Frontier Partisans

Behind my office chair at The Nugget is a large poster portrait of Emiliano Zapata. The Mexican Revolutionary’s hard eyes gaze out over the snowdrift of papers on my desk, his magnificent mustache bristling, haloed by his massive sombrero, a bandolier of cartridges across his chest. Most folks who come into my office don’t pay much attention to … [Read more...] about Me and ’Miliano

The new driver who delivers The Nugget from press on Tuesdays is a knife guy. We got to talking about Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT), headquartered here in Oregon. Which was a mistake, because I went back to their site and was led into temptation. I already had my eye on the new Odr ’hawk, and then I clapped eyes on the new-release … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Apache & Bugsy

“Hector was an old-school, dedicated and fearless lawman. I’m glad he was on our side.” - Ed Heath, former Supervisor, DEA, Mexico An extensive interview with former DEA agent Hector Berrellez just dropped on YouTube in multiple parts. Hector Berrellez is a 100-proof modern-day Frontier Partisan badass — a gunslinger and a truthteller. The … [Read more...] about Hector Berrellez — Frontier Partisan Badass

Andy Stumpf, whose Cleared Hot podcast I listen to regularly, has a new podcast called Change Agents. Here’s the caper: In each episode, Andy Stumpf — a former Navy SEAL and host of the Cleared Hot podcast — takes an unfiltered look at one of the world’s most pressing issues – from sex trafficking and modern-day slave labor to large-scale big game … [Read more...] about Working the Trapline — Cartels & A One-Legged King

FP readers know that I am enamored of the Skull & Bones motif. While it’s most closely associated with pirates, the skull and bones was a very common motif from the 17th through the 19th Century, often in the context of the critical reminder — Memento mori: Remember that you must die. Hawken Horse posted on the Memento Mori work of Ethan … [Read more...] about Dead Head Doll

    By Matthew Ilseman Comics have a long history of telling war stories. These stories have range from gritty and realistic to the downright odd. Among the grittier is Blazing Combat. Among the odder versions is Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby about a gang of kids serving in the British commandos, The War that Time Forgot … [Read more...] about Blazing Combat

“You’re a rifleman, you’re supposed to be fighting from a distance, not hand to hand. Bloody…. Why, you vainglorious, pigheaded, grandstanding…. SCOT!”  — Claire Fraser, Battle of Freeman’s Farm (First Saratoga), Outlander Outlander hit its “mid-season finale,” with the watershed Battle of Saratoga. This is one of the most important moments … [Read more...] about Hero Complex

For the Hell Yes file. The forthcoming Paramount+ Bass Reeves series looks flat-out badass. From Cowboys & Indians Magazine: David Oyelowo stars as Reeves, the legendary ex-slave who became the first Black deputy marshal to work west of the Mississippi River. Many historians and other observers — including Bill O’Reilly, in his 2015 Legends … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Vampires & Vaqueros; Badass Bass Reeves

The path of Jamie and Claire Fraser led them to Fort Ticonderoga in this Revolutionary War-centric season of Outlander. The production films in Scotland, so there was an obvious location to serve as the storied fort that commanded the linkage between Lake Champlain and Lake George: Duncarron Medieval Village. The 20-acre site opened … [Read more...] about The Road To Duncarron