Amber Waves of Grainy Images

 June 14, 2025

   Early on in our conservatorship of True West magazine it dawned on me that what I really am attracted to when it comes to Old West images is amber glow. There is a rich, rust patina around the best nineteenth century photos that gives off a classic butterfly under glass glow that is so damn attractive, at least to me. Here is a good example of Dan the Man and I leaning on amber glow for a cover.

   And here is an excellent example of it being applied to a BozeCard.

   So, it should be no surprise that the line from John Reed's "Insurgent Mexico," describing a unit of Rurales on the move, hits me so hard:

Daily Whip Out:

"Rurales On The Ridgeline Emerging"

   Still need to add three or four more riders, but they are coming at you tomorrow. . .

   "For most men the first fifty years of childhood are the hardest."

—Old Vaquero Saying