Two Too Tall Riders From Roswell: The Gangly-Angle Version

 April 30, 2025

   The more things change, the more they remain the same. I did a small scratchboard for my very first Billy the Kid book back in 1992 illustrating Pat Garrett's three man posse that successfully went after the Kid in July of 1881.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"The Midnight Men" 

   I had Robert Ray get me the original scan, but when I looked at it this morning, I thought I could improve on it, so I printed it out and then painted over it, like this:

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"The Midnight Men Revisited"

   One of the reasons I wanted another go at it is because in that trio was deputy John Poe, who was six foot tall and sheriff Pat Garrett who was six-four, and, according to the Kip McKinney family, deputy McKinney stood six foot six! So, that must have looked bizarre out on the trail with two giraffe-necked lawmen loping along towards Old Fort Sumner. So, I wanted to try and capture some of that gangly-angle. Not sure I succeeded but it sure was fun!

   And, of course, I did this earlier version of the Garrett posse staying off the main trails on their way to meet Manuel Brazil (who never showed):

The Roswell Posse at Taiban Arroyo

   Somewhere in all this is a narrative worth telling in the magazine and on the walls of the Scottsdale Museum of Art and at the Fort Sumner Graveyard Museum.

   Meanwhile Dan The Man created this new BozeCard and it is already one of my favorites.

"We the jury unanimously find that William Bonney came to his death from a bullet wound in the left breast near the region of the heart fired by a pistol in the hand of Pat F. Garrett and our judgement is that the action of said Garrett was justifiable homicide and we are united in opinion that the gratitude of all the community is due to said Garrett for his action and who is worthy of being compensated."

—the coroner's jury in Fort Sumner who were ordered to hold an inquest by Garrett himself and he obviously dictated the wording of their findings.

Deluvina In Her Prime

"You piss pot. You son of a bitch!"

—Deluvina Maxwell, to Pat Garrett after the killing, undermining the "gratitude of all the community" part of the inquest findings

Hello Bob Day Was Yesterday!

 April 29, 2025

   Yesterday was Hello, Bob Day.

   And, by this time today, the Kid had already ridden through Capitan Gap on his way back to Fort Sumner. It's a 120 mile run and according to Paulita Maxwell, he rode from sheep camp to sheep camp until they fell into each other's arms.

Daily Whip Out: "Pretty Paulita"

This Just In From Down Nogales Way

   "On Sunday we celebrated my birthday in a South Tucson restaurant with our kids and eight grandchildren. My brothers also showed up. Nothing like a plate of fajitas and a Pacifico to make everything right as we get ready for Cinco de Mayo which really isn’t celebrated all that much in Mexico. Here on the border there’ll probably be a parade and many will have the day off as will schools. The produce trucks will keep rolling, the trains will keep rolling and food booths will be set up at the Zaragoza Plaza. Ignacio Zaragoza was the hero of the Battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862). There’s not a city or town in Mexico with more than one street which doesn’t have a Zaragoza Street and/or Plaza. To make this worthy of a True West story we learn that Ignacio Zaragoza was born at a Mexican Presidio (fort) in what is now Goliad, Texas in 1829! Unfortunately he died of typhoid fever a few months after his grand victory in Puebla against Napoleon III’s French Army. Regardless, in our household we’ll probably enjoy a snort or two of Bacanora, perhaps with a Dos X chaser and enjoy the fireworks which we’ll be able to see from the front yard."

—Greg Scott

   I must give a great, big thank you to Lori Holly and Kathy Sue for turning me on to the book "The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life."

"The track of the father is to find him within you. To find what he gave you and what he didn't give you. You must use both sides. The medicine of transformation is innately built into this relationship."

   In Chapter Four: The First Track, we get this: "The first track is one end of a string. On the other end, a creature is moving." But we can't 'think"' our way there. It takes 'feeling,' and the author reminds us, for men, 'feelings have long been outlawed.' Ha. Then, 'We have been disconnected from our instincts. Bringing attention back to the landscape of the body, allows you to find the trail of the wild self.' If we can tap into both sides of our selves—the thinker and the side that feels emotional strength, then we can live up to the tracker's creed:

Daily Revised Whip Out: "The Tracker"

"I don't know where we are going but I know exactly how to get there."

—Old Tracker's Creed

   And, finally. . .

"In the shadow of your weakness you will find your strength."

—Old Vaquero Saying

The Scapegoat John D. Lee Comes Clean

April 28, 2025 

  How do we forgive the unforgivable? I believe the true story of John D. Lee is a very good case study on how to answer that question.

John D. Lee In Blood Red

   Lee spent quite a bit of time in jail writing a full confession on his involvement with the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Although it has been tagged as a mixture of truth and lies (many scholars believe he was settling scores and passing blame), I must admit it actually comes across as quite credible in terms of how the massacre happened. The motivations and the miscalculations of the Saints leadership in southwestern Utah may be misguided, but there is a twisted logic to the events. Here are a few of his confessional comments: "About the 7th of September, 1857, I went to Cedar City from my home at Harmony, by order of President [Isaac] Haight. . .[who told Lee that the Fancher wagon train] "were a rough and abusive set of men. . .that they had insulted, outraged, and ravished many of the Mormon women. That the abuses heaped upon the people by the emigrants during their trip from Provo to Cedar City, had been constant and shameful; that they had burned fences and destroyed growing crops; that at many points on the road they had poisoned the water. . .that these vile Gentiles publicly proclaimed that they had the very pistol with which the Prophet, Joseph Smith, was murdered. . .and they were going to return from California with soldiers, as soon as possible, and would then desolate the land and kill every d--d Mormon, man, woman and child that they could find in Utah. . ." it goes on, with more examples of misdeeds by the Arkansas folk. Lee then states that Haight claimed a high Mormon "Council had held a meeting. . .to arm the Indians, give them provisions and ammunition, and send them after the emigrants, and have the Indians give them a brush, and if they killed part or all of them, so much the better." When Lee asked who gave this authority, Lee claimed Haight answered, "It is the will of all in authority." And, of course, this points the finger straight at Brigham Young.

Isaac Haight

   On orders from Haight, Lee admits he gave instructions to the Paiutes (he had been a "farmer to the Indians" in 1856 and knew many of them intimately) on how to proceed, but he says, "The Indians did not obey my instructions. They met, several hundred strong, at the Meadows, and attacked the emigrants Tuesday morning, just before daylight, and at the first fire, as I afterwards learned, they killed seven and wounded sixteen of the emigrants. The latter fought bravely, and repulsed the Indians, killing some of them and breaking the knees of two war chiefs, who afterwards died."

   Lee goes on: "We knew that the original plan was for the Indians to do all the work, and the whites to do nothing, only to stay back and plan for them and encourage them to do the work. Now we knew the Indians could not do the work, and we were in a sad fix." He claimed he "spent much of the night in tears and in prayer." He asked for a sign, but "I got no satisfaction from my God."

   After more frustrated efforts to dislodge the emigrants, a plan was created and handed to Lee from Major Higbee, who got it from Haight, to the effect that they should "decoy the emigrants from their position and kill all of them that could talk." Lee claimed he protested, saying, "I cannot do this." But in the end that is exactly what they did.

Major Higbee

   As the methodical killings began, Lee confessed, ". . .humanity was overpowered, as I thought of the cruel, unmanly part that I was acting. Tears of bitter anguish fell in streams from my eyes; my tongue refused is office; my faculties were dormant, stupefied and deadened by grief. I wished that the earth would open and swallow me where I stood. God knows my suffering was great. I cannot describe my feelings. I knew that I was acting a cruel part and doing a damnable deed." Lee admitted to killing, with others, "six wounded men." At the end of the massacre he stated, "It was also voted to turn all the property over to Klingonsmith, as Bishop of the Church at Cedar City, and he was to take care of the proper for the benefit of the Church, until Brigham Young was notified and should give further orders what to do with it."

Philip Klingonsmith

   Two weeks before he was to be executed, Lee finished his confession and ended with these words:

"To my enemies I say, judge not, that ye be not judged. In life you were often unjust to me. After I am dead remember to be charitable to one who never designedly did a wrong."

—John D. Lee, Camp Cameron, March 13, 1877

   As for the question: how do we forgive the unforgivable? Well, the old vaqueros have a  saying: "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest."

    I think we are somewhere between the second and third option and after all is said and done, it must be said, John D. Lee had humility and sand. And, at least from my point of view, he is forgiven.

It's Getting Dark, Too Dark To See

 April 27, 2025

    They kept off the main trails all the way to Taiban Arroyo.

Daily Whip Out:"Three Roswell Riders"

   They were to meet a confidant but he never showed so they rode off a bit, staked their horses and spent the night. In the morning, July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett, John Poe and Kip McKinney rode on to Old Fort Sumner and an appointment with destiny.

"To find out who you are, you need to forget who they told you to be."

—Old Vaquero Saying

   Meanwhile, found this old whip out and thought it had potential.

Daily Whip Out:

"Jesse James In Silhouette"

When I wake up, like this morning, I often will grab my sketchbook and write down the first words that come to me:

Daily Whip Out: "Too Dark to See"

   And, coming full circle. . .

"Mama, take this badge off of me, I can't use it anymore."

—Bob Dylan, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," channeling Pat Garrett and his posse

More Nocturns In The Maxwell House

 April 26, 2025

   Still having fun with Maxfield Parrish-ish nocturnes.

Daily Whip Outs:

"Maxwell Bedroom Showdown"

   The Kid backs into Pete Maxwell's bedroom. Garrett, engulfed in the darkness, freezes. "He came directly towards me," Garrett recounted. "Came close to me."

   Garrett said he dared not speak because his own gun was in its holster, and he was sitting on it!

   "He came close to me, leaned both hands on the bed, his right hand almost touching my knee."

   "The Kid must have seen, or felt, the presence of a third person at the head of the bed. He raised his pistol, a self-cocker, within a foot of my breast."

Oh, Man, Garrett was so scared!

   The Kid jumped back, but instead of firing, he demanded in Spanish one more time, "Quien es?"

   Big mistake.  Garrett drew his revolver and fired twice.

   "The Kid fell dead. He never spoke. A struggle or two, a little strangling sound as he gasped for breath, and the Kid was with his many victims."

   Thus ends the sheriff of Lincoln County's version of the events in Pete Maxwell's bedroom in the early hours of July 15, 1881.

   I have never believed this self-promoting BS. Oh, I believe he shot the Kid alright, just not with the He-Was-So-Armed! embellishments. Walking across the parade ground in his stocking feet? No way, Jose! Okay, one caveat. As the little Aussie Bastard has since pointed out, indigenous peoples of New Mexico have walked about barefooted for time immemorial. And, it must be noted, even in my ancient childhood (the Nineteen Fifties!) white kids would go barefoot in the summer and by the fall their feet were impervious to "bullheads." So, there's that, but I still think the stocking feet and the buttoning of the pants is too precious by half.

   So, what, pray tell, is the reason for revisiting all of this for the eighteenth time when I recently claimed I had made my final word on the subject?

A Close-up On Buckeye's Billy Shrine

(going to be so cool and it's going to be part of the Traveling Wake of Billy the Kid starting this summer. That's why.)

   By the way, what was Billy the Kid's least favorite coffee?

A: Maxwell House

"Oh, no, not Maxwell House again!"

Death Crouched Waiting Under A Blood Red Moon

 April 25, 2025

   Me and two of my Kid Krazy artist friends are navigating the perameters of an exciting art show opportunity. Drove down into the Beast this morning to look at the wall space which is actually in a large hallway, and, after about 50 feet it turns to the left into a very dark space and that is where I think I can make some serious hay with scenes like this.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Death Crouched Waiting Under A Blood Red Moon"

   One of my prized possessions is a noir art print from Maxfield Parrish, "Night In The Desert", 1902. 

   This is what I am channeling here.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Death Sequence Maxfield Parrish Dark"

   Just for grins—and insurance,—I did another set of the same scenes with a little more commercial graphic novel illustration in mind.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Death Sequence Muy Cleaner"

   I actually prefer this version of the Kid realizing there are two strangers on the porch and he springs back like a cat. Got it!

More Kid Coverage

   When the legendary Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and his posse ambushed Bonnie and Clyde, in May of 1934, the authorities found inside the bullet-riddled "death car," Clyde's saxophone, three BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles), two sawed-off shotguns, a dozen hand guns, fifteen sets of stolen license plates and a book, "The Saga of Billy the Kid," by Walter Noble Burns.

   Wait! There's even more. This just came in from Mark Lee Gardner:

   The husband of Walter Noble Burns' cousin was Thomas Mabry, who would later be New Mexico's governor, and, who, in 1950, would interview Brushy Bill Roberts to determine if he was really Billy the Kid and grant his request for a pardon. Brushy wasn't, and Mabry didn't grant the pardon. The irony here is that Brushy Bill probably got most of his information from—you guessed it— "The Saga of Billy the Kid," by Walter Noble Burns.
—Mark Lee Gardner

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

—John Muir

Bisti Badman Meets the Old Vaquero Grinnin' Like A Jackass Eatin' Prickly Pear

 April 24, 2025

   Sometimes the magic works and I'm not sure I even know why.

   Found this half-finished Whip Out in an old sketchbook (August 1, 2023) and for some reason I saw it with new eyes. I dig the stylized Sugarloaf and the twinkle in his eye and the muy Mexicano color scheme. Gave it a couple tweaks and here you go.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Old Vaquero Grinnin' Like A Jackass Eatin' Prickly Pear"   

I kindah think this could be the cover of the next installment of Old Vaquero Sayings.

Bon-jore amigo!

Daily Whip Out: "Bisti Badman"

Their first mistake was sending him to boarding school. Their second mistake was assuming he didn't learn anything. Their third mistake was thinking he would be easy to catch once he got out.

   This just in from the Billy the Kid's Historical Coalition. 

Michael Antrim kin to Billy the Kid?

(well, those front teeth are certainly related!)

   In the next issue of True West (July-August) you will meet the kids who discovered this specific overbite.

   I received the following question from Diane Smith of the Arizona Historymakers Foundation:

How did Robert Allen Bell become Bob Boze Bell?

   Hmmm, I'm not sure my late father—Allen P. Bell—is going to like the answer to this one.

"The father washes onto the son. He lives inside you as an aspiration, a disappointment, or a fear. Afraid you will never be like him or afraid you will be; he is there in the bones of your emotions. In the voices in your head. In your expectations of yourself. In the shadows of your weakness or strength. No matter how good the relationship, there is a tension between father and son."

—Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life

A Bulldog At The Sixtieth Reunion

 April 23, 2024

   Got a class reunion coming up this summer and it's a pretty ridiculous number—the Sixty!

   Ouch! 

   Someone in our class printed up some T-shirts to honor our school mascot, the Bulldogs.

   So, of course I was telling one of my classmates, Dan Harshberger, that is not how a real Bulldog would look at his sixtieth reunion, and Dan said, Well, how would a bulldog at his sixtieth reunion actually look? And so I sent him a rough sketch and the next thing you know, the crazy bastard whipped this out.

Design by Dan The Man

   When I shared it with my grandson who loves monsters, Fenton said, "That's too creepy, Grandpa."

"Yay, for Kingman Bulldogs, Hold your Banner High. . .No, Wait, Not That One!"

—MCUHS fight song

A Sneak Peek at The Tres Gatos Next Show

 April 22, 2025

Don't tell anyone, but here's my proposed art poster for our upcoming Tres Gatos Art Show.

Designed by Dan The Man Harshberger

  Also, the centerpiece of the show will be Buckeye Blake's sculpture of the Kid laid out on the carpenter's bench in Old Fort Sumner in the early hours of July 15, 1881.

The Candlelit Wake of Billy the Kid

by Buckeye Blake

   We are going to have some fun on this one. That would be me and those other two cats, Thom "Kid" Raven Ross and Buckeye Blake.

"Spanish Eyes Up Close"

"No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere oir."

—Old Vaquero Saying, (None are so deaf as those that won't hear.)

A Honey Baked Ham Goes Missing And Badger Clark's Dusty Lyrics

 April 21, 2025

   Still sorting through the roadside wreckage I witnessed on my sojourn to the hometown of Billy the Kid earlier this month.

Windmill Down

   Just east of Pie Town, New Mexico is an abandoned ranchito next to the highway. As Walter Noble Burns so aptly put it, "The past beats against it like a shadowy surge."

The Honey-Baked Ham Caper

   We had a large scale theft this morning. Last Saturday Kathy, Uno and I went down to the Honey Baked Ham Store and bought a big ol' sucker with all the trimmings for $85. We had a few choice slices with our neighbors yesterday—Easter Sunday—and it was yummy. This morning, Kathy was divvying up the rest for her brother and sister and had to leave the kitchen to answer her phone. When she came back the remaining ten-pound honey-baked ham was gone. Only the wrapper on the floor remained.

   When I talked to this guy he swears he was no where near the scene of the crime.

"I saw a one-armed man running away."

   So far, no arrests have been made, but damn if that dog sure is thirsty now!

Daily Whip Out:

"In A Cloud of Golden Dust"

   Thanks to my Nogales compadre, Greg Scott, who shared this Badger Clark "Dust Burger":

When my feet are in the stirrups 

And my hawse is on the bust,

With his hoofs a-flashing lightnin'

In a cloud of golden dust,

And the bawlin’ of the cattle 

Is a-comin’ down the wind 

Then a finer life than ridin’

Would be mighty hard to find. 

  Just a ridin’, a-ridin’

Splitting long cracks through the air

  Stirrin’ up a baby cyclone,

  Rippin’ up the prickly pear

   As I’m ridin’

—Badger Clark, 1904

A Laughing Dog vs The Hatless Neanderthal Equals The One-Eyed Captivo

 April 20, 2025

   A day of thankful reflection.

   When you find five white buffalo lounging in a corral on your street it's time to count your blessings.

What are the flippin' odds?!

   When Uno tells a story, sometimes I have to stop him and ask that he start over because he laughs so much while telling it, I can't understand what he is saying.

Uno Cracks Himself Up

   A certain little Aussie Bastard is amused that I keep hats in my bedroom. Really? What do you think I am, some hatless Neanderthal?!

   And, yes, that is an original Ed Mell with the tall clouds in front of the beehive fireplace.

   My son gifted me a big, ol' card deck full of storytelling advice. Here are just a smidgin' of the gems on just one card.

   "What are you trying to achieve? Big picture stuff. What’s motivating you? What might motivate us too? What barriers must you overcome? Give us a realistic idea of the journey ahead and reassure us on the risks you are about to make."

   Okay, my neighbor down the creek had a dream that I was standing on the stage to receive an Oscar for my story on Mickey Free. While I don't see myself with an Oscar, I do want to achieve a worthy story about the boy who started the longest war in American history. It has been a long time goal (since 2002) but I know in my heart if I write every day, without hope, without despair, I will be able to at least give you a glimpse of that one-eyed captivo's true being.

"If you want to change the world, first change yourself."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Whip Outs Out The Ying Yang!

 April 19, 2025

   I love Saturdays because I can work on art until the cows come home! Been debating how many old vaqueros I have done in the past five years and finally settled on this number.

Daily Whip Out: "Old Vaquero 666"

Meanwhile, at old Bent Fort someone has been found out.

Daily Whip Out: "Spotted"

   Meanwhile, under the Tonto Rim, I mean Brim. . .

Daily Whip Outs: "Sombrero Shadows"

   Some people see faces in the dust. These people are called My-Kingman-Krazy-Kin.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Muy Malo Mamacita In The Wind"

   Saw this next one in a rejection pile and thought to myself, give me some rope, I can hang myself!

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Good Luck Outrunning The Wind"

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Approaching Visibility de Nada"

   Of course I did about five more of these but enough is enough. Well, okay, one more. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Wind Tunnel Rider"

(alternate title: "Into The Van Gogh Wind")

   Okay, I lied, one more with a warning: slightly naughty title ahead.

Daily Whip Out:

"Pissing In The Wind"

"Me gusto diablo de polvo!"

—Old Vaquero Saying, (I love dust devils!)

Young Guns Forever!

 April 18, 2025

   Yesterday, I drove into the Beast and spent some quality time with this guy.

John Augustine In His Workshop

   Both of us have Iowa connections and he loves history like I do. John and his wife Christine, live in the house that Steve Shadegg owned. Shadegg was the guy who guided Barry Goldwater's career, in fact Shadegg was Goldwater's campaign manager in his run for the presidencey in 1964, so it's old school Arizona with a capital A.

Young Guns Forever! 

  Billy Bonney is back again with a new movie in the works and a new angle. Each generation finds something new to hang their hat on and every cycle produces a slew of new interpretation. The Brushy Bill angle (Garrett didn't kill the Kid and Billy lived until 1950) opens the door to a whole bunch of new Kid plots. According to Emilio Estevez, Young Guns III will feature Billy in the John Tunstall role, helping train a young revolutionary named Doroteo Arrango, better known as Pancho Villa. The roles are reversed with a young Pancho, 28, needing guidance from the aging hero of the Lincoln County War on how to be an effective, handsome killer with a cause. Emilio envisions the Kid having adventures in YGIV and beyond because if you open up the story to 1950, Billy can mix it up with Bonnie & Clyde or even The Desert Fox. Hell, you could even have Billy on Omaha Beach!

"What a long, strange trip it's been."

—The Grateful Dead

Round Two

Daily Whip Out:

"Vaquero On High Stepper #2"