When Does The Old West Become Brand New Again?

 March 27, 2026

   Just when you think something is dead and gone. 

Front Street (later renamed Andy Devine)

in Kingman, Arizona, late 1940s

   When I was just a Little League lad, in 1956, I would go into Desert Drugs (see above, at left) in downtown Kingman to buy my favorite magazine. Here are four specific issues I paid a quarter each for.

   At that time, the sweet spot of The Old West—as celebrated on the silver screen—was post Civil War (1865) to about the Oklahoma Land Rush (1889). There were exceptions of course: the mountain man era was in the 1820s and the Indian Wars and the outlaw train robberies spilled into the Twentieth Century.

   Still, think about this: today, the 1950s are as far away from us now as the Old West was to me then. So, that brings up a good question: has the heart of the popular Western story moved as well? Stuart Rosebrook thinks it has and he claims if you watch Taylor Sheridan's many shows, he has successfully moved the sweet spot. Hmmmm. I asked Stuart to write up his theory for a feature later this year in True West.

Strange Connections

   I iced jugs all summer in my father's gas station so that I could buy a book being advertised in one of the True West magazines pictured above. Here is a typical gunfighters ad:

   And here is just one of the jugs I iced:

Jugs Iced Free For You And For Me!

   And, here is the book I bought, and still have in my library.

"The Biographical Album of Western Gunfighters"

by Ed Bartholomew

   The book cost $11 which was a lot back then. My friends were buying bikes with their summer job paydays and I bought a book! But I made my choice and I'm stickin' to it. And, it must be noted, how many of my pals still have their first bicycle?

   So, how much are we going to have to change to catch up to the curve? Or, will it catch up to us and on its own? My favorite little Aussie Bastard recommends you take a look at this:

The new Lucky Luke

   Some of this is quite zany and that is one of the best Calamity Janes I have ever seen on film. According to James it's the fourth most watched video on their streaming platform—for young people!

Daily Whip Out: "Wary Vaquero"

“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

—Old Vaquero Saying

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning."

—Louis L'Amour