Cartoonist Fakes Gardening

 February 28, 2025

   If you ever need someone to climb up on your ledges and plant bougainvillea, I'm your guy.

Half Norsky Wall Gardner In Action   

   Actually Kathy asked me to help her and I have to do something every decade or so just to show her I still care.

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

   In the AI Is Changing Everything department:

Old West Photos Come Alive!

Very impressive, EXCEPT they are still getting some of the hats wrong! On the John Kinney trio, the standing Kinney character, leans down and is wearing a flippin' modern rodeo hat! However, it will probably take them about ten minutes to correct that. Hang on, the ability to take old photos like this and spin out an entire movie is months, or even minutes, away.

   Now, going back in time, here's a song that hasn't aged well. Or, has it?

Arizona Media Scum

   Yes, that is me singing and yes, I am cringing. The one positive thing about this effort is that the bigwigs of Arizona at that time were up for playing along. Also, it pains me to note how off Fife Symington and Bruce Babbitt in terms of rhythm, but they were game! A friendlier time in our politics.

"It's a slow process, but quitting won't speed it up."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Great Mormon Migration And A Topic That May Crash & Burn

 February 27, 2025

   Here's a sneak peek at the editorial well we are creating for the next issue.

Daily Whip Out: "We are here!"

   Brigham Young launched the Mormon exodus on February 4, 1846 with the goal of taking some 2,200 followers out of the United States to find a refuge in the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains. "We are here!" he declared in 1848. "We are in the midst of the Lamanites!"  Lamanites, being the Mormon's name for the people who were already there. You know, all the In-dins. And by the end of 1858 more than 6,600 immigrants had traveled west and were living in their new mountain home, in and around the Wasatch Mountains.

Daily Whip Out:

"White Tide Wagon Train On A Red Road"

   A couple problems followed them and they retaliated. That's the Cliff Notes version. We will go into greater detail in the issue with in depth, superb commentary from Paul Andrew Hutton, Jerry Enzler, Ute elder Forrest Cuch and Henry Parke, to name just a few. Much of our coverage is based on the research and scholarship of the late, great Will Bagley (author of "Blood of The Prophets") and the real hero of the entire unfortunate, tawdry affair:

Juanita Brook's grave at Saint George, Utah

(photo by Rocky Gibbons taken this morning)

   When the issue goes to press I intend to head north and pay homage to the historian who saved the true history all by her lonesome. I really feel like there should be a bust of her somewhere prominent in that beautiful but tragic country. Stay tuned for sketches.

   Meanwhile, not everyone is enamored of this story like I am. I recommended the series American Primeval to an old friend, who was our digital consultant when we first bought the magazine and he tried to watch the show and had this response:

"Hedy and I endured two episodes. It looked like the people who did the casting for the Batman movies did this series too. Just too much of the 1950s scripting, modernized with Tarantino gratuitous violence. I read two books on the Mountain Meadows Massacre and nothing about the episodes 1&2 made sense.  The real event was a holocaust of murder. Im not sure TW can find a link to the series that would make historical sense."

   To which, I said: "I hear you. However, it’s a huge hit and we are all in on the true history of the actual events and the making of the show. Wish me luck. Ha."

(that's Allen kneeling at left in front of the T)

This morning I got this reply from him:

"As the master of change and survival, you have proven the critics wrong for 26 TW years."

—Allen Fossenkemper

Jay Dusard Will Be Honored the Night Before The Tucson Festival of Books

 February 26, 2025

   We are going to have some fun and honor a great guy in a couple weeks. And you are invited.

   Love the place and we love Al Harper the guy who saved Old Tucson. So come out for the love of it.

"If you love Old West history you are from our tribe."

—Some Old Geezer I Know When I Look In The Mirror

The Anatomy of A Buffalo Bill Fact

 February 25, 2025

   Facts can be very elusive, especially old facts, but if you know the right people, you can get darn close to the truth. Take this random photo of Buffalo Bill for example.

Buffalo Bill Cody at Lee's Ferry, circa 1892

(that's Cody in the checked vest)

   In our archives, the photo is ID simply as it is listed above, but that doesn't tell us why he was there. So, I searched my blog archives and found this:

November 12, 2004

   Minnesota Mike and I went up to Carefree at lunch time to see Brian Label's and Bill Welch's new store Cowboy Legacy Gallery. Wow! It really has some cool stuff. Saddles, big artwork by the likes of John Moyers (Cowboy Artist), Donna Sickle Howells and oldtime Western posters (at $4,500 a pop!), spurs, guns, sculpture, and some pretty cool old photos including a series of Buffalo Bill crossing with a Mormon wagon train at Lee's Ferry. Begged Bill to allow us to scan them for a future True West article and he brought them down and Robert scanned them.

   I also sent an inquiry to Paul Andrew Hutton who is very Cody proficient and he sent me some new info that he knew off the top of his head, so I started a caption to run in the magazine, like this: 

   Apparently Buffalo Bill was somewhat anti-Mormon (he appeared in an anti-Mormon play), but he had a change of heart with an 1892 expedition to the Grand Canyon to explore the area as a possible nature preserve; along the way they were hosted by several Mormon families. After the expedition, Cody praised the hospitality and piety of the Mormons. This was the beginning of an evolving friendship that culminated in Buffalo Bill encouraging Mormon settlement in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming.

   From there, Paul Hutton contacted Paul Fees, who then weighed in with this comment:

    "Yes, that's WFC (William F. Cody) during his expedition in the Kaibab.  Guided by a Young, he led a group of Englishmen (potential investors) on a hunting trip in 1892 after the BBWW season in England.  You can read all about it in 'Campfire Chats.'  My favorite moment concerns his skill with a lariat."

—Paul Fees

   And another William F. Cody expert added this:

"Here is an incorrectly dated photo in MRL with WFC wearing what appears to be the same vest. It's hard to tell, but the fellow standing far left, in the ferry photo does bear quite a resemblance to Ingraham.

—Sam Hanna 

   Then Paul Fees added these two newspaper reports which lists who was on the outing:

   Fast forward, and to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain:

History Doesn't Repeat Itself,

But It Does Rhyme

   Somewhere I have a photo of myself putting in at Lee's Ferry in 1982 on the Merrill and Jeanne Mahaffey's Artist Recession River Run. I am currently tracking down that photo. Stay tuned.

   The Buffalo Bill at Lee's Ferry photo will be our Opening Shot in our Ghosts of Mountain Meadows issue. And we will end our coverage with Will Bagley's addendum, in his stellar book, "Blood of The Prophets" about the find by a National Park Service volunteer at Lee's Ferry, on January 22, 2002, who uncovered a "lead sheet" allegedly inscribed by John D. Lee and buried under several inches of debris near the fireplace inside Lee's Ferry Fort on the Colorado River. The lead sheet appears to be a hoax, but, as Bagley points out, the spelling, syntax and sentiments are vintage John Doyle Lee. I am also searching for this document.

Boze Knows: Guidance From A Geezer

"You need to fail at something, and if you fail enough you will find what you are really good at."

—BBB

A Bright Light On The Dark Puzzle of Mountain Meadows

 February 23, 2025

   It's very hard to find a hero in the Mountain Meadows Massacre story but I finally found one.

   In August of 1918 she was living in Bunkerville, Nevada and teaching school in nearby Mesquite. At her Mormon church one Sunday she found herself sitting next to an old man with "sharp black eyes and long beard." Nephi Johnson later came to the schoolhouse where she was teaching and stood patiently behind her desk until class was dismissed. As the last kid ran out the door, he pulled up a chair and said, "My eyes have witnessed things that my tongue has never uttered and before I die, I want them written down."

A typical desert country school

   She actually missed Nephi's confession (but she did catch his dying plea, "Blood! Blood! Blood!"), and she became committed to finding out the truth of what actually happened on September 11, 1857.

   Almost everyone in her town and her church tried to stop her but she was fearless and she went right into the teeth of a very paternalistic culture.

   In the end, she made a huge difference, not only in preserving history, but in helping her church to heal. They sure fought her though but she was a true hero in my eyes. She told the truth and made no apologies about it.

Daily Whip Out:

"The 20-year-old Mesquite School Teacher"

"I feel sure that nothing but the truth can be good enough for the church to which I belong."

—Juanita Brooks

Paiute Hunter In The Archives

 February 22, 2025

   One of the joys of having been around the True West archives for the past 26 years is that when we are doing a new story on an old event, chances are pretty good we have excellent images we have published before that will illustrate new features, like this great image from our May, 2019 issue.

Paiute Hunter, by John K. Hillers, 1873. 

   We're doing a feature on the so-called Utah War of 1857 that led to the Mountain Meadows Massacre and we have an account, or rather, commentary from the perspective of a Ute elder on that war from the Native American side.

"An artist's job is to know what to leave out."

—Milford Zornes

   And, speaking of Mormon country. . .

"We have opened a telegraph office here this morning—Miss Ella Stewart operator."
—A.M. Musser, sends this message on December 15, 1871. Ella Stewart is the future mother of the legendary Mo and Stewart Udall, prominent politicos in Arizona and on the national stage. Mo wrote a book, "Too Funny to Be President," and it was true at the time, although today, he might have to amend that title to "Intentionally Funny." If my geneology is correct, the infamous John D. Lee would be Mo and Stewart's great-grandfather.

"Lord, give us the wisdom to utter words that are gentle and tender, for tomorrow we may have to eat them."
—Mo Udall

Daily Whip Out: "John D. Lee"

"Your ancestors outnumber your fears. Feel their power."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Mucho Mas Rurales On The Ridgeline

 February 21, 2025

   In my current Western obsession-imagination one hat style reigns supreme.

Mucho Mas Rurales With Sugarloafs In A Row

(that sugarloaf to the left of the white horse, at right, is so damn cool!)

      Photos like this always set me off on a quest.

Daily Whip Out:

"Study No. 37 Rurales On The Ridgeline"

Daily Whip Out: "Rurale Turnaround"

Daily Whip Out:

"Rurales On The Ridgeline #38"

    He rode into a narrow divide and some say he never came out.

Daily Whip Out: "Divisadero Guero #3"

“An obsession is where something will not leave your mind.” 

― Eric Clapton

Let's Appreciate Kids Today

 February 20, 2025

   I can't tell you how much I appreciate grandkids who love to draw.

Fenton Goes Large On Monsters

My grandson Fenton loves to draw monsters and as you can clearly see, he is doing them on larger paper because a sketchbook cannot contain his vision. Lookout buses and sides of buildings. You are next!

Jensen Wright Rocks!

   Jensen Wright shows off his magazine placement skills at the Barnes & Noble in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Jensen wants to be an artist, so you know he has a high IQ, and also, it must be noted, his father is Erik Wright a contributing editor at True West magazine. Thanks for the rack promotion Jensen!

   Maybe the world isn't going to hell in a handbasket?

Can you spot the Best Damn Billy bronze?

   A sneak peek at the next issue:

"The truth is simple. If it was complicated, everyone would understand it."

—Walt Whitman

Road Dog Memories: Breakfast with Jay Dusard And The S--t Sheriff

 February 19, 2025

    I left the house at eight in the morning and got home at eight last night. A 242 mile, four-hour—and one minute—run to Bisbee, and back the same day. And, I must say, it was just about a memory every mile. For starters, I have spent most of my life on the road from Kingman to Phoenix, and then on to Tucson and then on out to Benson and Tombstone but don't forget Saint David. And then down to Bisbee. Here's the Cliff Notes version of those hundreds of disparate and crazy memories:

• One and done. When I was in college, I once made the run in a '67 Mustang from Tucson to Kingman in four hours, without stopping. Today I can't go more than 25 miles without stopping to pee.

• Deadly car wrecks. I witnessed many cars upside down in the ditch and in others, car parts scattered across the median, bodies with blankets over them. I actually witnessed at least three bad wrecks happening in front of me, behind me, or going in the other direction.

• Mooning Wildcat women out the window of my Ford F-150 at ninety miles an hour. I was driving and two roommates did the mooning—because I am not that irresponsible!

• At least three flats and two engine failures, thankfully not on the same road trip.

• Five detours with a happy ending. 

   Meanwhile, thanks to Mark McDowell, our fearless leader, we made it yesterday to Bisbee a little after one and met these guys.

The Breakfast Club Crew

(that's Mark, third from left)

   We were at the Breakfast Club in Bisbee (actually Lowell) to present Jay Dusard with the 2025 True Westerner Award.

The Honored Guest 

   I sat next to this crazy guy who regaled me with Bisbee stories.

Matt Cook The S--t Sheriff

(his term!) 

   Matt was the sewer line inspector for Bisbee for many years and still has the badge to prove it. We had some first rate musicians with us as well, including Ronnie Glover and an excellent fiddler.

Carolyn Camp, Fiddler Extraordinaire

   Great day, long run.

"I'd rather snuggle with my vices than wrestle with my demons."

—Brent Bond, our driver on the way home

Jay Dusard's Birthday & More Mormons In Literature

 February 18, 2025

   It's Jay Dusard's birthday today and the boys down at Cattletrack have invited me to join them for a caravan down to Douglas to wish our friend a very happy birthday!

Jay Dusard by Scott Baxter

   In addition to Jay's impressive cowboy work, he also has pulled off spectacular still lifes like this bad boy.

Abandoned Railway Car

by Jay Dusard

Got This From A Southern Arizona Historian

   "Dude, Amaze your travel companions. Overwhelm them with trivial but important knowledge about Douglas. The goal is to not trivialize Jay, of course, but the traveling group needs to know and remember that Stan Jones was from Douglas. He is correctly remembered as the composer of (Ghost) Riders in the Sky who first recorded it in 1949 with his group the Death Valley Rangers. He was an actual ranger at Death Valley National Park. Jones appeared in some Disney movies and, for super extra credit, the 1956-7 TV series Sheriff of Cochise partially filmed in Bisbee.

—Greg Scott

   Meanwhile, an update on our American Primeval coverage: 

Published in 1931

one of the first books to deal with

the Mountain Meadows Massacre

(From the Paul Andrew Hutton collection)

More From Greg Scott

   "I’ve not seen American Primeval. I may or may not see it subsequently. The LDS Church has had, essentially since day one, a full time press and history department doing a ceaseless cleanup. Popular writers have long used the Mormon story as material for best selling books. A brief and incomplete list might include:

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, an 1887 detective story about many things Mormon. I’ve not read it but intend to. 

Riders of the Purple Sage, 1912 by Zane Grey. Probably his most popular novel. Made into movie(s). And, his follow-up The Rainbow Trail, 1915. I’ve read both. The villains in each novel are, who else?, Mormons. 

Two by Dane Coolidge: Riders of Deseret, A Western Story 1924 

The Mormon Frontier: The Fighting Danites 1934 I’ve read both. Coolidge, a close amigo of Maynard Dixon, always did his research which included visiting the country he was writing about. Of course, Mark Twain’s account of his stagecoach trip through Salt Lake City en route to Nevada excoriated the LDS in his Roughing It published in 1872. The trip in question occurred ten years earlier. 

   Public perception of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young has long been shaped by popular literature. The most essential book on the subject of all things LDS in the last twenty years is, of course;

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, published 2003. Has enjoyed numerous printings and was made into a TV series. Probably not as violent and bloody as American Primeval but superior as well written history. "

—Greg Scott

   Meanwhile, let the healing begin. Between us, the unwritten theme of our next issue is understanding and grace. Enough with the hatred and polarity and the Mormon bashing and the villainy. Let's learn from the past and put it to rest. Let's move in that direction. Oh, and let's practice grace, when we can. Thank you.

"The show's washed-out palette and permeating muck and grime paint America's infancy as a time of petty squabble without absolution — a counter-narrative to most of the country's mythology about itself."

—Siddhant Adlakha, a review of American Primeval on Mashable

Headlights & Taillights: They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore!

 February 17, 2025

   Our online creative meeting went very well yesterday. I posted a Dan The Man Smartass Bozecard on Facebook and asked our friends there to weigh in with a decent punchline. We got 57 suggestions and here are my three favorites:

"They don't make 'em like that anymore."

—Scott Oakley

"They went thattaway!"

—Julie Smith

"Headlights & Taillights"

—Wayne Stevens

   Dan The Man liked two of these so much, he combined them!

Headlights & Taillights

They don't make 'em like that anymore!

(thanks everyone for the great input)

Everyone who submitted a punchline will get a free BozeCard. Email me with your mailing address to bozebell@twmag.com

"A fun fact: A person born during the first season of Saturday Night Live could today be easily dead of natural causes." Steve Martin kicked off the SNL 50th anniversary special Sunday night with a monologue in which he made jokes about topics ranging from his age to President Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Following an opening performance by Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound,” Martin took the stage to introduce himself as SNL‘s “newest diversity hire” and to deliver the monologue, which he joked is “traditionally the weakest part of the show.”

Poll Shows Increasing Number of Voters Blame Founding Fathers for Starting America

—The Onion, we fired our fact-checkers and passed the savings on to you!

   And, here's one more BozeCard for the road:

   Only the service station attendants with the most experience knew where all the hidden gas caps were!

"It's not what you look at, it's what you see."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Amber Riders Galore at Sunset And IN Sunset!

 February 16, 2025

   In case you were wondering if I had forgotten my quest to capture amber riders at sunset.

Daily Whip Out: "Amber Rider at Sunset"

   And here's another one.

Daily Whip Out:

"Amber Riders at Sunset 22"

   And another.

Daily Whip Out:

"Tiny Amber Riders at Sunset 23"

(at the request of Frances B.)

   And another.

Daily Whip Out:

"Amber Riders at Sunset 25"

   And, well, there's at least ten more, but you get the picture. I read somewhere that Maynard Dixon sometimes did as many as 85 roughs before he found the design and finished drawing he needed. So, if failing 85 times is part of the equation to get to artistic success, I've sure got that going for me.

Maynard Dixon Sunset Cover

(literally and figuratively)

"If you realize you are a fool, you are halfway to not being a fool."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Primeval Premise And Peacemakers Who Promote Healing Are Needed More Than Ever

February 15, 2025

    Saw an agave in the backyard a couple days ago and became inspired by the long shadow it was casting.

Daily Whip Out: "Agave Double Vision"

   And, speaking of groovy succulents on our property.

Jail Time On The Old Triple B Ranch

The Primeval Set Up
   "This is America...1857," reads a summary of the new hit show American Primeval. "Up is down, pain is everywhere, innocence and tranquillity are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace—even fewer know compassion."

   "There is no safe haven in these brutal lands, and only one goal matters: survival. American Primeval is a fictionalized dramatization and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community as men and women fight and die to keep or control this land."

   The Netflix hit—American Primeval—focuses on the Utah War of 1857 and the tragic and horrific massacre at Mountain Meadows. The Mormon forces involved in that incident are portrayed harshly as is the Mormon president, Brigham Young, who is portrayed as an oily, villain in the Snidely Whiplash tradition.

Here is how the LDS church responded
   "Brigham Young, a revered prophet and courageous pioneer, is, by any historical standard, egregiously mischaracterized as a villainous, violent fanatic. Other individuals and groups are also depicted in ways that reinforce stereotypes that are both inaccurate and harmful.
   "As to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which the series inaccurately portrays as reflective of a whole faith group, the church has long acknowledged and condemned this horrific tragedy. It has also taken significant steps to uncover and share the full truth of what happened and promote healing.
   "The problem with such deceptive, graphic and sensationalized storytelling is that it not only obscures reality and hinders genuine understanding, but can foster animosity, hate and even violence. This is particularly troubling today when peacemakers are needed more than ever."

   I could not agree more. And, to their main point, the LDS church has acknowledged the horrific tragedy at Mountain Meadows and has shared the full truth of what happened. I also agree that Brigham Young was portrayed as a cartoonish, evil villain.

    Still, we at True West want to give the true backstory of the history, events and characters the show is based on.

   I have extended family members who are Mormon and while this discussion may pain them, I do believe that true understanding can lead to healing. In fact, it's the only way we can heal. Recently, I read about our current imbroglio and it echoed the dilemma of America in 1857: "We are caught between the ruins of one world and the unknown shape of the next."

   Yes, we need peacekeepers who promote healing more than ever. Maybe understanding what actually happened in that remote area of Utah in 1857 will help with that healing. Let's hope so. We could all use some healing grace.

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know."

—Harry Truman

My Big Bug Creek Pot Bellied Stove Gets Some Valentine's Day Fuel

 February 14, 2025

   For Valentines' Day today I got some wood from my honey for my Big Bug Creek Pot Bellied Stove.

She knows what makes me happy.

   In case you have haven't seen my studio pot bellied stove, here it is warming up the studio many moons ago.

My Big Bug Creek Pot Bellied Stove

In Full Bloom

      Meanwhile, look who is getting a call back.

   It's a book, it's a record, it's a show. . .

"Remember girls, unless he's wearing a diaper, you can't change him."

—Honkytonk Sue

Primeval Knieval

 February 13, 2025

   He almost jumped the fountain at Caesar's Palace but I don't think he foresaw this:

Teaser for my next YouTube video

Or, this.

Teaser for the next issue of

True West magazine

   Calling all the big dogs for this one: Paul Andrew Hutton, Jerry Enzler, Henry Parke and James B. Mills to name just a few of the stellar writers on tap for a true collector's issue.

   We might even corral these guys.

Mr. Biscuit And The Gravy Boys

Left to right: Dan Ryan, Ol' Bob,

Kactus Ken, Mr Biscuit. 

   "We'd cook for groups of people in Dutch Ovens, and sometimes provide music for family reunions, weddings, birthdays, corporate events and sadly celebrations of life. Mr Biscuit has passed on, leaving me to wagon and cooking.  Not an easy job!"

—Dan Ryan

Daily Whip Out:

"After The Rain The Rurales Pushed On"

"From the time I was a kid, I used to peek through new issues at the Duddings Rexall Store down a few doors from my dad's office. Like Arbuckle coffee, I was glad to see True West make its home base here in Arizona! You and your crew have done an amazing job with keeping it alive and vibrant, and even relevant. Not an easy feat in this day and age. I'm set to inherit a large backlog of older True West magazines from an old friend (he's 86) who used to play accordion in our cowboy band.  He fell over while stomping leaves in a garbage can and broke his shoulder.  That was the end of his accordion days. Anyway, too much info.  Hope you are well. Looking forward to the book!"

—Dan Ryan, Part II (he ordered an Old Vaquero Sayings book, with the beer coaster set and the Stinking Badge!)