Read more...] about On The Run In The Colonies
