Friday, February 14, 2025

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

Thursday, February 13, 2025

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!)


Wednesday, February 12, 2025

More Hats, No Cattle

February 12, 2025

    Like most people my age I fret about my savings, or more accurately, about my lack of savings, vis-a-vis dwindling savings.

   Is it enough? No, in my experience it never is, unless you're Jeff Bezos or that other guy.

   Turns out the best advice is this: forget about it! Why? Because. . .

"Looking at one's savings too often can encourage dementia in almost everyone."
—Dwight Garner, reviewing "Golden Years: How Americans Invented And Reinvented Old Age," by James Chappel

More Hat Musings From A Fellow Hat Maniac
   "Hats are very important in my life. I won't leave the house without one. I wear a wide variety, mainly period correct to the era between 1835-1920 depending on my mood. I also wear, upon occasion a variety of genuine RJ Preston hand crafted and period correct sombreros when the spirit moves me. BBB has contributed to my own hat nazi status, a deed for which I am truly thankful. Maybe I am just a throwback to a different era but it is a state that I really dig and it permeates into most aspects of my rich happy existence. Little known fact, before he was a politician, Harry S Truman owned and operated a fine haberdashery."

—Michael E. Lowe aka Arthur B. Moore

And speaking of good land, check out this Two-Lane Tale from an upcoming issue of the Prescott Courier.


"Lying about the West in general and the Southwest in particular has been a cottage industry for over a century."

—Charles Bowden


Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Hatman vs. Landman, Or, Headgear 101

 February 11, 2025

   Not much gets me going like a good hat argument.

Our Teaser for my next YouTube video

   So, I was having an argument with this punk kid from Australia about whether anyone, besides me, gives a whit about what kind of hats are being worn in a Western. The kid was angling for this being on the cover of True West:

James B. Mills' Proposed TW cover

   I commented that I didn't like his headgear because it doesn't look Western. Don't get me wrong, I understand why he's wearing it—he was raised by Indians—but it doesn't work for me, because it looks too Afghanistan-ish to my eyes.
   Frankly, it's the difference between Billy Bob's hat in Landman. . .

Billy Bob Thorton in Landman

      Versus the headgear Billy Bob wore to promote Landman. 

Billy Bob on the PR Trail

   I kind of think people care more about headgear than the punk kid likes to admit. However, I have to admit he may actually be right. I am a tad crazy on the hat zone issues. Some might even call me a maniac. Plus, it must be said, I have been wrong about covers so many times, it's not even funny. Just ask my staff.
   I'll give the last word to someone who definitely had an opinion on this.

Daily Whip Out:
"John Wayne Definitely Has An Opinion"

"You call that a Western hat, Pilgrim?"
—The Duke

Monday, February 10, 2025

Saying Goodby to Phil

 February 10, 2025

   Yesterday, I drove up the hill to pay my last respects to one of the greats in our world. It's weird but I remember the exact moment I met him. It was at 2:30 p.m. on October 26, 1981 in the O.K. Corral in Tombstone. I didn't see any ads for the centennial of the legendary O.K. Corral gunfight. I didn't even know if any event had been planned, I just knew I needed to be on that sacred spot at the time it came off a century before.

   As soon as I arrived in Tombstone and went inside I saw this scene:

on October 26, 1981

   At the memorial service yesterday at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2980 Willow Creek Road in Prescott, I encountered a church full of cowboy hats. We were encouraged by his wife, Linda, to please wear your cowboy hats, so we all did.

   Phil received a 21 Gun Salute and Color Guard for his military service and Jerry Kurtz, Garrett Roberts and Russell Palmer provided the stories and Jennifer Montalban, Mike and Martha Lee provided the instruments for us to sing him home with Amazing Grace. There was not a dry eye in the house.

"Phil spent his life trying to get it right, to make it historically accurate. It is the least we can do, to honor that."

—Tate, just one of the many re-enactors who showed up in full regalia.

Sunday, February 09, 2025

He Was Left Out of American Primeval But meet Oliver D. Lee And His Very Successful Descendants

 February 9, 2025

   I've said it before and I'll probably say it until the day I die, but you can't make up anything stranger than real life. One of the key characters in the Utah War who is not portrayed in American Primeval, is this guy. 

johndlee1.jpg
Daily Whip Out:
"John D. Lee Takes A Knee"

   If his name sounds familiar it's probably because when you went rafting in the Grand Canyon you put in and took off from Lee's Ferry. Yes, that was his ferry when he went to hide out after his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was also the adopted son of Brigham Young, which makes it even odder that of all the people involved in the massacre, only Lee took the fall. He wasn't real happy about it, either.

"I do not believe everything that is now being taught and practiced by Brigham Young. I do not care who hears it. It is my last word... I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner."
—John D. Lee, before he faced a firing squad at Mountain Meadows, Utah.

John D. Lee sitting on his own coffin
before the execution

   You know me—Check out those hats! Massive crowns, hipster dips and curls. A glimpse at the hat styles of 1877, when Lee faced a firing squad. Is it just me or does he looks slightly amused? I would chalk that up to a strain of Mormon zane, of which I am very familiar with, having growing up in Kingman, Arizona just south of Mountain Meadows and the Arizona Strip where polygamy still thrives to this day.

   And, speaking of polygamy, John D. Lee had 19 wives and 56 children and they sure ran up the scorecard on civil servant achievement. One of his sons became Senator Mike Lee of Utah and another son became a Utah Supreme Court justice, Thomas R. Lee. Another descendant, Gordon H. Smith was a U.S. senator from Oregon. Then we get U.S. representative Mo Udall and Stewart Udall from Arizona, and their respective sons, senator Mark Udall and Tom Udall from Colorado and senator Tom Udall from New Mexico.

   And, then there are more lawmakers and successful politicos if you include the Lee offspring who intermarried with Jacob Hamblin's offspring.

jacobhamblin.jpg
Daily Whip Out:
"Jacob Hamblin Goes Ramblin"

   Brigham Young named Hamblin an ambassador to the Indians so he had four Shoshone wives in addition to his other wives. And after his testimony against John D. Lee they became enemies and both fathers demanded their kids have nothing to do with each other. So, of course they intermarried like crazy and many of those offspring also had stellar careers in politics.

   Meanwhile, I took this screen grab last Saturday while rewatching American Primeval. This is the director Peter Berg, portraying Fancher, the leader of the doomed wagon train.

peterbergasfancher.jpg
Peter Berg before the slaughter

The Native American Response?

   As Henry Parke notes in his forthcoming, steller piece on the series: Julie O’Keefe, who was Indigenous Cultural Consultant on Killers of the Flower Moon before taking on this series, replies, when asked about the excessive violence, “After reading historical accounts of what happened to Native people of that time period, the violence in American Primeval is tame.”


"Now do you believe me when I say life is stranger than anything you could ever make up?"

—BBB

Saturday, February 08, 2025

Buckeye Blake On The Cowboy's Path

 February 8, 2025

   My fellow Kid Krazy Pard, Buckeye Blake recently told me about a little known pilgrimage that cowboys are making in west Texas.

Goodnight Country

   That's Buckeye's grandson Luca, age 7, taken four years ago at the Charlie Goodnight gravesite in Goodnight, Texas. And those are neckerchiefs, sleeve-garters, bandanas and cowboy scarves hanging on the fence behind him (I know, I know, some of those terms are redundant but Buckeye uses them all, sometimes in the same sentence). Buckeye says the truckers scream by on Highway 287, but the cowboys stop to pay homage to one of their own and leave behind their tokens of respect tied to the wire mesh fence.

   "It's bleak out there," Buckeye told me over the phone. "The wind always blows and most of the ranch is gone, but the cowboys stop and pay their respects." He added, "There's lots of ghosts out there, but it's the Cowboy's Path and we stay on it."

My Kid Krazy Pard Buckeye Blake
stays true to the Cowboy's Path


"There's heavy duty medicine out there, that's why we stop and pay our respects."

—Buckeye Blake

Friday, February 07, 2025

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Or, Maybe A Mildly Warm Adobe Roof

 February 7, 2025

   Some of you probably know that Kathy used to sell real estate in Cave Creek. And, if you knew that, you probably know I took photos of her for ads she ran in the local newspaper. But, did you know that one time we captured, by accident, one of Deena's cats walking across the roof of the pumphouse when I took this photo?

Cat On A Mildly Warm Adobe Roof

   And, here for your viewing pleasure is a closer look at that fat cat. . .

Cat On Its Seventh Or Eighth Life

   Yes, they never did last long, even though the smart ones lived on the roof full time. The wily coyotes got them all.

   Meanwhile, on the food chain conga line. . .

A Front Yard Visitor This Week

   And speaking of semi-hardcore wannabe carnivores. . .

Uno With Rabbit's Feet

"Hey, I found it on the road and it's mine."

   Full disclosure, a big ol' service truck hit a rabbit near our house and Uno claimed the lower half as his own.

"To a dog, a bone has more value than a pearl."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Thursday, February 06, 2025

You call that a Western, Pilgrim?

 February 6, 2025

   Still getting good suggestions from our readers about attracting newer and younger folks.

Topics Galore
   I hope this list will inspire you in the future. These are suggestions for articles I'd like to see:
• Miners
• Loggers in the northwest
• The Oregon Trail
• Railroad types of engineers
• Homestyle music in the west
• Crimes in San Francisco 1842-1860
• Diseases & accidents
• Buffalo!
• Chinese and the railroads
• Horses!
• Doctors
• Texas vs. Comanches
• Indian weapons
• Canadian Mounties
• Scalphunters
• Dime novels
• Indian women warriors
—James D. Biggs (city and state, please)

Not Everyone Loves American Primeval
   Bob, I'm struggling through American Primeval. Shaky camera, quick cuts, left angle tilts, right angle tilts, short on story, heavy on violence, overly dirty, gets dirtier, and on , and on. Stylish, maybe? I think we are so starved for Westerns we will accept anything. If this is what it takes to get a younger audience, well who am I to say no.
   I would refer you to Roman Helmet Guy on Tic-Toc. He is exactly what it sounds like, a guy in a Roman Helmet who loves history and talks about it to the toon of 1.8 million viewers. He also sells books, thousands of books. Look at this model, all the cool kids are on Tic-Toc.
   All you have to be is a little quirky, and I've been reading your blog for years-you have this covered (that's a complement).You could be bigger than Roman Helmet Guy. Set yourself free and get back to the zany-ness you had in your radio days and you will be a hit.
   Don't get sidetracked, tell the history. Just tell it like nobody's watching (and everyone will watch). Keep it simple and fun, don't over edit, do it on the rough. The shorter the clips, the more views your likely to have. Nobody cares about a bartender from the 1880's, or a blacksmith...maybe a prostitute, but otherwise, no.
   Remember when your kids were little and you had to turn the spoon with peas into an airplane, do that. Because you're going to have to find a creative way to force feed these kids Western history, but I believe you are the man to do it.
—Unknown (FYI, I would really like to use your real name here)

Daily Whip Out:
"You call that a Western, Pilgrim?"

   Thanks Duke. I wonder if someone might put a cap on all this ponderousness that references the warp and the woof?

"Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

How Historically Accurate Is American Primeval?

 February 5, 2025

   We are picking up some major energy around the global hit American Primeval and everyone has the same question: how much of the events portrayed are actually true? 


   We had planned on doing a review by Henry of the show in our Feb-March issue and call it a day, but as the raves and the questions continued—and mounted—we shifted gears and are now going to feature the true history behind the hit show in the following issue of True West magazine (that would be the April-May issue). We have joined forces with our film editor, Henry Parke, who has interviewed most of the creative team and actors and now Henry knows even more of the fascinating back story and about how the story came to be. On the history side, our esteemed editors, Paul Andrew Hutton, Mark Boardman, James B. Mills and Jerry Enzler, who wrote the best selling biography on Jim Bridger, will contrast and compare notes to help us fill out the back story, point by point, blow by blow.

   Here is how a certain number one son puts it:

"I have not watched such an incredible narrative western such as this for a long time. Lawless lands ruled by many separate groups, military, cultural, religious, and those out for personal gain even if that means murder. Overall, an incredible series which I am sure will continue to impress." 

—Jeb Alan Rosebrook, Prescott, Arizona (key point, Jeb is a millennial!)

   Ironically, it was Jeb's father, Stuart, who told all of us in the history biz, we have to figure out how to get people under the age of 70 in the door. Well, it appears American Primeval has opened that door. And how!

"Savage is back. It's all gray skies, dirty snow and bearded men, caked in mud and blood."
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

Trending Younger By Listening to Younger People

 February 4, 2025

   Getting lots of feedback off of Willow's suggestion in yesterday's post. You know, the one where she told me about the young cowboy with 2.4 million followers who teaches newbies how to cook over a campfire.

Willow II

   That prompted this email:

   "I saw your blog post yesterday about the magazine appealing to younger people. I made a comment on it this morning, but I thought I'd expand a little in this email with a few suggestions.

  1. My comment on your blog was about "bushcraft" becoming more popular with young people.  Have a short feature with photos that explains how something was done back then.  How a fire was started in a wood-fired cook stove, or out on the trail.  How cowboys out on the trail for days kept dry when it rained or snowed.  How soap or candles were made.  What people did for toothaches or common injuries when there was no dentist or doctor around.

  1. Add a section called Professions of the Old West, highlighting a different one each issue, or every other issue.  Tell what a blacksmith, barkeeper, wheelwright, telegraph operator, miner, milliner, professional gambler, or teacher did then, what their day was like, if it was a hard life, were they able to have a family, what their pay was.  Famous examples of each if there were some.

  1. Change your focus some on Collecting the West.  Right now, it's all about high end collectibles that most people will never be able to afford, let alone young people. I'm talking about adding things that are cool but can be bought for $50-$500, instead of your usual 5K to 300K price range.  Add some affordable collectibles like Western tokens, bottles or ceramic whiskey jugs with advertising, signs, mining equipment, lanterns, railroad china, Fred Harvey memorabilia.  These don't have to be auction house results, they can be things that were sold on Ebay or other sites, things that young people could find and buy for themselves. 

That's it.  That's my 6 cents!
Take care,
Lauren Kormylo

   And, Lauren's input, got this reaction, in house:

   "I love her perspective and completely agree. My circle of friends craves culture and are eager to learn traditional skills like making their own food and home goods. I sell what I call vintage western decor, and I can hardly keep it in stock. People love it not just in Texas, but across the U.S. Plus, the price point makes it accessible to a wide range of customers."  

—Jana Earp, True West Regional Account Director (and also a millennial)

   Of course, there is always that one Aussie Bastard Punk out there. . .

"The answer on how to get more people under age 70 interested, is simply, get a little hipper. The Issac/Primeval cover for the next issue will be a good start. 

James B. Mills' idea of a good cover

   "Like I've said, True West need to become 'the cool kids' again. In some ways, amigo, in recent years, True West have been that kid still listening to Def Leppard, while the cool kids are all slam-dancing to Nirvana, ha.
   "Hmm, if only True West had a Young Gun who speaks their language at their disposal...."
—James B. Mills

"Hope I die before I get old."
—The Who, "Talkin 'Bout My Generation"

Monday, February 03, 2025

Swinging Bell-bottom Blues And Searching for 69-Year-Olds

 February 3, 2025

   Here's an old school illustration that sums up where we are in the publishing world right now.

Bear With Me!
"While we make the pivot to digital."

   I lived through the Swinging Sixties (or, was it the seventies that swung?) And, that reminded me of this ad campaign which seemed hipper at the time than it does looking at it now.

Bell-bottoms, Get It?
The Bell Tolls For Thee & Me Hee Hee

   We're working on an Alamo and Jim Bowie story in the next issue of True West. I kind of went off the deep end on Mr. Bowie about eight years ago in terms of whip outs. Here's the best three:

Daily Whip Out: "Jim Bowie #1"

Daily Whip Out: "Jim Bowie #2"


Daily Whip Out: "Jim Bowie #3"


Where Are All The 69 Year Olds?

   I was talking to the head of Sharlot Hall Museum this past week about our mutual challenges and here's what Stuart Rosebrook said to me: "We all have the same problem: how do we get people under the age of seventy to come in the door?"

   Later, I was visiting with the PR director at Scottsdale Museum of the West and that would be this guy:

David Sholefield,
PR Director at Scottsdale Museum of the West

 David had a young millennial working feverishly on social media at the end of his desk. She overheard my conversation with David (we are the same age so we talk about rock concerts we both loved growing up) and she pipes in and says, "my generation is interested in how to start a fire and cook over it," which I thought was kind of weird, but then she turned her laptop around so I could see a YouTube video from a young cowboy instructing us on how to cook over a campfire. After she told me the guy has 2.4 million followers, she added that her generation is afraid civilization is collapsing (you don't say?!) and they are going to need to know how to learn how to survive. Here is her picture after saying all of this.


Willow giving me the future of the Old West

   Not all my friends agree with Stuart's assessment.


"I disagree on the under the age of 70 comment.  That is an insult and they are the mainstay."
—Lynda Sanchez

Sunday, February 02, 2025

A Fitting Memorial for Abe Hays A Passionate Collector and Driving Force Behind The Scottsdale Museum of the West

 February 2, 2025

   A good friend of the West passed on January 22 and his family gathered yesterday in Scottsdale to say goodbye and pay their respects. I am proud to say I was asked to join them. All three of his children spoke and told wonderful stories about their father and then his daughter, Elizabeth read a statement from Michael Fox, the original director of The Scottsdale Museum of The West.

Abe Hays

   "As Sandy and Jim [Bruner] have so genuinely and accurately expressed, truly, there was only one Abe in all the history of the very American West which he so passionately and knowledgeably loved as he did the development and maturation of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. He was our region’s transplant iconic scholar, marketeer, and storyteller about the West no less respected and admired than Midwesterner John Wayne was by becoming the most recognized Westerner in his portrayal of the American cowboy. 

   "Beginning as a corporate writer and communicator early in his career within Rockefeller Center in New York, Abe became enamored with the American West’s history and artists’ depiction of it which ultimately led to his collecting, selling, and gifting to SMoW the works of diverse artists who like himself, studied and celebrated the myths and legends of the region. His exquisite family collection featured in the museum meets his goal and the museum’s mission to help our visitors gain greater appreciation, understanding, and respect for the West. I am indebted to Abe as are Sandy, Jim, and many others for all ways he represented and supported the purpose and value of the museum from its conceptualization. There was no other founder of our community-owned institution with any greater vision and conviction for it to benefit both present and future generations.

   "I salute Abe for his friendship, scholarship, and generosity shared with endless others, and with a chuckle I say he will be loudly heard while most welcomed in the heavens! May he deservingly be now experiencing eternal Peace and pride." 

Respectfully, 

Mike and Jean Fox


 


Saturday, February 01, 2025

Some Guy On A Motorcycle Who We Flagged Down Gets Back to Me

 February 1, 2025

   Eventually everything comes out in the wash. Or, so my mother was fond of saying.

   A case to her point: twenty-seven years ago, me and my fellow Renegades took a field trip to Coffeyville, Kansas and while touring Death Alley and Isham's Hardware Store (it was still there, and still in business!), we wanted to have our photo taken in front of the Condon Bank, but there was nary a soul in downtown Coffeyville on a Sunday, with church and all. As luck would have it, we ended up flagging down a motorcycle rider to take our photo and here is the photo he took for us:

   Well, imagine my suprise when I got the following email this morning:

    "I have thought about contacting you for years and sharing a picture I took with you and the guys that day in Coffeyville (8/30/98). I was taking a bike trip out to the Rockies and stopped in Coffeyville that Sunday morning to take in some Wild West history. I remember one of the guys asking me if I read True West magazine. It all made sense a few years later when I saw you on TV being interviewed on a Wild West docu-series (don't remember which). I told my friend, 'I met that guy!' This naive 25 year old met The Renegades and didn't even realize it. I am older now and hopefully a lot wiser. I have included a picture of my bike at the time and the bank. It would be great if you could reply and list the names of the men we are standing with. I would love to add their names to my picture book. I enjoy your YouTube content. Keep on keeping on, Bob. God bless."

Sincerely,

Stephen Elliott
Milan, Tennessee

Stephen Elliott's 1998 Honda Valkyrie

Stephen Elliott's photos of the same day

"Life is stranger than anything you could ever make up."

—Old Vaquero Saying