Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Shot for Shot at The O.K. Fight

 July 29, 2025

   Running in circles, but then, that is the way of the world. And, by circles, I mean I am back to where I once belonged—to quote the "cute" Beatle. And, where I once belonged is on the hunt for visual coverage of the most infamous thirty seconds in the history of the Old West.

"30 Seconds—30 Shots—in 30 frames"

   Can I actually tell that convoluted episode in thirty scenes: Hmmm. I think I can. For one thing I have been drawing the whole shebang for over 30 years! Ha. 

   Where to start. Okay, How about here?

Daily Whip Out:

"Hafford's Corner, 2:20 p.m. October 26, 1881"

   Unlike the movies where the Earps and Holliday are walking around town like anonymous drifters, the crowd at Hafford's Corner (Fourth And Allen Street in Tombstone) grew quite large with an estimated 150 locals and miners gathering in knots, gossiping like little girls on a schoolyard, expecting a fight and trading rumors and running down the street to where the cowboys were and telling them what was going on at Hafford's Corner.

Mark Lee Gardner in a BBB Doc Shirt

  And, speaking of historians who know this story, Mark Lee Gardner has a little different take on the story as it relates to a certain deadly dentist and his Iowa compadre:

"Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, like anyone else then and now, have their fair share of contradictions and failings. They made their way not in the Old West but in the New West, young towns and camps on the fringe of morality, where money flowed through gambling, prostitution, and rampant speculation. In this New West, a sordid history or lifestyle didn’t preclude respectability. A onetime pimp and horse thief could become an upstanding peace officer. A boozing, gun- toting gambling addict could also be a successful dentist— for a time, anyway— with plenty of satisfied customers. And the two could be friends without anyone giving it a second thought. Wherever Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday found themselves, though, there was one constant. Trouble seemed to follow Wyatt. Doc made his own."

—Mark Lee Gardner, in his forthcoming book "Brothers of The Gun" 


   Add to that Mark's opening quote from Kate and you can take all this to the bank.

Daily Whip Out: "Big Nose Kate In Red"


"Some is sad and some is quite laughable, but such is life any way we take it."
—Big Nose Kate

Monday, July 28, 2025

The Leaner Has Fallen

 July 28, 2025

   Saguaros can often live for several centuries and I sometimes imagine Al Sieber and Wyatt Earp riding by these sentinels on their Arizona treks.

The Leaner, July 4, 2024

Yes, we all loved the Leaner.

Our grandkids On Christmas Day, 2024

   I have been walking by this sagging big guy daily for several years now and I must admit to speeding up slightly when I pass under him both going up and coming down the hill. On the other hand, given their tenacity for survival, I sometimes wondered if perhaps he would outlive me, teetering at a 45 degree angle for another century, or more. Here he is last week.

The Leaner, July 22, 2025

      Defiant to the end. Well, that was not to be.

The Leaner Has Fallen, July 28, 2026

   I knew if he did fall, he would block the entire road and apparently someone who lives up the hill came down with a chain saw and cut him up into pieces to clear the road.

On a related note, Kathy and I have been married for 46 years, today.

Kathy Sue & BBB at Pioneer, Arizona
July 28, 1979

(and we're still standing!)


"Long may we lean."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Chasing First Light

 July 27, 2025

   Still chasing early morning light. 

Daily Whip Out: "First Light On The Creek"

   I am obsessed with this scene because every morning when I go out for my walk with Uno at 5:45 I see this.

Actual First Light On Elephant Butte

   As you can clearly see, from my phone shot, those canyon walls on Elephant Butte are pretty spectacular and, so far, they have resisted my attempts at capturing them accurately. True,  I have some serious sketches but it's a math problem I haven't quite figured out yet.

First Light Sketches #37, #38

First Light at Top, #39

Daily Whip Out:
"Superstitions First Light Study"

"Everything is angles and geometry."

—Jerry Seinfeld

Saturday, July 26, 2025

An Old True West Doorstop Finds A New Home

 July 26, 2025

I had a great lunch yesterday at Tonto Bar & Grill with the first ladies of True West magazine and that would be Sheri Riley Jensen, Rebecca Edwards and our longtime business manager, Carole Compton Glenn (1999-2023).

Sheri, BBB, Rebecca and Carole at Tonto

Carole brought me a gift of a doorstop from the True West offices in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It is basically a heavy rock with a kachina on it. She saved it when she went to Stillwater to work with the former owners of the magazine on cleaning up the financials and to learn their methods. She told me they were cleaning out the offices when she was there and she "just took it." Ha. So funny if you know Carole. This was back when we first bought the magazine in the fall of 1999 and the former owner's offices were in Stillwater.

The Rock That Stopped The Doors

I brought the treasured doorstop home and laid it on this broken wall tribute so it looks like Carole threw it through our front window and broke the glass. All in good humor, of course. Carole would never do that, but you have to agree that makes for a better story!

Yes, in the fall of 1999, Bob McCubbin and I flew to Guthrie, rented a car and drove to Stillwater to do this:

 "Oh, my Lord! What have we done?!" 

—Bob McCubbin after we signed the check, took this photo and started to drive away

Friday, July 25, 2025

The Razz Years Begets My True Calling

 July 25, 2025

   Still jammin' on the Cave Creek Canyons concept. Experimented with a lone cloud. Closer, but still not where I want to be. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Lone Cloud Over Elephant Butte"

Okay, let's get back to the uncomfortable stuff

Back To My Delusional Past

  After my syndicated cartoon strip debacle (1970-72) I turned my scattered attention towards doing an Arizona humor magazine.

Razz Re-donkulousness

with "Wonderful Russ"


   That adventure lasted four years and made zero money, but my partner and I—Dan "The Man" Harshberger—learned a couple more things, the hard way. First off, we thought Arizona needed a monthly humor magazine, not realizing the state already had a humor publication that came out every day—The Arizona Republic. Dang!

   I remember thinking, "I have always thought of myself as a diamond in the rough—I just wasn't expecting this much rough!" Also, intuitively, and by studying my heroes, I knew I had to go through a "delusional" phase where nobody believed in me, where I looked foolish and where I questioned myself daily, but I knew if I kept going I would eventually arrive at where I wanted to be. Imagine my shock and surprise when my delusional phase lasted thru the 60s, the 70s and half of the 80s. So much for the "overnight success" label.

   But enough wallowing in self-criticism and hatred. In a van Gogh kind of way, what am I doing today that builds on all of that failure?

   This morning I put this guy down on paper.

Daily Whip Out: "Bisti Badman"

Their first mistake was sending him to boarding school. Their second mistake was thinking he was slow.


"Atmosphere."

—Max Brand's one word take on my artwork.

Thursday, July 24, 2025

The Long Road to A Dream House On The Desert

 July 24, 2025

   My father gave me a vivid dream. Like most father-son dreams, it was his dream and he passed it on down to me. Here it is in it's most primitive form.

Daily Whip Out:
"An Adobe Ranchito On The Desert"

   And, if you look close, you'll see a horseback vaquero on the trail home. You can just make him out in the twilight on the trail to that funky adobe on the ridgeline. This dream ironically dovetails with a project one of my neighbors is spearheading.

Daily Whip Out: "First Light On Cave Creek"

   Even back in the beginning of my career, I had this dream house on the desert as my goal. But I had a couple false starts on the downpayment of that dream.

BBB In '72

   I had this goal to have a syndicated comic strip so I could live anywhere I wanted and then I would find the perfect desert dwelling surrounded by elegant saguaros. The name of my comic strip was "Lippo & Paguna," which was a nostalgic look at my grandparent's farm in Iowa and Lippo was my grandmother's brother-in-law and I thought the name was perfect. I spent over 600 hours developing the strip while moonlighting as a draftsman at Tel Engineering and playing in a rock band (Smokey and eventually the Razz Band). Here is a closeup of the cartoons I am holding in the photo.

A page of "Lippo & Paguna" daily strips

   I sent it everywhere and I received over 240 rejection slips—which I tacked on my wall as a badge of honor—and when I finally visited The Des Moines Register Syndicate not long after the above picture was taken I asked them point blank why they didn't buy it and the guy shrugged and said, "Farm strips don't sell." Okay. So, the lesson was finally clear: I should have called them before I started and asked them whether they even wanted a farm strip. Damn.

   From that failure I gravitated to the idea that Arizona really needed a humor magazine. How could that fail? I wondered aloud if there was anybody crazy enough to help me produce that? And my roommate—from Kingman—said, "I'm that guy!"


"I don't think Bob Boze Bell is funny, period."

—Chiquita Rollins, Women Take Back The Night

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Dust Devil Wannabes & Hub Whitt Originals

 July 23, 2025

   I know this Wyoming cowboy and he wanted to buy one of my Whip Outs and he couldn't decide between a vaquero on horseback, or a landscape and so after some back and forth he finally picked a landscape and so, just for grins I added a horseback vaquero at the bottom. Look close. He's there.

Daily Whip Out:

"Hub Whitt's Personal Whip Out"

   Meanwhile, found this old board in the studio from 2019 and thought I could make it better.

Daily Revised Whip Out:

"Dust Devil Wannabe"

   It's the birthday of my best friend's little brother. He sat in with us at the Kingman Fairgrounds back in 2009 when we tried to make up for the debacle of March 22, 2008.

The Exits Final Exit

   That's Johnny Waters, second from right. Happy Birthday Kingman boy! We go wayyy back.

"Anything is much more believable, if it happens in the past."

—Richard Lester

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Doc Before The Storm, Doc During the Storm and Doc Storms Out

 July 22, 2025

   We're mounting a nice size Doc Holliday Art Show in Prescott next month. This is the brainchild of Stuart Rosebrook and he has corraled myself and Thom Ross to come up and make some serious Doc hay on the Sharlot Hall campus.

Daily Whip Out: "Doc Before The Storm"

   I had to go through my extensive files to find the very best Doc images. Just to give you an idea how tough this was, none of these made the cut.


Daily Whip Outs: "Doc On The Brain"


   The show is tentatively scheduled to premiere on August 15, but stay tuned for details.


Doc Prints: Times Two


   And, if you need even more Doc Holliday in your life, please join me on August 16 in the Mile High City. This is solid.


Doc Forum With BBB In Prescott

   And, you get free breakfast!


"I'm your Huckleberry!"

Doc Holliday

Monday, July 21, 2025

Coyotes Dominate The Council of Clowns

 July 21, 2025

   There is a local effort being mounted to save some of the wild canyons to the north of us. I have volunteered to produce a poster to help promote that effort. My neighbor Tom Augherton said he wants to see a coyote in the poster. I agree but sometimes those wily critters are hard to see.

Daily Whip Out:

"New River Mesa & Faint Coyote In Early Light"

   But wait, If memory serves me correctly. . .

Daily Revised Whip Out:
"Coyote Crosses Spur Cross Before It Was Paved"

   And, sometimes coyotes blend in with the background. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"Hidden Coyote in the Shadows"

(sorry, more dingo than coyote going here)

   And sometimes in legend they loom large. . .


Daily Whip Out:

"Mickey Free & The Legend of Zig Zag Canyon"


   In my experience, every coyote I've run across has a certain smug look about them. 



Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:
"The Coyote Smirk"


   With all that said, nobody has said it better than Momaday. . .

"Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to."

—N. Scott Momaday

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Rurales Crossing the Rio Grande or Mariachis On The Move

 July 20, 2025

   My friend Jim Hatzell does an annual Artist's Ride where he invites guys like me to come up to the Dakotas in August and utilize great re-enactors he rounds up, all with authentic gear to use for artistic reference. Back in 2014 Jim took a photo of two re-enactors crossing a stream and he sent it to me and said, "Do what you want with it," So I did this, which I call, "Rurales Crossing The Rio Grande." Although I may have leaned a little too hard on the conchos and perhaps a more accurate title would be this. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Mariachis On The Move" 

  I'm also working on a big poster concept.

Daily Whip Out:

"First Light On New River Mesa #10"


   And, here's Part Three of my conversation with Mark Lee Gardner about Grey's assertion that Garrett shot the Kid down "like a dog."

Gardner Goes Deeper

   "I don't have a problem with doubters when it comes to Garrett. As the final line in Garrett's 'Introductory' reads, 'Let those doubt who will.' What irritates me and causes me to squander my precious time writing a response is when a theory is presented as fact without credible evidence to back it up: 'Only one of them would ever tell the truth." In other words, Garrett and Poe were big fat liars. Well, maybe they were, but we have no eyewitness testimony that can prove that. If Garrett were alive today, he would no doubt sue you for libel, and he'd not only end up owning your magazine, but also your beautiful home and studio. You'd likely get to keep your artwork, though."
—Mark Lee Gardner

   Funny. Yes. Let's back up a bit. Has Mark's scholarship destroyed Grey's credibility? Yes, Grey is all over the place and his testimony about what Kip McKinney may or may not have said about the killing of the Kid is heresay and nothing more. Do I still buy Garrett's version of events? Not really. I think he was protecting his sources, i.e. Pete Maxwell and his sister, Paulita. 
   And, yet, at the end of the day, guess who found a photo of our guy in question?

Federick William Grey

   Hey, Mark Lee Gardner, all is forgiven. This is so great.


"Keep on rockin' in the Free World."

—Neil Young


Saturday, July 19, 2025

Seeking The Truth No Matter How Painful Or Hilarious

 July 19, 2025

   Regarding yesterday's post about Kip McKinney's version of the killing of Billy the Kid. . .

Kip McKinney and John Poe in gate

   I received a slightly different version of those same events from a good friend of mine:

Kip's Slip of The Lip?

   "Bob, regarding your latest blog post on liars, Kip McKinney wasn't F. W. Grey's partner; he was an employee at the mine. And if you would study Grey a little more fully, you would see that he writes such whoppers as Billy being 'a half-breed Indian' who 'killed men just for the sport of it.' Grey also claims that the Kid 'brought to perfection, the art of whirling a gun and shooting.' And do note that Grey's account of Billy's demise is not a firsthand account. In fact, Grey never states that he got his tale directly from McKinney; he never once quotes him on the killing. Additionally, Grey's book wasn't published until 1912, by which time many wild tales had emerged about the Kid's life and death (and even some dreadful plays, as revealed in the latest issue of your mag). Most importantly, though, McKinney also worked for James B. Gillett as a cowhand for "many months" at the Estado Land and Cattle Company, and Gillett wrote in a letter that McKinney "told about the same story as Poe and Garrett." There's some actual truth for you, my friend. All of the above is in my book, To Hell on a Fast Horse, published fifteen years ago. I'm happy to send you a copy if you don't have it.
   "Like it or not, the accounts of Garrett and Poe, unlike Grey, are firsthand accounts. They put their names to them. Garrett's initial account to the governor was published in newspapers across New Mexico Territory, and isn't it interesting that no one at the time, at least in print, called Garrett a liar. Folks indeed found his narrative believable. And yet, 144 years later, Bob Boze Bell knows better than the eyewitnesses the "truth" of what happened that night. You might consider starting a new magazine titled Fantasy West, where your ruminations on the events of July 14, 1881, could be the cover story of the inaugural issue."
—Mark Lee Gardner

   Well, isn't that just ducky? Okay, full disclosure: when I started out on this journey, in earnest, back in 1991 I made the proverbial trek—it really was a quest—to New Mexico to try and discern the truth about all things Billy the Kid. On my first trip over, I had the good fortune to meet Bob McCubbin, Johnny Meigs and John Sinclair, all well respected New Mexican folk who guided me to the truth through their scholarship and connections. On subsequent trips I managed to meet Fred Nolan, Leon Metz, Paul Hutton, Chuck Usmer, Drew Gomber, Nora Henn, Lynda Sanchez, Robert Utley and many others. More than a few of them subscribed to the Grey-Kip version of the Kid killing and it just made more sense to me. Now, granted, Mark's excellent scholarship blows a big, fat hole in that version of events and speaks directly to how difficult it is to get to the Truth—with a capital T—on any subject, especially as time moves on and the stories mount up.
   Is Mark a sarcastic snothead? Yes. Am I mortified? No. Did he change my mind? Not really, but I sure enjoy his sense of Yuma. In fact, this is what I love about history: it's a bit of a mess, but it's our mess and I absolutely love seeking the truth in spite of the fact that. . .

"Most historical facts are unpleasant."

—Aldous Huxley

Friday, July 18, 2025

Pondering A Controversial Death A Long Time Ago

July 18, 2025

  Three nights ago, way back in 1881, four men stood over the lifeless body of a slain outlaw. Only one of them would ever tell the truth about what actually happened that night.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:

"Four Men Ponder The Lifeless Body

of Billy the Kid"

   Sometimes I can get too beatific without even trying and this is one of those times.

   Meanwhile, the next morning, many miles south of there. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Andale Muchachos!"


   What is the essence of good storytelling? Withholding information.

   What were you doing on March 21, 1981? I was apparently at the Mill Avenue Street Fair in Tempe, selling and signing copies of my four comic books, featuring Honkytonk Sue. How do I know this? Because a collector, Preston Godfrey from Westfield, Massachusetts just sent me these photo copies of the comics I signed for him.


   He wants a written confirmation that  the signature is mine. It appears that Sue herself also signed, which he claims was my wife Kathy, which makes perfect sense.

   And, speaking of Chuck Wagon & The Wheels (see the Smirkey's bar sign at top left), I recently heard from Chuck Maultsby, the legendary lead singer of the notorious Country Rock band from Tucson and he wants to sell the original artwork I did for their album "Red Hot Women and Ice Cold Beer"

   Let me know if you want it and I'll put in a good word for you. Oh, and it's a big sucker. Here is Chuck posing with the original framed art and a framed album cover for relative size"

Chuck With Original BBB Album Cover Art

   And, finally, who was the one guy who told the truth about how the Kid really died? That would be Kip McKinney (third from the left in the first Whip Out) who confided to a mining partner named Frederick William Gray that Garrett knew the Kid would visit his "Mexican sweetheart" and that the lawmen arrived at the Maxwell house before Billy and "tied and gagged" the girl." Garrett hid behind the sofa and when Billy showed, Pat shot him down. The Kid's worst fear had come true. . .


"I'm not afraid to die like a man fighting, but I would not like to be killed like a dog, unarmed."

—Billy the Kid

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Red Dirt Dust Storm Riders

 July 17, 2025

   If you've ever been caught outside in an Arizona dust storm you know how helpless it feels seeing it roll towards you; a moving, churning wall of airborne mud. Imagine in the old days trying to outrun one? 

Daily Whip Out: "Red Dirt Dust Storm Rider"

And, here, for your visual amusement is a close up on that same rider about to get swallowed up. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"Dust Storm Rider All But Swallowed Up"

   And, of course, there are other ways to be swallowed up as well. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Deep Canyon Rider"
 

"A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer."

—Novalis

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Sonny Alvarado Still Kickin' It!

 July 16, 2025

   Drove into the Beast early this morning and had several meetings in Scottsdale, including one with an old MUCOUS classmate and a fellow Mohave County drummer, Sonny Alvarado.

Sonny & Me

    He was in a rock band with his brother, Tinker, and they called themselves The Gallos and I gave Tinker & The Gallos their due in "The 66 Kids" and wanted Sonny to have the original of a painting I did based on a class photo of Tinker in our annual, circa 1964. Yes, Sonny gifted me a special jar of "Senor Sonny's Secret Sauce."

   In fact, in a major foreshadowing, I once sat in on Sonny's drum kit at the Old Elks Lodge in downtown Kingman and dropped a stick while playing "Wipeout." Fast forward, forty three years, and I had a heart attack playing the same song—
"Wipeout" on the same stage! Who says life doesn't give us warning?


"Ha-ha-hay-ya-ha. . . Wipeout!"

—The crazy laugh opening to the surf tune that almost killed me



Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Last Stand Ridge Before And After The Fire Plus Vetting Locals

July 15, 2025

   We had a bad fire in our neighborhood about five years ago and it took out virtually all the underbrush. Somehow, this stand of saguaros survived, some barely—and they have the scars to prove it. Not sure how long they will last but I admire their tenacity. 

Last Stand of Saguaros 

Here's how it looked before the fire.

Ratcliff Ridge in 2019


Last Stand Ridge Today

Tombstone Anonymous?

   My nephew does jeep tours out of Scottsdale and he told me he had a couple from New Jersey on a recent tour who told him that "Tombstone" is their favorite movie. When he asked them if they had visited the town, they were surprised to learn that Tombstone was in Arizona? Yikes! I swear, if you live long enough, everything is mangled and, or, forgotten.

   Amen. Repeat!

A New Way of Vetting Locals

Daily Whip Out:
"You're Not From Around Here Are You?"

Whatever gave you that idea?


Daily Whip Out:

"Black Mountain Morning"


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

—Walt Whitman