November 15, 2003
Frost on the ground this morning. Still quite nice out. Buddy Boze Bell is still giving us grief on our morning walks. He insists on running into our neighbor’s corrals (we go past four or five) and barking and nipping at the horses. It’s not only rude, but dangerous to boot. Yesterday Peaches joined the little twit and they got one of the S’s horses all riled up and I think he kicked Peaches (she’s been limping all day).

Flying to New Mexico tomorrow for a big taping in Santa Fe. Several big names in the Billy world are also flying in. They’re taping me on Monday and I’m flying home on Monday night. They wanted me to stay and watch the taping of the re-enactment segments on Tuesday but I’ve got too much to do here.

We’ve been suffering from a flu epidemic in the office. Sue, Crystal, Ted, Samantha and Larry all have been out. Very quiet in office (actually got quite a bit done). Gus and I re-worked Classic Gunfights to five pages. Going to do a couple big paintings this weekend for it (Ambush of Old Man Clanton). Got some good photo reference last night going through my library and pulling out images of cowboys in bedrolls (I love doing this). Got about four different angles. Going to be fun.

Also worked up copy for the May issue on ambush of Sheriff Brady in Lincoln. Feels good to get ahead.

Came home for lunch yesterday and penciled in my Cole Younger image. I’m trying to capture him as he probably looked soon after his capture at Hanska Slough. His right eye is swollen shut, his tattered boots with the souls half gone, are on the floor, and he’s missing all his toenails (they came off when his boots were removed and it’s my theory that all of the wading across the swollen creeks and sloughs of southern Minnesota during the gang’s two week run weakened them to the point they sloshed right off when he finally took his boots off). Fortunately, I’m missing a toenail and that’s why I had Kathy shoot the photos of me in the mud two days ago. Got a good quote to go with it. I’ll post some of the roughs as I get them going.

Here’s that little painting of the female half of the Zip Wyatt gang: Belle Black and Jennie. As I mentioned the other day, I tried to be true to the newspaper descriptions of them, rather than the Cowgirl image we’d all like them to be. As I wrote in my Bad Men book, most of the outlaws were “more criminal than cowboy.”

”"I saw a subliminal advertising executive. But only for a second."
—Steven Wright