May 11, 2006
We just finished Classic Gunfights (2:58 pm). The whole mag goes out the door at three. I worked last night until about seven on a title art piece of the robber dressed in buckskins who confronted the Buffalo Soldiers at Bloody Run. Did a scratchboard and got some cool effects of the boulders in Fort #1 (as it was referred to in the trial) from the photos I took two weeks ago. Got up early this morning and whipped out a loose wash of Frankie Campbell, the woman in the bright yellow blouse, riding a big bay, and also completed an overview of "The First Salvo," a panorama of the fight scene with the mules, the soldiers, Frankie getting bucked off and a wall of smoke from a dozen rifles coming off the cliffs above the payroll detail. Decent. Could have been better. Same old srtory.

Got into the office at nine, had Robert McElroy start scanning the new art, while Robert and I wrestled with layout problems from yesterday. Meghan Saar had a whole bunch of changes in copy. I had many sloppy mistakes (Webb died in 1923 not 1926) and she is great at getting those kinds of things right. She had all 11 soldiers listed in a row, to keep them straight, and she took the Ball book home last night to familiarize herself with the story. Worked through lunch and rewrote ten captions, fixed five others and. . .

Finally faxed a printout of the piece to Larry Upton in Gilbert and he e-mailed back two more mistakes he found (private Cox should be private Fox, and epithet was misspelled in Aftermath). Got it all shoe-horned in and out the door with 38 seconds to spare. Whew!!

Deena called from Minnesota where she is giving a presentation for her company. She googled good places to eat and found Broder's in Edina and called me to tell me how great a restaurant it is. As she says, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."

News From The Front Lines
Duane McCormick called to get a 2 year subscription for his barber shop, Sit-in-Bull Barber Shop, in Dewey, AZ. His Cave Creek dentist had a copy of TW in his office and Duane decided to subscribe. He is a fan of yours from KSLX days when he worked for Del Webb, pounding nails. He said that listening to you in the mornings helped them get through many days.
—Carole Glenn

Hi Bob,
Your magazine has recently helped me through some difficult health challenges. While I have enjoyed each and every issue of True West since you acquired the magazine and then created the interesting and entertaining format, each more recent issue took on an even more valuable and important place in my life.

You see that I had to have emergency surgery because of a serious internal blockage. More surgery is also in my future. So when I was asked by my wife as to what I would like to read while spending my days in the hospital I asked her to gather up several recent editions of True West and bring them to my room. For the past few weeks I have re-read through each and every issue, and when I felt that my health problems were getting the better of me your magazine and writings took me away to wonderful western places and made western American history have an even closer personal relevance. Now I am home recovering and dreaming of visiting some of the historic places your have written about in the American Southwest.

Thanks and hats off to you, Bob. Your True West magazine made a big
difference here and helped this old cowboy when he really needed it.
—David Knowlen

Favorite Onion Headline de Jour
Bill Gates’ Wife Worried He’s Lying In A Ditch Full Of Money Somewhere

“He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to.”
—Old Vaquero Saying