What Was Ed Beale Wearing On His Legendary Camel Ride?

 January 22, 2026

   You know I spend a lot of time trying to capture wardrobe and the hats right on my historical renderings, so it should come as no surprise that when it comes to Ed Beale, I have a big, fat challenge. For starters, the Beale Expedition had all the latest tech stuff, including a camera, but supposedly, it was too complicated to use and they didn't take any photos! Also, it must be noted most of the early expeditions saw the participants dressed as, well, frontiersmen, which most of them were. Even most military excursions featured a grubbier version of parade ground etiquette.

   All that said, here's a sneak peek at the first cover rough which me and Dan The Man threw together a couple days ago.

Not the best likeness.

   For starters, I admit, it's not the best likeness of Beale. Here was my reference:

The first portrait is Beale in his later years and the second is allegedly of Beale undercover in Mexico early in his career. I chose that odd tie and coat to get to here:

   Someone online said they would expect him to be in military garb, but in fact, Lt. Beale had resigned from the Navy in 1851, about six years before the Camel Corp Expedition, so he may not have been geared up with your typical 1855 Navy uniform issue, like this:

   On the other hand, my artist compadre, Bill Ahrendt went in that direction with his portrayal of the Camel Corp at the Colorado River:

   So, I did a study today emulating a mixed menagerie of uniforms and frontiersman clothing.

Daily Whip Out: "Camel Corp Mixed Bag"

   I also sent out queries to all the historians I know who might have a dog in this fight. Stay tuned.

"The real reason fights over historical accuracy are so vicious is because there's so little at stake."

—Old Historian Saying

We Are Still Dealing With Our Tortured Memory of Kemper Marley

 January 21, 2026

   Really, once and for all, who was this guy?

Kemper Marley

(1906-1990)

   I have always thought of him as a real life, cowboy version of the Noah Cross character in Chinatown. You know, the character played by John Huston—as a crazy corrupt, bad, bad guy. So, imagine my double take when I read this:

"He is not the kind of man he has been painted to be. He is a real humanitarian in a true sense of the word and so is his wife, Ethel. You never hear about it because of all they're giving is done quietly and anonymously without any fanfare. I think Kemper has done more for the community than any man who has ever lived."

—Tom Chauncey

   And, in case you didn't know who Tom Chauncey was (he passed in 1996): After many years as an entrepreneur in Phoenix, the call of broadcasting captured Tom Chauncey’s focus and attention. With virtually no experience – but a love of the news, truth, and fairness – he co-ventured the purchase of a radio station that later became KOOL Radio-Television, Inc. As owner of this station, he greatly influenced the direction of local and national television for more than thirty years. He was responsible for introducing the first female anchor to Arizona television. Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication owes its name to Mr. Chauncey’s longtime association with Walter Cronkite. Chauncey also established an international reputation for Hereford cattle ranching and Arabian horse breeding, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who raised horses for the White House. This is paraphrased from the Arizona History League who honored Tom in 1995 and myself in 2025.

   And, for the record, Barry Goldwater came to Marley's funeral! One of the best reporters I have ever worked with was Tom Fitzpatrick. We both worked together for a time at New Times Weekly in Phoenix. Here is his exquisite take on the funeral of the man suspected of hiring the hit on reporter Don Bolles.

Tom Fitzpatrick at the eulogy for Kemper Marley

   Damn, that's good. And, here, once again is the great quote Tom referenced:

“Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.”

—Norman Mailer

   So damn true, it's not even funny. Okay, maybe a little funny.

   And, here is a Dad joke you should not repeat:

Waiter: "How would you like your steak, sir?"

"Like winning an argument with my wife!"

Waiter: "So, rare it is!"

Kemper Marley the newsboy, second from the right front row with Arizona governor George Wylie Hunt with the walrus mustache, back, center. Hunt was governor from 1912 to 1933. He died in office after six terms. Welcome to Arizona, Ese!

A closeup on Marley with his

permanent scowl already in place.

   So, what did Marley allegedly do that was so awful and bad? I'll explain that tomorrow.

"When I was young I was poor. But after years of hard work, I am no longer young."

—Old Vaquero Saying

In The Valley of Sin, I Mean Sun, When Go Go Girls Reigned Supreme

 January 20, 2026

   Here's a potent image from my youth.

Little Miss Go Go In Sunglasses

   Stuart and I are working on a story about the wild old days in the Valley of the Sun when gangsters met cowboys and Go Go Girls reigned supreme.

   In our Kemper Marley-esque saga, while the Chicago boys gravitated to Bourbon Street on E. Thomas, the cowboys favored JD's In The Riverbottom or Mr. Lucky's on the westside. Both gravitated to the naughty Go Go Girls who freelanced at Tony "The Horse" Cerkvenik's Fifth National Bank on north Central. La Viva The Backshooter was a draw, literally.

La Viva The Backshooter

Kills at the Fifth National Bank

   Someone said it's Chinatown meets Blazing Saddles. Somehow that makes total sense.

And in other news:

Daily Whip Out: "Ned Beale #2"

Daily Whip Out:

"The Father of The Mother Road"

(Ed Beale Portrait #3)

   Our friend Rob Word compiled a fitting tribute to all the Western icons we lost last year.

Rob Word Commemorates 25 Western Icons We Lost Last Year

   Meanwhile, in Mother Road news. . .

Headin' For Home On April 30

Seligman Centennial Celebration

April 30, 2026
Join us and the community of Seligman as we unveil the new monument signs in town for the Route 66 Centennial. Also, stick around for a great big day-long party With Bob Boze Bell as your host and MC!

A Dance With Strangers I Have Come to Love

 January 18, 2026

     At the end of the day, here is what I am after: What are the facts? What can we believe? And, finally, what can we love? And, as for the last one, I must say the quote at the end, down there, sums it up pretty well.

The cast and crew of "The Searchers"

on location

(courtesy of Warner Brothers)

   Thanks to the author Glenn Frankel who gave us permission to excerpt a chapter from his excellent book The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend, we have been getting crazy online traffic, some 250,000 shares just of the above photo. It has really struck a nerve. The feature is in the current issue, on the newsstand even as you read this.

   I am noodling a rugged vaquero whose flinty exterior conceals a kindly heart. . .

Daily Whip Out:

"A Loveable Rugged Vaquero On The Move"

   I'm enchanted with narrative boxes and sometimes they write themselves. . .

Daily Poach: "Fill In The Gaps"

      In the end, gallows humor rescued us all. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Viva Los Cuerudos!"

(Translation: Long live the Leather Guys! Which was slang for The Rurales back in the day)

   I'm also noodling a possible cover on this guy:

Daily Whip Out:

"Edward Fitzgeral Beale In The Field"

Last Light On Sugarloaf

"Sustained historical research is a dance with strangers I have come to love. . ."

—Ian McEwan, What We Can Know

As Dumb As They Come

 January 17, 2026

   I am always interested to see how other artists look in their studios and in fact, a photo of Maynard Dixon in his San Francisco studio was the inspiration for my entryway wall.

Maynard Dixon's Studio Wall

   Here's another cat I admire.

Cowboy Artist Joe Beeler in his studio

   And then there is this classic scene, which is perhaps the single most famous Route 66 photograph ever.

Andreas Fenninger's photograph of

Seligman, Arizona, 1947 ended up on

the cover of Life

Reading The Signs

   The president is 79 and starting to lose it. He claims to be in great shape but only his diehard supporters believe him. Grievances in the countryside have reached critical mass. The political system is inaccessible and re-election campaigns seem unnecessary and are attacked by the press and all but negated by vigorous rigging. If he had stepped down earlier he would have gone down in history quite differently. But he didn't and the result was calcification and oligarchy. It all ended in one of the world's great social revolutions and Porfirio Diaz of Mexico was toppled and driven from office in 1911. This is from the excellent book, Mexico: A 500-Year History by Paul Gillingham and the historic echoes land in our time like lobbed hand grenades.

Trump and Porfirio both at 79 and counting

   My vision is going but at least my hindsight is still twenty-twenty. Meanwhile. . .

When Your Eyesight Is Minus Twenty-Twenty

"All these damn deer on the highway."

"Those are people, Margaret, and you're on the sidewalk."

   So much humor is about the contradictions we live with and very few comedians come angling in from the right, but this guy does.

"Do you think your dad got out of high school and was just 'Alright, it's time to be a prick about everything!'"

—Shane Gillis, explaining how being a Republican sneaks up on you

When The Beatles Ruined My Toenails

 January 15, 2026

I got a pedicure yesterday from this expert toenail clipperer, Gina, at Pinky Nails out on the Carefree Highway.

I know what you are thinking: "And you call yourself a cartoonist?" Well, I know it sounds sissy, but I have a legitimate reason: the Beatles ruined my toenails. Yes, I bought Beatle boots at Central Commercial in 1964 to be cool for school, and well, I got ingrown toenails from wearing these "Puerto Rican Fence Climbers" as they were so affectionately known in redneck Kingman. Anyway, Gina blasted and sanded what's left of my gnarly toenails into shape and I am a very happy camper. Thanks Gina!

And, here for the historical record is me wearing said Beatle boots on New Year's Eve, 1964:

The Exits In The Girl's Gym

December 31st, 1964

(song being played is "Surfbeat" by Dick Dale & The Deltones)

"He's a real toenail man, sitting in his toenail land, making all his toenail plans for nobody."

—The Exits version of Nowhere Man

Getting History Right And The Exciting Prospect of Doing Features On Range Grass

 January 14, 2026

   Oh, man, some of you are damn funny. Here's a good example: this is one of the replies to the Negative Naybob letter about True West needing to find new subject matter (see January 13th blog post):

"How about a special issue devoted to the endlessly fascinating subject of range grass. It was everywhere in the Old West, and yet True West ignores it!!!!!"

—Unknown

   At this stage of my life, there is one thing I can do and I intend to practice it every day.

   Be present. Be kind.

Getting History Right

   Here is the rub: the late Larry Martin ends his narrative of our cover story at the Colorado River, but obviously the Beale expedition still had 300+ miles to go to El Tejon, north of LA.

   In one version (the one I have heard over and over while growing up in Kingman), the steamer General Jesup just happens to be at the site when Beale shows up and the captain ferries the whole crew and animals across. This is why the artist, Bill Ahrendt portrayal of the event shows the steamboat in the picture:

Bill Ahrendt's "Camel Crossing" done for the Arizona Centennial, so obviously with some "official" history on his side.

   But, in two other narratives I have found, the legendary Hi Jolly sings to the camels and they swim across, while two horses and ten mules drown. I have found another account that on the return trip, the Jesup was there on the Colorado and ferried everyone across. So, which is correct?

Daily Revised Whip Out: "Old Vaquero New"

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know."

—Harry Truman

Larry Martin Crosses Over & Camels Crossing The Colorado River

 January 14, 2026

   We just got word that our friend and the author of our cover story in the next issue of True West magazine, Larry Martin, has passed away from cancer. Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Kat and his family. He was a great guy and no one knew more about Ned Beale than Larry.

   We will dedicate the issue to him which goes to press later this month. I was wrapping up some of the loose ends of the story (see below) and it was frustrating because Larry could have answered every question in mere seconds. It is really true that when a historian dies, a library goes with them.

   Here is a sidebar we want to run at the end of his Ned Beale feature story.

The Rest of The Journey

  On October 17th, 1857 Ned Beale and his camel crew arrived at the Colorado River and encountered a military steamboat, The General Jesup (also styled as Jessup).

Beale's Camel Corp arriving at the Colorado River and encountering the General Jesup side-wheeler

(painting by my friend Bill Arhendt)

   In some accounts I've read, the Jesup successfully carried the camels, mules and horses across the wide river. In other versions, one of the American herders, the legendary Hi Jolly, sang to encourage his camels to swim the swift currant of the river and they successfully crossed with no losses. Two horses and ten mules were lost on the crossing. From there, the camel caravan made it to Los Angeles on November 10, 1857, walking the streets as crowds gathered to see the weird humped animals. Beale and his caravan then reached their final destination Fort Tejon, California later in November still carrying their loads of 600 to 800 pounds. Their historic mission was accomplished.

   The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 ended any hope for the building of a railroad along the 35th Parallel in the near future. The government had no more use for its camels and they were either sold as military surplus or turned loose to roam the western deserts of Arizona and California.

Fort Yuma and the Jesup on the Colorado River

by Heinrich Balduin Mollhausen 

   The above image shows the steamboat General Jesup, a small sidewheel steamboat used on the Colorado River to supply Fort Yuma. The General Jesup was used to ferry Beale’s party, including the camels, across the river on the expeditions eastward return home on January 23rd, 1858.

   So, it appears that the Jesup carried the camels across the Colorado on the return trip and not on the October 1857 crossing. We'd like to clarify this in the issue, so if you know this history, or someone who does, please let me know. Thanks.

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

—Mark Twain

Too Much Doc & Wyatt And Not Enough Baseball at The O.K. Corral

 January 13, 2026

Most dust storms are wide and destructive, but out on the Mojave Desert there are skinny, languid dust devils that wander aimlessly across the desert floor, sometimes two or three others in tow.

Daily Whip Out: "The Lazy Wanderer" 

  If you are seeking perspective on the current collapse of our culture, like I am, here are a couple of clues I have picked up in the last 24 hours: The old WWII order, sometimes called "the postwar liberal international order" is collapsing all around us. Our codes of civility, our respect for the truth and our faith in institutions is nearing zero. 

   There are multiple warnings signs about being on the "wrong side of history," which seems odd to me because most history is merely some version of what happened that most of us agree to believe. Even that is eroding. Why?

"Social media has dissolved the mortar of our society."

—Jonathon Haidt

   Which, if you want to get all technical about it, includes this blog post!

   Meanwhile, in baseball news, got this great flyer from a new league forming up down on Goose Flats.

   Bill Jensen, who did the poster, was wondering if I still had the original to this whip out:

   That's Tom McLaury on the mound and Ike Clanton with his head bandage as the catcher and of course, Doc Holliday using his shotgun as a bat. Ha. I may have to redo this with a little more detail. It's a zany idea.

   Speaking of Tombstone and the boys, in the We Get Mail department, I got this handwritten letter over the Christmas holiday:

Sick to Death of Doc and Wyatt

   I was just wondering if you could tell me: was there anyone else besides the Earps, Doc Holliday and the people who were their enemies who lived in the West during that time? Because most of the stories in the magazine are them. I had a subscription for a few years and every single issue had something about them in it. And some issues it was mostly the book. And most was just information that had been printed in the magazine in the past, sometimes only a few months before! Now I seen a Shooting Back letter about "Billy the Kid" being written and written and written about and he is tired of it. For sure it is the Earp's and Doc Holliday. There has to have been other people in the area and other things going on besides them! I would like to hear and learn about them. Not just the same few people, over and over, and over again! Teach us more about the big cattle ranches, the men and women who owned them, how they got there, and what happened to them. What was day to day life like back then? Who was breeding a good horse to help with the work? Tell us about some of the "Special Cattle" and maybe some stories about certain steers, or Studs that lead the cattle drives or improved the herd and how. It's time to dig deeper and tell us about more than just a few people. Tell us about some of the lesser known gunfighters and how they came to be. What happened to them in their lives, why they were on the "Right side of the law, or the wrong side." It's a lot bigger place than just a few people and we need to learn about!

—Randy Worthington, Sandy, Utah

   Okay, I hate this, but he does have a point. We—especially me!—do sometimes get carried away with our pet characters and movies and perhaps it's time to find a new set of jackasses?

On The Road Again

Just can't wait to get back on the road again.

Me and my four-legged friends backing up traffic to Oatman, once again.

"I've been on facebook for 16 years. I remember when this was all farmland."

—Old Boomer Saying

Dust Storm of The Apocalypse Meets Al Bell's Flying A

 January 12, 2026

   Dust storms were the bane of my life growing up, especially when I got caught between our house and my dad's gas station on a bicycle. Somehow, I survived and in my old age, they seem more romantic, at this great distance.

Daily Whip Out:

"Dust Storm of The Apocalypse"

  And, speaking of my dad's gas station, some twenty years ago the artist Tim Prythero created one of the coolest sculptures of the aforementioned gas station and I have the honor and pleasure of looking at it every single day.

"Al Bell's Flying A & The Tydway Cafe"

by the acclaimed artist Tim Prythero

 

Double Trouble With A Double Downbeat

   My good friend and a fine musician, Greg Smith, reminded me this morning that with the death of Bob Weir, the last two surviving members of the Grateful Dead are the drummers: Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart. I think I know why. Because we get to sit down for all the gigs, and all those other fools have to stand! It adds up, man. Okay, I am prejudiced, and Drummers rule, for sure, although I have to say I was never a fan of rock bands with two drummers (the Almann brothers also had two drummers, Butch Trucks and Johana Johansson). I know, I know—double your pleasure, double your fun, except for rock bands where it seems kind of dumb.

   Speaking of Solid Rockers who have to stand up for the entire gig, just got word this album cover with my artwork may be dropping in the spring, from you know who:

   Yes, that is one of my favorite all time models, Flint Carney, assuming the gunfighter pose. He's lookin' sharp, "'cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man."

Best Quote I Had Forgotten I Had Said

"Just remember, the first fifty years of a man's childhood are the most difficult."

—BBB (Toby Orr reminded me I told him this)

Best Coming Home to Roost Quote of The Day

"Wow, BBB, you must have the flu! Quoting Steely Dan? I like them but I know they are far from your favorites. LOL! Hope you get better soon." 

—Mark, TW Maniac #235, on yesterday's blog post

Hey Nineteen, Here's The Last Party of Whites to Visit The South Rim of The Grand Canyon

 January 11, 2026

   It was 169 years ago today, that Joseph Christmas Ives took off from Fort Yuma to explore the upper Colorado River and see if there was a back waterway into Utah to subvert, or at least check, the rising tide of Mormons in case they, you know, massacred a wagon train, or something.

Ives's sternwheeler The Explorer

(a 54-foot "water borne wheelbarrow")

   After exploring all the way up to Black Canyon, where Hoover Dam is today, Ives came back down the river and met a cavalry unit from Fort Yuma who had herded 150 mules up the river country (not an easy task) for Ives and crew to mount up and set off and explore the country between about where Needles is today to Fort Defiance in New Mexico.  

   On page 95 of Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives report there is a Hartley map with the designation R.R. Pass. The report entry dated March 30, 1858 reads, "The next day, after proceeding one or two miles along the pass which was first like a canyon, then a regular pass, we emerged from the Cerbat range. We called it Railroad Pass.'"

The east end of Railroad Pass across from my father's old Phillips 66 gas station on Hilltop.

   Now, the Ives Expedition was east bound, but just prior to this, Ned Beale and his Camel Corp approached the same pass heading westbound.

"Ned Beale leading his Camel Corp

into Railroad Canyon"

(this original painting is owned by Toby Orr of Kingman, Arizona fame)

Ives Strikes Out

   Lieutenant Joseph Christmas Ives graduated from West Point in 1852 and the following year he was assigned to the storied Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, an elite group of West Point Grads whose mission was to survey the vast reaches of the American West.

   In 1857, with a possible war with the Mormons in Utah looming, the Army appropriated $75,000 to finance a survey to find out how much of the Colorado River was navigable in order to transport troops and equipment into Utah. A 54-foot iron-hulled sternwheeler was assembled in Philadelphia and named the Explorer. It was tested on the Delaware River where it had poor grades, disassembled and hauled by schooner to San Francisco, then to the mouth of the Colorado River. There in gale-force winds Lt. Ives and his crew re-assembled the little paddle-wheeler and launched it by moonlight at high tide on December 30th.

   She was the first military craft on the Colorado River. The American flag flapped in the breeze from the observation deck as she churned her way up the river to Yuma. Despite its strange appearance, Ives was proud of his boat, but the expedition’s artist, Baldwin Möllhausen, described her as resembling a “water-borne wheelbarrow.” Even the local natives, the Yuma and Cocopah, snickered at the weird-looking military craft, dubbing it the, “chiquito boat.”

   Despite the ridicule, the little “Explorer,” managed to plow its way up the Colorado River, past Fort Yuma, all the way to Black Canyon, in the vicinity of today’s Hoover Dam, and demonstrate the navigability of the river.

On the way back down the river, Lt. Ives left his ship and struck out on mules to explore the plateaus, with native guides (probably Hualapais), who took him to see the Grand Canyon.  Ives wasn’t impressed. He made this prophetic claim: “It can be approached, only from the south and after entering it there is nothing to do but leave. Ours has been the first and will doubtless be the last party of whites to visit this profitless locality.”

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Lt. Ives Rejects the Grand Canyon

On Behalf of All White People Everywhere"

   Around five million people (many of them White) visit the Grand Canyon every year.

   It started with a tickle in my throat two days before New Years and then next thing you know I had a fever and a cough and, well, welcome to "subclade K" (a stupid name for a new strain of flu), especially since I just had three preventative shots at Walgreen's not more than a week before. Like all vaccine believers, I have rationalized this to "If I hadn't had the shots, it would probably have been worse."

Hey, Nineteen

   Be gentle with me, I'm from the nineteen-hundreds.

"Hey, nineteen

No, we can't dance together (We can't dance together)

No, we can't talk at all

Please take me along when you slide on down. . ."

—Steely Dan

Seeking Fanner Fifty Justice On Old Route 66

 January 10, 2026

   Yes, we now know Wyatt Earp spent some quality time in Mohave County in the teens and 1920s. Here are two young whippersnappers, who didn't know this at the time this picture was taken.

BBB and Dan Harshberger seeking

Fanner Fifty Justice in the foothills above White Hills, circa 1959.

   Yes, those three buildings in the background are all that was left of White Hills, which looked like this during its heyday.

White Hills was an active silver camp from 1895 until 1914, when flash floods damaged the mines

   At one point White Hills was the largest mining camp in Mohave County with a population of 1,500 and 15 working mines within a mile of the camp. It had running water, electric lights and telephones during the final phase of development.

   Meanwhile, another Mohave County mining camp soon took over from White Hills.

A 1920s touring car cruises up the main drag

of Oatman. In 1926, this thoroughfare became Route 66.

   And, now we know that one Old West icon most certainly got his kicks on Route 66!

Wyatt Earp poses next to a custom Packard

probably owned by cowboy star William S. Hart

   And, based on the above, here is a sneak peek at the cover of the next issue.

Dan the Man's take on March-April TW

(and yes, this is the same Dan "The Man" Harshberger in the top photo.)

Daily Whip Out: 

"Grinnin' Like A Jackass Eating Prickly Pear"

“Sage-brush is a very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. But their testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine - knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.” 

—Mark Twain, Roughing It