Into The Final Storm

 August 16, 2020

   A nice weeked at home. Been busy working on storms. Maybe one of these days we'll actually get a real one.

"Into the Final Storm"

   The Kid rode out of Lincoln a free man, on Billy Burt's horse. It was clear to the south, but he reined north, heading right into the storm.

   He could outrun the law but he couldn't outrun her heart.

"La Querida at Midnight"

   The truth is not facts lined up. At least not in my third—and final—book on Billy the Kid.

   Yeah, right.

Study: "Billy the Kid On Dandy Dick"

   There's a metaphor for you. All of the above new material will be in my latest book on the same old outlaw, the one you've know for all these years.

"Just what the world needs. Another book on Billy the Kid."

—My alma mater, The University of Arizona Press, rejecting my book proposal for "The Illustrated Life & Times of Billy the Kid" in 1991

The Courage It Takes to Admit to Not Being Brave

 August 15, 2020

   I needed to be brave, but I wasn't. True, I was only nine and a precocious little twit. (Oh, and full disclosure: I was an only child!) Still, it hurt to be bullied. Because of that hurt, I found myself instantly enthralled by another kid, who not only refused to put up with any crap from the bullies in his life, but he shot his tormenters between the eyes. As the movie poster says: "He was an All-American boy and a cold-blooded killer." Based on this thin—and terribly conflicted—resume, I immeditately admired and wanted to be Billy the Kid. 

The Kid Who Took No Guff

   That's my excuse for being Kid Krazy. What's yours?

"Shortly after I got married I began to be obsessed with all things Billy. Why? I'm still not completely sure except that I see him being the kind of person I always wanted to be: completely confident, exceptionally brave, free to roam at will, a really great shot AND he got to ride horses all day, every day!! Does it get any better than that?!?!"

—Shelly Buffalo Calf

Red Lodge, Montana

The Kid Out Riding Every Day

of The Week

   Of course, not everyone admires the boy like Ms. Calf and I do.

Billy Blowback

Dear Bob Boze Bell:

   Since you didn't acknowledge receipt of my March 2020 letter to you, I don't know whether or not you received it; therefore, I'm resubmitting the letter. I hope that you aren't like most people who will only believe what they want to believe no matter the facts or lack of facts. Many people who cannot adequately rebut something that is said, will often remain silent or they will make an irrational statement like, 'Your comments are so ridiculous that they don't deserve a response from me.'

   I wouldn't want your job which entails touting (glorifying) outlaws (murderers and thieves) and outlawry (murder and thievery). My integrity means more to me than fame or fortune.

   [He goes on to makes a pretty strong case that "the lawless Lincoln County" is a myth. In my opinion, it actually suffered from too much law! Then he ends with this:] The lawless Old West myth was created by journalists, so-called historians, dime-novelists and movie producers. Billy the Kid should be merely a footnote in history.

—Franklin L. Boren

Tinnie, New Mexico

   Not only do I agree with Mr. Boren, I second his paraphrasing of a comment allegedly made by Jesse James: "All the world (except for their victims) likes an outlaw."

   Amen. 

   So why do we put halos on killers and give them virtues and skills they never possessed? That question was my takeaway from researching my Geronimo book, and now that I've returned to the Kid, for one more go round, I am struck even harder by this sordid and messy counter-truth: Is it courageous to admit you are not brave?

   Or, is it merely the old cowboy saw:

"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway."

   Or, does it cut even deeper?

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."
—Atticus Finch, written by Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird"

   Regardless of the actual virtues or failings of Billy the Kid, when it comes to being courageous, I still believe the boy is not wanting. I'll still take that to the bank.

"What people choose to believe, is a fact in itself."

—Leon Metz

Positively Pandemic Paintings: Here's Looking at You, Kid!

 August 14, 2020

   One positive thing about the pandemic is that I get to spend some quality time in my studio every day, painting away at a wide variety of things.

Daily Whip Out:

"Here's Lookin' at You, Kid!"

 

  Yes, gone are the days where I say, "Went home for lunch and whipped out a painting." Now I actually eat lunch at lunch time and take a nap afterwards.

   Ha. True. 

   Going back through my last sketchbook I couldn't resist, and tweaked a couple faces on this page, just for grins, and because I can't leave well enough alone.

Daily Whip Outs: "Sonoran Faces"

  And sometimes I force myself to do something in one sitting, and I move it around until it is done, almost in one stroke.

Daily Whip Out: "Mazatal Rider"

   I can't explain it, but sometimes these Whip Outs just name themselves.

Daily Whip Out:

"Patty Puta, Queen of the Jacals"

   And, sometimes I just can't help myself.

Daily Whip Out: "Witch In The Wind"

   And, of course, sometimes I have big plans that fall flat.

Daily Whip Out: "Flat Face McGill"

       Other times I just like ripping off friends.

Daily Rip Off: "Ed Mell Poach"

   Yes, on these, I am just trying to learn something. Okay, that's enough painting and poaching for one morning. Time for lunch.

"In England a cowboy is someone who comes to fix your tap and ends up wrecking your car."

—Fed Nolan

Kid Krazy: Even Marshall Trimble Confesses to Billy the Kid Madness

 August 13, 2020

   I am insane. Yes, I know. People have accused me of such for years but I never really believed them. Until I started to analize my obsession with a certain outlaw.

   So, I asked some of my friends to share their early Kid Krazy stores and I got this one from Marshall Trimble, remembering a sordid event, when he was ten-years-old.

“THE OUTLAW”

The first movie I saw with Billy the Kid was in 1949 at the Yavapai Theater in Ash Fork. Other than the comic book stand at the Harvey House we were pretty isolated from popular culture. The theater was our only connection with the outside world as television was still ten years away. Word spread quickly around town "The Outlaw" was going to play next Sunday. Jack Beutel played Billy and the voluptuous Jane Russell played Rio McDonald.  There was a risqué scene in the film where the Kid and Rio tumble in a haystack that delayed the Howard Hughes film's release for several years. The movie was the talk of the town. The Baptist and Methodist preachers and the priest used their bully pulpits to warn their parishioners to boycott it. I asked Brother Luther why and he replied, "Because you'll see something you're not supposed to see."

That made me even more determined to see what Billy and Rio were up to in that hay barn. My little brother Danny, who shadowed me everywhere, also wanted to partake of this forbidden fruit. My mother, who was a waitress at the 66 Cafe just up the street said she'd kill me if I went and took Danny to see that piece of pornography. 

There was no way she was going to fork over 28 cents for two theater tickets, so we headed down Route 66 looking for pop bottles. The grocery store was paying two cents a bottle. We picked up a few extra for popcorn money and headed for the Sunday afternoon matinee. We both sat focused on that silver screen anxiously awaiting that magic moment. Then it happened. Billy threw Rio down on the hay and slowly walked towards her...... we held our breath. Horrors! The screen suddenly went dark and when it lit up again Billy was on his horse, loping off to some new adventure. Danny looked at me and said, "We got gypped."

And I replied, "Yeah, and I risked my life!"

I decided we should escape the theater through the side door just in case our mother was waiting at the entrance. Then, we saw something we weren't supposed to see. Brother Luther was also slipping out the side exit. I wouldn't be surprised if Father O'Brian and the Methodist preacher were somewhere in that dark theater too. 

Jane Russell Scandalizes Ashfork

   I love this story so much I have agreed to help Marshall tell his growing up in Ashfork life story in a BBB style book. I know what you're thinking, "Isn't that going to be kind of risky?"

"Are you kidding me, I risked my life!"

—Marshall Trimble

Saying Goodbye to the True West World Headquarters

 August 12, 2020

   My best friend, the late, great, Charlie Waters, advised me not to buy True West magazine with this logic: "Do not buy yourself a job. There must be a better way to get your artwork published."

   Well, I loved the guy, and I trusted his business acumen, but this particular advice wasn't true for me. My partners and I bought True West magazine in the fall of 1999 and thus began a long run of publishing my artwork on the pages of this magazine. For one thing, my artwork was free so our company didn't have to pay anybody. You'd be surprised how far that can take you.

   For the record, I have done 45 covers (including the next one, October), and we've published over 200 Classic Gunfights with at least six original illustrations in each one from me. Plus, many times when a random department needs a piece of art guess who gets the assignment?

45 covers and counting

   Now, I have to admit, more than a few of these illustrations have been clunkers and I cringe whenever I'm looking at a back issue and see them. But here's the sweet thing, who's going to fire me? Or, stop giving me assignments?

   All of this madness and creative wonder was created out of a storefront in Cave Creek, Arizona, that we like to call The True West World Headquarters.

The brand new True West Building

and staff, 2002

      But as the shy Beatle liked to sing, all good things must pass. The reason all of this is on my mind is because the True West World Headquarters has been closed since the March 13 quarantine, and more than half our staff is happier working remotely and—long story short—our lease is up at the end of September and we are not going back.

Last shot at our building

L to R: Christine Lake, Rebecca Edwards, Jenna Link, Ken Amorosano, BBB, Carole Glenn, Greg Carrol, Samantha Crowley and Dan Harshberger

   We didn't know it would be the last shot at the time (the above photo was taken in January during the launch of the Geronimo book and art show at the Scottsdale Museum of the West).

   But as the pandemic wore on, we realized something had to change.

   I spent this morning taking down all of my artwork off the walls, which included some 95 paintings and scratchboards (okay, I kept a dozen). Ken Amorosano got the bright idea to do a digital art show to offer these office paintings to our readers as a historic piece of the old homestead. You will be able to peruse and buy them, online, real soon. I have kept the prices as low as possible because I want them to have good homes. So if you want to own a piece of the True West World Headquarters, stay tuned.

   And just to reiterate: the magazine is doing fine, but like everyone else, we need to get lean to move forward.

"One door closes, another opens."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Celsa Knew What Really Happend

August 11, 2020

   Working on more queridas who dallied with Billy the Kid. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Celsa Knew What Really Happened

But She Never Talked About The Kid"

   I have five others in the works. Snippets and tidbits tomorrow.

"All paths lead to Pete Maxwell's darkened bedroom at midnite and when you get there, the Kid is gone, and the house is gone; only the river remains."

—Thom Ross

Billy the Kid In The Notch of The Moon at Puerto de Luna

 August 9, 2020

   I've got to thank Billy Gibbons for this one.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Billy the Kid In The Notch of the Moon

at Puerto de Luna"

   He forced me to think lyrically instead of historically accurate. This was quite freeing, because at the end of the day, the truth is not facts lined up.

   Here's a snapshot, or two, of how I got there.

Start scraping off the black with scraper tools and see what develops. So far, so good.

   Hand the moon, sketch in the rider. Keep going.

   Got the sky going good and so I penciled in where the rider is going and took a gander. Not bad. Holding my breath. Ha. It's calculated anxiety, all the flippin' way through!

   Thought I nailed it but went over for lunch and my muse said it doesn't read as a moon and the bluff is lost. So, I went back to the drawing board. Literally. And came up with the finished version at the top of the page.

   I'm going to do a color version as well, since this is basically the punchline to the book.

"Kid on the moon, dust in the grave, where do you go when you need to be brave."

—BBB

The Pecos Princess And Willie The Kid

August 8, 2020

   So, it turns out, all the Regulators had a crush on the Pecos Princess. Here's a couple studies of this striking Texas beauty.

Daily Whip Out: "Pecos Princess I"

   To those New Mexico bad boys she was Texas royalty, so I'm seeking a bit of a regal air, even though she was not high class or uppity at all, merely a pretty girl from Texas—in very rough country.

Daily Whip Out: "Pecos Princess II"

   Yes, she was an 18-year-old Texas looker and her uncle was, none other than John Chisum, the Cattle King of New Mexico.

Daily Whip Out: "Pecos Princess III"

   She definitely had a thing for the Kid. She wrote in her diary, on August 22, 1878: "Two candi hearts given to me by Willie Bonney."

  When word came that he had died, she cried.

Daily Whip Out:
"Pecos Princess Brokenhearted"

Everyone agrees she had a thing for "Willie Bonney."

Daily Whip Out: "Pecos Princess V"

   So, he went by Willie? At least with Sally Chisum. What might that look like?

Daily Whip Out: "Willie The Kid"

    Well, that's a new twist we haven't heard much about. Willie the Kid? In terms of becoming a legend, it doesn't have a very solid ring to it. Kind of wimpy, maybe? Or, it certainly evokes a slippery conotation? Hmmmm.

"What's in a name? Absolutely everything."

—Wet Willie, Jr.

A New Look at Virgil Earp In Prescott, Arizona

August 7, 2020

   We are finishing up a wonderful issue on Virgil Earp in Prescott and his time in Arizona.

Daily Whip Out: "Virgil In Prescott"

    Many do not know that the oldest Earp started his law enforcement career on Whiskey Row prior to his relocaton to Tombstone, and that he also came back to the Prescott area, actually Kirkland, to farm. Here is Virgil's obit in my hometown newspaper:

   —The Mohave County Miner, October 28, 1905

   It's interesting to me that Wyatt is mentioned this early in a prominent way, since the conventional wisdom is that Wyatt usurped Virgil's career in the late twenties. This rather undermines that theory.

   Thanks to Mark Lee Gardner, I had a similar ephiphany with Billy the Kid in this same time period. That story in the next blog post.

"This fight has commenced. Get to fighting, or get away."

—Wyatt Earp, at the O.K. Corral fight

The Romantic And Ridiculous History of Puerto de Luna

August 5, 2020

   In October of 1991, I flew to Albuquerque from Phoenix, rented a car, and headed east on I-40 for the unveiling of a brand new historical marker south of Santa Rosa.

The Unveiling, October 19, 1991

   That's the legendary Joe Bowlin, at right, who invited me to attend. I dedicated my second book on the Kid, to him, in part for his gracious hospitality when I came to the Fort Sumner area hunting Billy, and for his tireless efforts on behalf of the Billy the Kid Gang and the history that entails. That's his wife Marylin, second from left and the third guy in the black suit is some politico from Santa Fe who was there for the unveiling, to make it official.

   Of course, they had a reenactment of Pat Garrett's posse delivering the recently captured Billy the Kid (on Christmas day, 1880), to the Grzelachowski Store where the real Billy had his last Christmas dinner on this planet.

The Kid Arrives in PDL

   That's Billy (William H. Cox), standing in the wagon and the actual sherrif of Lincoln County, led the posse. His name was McSwane, of all things, and he was over six feet tall and a dead ringer for Pat Garrett.

The sheriff of Lincoln County

James "Jay" McSwane

   Legend says it was the Spanish explorer, Coronado, who named the spot in 1541, on his way east in search of Quivira (the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold"). He was reputed to have remarked that the moon lodged in a notch of the bluffs along the Pecos River, thus Puerto de Luna, or, Port of The Moon. 

The road to Puerto de Luna.

The notch, where the moon perched,

is just to the right of the telephone pole,

 at center right.

   Historians and wags (sorry, that's redundant), also like to point out that a family named Luna lived at the mouth of Puerto Creek in the 1860s and the village is actually named for them.

   Maybe both are true, or perhaps neither one is true. Welcome to the history of the Southwest.

   The locals have given the tiny berg a shorthand name, PDL, which is similar to that daffy game show town, Truth Or Consequences (in the 1950s the town fathers sold the town's soul to a popular TV show of the same name). As a fitting rebuke, many locals simply refer to it as T-or-C.

   I would call this The Land of Enhancement, but, I digress.

   Meanwhile, I am looking for all the women who loved Billy the Kid. Perhaps at the top of the list is this striking beauty:

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Deluvina, The Navajo Woman

Who Loved The Kid"

   It dawned on me yesterday that it is very important to me to go to the places I am writing about. Because when you stand where he once stood, you realize what is just and good. Or, as a friend puts it:

"That's the moment the history of the site wraps itself around your shoulders and you can feel it and get a sense of it."

—Mike Pitel

A Quick Note On Our Never Ending Misreading of Reality

August 4, 2020
   On the hunt for the Kid. Updates ahead.

   Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I sought out an excellent book, "Mexico: Biography of Power" by Enrique Krauze. In it, he explains the dichotomy of Mexico at the time of the 1910 revolution, between the conservatives, who were proud of their Spanish colonial past, and the liberals, who were ashamed and hated the colonial past and wanted a new future. This latter group gave voice with the popular cry of the day: "Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe and death to the Spaniards!"

   One side was "yearning to escape from the past and the other to preserve it." Sound familiar? It's the same exact struggle and it never ends, it just morphs into something that seems different, but it's the same damn thing—1910-2020—take your pick, they are interchangeable.

   Krauze also nails the dishonesty of both sides by saying that in the Mexican revolution "both versions of history [the two sides, conservative and liberal] were also wrong." Then we get this: "Though neither would ever admit it, each side idealized its favored events and heroes. Each side had its own misreading of reality."

"The arc of history bends towards delusion."

—Stephen Kotkin

   This's why I can't get too upset about tearing down statues, including my own.

   Meanwhile, speaking of never-ending enigmas, I'm on the hunt for the heart and soul of Billy the Kid. Forget the paltry facts and nitpicking details of his short and violent life (I've already done that book!), I am looking for something deeper and elusive, the thing in that knight errant boy that changed my life and continues to capture the hearts of people from around the world. Here's a couple random lines about that quest:

Kid In The Moon
Kid in the moon, dust on the grave
Where do you go when you have to be brave? 

Unless you stand where he once stood
You'll never understand what is just and good

Up and down the Pecos River
The dark eyed beauties quiver
The love of that bad boy is second to none
It's been said he even swayed a nun

In the port of the moon a sad girl waits
She can't believe her boyfriend's fate

Salty senioritas sway as they all say
they enjoyed a roll in the hay
He tripped their triggers, every one
He was a bad boy that son of a gun

But only one, to which he was true
he gave his heart and so would you
she was a beauty, a Mexican cutie
with eyes that flash in the dark
She created a spark that erupted in flame
at the end of a gun, the end of the game

Daily Whip Out: "The Girl From PDL"

Up at PDL the girl still waits
Even though the hour is late
She holds her heart for just one boy
The one in the ground who's not there

Kid on the moon, dust in the grave
Where do you go when you need to be brave?
—BBB

Buckey O'Neill's Front Yard And The Edge of Eternity

August 3, 2020
   In January of 2017, the good history doctor, John Langellier, treated me to a stay in Buckey O'Neill's historic cabin, right on the edge of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Daybreak On The Wall In Front of

Buckey O'Neill's Cabin

   We had a grand time, with a couple hikes and a dinner in the El Tovar dining room. In the morning, we were clowning around, and I jumped up on the wall for a photo. And, here's the cabin as it appears today.

   And here's a better view of the actual drop at the wall I am standing on.

The Long Drop

   What hedged the vertigo for me, is the narrow, dirt ledge in the foreground with all the trees and bushes to break an accidental fall. Of course, it's just a mental trick and there are plenty of fatalities in the canyon that relate directly to this mindset. 

   For example:

   A father from Dallas, Texas, was walking from El Tovar to the Visiter's Center with his young daughter on November 28, 1992. Austin Gingrich, age 38, playfully jumped atop the rock wall, above, and acted all dramatically, wind-milling his arms comically, as he mockingly said to his daughter, "Help, I'm falling. . ." Then he jumped off backwards onto that narrow ledge I was referring to, and the daughter just laughed and said, "Oh, Dad."

   In the morning the park rangers found his body 400 feet below the wall.

"A lot of tourists approach the Grand Canyon like a ride at Disneyland or some other amusement park and think it's idiot proof."
—Tom Jensen, Executive Director of the Grand Canyon Trust

The Glib And The Profane: Billy the Kid Historians Invade Lincoln County

August 2, 2020
   Got some traction last night on a key scene in the Kid saga. The original title, "The Midnight Visitor" has given way to something that is a little more Hispano:

Final: "Mi Querida In Moonlight"

    If you want to see how I got here, take a gander at the workups:  

Workups for final


   I lost some of the sponteneity of the underpainting, but my hope is that the upside-down hearts atop the picket fence and the expression on the Kid's horse, which clearly says, "And he thinks I'M a horndog!" makes up for it, in terms of storytelling. It certainly captures the mood and theme of the book I am working on. I might go as far as to say it's the signature piece.

   As mentioned, I am getting set to publish my third book on the Kid and I want to bring some of the stories up to date, like the big Billy conference held in Ruidoso, in September of 1991. I seem to remember it was sponsored by some outfit out of Santa Fe called Recursos. Anyway, it was a big deal, cost me $150 and it was worth every penny because I met all the big dogs in the Kid World.

The Swiss Chalet in Ruidoso was the location

for a big Billy the Kid Symposium

   I did take this photo of the presenters out on the balcony of the Swiss Chalet where the conference was held. I can spot Robert Utley (fourth from right) and Jerry Weddle (to Utley's right) and then Fred Nolan (to Weddle's right) but I'm having trouble with the others.

Billy the Kid presenters at the Swiss Chalet Ruidoso, New Mexico, September, 1991

   I think that might be Richard Brown, far right, and, maybe Grant Romer, third from left. Herman B. Weisner is supposed to be in here as is Stephen Tatum and John Drayton. and apparently that must be Beth Hadas (fourth from left, a publisher?).

The esteemed Robert Utley, at left,

being interviewed by Dave Walker

at Casa de Patron, in Lincoln.

   Yes, that's my friend, and fellow drummer, Dave Walker, of the Phoenix New Times. I actually lobbied for the coverage of the Kid in our paper and editor Mike Lacey agreed and sent Dave over. The story ended up as the lead story on the front page of New Times. And here is a link to the article:

Billy Is Alive!

   Author Leon Metz was not present for the group photo but he led a field trip to Blazer's Mill and then to Las Cruces to see Pat Garrett's grave.

Leon Metz regales us at Blazer's Mill

   From my notes, here are my two favorite Leon quotes:

"What people choose to believe is a fact in itself."

—Leon Metz

"The only time in history a man has been assassinated while urinating that the defendant claimed self-defense."

—Leon Metz, describing Wayne Brazil's alleged shooting of Garrett

   When we got to Blazer's Mill we were pleasantly surprised to see and meet Art Blazer who was the son, or grandson, of the original Blazer, for which "The Gunfight at Blazer's Mill" is named for.

Art Blazer holds court with historians

Leon Metz and Fred Nolan (second from right).

"Nobody in the family could hit a damn thing with that rifle."

—Art Blazer, answering the question about what happened to the rifle Buckshot Roberts pulled off the wall in Blazer's office and used to put out Dick Brewer's eye at 150 yards.

   Perhaps the most profane quote of the entire weekend came from local Lincolnite, Joe Salazar, who informed us that:

"The mosquitos in Lincoln County are so big they can stand flat-footed and still make love to a turkey."