May 9, 2006
Finished the Isaiah Mays Under Fire painting at two this afternoon. Some decent effects. It’s not the big panorama I originally wanted to do with the plunging mules, the entire ridge and the retreating Buffalo Soldiers, but as I say every deadline, “It’ll have to do.”

Robert Ray tweaked the Classic Gunfights layout to include a segment on the robbery I wanted to get in (Homeward Bound), which made me realize, you are getting a more thorough education on the Wham Robbery here than readers will get in the magazine version. There simply isn’t enough room in six pages to track the 30 participants in the fight alone, not to mention all the lawmen and lawyers and politicians who got involved. Larry Upton contiues to amaze me with his knowledge of the affair. Here’s his take on the stolen loot and where it went:

“It is true that Gilbert Webb ended up broke, but that is because after paying the lawyers (say $10,000, and I believe that is a realistic figure based on billings to the U.S. Gov't for their ass't prosecutors), gave Marcus Cunningham about $3,000, gave the Folletts their share (say $3,000 each), leaving him with about $6,000. He didn't pay the younger cowboys like Rogersand Lamb. He didn't have enough money. It is known that he paid about $1,000 in personal debts, and he gambled some of the money away. That left about $5,000 to pay all the expenses of the trial. People told me that many, many people in Pima received a gold coin or two for testimony favoring the men in jail in addition to their out of pocket expenses for living in Tucson for a month during the trial. Most of the regular people camped in the old military parade ground near Ft. Lowell. I think that $5,000 went fast. The real winners were the lawyers."
—Larry Upton

Which just proves the old gypsy curse: “May you be found among lawyers.”

Turn Me On Deadman With The Standup Bass
“Did you know that Too Slim, bassist for thr Riders In The Sky, is credited for starting the old rumor that Paul McCartney was dead?”
—Gus “The Mapinator” Walker

No, that can’t be, can it? That must be an urban myth, no? Who knows the real story? Or is this one of those things everybody claims, like the guy who came to my house a couple years back and said, “I invented cool deck,” and when I voiced my amazement, he told me the “ingredient is a secret.” I took the guy for his word, then later was talking to Bud Glenn, a contractor and Carole’s husband, and he said, “All cool deck is, is layered cement, with ridges and valleys, there is not secret ingredient in cool deck.”

“If passion drives, let reason hold the reins.”
—Benjamin Franklin