September 30, 2010
Went home for lunch and whipped out a couple more brujas, adding them to the page I started three days ago:



Yes, that's Manet's Olympia (1863) at the top. Or, at least, it's poached from Manet. Interesting realization with echoes from yesterday's point about projecting from photos. The right eye on Olympia (her left eye) is way larger, and out of line with human anatomy, but it doesn't matter because the rest is so spectacular. Says a lot about copying and letting it rip.


"When you have a choice, let it rip."
—Manny Manay, French center fielder from Kingman

Have Mercy On Thee, Mickey Free

September 30, 2010
Worked last night and this morning on a set piece for the next Graphic Cinema. Here's Mickey Free about to dispatch a pleading adversary in a Sierra Madre graveyard:



And, of course, here's Mickey's response:



"Ai Chihuahua, quantos indios sin huarachis?"
—Old Chihuahua Vaquero Saying

Drawing On The Write Side of The Brain

September 29, 2010
NIcer out in the mornings. Went for a walk with Peaches at seven. Not bad. Ridiculous heat in LA—113!. Deena called and said she woke up in a puddle of sweat. She has no AC.

Working on the final scenes for the next installment of Graphic Cinema. Decided to go with this witch:




It was a hard call. Many liked this one as well:



And, although no one picked this one, I kind of liked her gonzo native intelligence:



Even though I've picked the bruja, I'm still working on more. Here's an odd one I noodled two days ago:



Head's too big but, as they say, a good drawing should be like handwriting. You should be able to tell who drew it by the distortion. This is the problem with using tracing paper and opaque projectors. You may be getting better anatomical proportions, but it so often results in art that looks dead, or machine-like, which, in fact it is.

"Draw what you see, not what you think you see."
—Old Vaquero Artist Saying

September 28, 2010
Working on a quick turnaround for the Arizona Republic, while balancing our deadlines here at the magazine. Our December issue goes to press this Thursday.

Yesterday I played with a couple rough sketches, regarding the history of Sky Harbor Airport. In the twenties the airport was known as "The Farm" and was a challenge to find. Pilots often had to "dust" the field to scare cows off the runway. Later the city of Phoenix bought the farm:



Had some very good scrap reference of cattle and a bi-plane. Here's the plane:



And here's the cattle being run off the runway:



Yes, that's Camelback Mountain in the left background. The two images will be married in the layout which goes down this afternoon. Supposed to run this Sunday.


"On a typical day, 1,200 aircraft arrive and depart from Sky Harbor with more than 100,000 passengers. Not a bad crop yield for a farm, no?"
—Sky Harbor stat sheet

Get Low & Mas Brujas (Warning: Nudity Ahead)

September 27, 2010
Saw Get Low this weekend and really enjoyed it. Not great but good characters and Bill Murray is a joy. Funny that he's still going strong in the movies and his arch rival, Chevy Chase, is relegated to a fringe tv sitcom. Ah, how the world turns, no?

Spent most of Saturday and Sunday noodling more Babes and Brujas. Here are a page of sketches from Saturday morning:



Did this little study of a Tarahumara witch in the afternoon:



Or, maybe she's Mojave (facial tattoos). Had fun with this witch yesterday:



Like the smoky interior idea, and the floating skull behind her. Here's a more Nordic witch (the ex-Mrs. Tiger Woods version?):




And another, more Latina model witch:



Of course there are more, but enough for one post, no?


"That's the last time I grab a rattlesnake with my left hand."
—Kaolin Cummins, Cave Creek legend and right-handed snake handler

Babes & Brujas, Part XI

September 24, 2010
Still trying to find the right combo for the bruja scene in the next episode of Graphic Cinema. Meanwhile, the first episode is starting to arrive in subscriber's mailboxes and so far the response has been very positive.

Had lunch today at Tonto Bar & Brill with Roger Pearsall, former drummer for Dick Dale & The Deltones. Always fun talking to him about past gigs and former flames. Roger bought.

Came back to the office and finished up my sketches.

Babes & Brujas, Part XI:



Trying to push the witch part a little farther. Top, left is clear over into the shrunken-head-on-the dashboard witch doctor zone, and perhaps it's a bit too far, but I like the red eyes and may keep that. Stole this off an old Frank Frazetta cover of Heavy Metal (November, 1992). Frazetta was so cool. He pushed it way over the edge. I don't mind borrowing or stealing from the masters because. . .

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal."
—Old Vaquero Saying

John Tunstall And The "Idiots" Who Write About Him

September 23, 2010
I always ask the people who answer the phones here at True West to copy me on any feedback. Got this from Carole Glenn this afternoon:

"Russ Allen from Oak Park Hts, MN called to give an address change. Before hanging up, he said he is 62 and loves the magazine. He said True West is the only magazine he reads cover to cover."
—Carole Glenn

And, if you think it's all positive, here's a message we got this morning:

"I just finished reading the Tunstall article in the October issue and had to comment. Surely Mr. Boardman was being facetious when stating 'That type of crime would not have happened in England'. Only an idiot would seriously say that, and only the most egregiously obtuse would ever believe it."
—Ron Thomas

And here's Mark Boardman's reply:

"Mr. Thomas,
"Thanks for your feedback on the Tunstall article in the October issue of the magazine.

"I think your judgment of the Tunstalls, both then and now, is a bit harsh.

"Gun violence in late 19th century England was very, very rare. During a three year period in the late 1880s-1890s, there were a total of three gun homicides in England (and that was when they had very liberal gun ownership and carrying laws).

"Beyond that, the Tunstalls were shocked and frustrated that they could not get legal redress for John's killing. After all, it was a legally constituted posse that gunned him down. Territorial authorities refused to get involved since the Santa Fe Ring was closely tied to the Murphy-Dolan faction in Lincoln County. Federal officials also stayed out of it--despite the fact that Sheriff Brady and at least two of his deputies also held deputy US marshal commissions. The Tunstalls truly believed that the English government would have handled things differently.

"To make matters worse, Jimmy Dolan and company the 'acquired ' all of Tunstall's property--with no compensation to the family. And their efforts to sue for such compensation ran into brick walls at every turn.

"The Tunstalls--including John--never entertained the thought that he might be the target of violence. That sort of thing did not happen in England; it was rare even in the U.S. John actually waited for the posse that killed him, instead of heading for the hills like BIlly the Kid and co. Was he naive? Undoubtedly. But he had no reason to think his life was in danger. And based on the letters he wrote home, his family never thought he was in danger, either.

"Considering the geographic distance, the socio-economic differences, the contrast in gun violence between the US and England, and even the shock that a family feels when one of their own is senselessly murdered, I think it's understandable that the Tunstalls--then and now--believed that such a crime would not and could not have happened in their country. I know for a fact that they even talked about what would have happened if he'd stayed in England to work--that he could have taken over the very successful family company with no danger to his life (even in the heat of tough competition).

"I've met the current Tunstalls, and I can tell you they are neither idiots or egregiously obtuse. And based on my readings and research, neither were their ancestors. It was a different time and place, that's all."

Best,

Mark Boardman
Features Editor
True West

"It's far easier to destroy than create."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Babes & Brujas: Lactating Latina Lioness?

September 23, 2010
Muggy and clear this morning. Huge clouds last night with a little rain, but not much. Went to yoga class this morning and got the kinks out of my neck and shoulders. I hold most of my tension there and after sixty some years of it, my body kind of gets tired of it.

Still doing due diligence to find the perfect witch for the next episode of Graphic Cinema. Somewhere between bad lass and bodacious is the bruja I want.



Lower left is probably more accurate for a Sierra Madre bruja, but, of course, it's tempting to go the other way towards the lactating Latina lioness, above. Ha.

Wish I knew better how to get what I want here, but I'm confident I'll know it when I see it.

"Civilization depends not on any particular knowledge, but on the disposition to crave knowledge."
—George Will

September 22, 2010
Speech at Harold's went well. Lots of laughs and good questions (If you had your life to live over, what would you do different? I would do everything exactly the same but I wouldn't go see Avatar.)

Went home after lunch and whipped out the ninth version of the bruja. This one, in a cave, ended up a little too much like Pocahontas, rather than the Bruja Caliente I wanted:



Still, like the wind and the moody night aspect. Getting closer, need to finish now.

"I do not know beneath what sky
Nor on what seas shall be thy fate:
I only know it shall be high,
I only know it shall be great."
—Richard Hovey

September 22, 2010
Kathy bought me an iPad last month and I have been really enjoying my Pandora app, which is the radio station site where you plug in artists you like and then the app kicks out songs that supposedly answer the "If-you-liked-that-song-perhaps-you'd-like-this-one" equation. Each artist you put in shows up in a file at left, for example, with the moniker, "Rolling Stones Station" and if that bar is highlighted the songs coming up are in the Stones vein. At least that's the theory. This gets complicated when you also have an "Angel From Montgomery Station" and a "Dick Dale Station", oh, and a "Slaid Cleaves Station". Anyway, the cool thing, besides giving a thumbs down to anything that remotely sounds like Steeley Dan, is that the biography of the artist appears on the right with a picture of the CD cover the song playing came off of.

When I got home from work last night I fired up the iPad and relaxed with a handful of nuts and a glass of cabernet. I sat at the kitchen table and selected the Tom Petty Station and up came an album cover image of Tom and the Heartbreakers standing in a field with some hefty weeds in front of them. That was quite cool, so, as the song played, I grabbed my sketchbook and whipped out a scene with creosote bushes in front of Mickey Free and Beauty (who is following on foot).

Brujas & Creosote Stand


Kind of a cool scene. Thanks Pandora! Still playing with the brujas. I'm thinking of marrying the bottom left witch with the smoking witch at upper left to create a smoking hot witch. ha.

The local Kiwanis club had a speaker cancellation and have asked me to come up to Harold's Corral today at noon to talk about all things True West. Always enjoy these and it's good promotion for the magazine.

"Who dares, wins."
—Old Vaquero Saying

September 21, 2010
Can't really do Babes & Brujas without returning to a classic cowgirl I know a thing or two about: in 1977 I created a cartoon character called Honkytonk Sue. She is based on five very strong women: Sadie Pearl Duncan, Mary Hamilton, Bobbie Cady, Patsy Stockbridge and Jean Linn, otherwise known as The Guess Girls.



Yes, all five are sisters, and I am related, four of them are aunts and one of them, Bobbie, is my mother. In addition to my direct kin, other Mohave County cowgirls inspired me: Jeri Penrod, Roxie Stephens, Sharon Hamilton and Hanky Bonelli to name but a few. Ironically, the model for the above drawing, was a Moon Valley eighth grade school teacher named Kathy Radina. Ha.


Speaking of Mohave County, someone from my hometown gave me grief for my broadside yesterday regarding the Beale Street fashion scene. I admit it was somewhat rude, but I say to everyone:


"I'm a native and I have a license to riff."
—BBB

September 20, 2010
Went home for lunch and ruined three boards. Took a break and came back to see if I could save them (always risky and problematic as after three or four layers of paint it all turns to mud, and I already had two layers on the first pass).

Last night I witnessed a spectacular moon, burning through a big cloud over Black Mountain. It looked like the moon was inside the cloud and burning a hole in it. I immediately went into my studio and whipped out a study of what I just saw:



The transitions are too harsh, but the basic idea is sound. So, at lunch today, I bailed into the second failure:



Much more accurate, although the moon in my memory appeared to be locked into a pocket of the cloud, like this:



Very, very lucky here. All but counted this one out. Had four, maybe five layers going and when this happens it's like a car running on empty. You are puckered and you wait for the engine to sputter and die. It happens very quickly. All the light goes out of the painting (perhaps in this case that was a virtue, as the cloud effects on the margins went to mud, which popped the center?). Anyway, this is darn close to the effect I saw last night. Whew. Saved by the Bell.

Also took a shot at a moonrise I saw in Kingman last weekend. I call this one Cerbat Moonrise:



And speaking of my hometown, I couldn't help but notice a couple things strolling down Beale Street on Saturday night at the car show. Is there anyone left in Mohave County who is less than 100 pounds overweight? With less than 15 tats? I realize it's technically still summer but does anyone in the county own an actual shirt or a pair of pants? And do they ever wear them?


I saw one old woman (and, by the way, an "old woman" is any female who is two months older than me) with a bikini string tank top, showing off five tattooed faces across her upper chest area. I couldn't tell if the five faces were supposed to be the members of Journey, or perhaps the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but I might recommend that if you have five faces on your front side, perhaps you don't need fifteen tattoos on each arm? It takes your attention away from the five faces. Maybe stick to several themes, rather than the random school of Tat-A-Tat-Tat. Just a suggestion.


Don't get me wrong, I did see attractive people in Kingman and they were all at Metcalf Park.


"In the history of the internet, no one has ever clicked 'no' when asked if they were eighteen."
—Esquire magazine's New Rules for Men


"Rule No. 1,043: your daughter will be tattooed."
—Ditto

September 20, 2010
Back from a wild weekend in Kingman. Mickey Campa's Metcalf Munchiefest was a roaring success. Philbert Watahomogie actually showed up and that was a treat. Philbert, half Havasupai and half Hualapai was one of our star basketball players and had never attended a reunion. He said he came just to get Mickey off his arse. Ha.

After the picnic I went down on Beale Street for the Route 66 deal, sold two books, gave aways some mags, watched some belly dancers, then ended up at the new wine bar inside the old Central Commercial building. When Dorian Trahan asked me what I thought of the place, I said, "Well, we're actually in the produce department".

Lots of fun drinking wine with Doris and Bill Goodale and yelling at the band, Family Magic. And, of course I had to help them sing "A Little Help From My Friends" and "The Letter" by the Boxtops. You just have to help when those songs are played.

Woke up hoarse on Sunday, then joined my cousin Billy Hamilton and we went to visit his father, Choc who is 96 and still tells great stories about all the legendary horses he had, like Dammit and Durnit and Shamrock, to name but a few. His wife Florine was there along with Billy's daughter Brenda. Great seeing them all.

Got home last night around five.

Actually got rained on this morning on my walk with Peaches. Felt good. Got soaked, but it was warm enough that it dried pretty quickly.

Still auditioning Mexican brujas for the next episode of Mickey Free. Did these sketches on Saturday morning before I took off for Kingman:



And, did these this morning before I came into work:



Got into work and worked on a couple projects we have in the works. Got a few obstacles and a few enemies who want to see us fail, but that comes with the territory. Gee, I wonder what ol' Bailey has to say about that?


"Blessed is the man who has a skin of the right thickness. He can work happily in spite of enemies and friends."
—Henry T. Bailey

September 17, 2010
Worked this morning on images for a new line of True West cards we are developing. Met with the director, James Burns, of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum and two of his staff, Becky Rovey and Marilu Rix and they helped us pick images to sell in their gift shop.

Robert Ray came in on his day off, and we were joined by our new Director of Marketing and Sales, Allison Cabral, to go over the results. Picked some good ones. Went to lunch at Cafe Bink ($84, biz account) up in Carefree. Talked about partnering on other projects. Very good meetings.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Abby Goodrich designed a rodeo ad which will run in a New Mexico rodeo program all next year:



Sweet.


"Imagined history can sometimes be more persuasive than fact."
—Alessandra Stanley

September 17, 2010
Still wrestling with the Mexican witch idea for the next episode of Mickey Free. This morning I whipped out four sketches, running the gamut between The Witches of Eastwick and the witch of Snow White.




Of course, the last one, La Pucha, really rings true, but I kind of like the old story angle where the witch casts a spell on the beholder and makes him think she is a beautiful woman, until they kiss, then we get the cackle and reality, which now that I think about it, is really a metaphor for marriage, isn't it?


Not really, but you get my drift.


"I just love comedy because life is not funny enough."
—Catherine Deneuve

September 16, 2010
Went home for lunch and whipped out a color bruja:



This witch was influenced by the color scheme in a Edvard Munch (the guy who did The Scream, 1893) painting called Mother and Daughter, 1897. Has some potential, although she's not quite nasty enough. She wants Mickey Free to be killed so she's not a very sweet witch. Looks like she had some old tattoos on her arm removed.

"I'm not a nudist, but when you're home with the blinds drawn, it's OK to run around in the buff."
—Erica Durance

September 16, 2010
Interesting comments on my Mexican bruja from yesterday. While some of the males enjoyed the titilation aspect (that would be you, Mundo), others, have reacted with less enthusiasm (that would be you, Jenny, who mentioned she thought the witch looked a little too much like Victoria's Secret than an authentic 1880s style Mexican witch). So, in my daily sketches from this morning, all of this showed up:



And, even when I shadow Moebius (yes, that is a poach from his classic Moebius Two compilation, above, right) I can't help but insert a naked truth about women and the human condition. Sigh.


Had a radio phoner interview at ten this morning with Roger Galloway about my attendance at the Chillin' On Beale Street car festival this Saturday in Kingman. Roger asked me where I got my passion for the truth about all things Western and I didn't say this on the air, but I believe I am cursed with an irreverent, twisted obsession with the truth that I can't get away from if I tried (see above sketches).


"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests."
—John Stuart Mill

September 15, 2010
Working on the next episode of Graphic Cinema and this morning I created a Mexican witch, La Guarra (which means 'loose woman' in Spanish) who takes credit for sewing an old American flag on Mickey Free's serape. When asked why she did this, she replied:



"With friends like these, who needs enemies."
—Old Vaquero Saying

September 15, 2010
It never ceases to amaze me how much old, new stuff turns up in the history field. You'd think that after 129 years everything would have been found that could be found on Billy the Kid and everything that could be said, has been said, but NO.

Author Mark Gardner has found a couple of Billy the Kid articles that are quite intriguing, first up is this National Police Gazette piece from April 8, 1882 on criminals, including Billy the Kid (upper left, mug shot):



Next up, Mark says: "I came across this rather odd web site that has over 13 million pages of searchable scans from historic New York State newspapers (that's right, 13 million!). So, of course, I had to spend what seemed like hours searching all kinds of fun stuff."

One of the newspaper articles Mark found is an interview with Pat Garrett that sheds some interesting light on Billy's death. For example, Pat says he went "upstairs" in Maxwell's house on the night of the Kid's death. Pat also claims the Kid fired at him first and there are other interesting insights as well, probably the one that struck Mark and me the most is that Garrett says Billy touched his knee! Also note that Garrett had one of the famed tintypes and was making an enlargement for Lew Wallace. In the interview Pat also defends Billy as being a decent guy.


"A generation which ignores history has no past—and no future."
—Robert Heinlein

September 14, 2010
Had a big design meeting this morning in the conference room here at the True West World Headquarters. Dan Harshberger drove out, along with Darlene Harshberger, and after the meeting I treated them to lunch at El Encanto ($47.01 business account). Ducks were really obnoxious coming right up to us and biting our legs, demanding food.

Working on a new episode of Mickey Free for the next installment of Graphic Cinema. This one is called "No Mercy" and will feature a gaggle of suffering fools:



Plus, one hapless goober who takes his pleading a little too far:



The last word balloon goes with this image:



Could be sweet. Verdict still out.


"What we need right now is a comedy with a bit of darkness laced through it."
—Old Editor Saying

September 13, 2010
Went home for lunch and finished the Runaway Stage study:



Came back into the office at two, went over a variety of graphics issues for our November-December issue. Banned a real trouble-making jerk on this website. Got a kiss off response from said banned member.

Worked up a couple sketches on a T-shirt design I'm working on with fellow Route 66-Kingmanite Dan The Man Harshberger:



Jugs Iced Free


Heard an interview with author Jonathon Frazen over the weekend where he described manually disabling his computer so it would not accept email. He had to use a hacksaw and some makeshift plug to accomplish this, but it was the only way he could stay on task to finish his new book "Freedom." This really hit me where I live because, as we all know, email leads to blogging and blogging leads to Twitter and Facebook and all three (or, is that four?) lead to long days of little, actual work, and lots of Cloud Atlas style fog. Hmmmmm, I wonder what ol' Matisse has to say about all this?


"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us."
—Henri Matisse

September 13, 2010
Worked most of the weekend on a series of stagecoach studies for a friend of mine in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here is a shot of my studio desk with the in progress paintings:



And here is the painting in progress a bit closer:



This is loosely based on the Benson Stage Robbery where shotgun messenger Bob Paul had to surf the wagon tongue to retrieve the reins and stop the stage. And here is a closeup of the Bisbee Stage Robbery:



Some potential in all of them, but not quite up to my mind's eye (which is heavily weighted with Remington and Russell imagery) And the problem with this is when you try and live up to the goals and aspirations of your heroes, it's sometimes daunting when you don't measure up. Still, I have to agree with Mr. Stone:


"I might as well be myself. Everyone else is taken."
—Oliver Stone

September 9, 2010
My email has been jammed, won't send. We brought in our tech hero Gerard Jeronowitz, and he unclogged my mailbox and sent out 47 emails that were locked up inside my computer. So, if you get an email from me today that I sent two days ago, you'll know why.

Went home for lunch and whipped out a sketch for a friend of mine. He wants a different view of the so-called O.K. Corral fight and here is one I have been dying to portray:



No one, to my knowledge, has portrayed the encounter from the back of the lot, looking north out into the street. This gives a much narrower view than is usually depicted. The fight really was more of an alley street fight than some epic gladiator battle on a football field, or a mining style coliseum. Yes, that is a tin can in the foreground and I will probably have other bits of blowing garbage. I also want to portray the many bystanders who clogged the lot and were desperately trying to bail as the guns came out (although the scale of the bystanders here is wrong and needs work). This is literally The Moment of Truth.


"Paddle faster, I hear banjos."
—T-shirt saying

September 9, 2010
Bitter cold out this morning. Went for a walk and almost turned back to put pants on. That would be long pants as opposed to no pants. Checked the thermometer when I got back and it was a tepid 64.9 degrees on our back porch. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Actually it's the nicest morning in a very long time out here on the Sonoran Desert.

Came back from my daily walk with Peaches and grabbed a pinecone sequence out of my reject pile. It had potential but it somehow wasn't strong enough. Decided to punch up the shaman set piece and also add more color to the Apache runners. Here is how the sequence looked at 7 A.M.:




And here it is after the tweak:



The shaman is saying, "Bring me the seeds of your manhood." Okay dokay. We'll do, say the little In-dins and the pale Irish kid who brings up the rear.


"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to perservere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
—Christopher Reeve

September 8, 2010
Dramatic, overcast skies this morning. Sprinkles on and off. Hit rain on the way into work. Waited out a downpour in the parking lot of the True West World Headquarters. Still managed to get a rain drop or two on this set piece painting, "The Signal Fire."



Tweaked and refined my Old Vaquero Sayings scratchboard (The Brits call it scraper board). Here it is before the tweaking:



And here it is after the tweaking:



Needed to bring out the highlights a bit more so it will reduce down to usage size (usually 35% of original size).


Sue Lambert shared with me a proud reminder of how much her friends and clients appreciate being named the Best Bar In The West. That would be the Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel in Cody and they have this card on all their table tops:



Next time I'm up there I will sample those oysters.

"It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature."
—Henry James

September 7, 2010
I have certainly benefited from Robert Utley moving to the Valley of the Sun. When the Arizona Republic ran my very first True West Moment on March 7th of this year I got a very nice email from Bob commending the history and the artwork. When I ran the story of Dilcthe, the Apache grandmother who ran and walked a thousand miles to freedom I got a note from Bob asking for my source. When I ran my take on how Geronimo got his name on August 29:



Bob asked my source (he wanted to site it in his forthcoming book on Geronimo). When I told Bob I thought it was the late Apache historian Dan Thrapp, Utley replied:

"Angie Debo connected the name to a fight in Mexico, where the Mexican soldiers corrupted a word they heard from the Apaches. I’m not yanking your chain. If there is a 'footnote' in there somewhere, I’d like to know it. My take has been that, like other Spanish names for Apaches, it’s a common name, the equivalent of our Jerome. I don’t think Geronimo was known by name in Mexico or the US much before the mid-1870s, when Clum grabbed him at Ojo Caliente."
—Bob Utley

Got this additional information from Mr. Utley this weekend:

"In case you are still interested, and in recognition of your disavowal of footnotes, I decided to look up the origins of Geronimo’s name. Angie Debo, the most prominent biographer, tells the story of your understanding of St. Jerome. Her source is Woodworth Clum’s biography of his father, John P. Clum, Apache Agent. Daddy was a blowhard who loaded the New Mexico Historical Review with reams of chest-pounding stuff, either fabricated or grossly exaggerated. Woodworth could not improve on his daddy’s unreliability and is still more unreliable. The chapter that tells the Geronimo story is all fiction."
—Bob Utley

So, I humbly replied, is there any evidence as to where he got Geronimo, the name?

"No. I concede as much in my biography in preparation: 'The ration rolls at Corralitos dated August 13, 1843, bear the name Geronimo. By this time, Goyahkla had assumed the name among the Mexicans and even his own people. He had been a full-fledged fighting man for three years and had ridden with Mangas Coloradas in many raids and battles and proved his stature. Students debate how he came to acquire this name, but it seems to have emerged as a common Mexican name, the equivalent of the English Jerome. Whatever the origin, Geronimo clearly rode close to Mangas Coloradas in war and peace, and he bore that name for the rest of his life.' Of course, if it was a common Mexican name, the guy on the ration rolls may not have been our Geronimo.
So much for waffling. The battle described by Woodworth Clum featured a style of fighting alien to Apache techniques, and while the Mexicans may have known of a Geronimo in the 1850s, when this battle was supposed to have taken place, they did not likely connect a person to it.

"An interesting aside. The Apache language has no word for warrior. All men were fighting men, having been trained from youth. So I’ve had to go through my early chapters and substitute man or fighting man for warrior."
—Bob Utley

"No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back."
—Old Vaquero Saying

September 7, 2010
Excellent weekend, mostly spent laboring at home, although we did go down into the Beast to visit Tommy and his main squeeze on Saturday. He took us to a new Mexican restaurant (Gallo Blanco) and we went to see the movie Inception. Not my bag. People sleeping and having adventures in their head. Ever since Total Recall and The Matrix and Avatar, this dream within a dream scheme has been overdone in my book. Seems silly to me. Everyone else raved about it, including Kathy.

Worked on several pieces of art, including this little scratchboard, sketched off the TV screen from a freeze-frame from the TCM showing of Pancho Villa Y La Valentina (1960). Great vaquero costuming.



Also finished a Tom Horn talking piece:



Pulled this out of my failure pile. Robert Ray and I are going to do a video of my various dump files so you can see for yourself, the massive amount of junk I wade through every day.


Lost In Translation?
"Although your hair is like wax, I don't want to ride like that."
—A song lyric from Pancho Villa Y La Valentina