October 15, 2009
Got into the office this morning after four days in Cochise County and put out a series of fires (and started several more). I'm on my way to Overland Gallery for the big art show tonight at seven. My yoga class stunned me this morning by telling me they have commandeered a van and will be coming as a class. Ha. So yoga-like. The gallery has already sold two paintings (the show has been up since Tuesday). The cover painting for October, "Biggity Billy", has a red dot on it as does "Bucktoothed Billy", a painting I debated even framing. Ha.

Meanwhile, from the Whetstone Mountains comes this report: The Vendetta Riders, led by Steve Shaw and Dave Daiss, has discovered the foundation of a line shack. If you have been following the Iron Springs-Mescal Springs-Cottonwood Springs story (it ran in True West a couple issues back) you know that Bill Evans, the guy who discovered Cottonwood Springs as the probable site for the Wyatt Earp vs. Curly Bill shootout, could not find a foundation of a line shack. This was troubling, since Wyatt stated that several cowboys came out of a line shack during the battle (I believe he says at another point that it was a tent).

Yesterday, at approximately 1:30 P.M., Dave Daiss, acting on a tip from a neighboring rancher (Dave has a ranch near Elgin), rode up the canyon and found the foundation. Here is a photo of the site, moments after the discovery:

There's more, but I'm late for the show.

"One of them."
—How one of the Vendetta Riders signed a letter to the Tombstone Epitaph