Heroes Framed Against A Blood Red Sky

 March 5, 2022

   Still on the hunt for the Dalton Gang images we need for the May issue. Narrowing it down. Got two more to finish, then The Harsh will take it from there.

Daily Whip Out:

"The Dalton's Fake Whiskers Fooled Nobody"

   I'm rather interested in outlaw fame, as in, Arkansas Tom getting out of prison and going on the road with Bill Tilghman (think the endless Eagles' reunion tours) And, that leads me to this guy who cashed in pretty good. Here's Emmett Dalton signing a copy of his book, "When The Daltons Rode" (1931).

   And, Emmett cashing in on the Old West wasn't a one off. Here is a pretty amazing list from the same time period:

   "It's pretty incredible the vast number of true classics that came out of the late twenties and early thirties: The Saga of Billy the Kid (1926), Siringo's Riata and Spurs (1927), Russell's Trail's Plowed Under (1927), Standing Bear's My People the Sioux (1928), Hoyt's A Frontier Doctor (1929), Marquis' A Warrior Who Fought Custer (1931), Lake's Wyatt Earp (1931), When the Dalton's Rode (1931), Black Elk Speaks (1932); Vestal's Sitting Bull (1932), Coe's Frontier Fighter (1934), the novels and short stories of Eugene Manlove Rhodes -- the list goes on and on."

—Mark Lee Gardner

   So, why the rush and gush at that particular time?

“In a nation of frightened dullards, there’s always a sorry shortage of outlaws, and those few who make the grade are always welcome.”

— Hunter S. Thompson

   Thanks to my favorite Aussie Bastard, James B. Mills, for that one. Or, if you're in a tad more generous mood. . .

"Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say 'This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.'"

—Studs Terkel