Last Day of "Hath" And Pulp Beauties

 September 30, 2025

   Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31 except February, which has 28.

 So, here we are celebrating the "hathing" of September!

   Yes, the Truth is not facts lined up.

A Sneak Peek at the next issue

Daily Whip Out: "Can't You Take A Joke?"

Daily Whip Out: "Jesse James In Hell!"

Daily Whip Out: "Crazy Horse 3"

Daily Whip Out: "Uncle Guy"

Daily Whip Out: "Honkytonk Sue"

Daily Whip Out:

"Old Fort Sumner Mourners"

"I love BBB's artwork—it's authentic as befits a man who is pursuing the truth of the West, but it retains a vivid, almost pulpy flair that honors the fact that these stories are larger-than-life."

—Jim Cornelius, Frontier Partisans

Free On The Border & Drummers Going Solo

 September 29, 2025

   Anyway you slice it, we are all trapped by borders. The border between countries, the border between cultures and especially the borders between each other. That is the synopsis for my long gestating Mickey Free tale. Here's how Dan The Man sees the movie poster for that story.

Against all odds, Mickey Free broke free

"The Border Buster!"

   Here's my POV of a scene I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

The Exits, New Year's Eve, 1964, Girl's Gym, Mohave County Union High School,

Kingman, Arizona

Flag Drummers Going Solo

   When Kathy, Uno and I were in Flagstaff earlier this month, we walked downtown for dinner, and sat outside on the patio of Charly's Pub & Grill next to the historic Weatherford Hotel. It was about five on a Friday night and we soon heard a live band starting up on the plaza which was maybe 100 yards behind us, and around a corner. Being an old band guy (heavy on the "old") I couldn't help but critique their musical efforts and the tunes they chose to play. My first, casual impression was that the drummer was a tad weak and clunky but some of the guitar work was inspired. As their set wore on, I became a bit more impressed that they were attempting to do Motown tunes which can be difficult for garage bands because the singing is often complicated. I thought to myself, well, they obviously have a couple young ladies who can belt out a tune. After we finished eating we walked toward the plaza to see who was making all the hub bub and as the shrubbery gave way to the sunken, semi-amphitheater stage I was stunned to see there was no band! Only a lone drummer with a bank of computers behind him! It was 99% AI!

   You can file this experience under the I-Never-Thought-I'd-Live-Long-Enough-to-Witness-This-Travesty! Ha. What's next? Flying cars?

"There are drummers who play so much stuff, it's murky. You're playing over everybody. You'e not listening. Music is like a conversation. We talk and then we listen."

—Sheila E.

The Rez Riders And An Apache Named Fun

 September 28, 2025

   Going back through my copious Mickey Free and Apache Kid notes I found some great back stories on the Apache Kid and Mickey Free.

Daily Flashback Whip Out: "Rez Riders"

Left to right: The Apache Kid, Al Sieber,

Tom Horn and Mickey Free

Four Peaks Four Legends
   There was a time in the mid-1880s when the Apache Kid, Al Sieber, Tom Horn and Mickey Free rode the rez together enforcing their own harsh brand of justice. This is actually true and it's why the painting, above, is in my Geronimo book. In terms of a movie idea, from there, the Apache Kid seeks vengeance (true), Sieber is wounded in the resulting showdown (also true) and Mickey and Tom Horn join forces with N-Jim and go after the Kid who escapes to Mexico. (true, true and true enough)

The Name Game

   On the San Carlos Apache Reservation in the 1870s the U.S. Army was charged with writing down the names of each tribal member who was eligible to receive rations. The problem the soldiers had was in the Apache culture, it’s rude to ask an Apache his name. Plus, their names are often hard to pronounce, much less spell. This led to the soldiers giving the Apaches creative monikers such as Mickey Free (a popular, fictional, Irish character in a book one of the soldiers was reading) and Curly, who was probably anything but. Some were descriptive—Cut Mouth—and some names were not creative at all, like A-1. But one of the most enigmatic names given was Fun. Was he? One can only hope.

Daily Whip Out: "An Apache Named Fun"

  Fun was arrested in the aftermath of the Cibecue affair of August 30, 1881, but he was freed when Al Sieber came to his defense. Three other mutinous scouts were executed. He was always very popular at the dances and fathered numerous children. Fun retired from active service in 1925 and received an "Indian War" pension and lived out his life in Apache high style with his extended family on his ranch near McNary in the White Mountains of Arizona. 

"Movies are history's gateway drug."
—Mary Doria Russell

The Biggest Leg In Mexico Deserves Her Own Series

 September 27, 2025

   For the life of me, I have never understood why Sarah Bowman has not had her own Western movie by now.

Daily Whip Out:

"Sarah Bowman at Yuma Crossing"

   Of course, Sarah, was better known by her nickname, which was based on hyperbolic frontier humor—rowdy, horndog men comparing her to the biggest sailing ship on the high seas at that time—"The Great Western."

Daily Flashback Whip Outs: 

"The Biggest Leg In Mexico

Not to mention, a contemporary of hers.

Daily Whip Out:

"Mickey Free In A Dust Storm"

      Mickey rode out of a blinding dust storm on a big Jack. Even with one good eye, he could see fine.

"Hell, that's why I came here. I want the dust."

—John Ford

Crazy Horse Begats A Crazier Version

 September 26, 2025

    We had big storms roll in all day long. 

Storm Clouds Over Ratcliff Ridge

   We got flash flood warnings on our phones around noon, and I had an appointment in town but when I drove over the hill, both washes were running a little too fast for comfort so I came home. Changed my apointment for 3:30, then got another storm warning at two, saying to not go out on the roads until 5:30.

   Like The French I have always been high on the name Crazy Horse. It just sounds so, well, just crazy cool. Of course, they borrowed it for a famous Paris strip club and I borrowed it for an Old West character I have long been inspired to write about.

Daily Whip Out: "Crazy Whore"

   Relax. She came by it honestly, escaping from two loonie bins and a logging camp.

   Speaking of classic stories, here is a twist on one of the best: The story of Felix Telles and his hunt for the Apache Kid is the inside-out version of "The Searchers." A captured Mexican kid who grows up as an Apache and becomes an army scout, renamed Mickey Free. That much is historically true. Most people don't know that the army wanted to send him into Mexico to hunt for the elusive Apache Kid (who killed his guards on the way to prison and escaped) and there was talk of teaming him with a buffalo soldier, and the legendary cowboy Tom Horn. Three outcasts on a legendary mission in a country about to explode into revolution. Free is a mongrel American, both loved and hated and completely misunderstood. Now this is a story for our times.

"I'll keep an eye out for you."

—Mickey Free

The Art of Billy the Kid Is Landing In Scottsdale Today

 September 25, 2025

   Got word from Thom Ross yesterday that a big truck loaded to the seams with Thom's art and Buckeye's art had been loaded and is probably cruising down the I-17 even as you read this.

   It's all for a joint project between Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West and True West magazine to bring the West's most well-known and notorious outlaw figuratively back to life in the exhibit "The Resurrection of Billy the Kid" which will open to the public on October 4, 2025.

The artist's reception is the night before

   This will be part art show, part seance and part Old West showdown, and it will explode and reimagine the legend of Billy the Kid in a series of electric and eclectic pieces created by Thom Ross, Buckeye Blake and myself.

    And, of course, the show stopper at the end of the exhibit (under a stairwell!) will be a haunting, life-size sculpture of Billy on his death bed by Buckeye, and it will be staged like a wake complete with candles, curtains and a guest book for mourners.

I repeat: It will be staged like a wake complete with candles, curtains, and a guest book for mourners. Bring a handkerchief, or two.

"There's always somebody better than you. It's just another job, and we all just try to our jobs well."

—Ed Mell

The Past Lives On Gloriously

 September 24, 2025

   We've had some major storms roll through the high Sonoran Desert in the past several days. Last Saturday, when I was returning from a history talk out at Verrado in west Buckeye, I spied this bad boy roiling toward us on the outer loop of the Phoenix Metro Freeway System.

Big Storm Over The 303

Here's a sneak peek at a new find by a True West reader. . .

Special thanks to Dean Shier who alerted us to the possibility. Dean adds. . .

"I first saw what I thought was Earp at 9:26 and 10:22 and then again at 10:31, back against the wall with his distinctive mustache at what seems to be a Faro table sitting next to two Chinese men, one smoking an opium pipe.  He seems to have on the exact same overcoat that you see other extras wearing walking, sitting and standing in the bar.  A long gray duster coat with black side pockets and a black collar. The man directly across from Earp at the Faro table has this same jacket on, smoking a cigar with a tophat."

—Dean Shier

As a follow up to the passing of our friend Jay Dusard, I just found this video Mark McDowell of Cattletrack Arts Compound fame produced for our True Westerner Award presentation last March at Old Tucson. It is a very fitting obituary to boot.

Jay Dusard In Memoriam 

   Great times we had with the birthday boy in Bisbee earlier this year.

"When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that." – Margaret Atwood

Jay Dusard Has Passed

 September 22, 2025

   Just got the news that our good friend Jay Dusard has passed. I last saw him earlier this year when the Cattletrack boys, Mark McDowell and Brent Bond and I drove down to Douglas to celebrate his 88th birthday and present him with this year's True Westerner Award.

Arizona Highways Says Goodbye to Jay

"I am not a cowboy. I'm a photographer with a degree in architecture and an abiding love of art."

—Jay Dusard

I Fought The Law From Dust to Dust

 September 21, 2025

   No matter how I try I keep coming back to the same ol' tunes. Just got word out of Texas that we have lost one of our best song writers, Sonny Curtis. He was 88. His friend and neighbor, Coy Prather, emailed me yesterday morning. According to Coy, Sonny told him that he wrote "I Fought The Law" while home at Meadow, Texas "watching a dust storm out a window." Coy adds that Sonny said, "The words just came to me like magic."

Bobby Fuller Four, "I Fought The Law"

"It is a stone-cold stab by youth at the establishment."

—Coy Prather, describing Sonny's take on his classic song, "I Fought The Law" (1966)

   Also, those pistol-packin' Go Go Girls in the video are absolutely fabulous and the routine is so over-the-top ridiculous. So much so, I had to watch it twice! Yes, on cue, they fall dead at the end.

   And, speaking of classic tunes done right, check this one out:

Billy Gibbons Nails "Route 66"

   The right groove, the right speed with those clever little accents on the second verse. The only fly in the ointment is I think Billy chokes on the Kingman lyric? (Just like Mick Jagger does in the Stones version: "Bixlow, Barstow, San Bernadino. . ."). Oh, the Kingman humanity!

   But, I digress. Let's get back to the dust. 

Daily Whip Out: "Dust to Dust"

   I'm reading an incredible book, "The Searchers: The Making of an American Classic" by Glenn Frankel on how John Ford made his classic Western and I was tickled by this little tidbit which happened when Ford and his crew were at Monument Valley in the summer of 1955: John Ford almost fired a crew member who "innocently sprayed water on the ground one day. He was only trying to tamp down the dust, the man explained." To which Ford barked, "Hell, that's why I came out here. I want the dust." Adding, "Two things make Western pictures—horse manure and dust."

John Wayne at his very best: Playing a racist

who is in love with his brother's wife.

"A film about racism made by racists."

—Paul Andrew Hutton

Cal Nelson Memorial And Val Kilmer Overlap

 September 20, 2025

   We went to two memorials for Cal Nelson today. She passed on August 10. She is the smiling face, second from left, taken at JJ's Cantina in Cholla Bay, Sonora, eleven years ago.

Jon and Cal Nelson, Kathy and BBB at

JJ's Cantina in Cholla Bay, Sonora, Mexico

April 29, 2014

   We were celebrating the completion of my book, "The 66 Kid" and they had a place in Cholla Bay for two decades and we were their guests in their home away from home.

   Her memorial today was touching and, of course, she took hold of my studio many years ago and whipped it into museum shape. I still thank her every day I walk in from the house. She was an artist-designer-extraordinaire and it is an honor to have her creative efforts on full display on every wall and hallway.

   We are also paying a final tribute to Val Kilmer in this issue of True West with two pieces that might seem a tad redundant, but we felt he deserved the extra verbiage, in spite of the similarities in the coverage. Look at them as bookends on a stellar career. A bonus of the heart. Hope you agree.

Early Mock-up of the Nov-Dec Issue

   In addition, our Doc Holliday & Wyatt Earp coverage along with all things Tombstone is stellar because of the scholarship of our friends Mark Lee Gardner and Peter Brand, who both have new books out that help clarify that violent time in our history.

   And, speaking of rule breakers:

"I was always about breaking the rules."

—Robert Redford

Stormy Weather And Other Upsets

 September 19, 2025

   We got hit hard last night by a rain storm. Knocked out the power at about 2 a.m. and finally got turned back on around four. Woke up this morning to this dramatic view over Ratcliff Ridge.

Dramatic Storm Imitates AZ Flag

   Uno and I got out on the road around six and caught this dramatic washout on the way up to Morningstar.

Road Out!

   My neighbors to the north of us just had their road redone with compacted gravel and asphalt. It wasn't compacted entirely, but, well, you get the drift what water can do when it flows down hill.

   I had a history talk out at Verrado, in Buckeye this morning. Long drive, 59 miles, great people—all retired. Sold some books, got some new subscribers and made some new friends. Worth the trip.

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Bank Monster"

   Every once in a while, we get the other kind of storm.

Daily Whip Out:

"Rain Cloud On The March"

Scenes I'd Like to See

   She had no idea what was ahead of her, but she took off for Santa Fe anyway.

Maria Gertrudis Barcelo

   She made some major waves and the Plaza, the town and the Southwest would never be the same. And they called her Las Tules (the reeds).

"Well behaved women seldom make history."

—Old Vaquero Saying

It's A Free Country!

 September 18, 2025

   In case you had forgotten, there is a mysterious rider coming our way.

   He wears an old discarded U.S. flag as a badge of defiance.

It's true he started a war, the longest in the history of the United States. . .

And, he was an outcast in every way and in every region of the Southwest.

   Still, he rode on, high into the Sierra Madre in search of his best friend who he intended to capture and kill.

   He wasn't a very nice guy, but then he came by it honestly.

   Perhaps this reminds you of another classic American story?

"I would argue that The Searchers is the great American movie. It explores the three great American themes--racism, sexism and imperialism--as dramatically, cogently and coherently, as any film I've ever heard of."

—Robert Gleason

The Lost Art of Long Cursive Letters

 September  17, 2025

   We get letters. Or, more specifically, I get letters every Wednesday when I meet our publisher Ken Amorosano at Local Johnnies for breakfast and a weekly tune up on the magazine. He dutifully hands me a stack of mail with my name on the inquiries that come into the main post office addressed to me at True West. In the old days, when we had an office, these would land in my inbox every day, but now with all of us working remotely, I get a pile of them once a week. Here are a couple highlights and insights from today's stash, for your eyes only.

"I apologize for hanging up on you when you phoned. I have been receiving many calls that weren't real calls but wrong ones. You are not a bad artist but I think being a history magazine you should put more real historic photos on your covers. I read with interest your article on Cowboy Al's Wild West Museum. I too have a large Old West library, hardcover and paperbacks, close to 4,000. If you mention my name to Marshall Trimble I am sure he will remember my name. I used to write in quite often over the years. My brother-in-law wrote this up for me."

—Paul Gordon, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada

P.S. "If you would like to do an article on my library, let me know."

FYI Note: Paul had sent a previous letter asking me to call him and when I did he promptly hung up on me.

"Hello Bob! Thank you for your BozeCard after the Mountain Meadows Massacre issue prompted me to spill my near-miss with the Mormon credo and my Forrest Cuch connection. Enclosed is a find from an old friend's box of ephemera—no need to honor the subscription, obviously—buy someone one-half-of- a beer somewhere."

—Nancy Brossman, Boise, Idaho

Nancy actually enclosed a fiver with the old 1950s subscription offer and my question to you is, should we honor it? A one-year subscription for $4! I kind of think she earned it just by being so damn zany.

"I really enjoy True West magazine. It is well written and informative. My first two issues came at the same time, and I spent many hours reading them on a Sunday during our first snow-you-in a blizzard at our new home. On page 95 of the current issue has a picture of a posse and a short description. Maybe you already know this, but that is the posse that caught Henry Newton Brown when he flipped his marshal's bad around and tried to rob a bank. I have the photo—copied two sections of some book that have a detailed description of the story. If you have any interest, I would be happy to try to write an article about it for True West. Keep up the good work.

—Will Watner, St. Marys, Kansas

"I have been a fan of your magazine and your art & writing for several years. Since my first memories, I've been a fan of the Old West, Cowboys and especially horses. I'm 67 now but as a teen was fortunate to work on the Cow Creek Ranch in Okeechobee, Florida for a couple of years as a teen. Afterwards I worked as the Boys Counselor at Tiawah Hills Dude Ranch here outside of Claremore, Oklahoma. We rode twice a day, every day, and I was in heaven. Tiawah Hills was owned and operated by Lela & Lyle Wells. Mr. Wells was a cowboy from Wyoming and even had bow legs to prove it! Anyways, this photo (below) is a copy of one I found at an indoor/outdoor junkyard in Sand Springs, Oklahoma 20 years ago. I sent the photo to the Buffalo Bill Museum in Golden, Colorado. However they called soon after to let me know that they couldn't exhibit it as it was actually just a copy of a photo. They returned it. However, I've managed to lose it—Thankful I have this copy of the "original" copy. I was told it's a photo of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, which took place outside the grounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. I'd like for you to keep this, Mr. Bozebell, as I'm confident you are uniquely qualified to know what to do with it. And I'm certain you will appreciate it for what it is, and could mean to all of us True West fans. I apologize for the awful [hand] writing."

—Patrick Kennedy, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Patrick Kennedy's copy of a photo of 

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

"I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time."

—Old Cursive Handwriting Saying

A Basque Handball Court Gets It's Day With The Uno Band

 September 15, 2025

    So we arrived in Flagstaff last Tuesday in the early afternoon and we wanted to have lunch before we settled into our rental house and I remembered this hipster place on South San Francisco called Tourist Home, but when we got there they were closed so we tried next door at the Annex and they told us we could bring in our dog, if we sat outside in the back. When we got out there I saw what looked like a gutted building with three remaining walls and my first reaction was—If I was still in a band, I would want to shoot an album cover with that as a background. After a beer and chicken tenders, I art-directed Kathy to take a shot of Uno and I posing for our forthcoming album, "Uno Is The One." He, of course, puts me in the shade with his hamming.

"Uno Is The One"

(Hambone promotional shot by Kathy Sue)

   As soon as I posted this, describing it as a "gutted out building," all the locals started lambasting me about not knowing that it was, in actuality, a Basque handball court! Sorry. Duh.

   Back at home on the desert I have my hands full prepping our art show which loads in on September 25, right around the corner. . .

The Resurrection of Billy the Kid Artshow

at the Scottsdale Museum of The West

(artists' reception, October 3rd)

Rurale Scenes I'd Like to See

   Open on a serene view of Kosterlitsky's beautiful home in Magdalena, Mexico. A sleepy cat licks his paws, and a cute little girl runs across a modest lawn.

   Two Rurale riders come in at a clip and rein up, dismounting in the dust. They hurry inside and in a moment four men appear on the porch, frantically looking and pointing across the sleepy plaza towards the plains to the south.

   A hasty decision is made and everyone grabs a few things and the family departs in a rickety touring car, heading north towards Nogales in a cloud of dust.

   We see a distant shot of the horde coming for them. . .and they are a thousand strong.

Daily Whip Out: "Friend Or Foe?"

Titles roll for "The Mad Russian of Sonora"

"Nothing happens in Mexico, until it does."

—Porfirio Diaz

Six Days On The Road Plus Chicago's Bob Bell Way

 September 14, 2025

   On our last full day in Flag yesterday, we got to visit for a few minutes with some bluegrass pickers on their way to the 19th Annual Pickin' In The Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival. One of those pickers is my bacanora supplier.

My Bacanora Supplier Greg Scott

(his T-shirt is a great Munch parody of "The Scream" only this time elicited from a banjo!)

   We would have gone with them but the festival has a no dogs rule, so we walked down to a farmer's market near the courthouse and had a grand old time there this morning.

   Got a text message from concert promoter extraordinaire, Danny Zelisko, who included this photo he took this morning in his hometown of Chicago.

Bob Bell Way

(Full disclosure, it's a different Bob Bell,

but it's based on the same Bozo behavior)

   Took off at 10:15 for home.

The Road Warrior

   Yes, it was six days all total up in the cool pines, but we motored down this morning on I-17 and got to use the new Flex Lanes for the first time as we cruised straight down the hill from Sunset Point into New River without a hitch.

"Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home tonight."

—Dave Dudley, "Six Days On The Road"

Dog Digs Route 66 Show While A Young Hippie Demands Peace Now

 September 13, 2025

   Went to the Edward Keating photographry show, "Main Street: The Lost Dream of Route 66" at the Coconino County Arts Center in Flagstaff yesterday. I must say I think Uno enjoyed the show almost as much as I did.

Dog Digs Show

   The thing I liked about Edward's work—he passed in 2021—is he mourned the loss of the dream that the residents along the highway tried to nurture.

Desert Highway Flying Bird

   We went from there down to Beaver Street for brunch and sat outside at Brandy's Cafe just south of old Route 66.

Breakfast at Brandy's Cafe on Beaver Street

   Our waiter was an old school Hippie and I liked him immediately.

Our Hippie waiter Brad

   This got me to reflecting on all the hippies I knew growing up. For all of you who weren't there, the 1960s spawned a movement that rejected mainstream values and lifestyles. Our waiter, Brad above assuming a very Hippie pose, had a very specific attitude and I tried to put my finger on exactly what that is.

Aggressive Empathy!

   Hippies are super laid back, almost to the point of being aggressive about it.

"Peace Out!"

—Old Hippie Saying