Endgame Roadsigns & Fun Run Flashbacks

 December 17, 2023

    There's not much that makes me happier than a photograph sent to me by my daughter, of her daughter.

Frannie McGoo Painting On The Beach

Not to mention this photo I found while cleaning in the studio yesterday.

Two, young Humor Masters In Training

   Meanwhile, caught this while driving home last night from El Encanto.

Backseat Driver

The Endgame

   I'm approaching a milestone on this long and winding road: my father passed at 75 and I'm about to turn 77 tomorrow. Meanwhile, the drummer for AC/DC just passed. He was 77. Yikes!

   Speaking of road signs. . .

Pit Stop Insights

   For the better part of two decades, my father and I drove the Route 66 Fun Run from Seligman to Kingman, to Topock, and one year, I had jackets made, "Bell On Wheels" for him and his pit crew.

Hell On Wheels Pit Crew and Al's '49 Ford

   Left to right: BBB, Al Bell, Milton Cece (my father's Norwegian cousin from Iowa) and Ray Hader (pit boss). This was taken in Seligman across the street from the Sno Cap Drive-In as the cars for the Fun Run lined up. This guy had painted this huge postcard backdrop and for $20 you could have a professional photo taken. I thought this was a very cool idea and wished I would have thought of it. Later, when my father was ordering more photos for his friends the guy admitted that we were the only ones who bought a photo (there were over 500 cars on the run!). After I found this out, and in subsequent Fun Runs (as I said, we drove in it every year for the better part of two decades) I would quiz the vendors (set up at tables with really cool books on Route 66, classic gas stations, etc.) and they would invariably tell me that they weren't doing jack for sales. I always asked why they thought this was the case and one astute vendor said, "All their money is in their cars."

   Ha. I think that nails it.

"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary."
—Old Easy Rider Saying

Classic Maynard Dixon Christmas Cover

 December 16, 2023

   Some simple things always make me very happy.

Pre-Colonial Crucification

   In these days of strife and anguish—and I am referring to the history biz—it gives me great joy to see the following classic representation of the Old West presented without, rancor, or blame. It may be a total fantasy, but I don't care. Thank you Maynard!

Classic Maynard Dixon Christmas Cover

   Meanwhile, back to the present day malaise, and take it as you find it views.

Sky Deer Running

And, a nice Saturday working on stuff I love.

Daily Flashback Whip Out:

"Mickey Free On The Jump"

"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary."
—Old Biker Saying

The Navajo Peacekeeper Has Arrived

 December 15, 2023

   Me and the Boys worked most of today to prep six of The 66 Kids one-shot promotional pages for the book of the same name. These will run in publications throughout the West. This is my favorite one, so far:

   This is low res, but if you want to check it out, including the other five, go here and scroll down.

Six of The 66 Kids

"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life."

—Seneca

Sunset of The Year Meets Cringing Boomer Flashback!

 December 14, 2023

   We had a flamer the other night. Here it is in all its glory:

   Someone said it is the best sunset of the year.

    And, here's Uno's reaction:

Big, flippin' deal

   If you are grossed out by weird fashions, you may want to avert your eyes for the next 38 picas.

Major Cringing Boomer Flashbacks

   When some of my Boomer tribe members get all snotty about today's fashion trends I have to remind them we had our moments of ridiculousness.

   But I will say, that I was very inspired by those white socks!

BBB at Zabriski Point, Death Valley

(Where the socks match the rocks!)

"No artist tolerates reality."

—Nietzsche

Ms Fintastic & The Tombstone Dickhead

 December 13, 2023

   Our editor, Stuart Rosebrook, drove out this afternoon in a U-Haul van and destroyed my driveway. That is only partially true—actually, it's not true at all—but that is how I will always remember it.

   The backstory is we needed to work in person on a few projects and this whole siloed-up BS was really getting us down. We all work remotely, in our own silo, and we try to meet up and work on Slack (a graphics version of Zoom), but it's just not the same as working together in the same room like when we had our own office.

   So Stuart rented a U-Haul to come down from Prescott Valley where he lives and pick up some furniture from Dan The Man (Yes, that Dan The Man), and then Stuart came north to Cave Creek and that is when he destroyed my driveway.

   Meanwhile, there's this dickhead from down by Tombstone who has been sniping at True West on Facebook, screaming online that we are promoting bad history and "lies." Another guy, who I thought was our friend created a "Boycott True West" website, which was really irritating. But then, the original guy really stepped in it.

   When good work is done, everything else is forgiven.

Daily Whip Out: "Ms. Fintastic!"

(by Dan The Man!)

 Stuart and I worked on a variety of pressing projects, but the one that redeemed everything was the Ms. Fintastic catalogue girl concept, above, which really tied the room together.

  This morning, Ernesto and his crew laid a culvert on the north end of our circular driveway, then covered it in rocks and used cement to bind it all together.

Ernesto and crew laying a culvert

on the north end of our circular driveway

  They got done about two and he told me to not let anyone use the driveway until tomorrow so the cement could set. I went into the studio to make a sign that says, "Use the other driveway" and that's when Stuart showed up in the U-Haul and drove over the wet cement. "Thanks a lot you bastard for ruining my driveway!" is how I greeted Stuart when I went out and saw what he had done. Turns out, the heavy U-Haul didn't really mess up anything and we had a good laugh about how he "almost" ruined my driveway.

   Meanwhile, the Tombstone dickhead went after Marshall Trimble and that was the final straw for Stuart and he said, "I don't care if he snipes at me or the magazine but I will not tolerate anyone who goes after Marshall. I want him banned." And, so we banned the goober. After a fabulous day working with Stuart in the studio, I called Marshall to tell him what had happened and this is what he told me:

"True West is the best thing that ever happened to me."

—Marshall Trimble, 85, describing how working on the magazine has kept him alive and happy for the past 23 years

Loop de Jour & The Uno Christmas Greeting Card

 December 12, 2023

   Wishing you all a very Uno Christmas.

The Uno Christmas Greeting Card

   And may all your treats be found on the counter or off the table.

When Brenda Lee toured Germany in 1962 these teenagers opened for her in Hamburg.

They called themselves the Silver Bugs, or something, or other. Wonder whatever happened to them?

    Meanwhile it's time for a little Buckeye Bravery:

   We begin our lives in diapers and we end in diapers. The mother teaches the daughter and then the daughter has to teach the mother how to use Spotify. Everything tries to be round. What is this called and who said it?

Loop de Jour

“Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round . . . The sky is round and the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind in its greatest power whirls, birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds. And they were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop.”
—Chief Black Elk

The Loop de Loop, Six Flags

"Does the truth actually go through Kingman, Arizona?"

—Old Road Hog Question

Dead Words Redemption

 December 11, 2023

   Today I learned something new. Funny, but it began with a quote from a famous, big-time author:

"I read the first few pages of a book, and if I see certain signs—dead sentences, convoluted metaphors, a verbose or self-conscious style—I lose trust in the writer. I need to know I'm in good hands if I'm to go on."

—Sigrid Nunez

   Good grief. I have been in this game for a long time and I have never heard of "dead sentences," so I Googled "dead sentences" and that led me to "dead words" which led me to a list of words big time authors avoid like the plague, so that they don't write dead sentences. Here is the list:

Dead Words

A lot

also

big

but

fun

funny

get

good

great

like

mad

nice

pretty

sad

said

scared

then

thinks

went

so

show

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Dead Words Mariachi"

Dead Words Redemption

   Well, dang, that's a lot of useful words in my world and it makes me mad and sad, and maybe even a little scared, because it's pretty clear I haven't got a clue when it comes to writing big, language-centric books, but, then again I also have a huge hard-on for big, snotty scribes who pontificate until the cows come home. Sorry, convoluted metaphor. Okay, perhaps I went too far in my anger just now, but then I realized, in my world—I am a cartoonist— we show not tell. So, sue me.

"Anyone can come up with a great idea for a book, but you don't make books out of ideas, you make them out of language."

—Sigrid Nunez

Pump House Lit Up & A Couple Green Thumbs Get It Done

 December 10, 2023

   When your friend asks for coverage on the pump house for a sculpture he is doing, well, you cover the dog as we used to say at the Razz.

Pump House Lit Up

Pump House Lit Up II

Uno Guards Back of Pump House

   Meanwhile, we had one of our favorite trees die because of bark beetles so we commissioned A Couple of Green Thumbs to come out and remove the dead tree and replace it with a live tree.

The Green Thumb Boys Dig A New Hole

Green Thumbs Struggling With

The Boxed Tree Off The Truck

Green Thumbs Almost In

They worked hard, they pinched fingers but they got it done.

Green Thumbs Success!

"Avoid crazy at all costs."

—Charlie Munger

Here Comes the Judge And The Pump House Sentry

 December 9, 2023

    When it comes to home security and making sure our pump house is safe from intruders, I always rely on this guy.

Uno The Pump House Sentry

   Ain't nobody gonna breach that door! Unless they have a treat, or, they're smiling, or, they like dogs, or they're in a car. Other than that, look out!

   Speaking of silent, but deadly, some of my art hangs in prestigious places, if you call the bathroom of a respected Ninth Circuit Court Judge, prestigious.

A North Central Bathroom Gallery

   And, here is a close-up on the framed BBB artwork at lower right, on the wall, above:

Judicial Bathroom Humor

   If you know the judge, then you know who is who. I know him because we played against each other at the Northern Arizona Little League Championship game in Flagstaff, in August of 1959. Winslow lost, but if you know me, you knew that already.

When A Groove Becomes A Rut

"Of course, the public has an insatiable hunger and what was salacious yesterday is ho-hum, today. What was once a recipe quickly becomes a formula or—as happens both in music and in ditch digging—what started out as a groove quickly becomes a rut."

—Bob "Flippin'" Dylan

Friends of The Judge, Terry G. and Roxie B.

"Now you’re tire tracks and one pair of shoes

 And I’m split in half, but that’ll have to do.”

—Noah Kahan

Noah Kahan's "Dial Drunk" & Navajo Hitcher Part II

 December 8, 2023

   Couldn't leave well enough alone:

Daily Whip Out: "Navajo Hitcher 2"

   This is for a Marshall Trimble story that will appear in "The 66 Kids" about his father picking up a Navajo hitchhiker near Shiprock and I was tempted to go with the stereotypical Navajo in the traditional clothing with a tall-flat-brimmed hat and unblocked crown, but when I was looking through my Navajo reference I came across this groovy Navajo dude in the 1940s, wearing shades! Yes! That is exactly what a hitcher on the res would have looked like back in the day. Totally dig this guy. Almost a Leupp John Lennon!

   Now to put him in context:

Daily Whip Out: "Shiprock In Twilight"

Daily Whip Out:

"Shiprock Hitcher Comes Into View"

   Yes, I like to storyboard these stories. And yes, I picture the hitcher facing away from the car and barely holding out his thumb. I swear it's a Navajo thing.

Long Time Gone

It's been a long time since I have liked any of the musical guests on SNL, but last weekend Noah Kahan made me and Kathy sit up and pay attention. First of all, he is so dang funny. And he scores with a banjo! Check out the chorus to the first song he sang, "Dial Drunk":

"I ain’t proud of all the punches that I’ve thrown

In the name of someone I no longer know

For the shame of being young, drunk, and alone Traffic lights and a transmitter radio

I don’t like that when they threw me in the car

I gave your name as my emergency phone call Honey, it rang and rang, even the cops thought you were wrong for hangin’ up

I dial drunk, I’ll die a drunk, I’ll die for you.”

   I realize he's been a big deal for the past year, but I am just catching up and I listened to it again today and it made me tear up it is so damn cool and touching. Give it a listen.

Dial Drunk!

   Speaking of being drunk. . .

Impressionist Whip Out:

"Luncheon of The Boating Party"

by Pierre Auguste Renior, 1881 

(same year as the O.K. Corral fight)

"Art is emotion. If art needs to be explained, it is no longer art."

—Pierre Auguste Renoir

Sunrise Lazybones, Navajo Hitcher & Tom Mix Speed Demon

 December 7, 2023

   Another spectacular sunrise on the great Sonoran Desert this morning.

Sunrise Lazybones

"The early bird gets the, yeh, whatever."

Doing some research on these guys:

Navajo Warrior Chich-Is Nez

And this hipster:

Daily Whip Out: "Navajo Hitcher"

   Meanwhile, I am planning a big feature on this cat in True West.

Tom Mix Speed Demon

Saw your "True West Moments", in the December issue of the Tombstone Epitaph. From the time I was a little kid in the 50's, my dad would say; "Tom Mix in cement, Harry Carey water, and Ruth Roland in the dirt!"

—Tim Wulzen

"Owing to the death of my grandfather—who I loved dearly—I will not be able to land the plane."

—Lame Undergrad Excuses Applied to Real Life

Into The Beast And Back Again

 December 6, 2023

   Had a long day in The Beast today. Left the house at eight and fought my way downtown, below the baseball arena—whatever the corporate name is now—Chase Field, whatever. Had a taping for an outlaw and lawman series in a warehouse smack dab in the middle of the Sky Harbor flight path. Jets going in at about 46 second intervals. Fought my way through, then drove up town to meet his guy for lunch at Barrio Cafe on 16th St. and Thomas. Hint: he is the Top Secret Writer's son.

Paul Andy Enjoys Free Food

  Got home around three and went for a walk with the boy.

Uno Waits for Old Man

   Found an old Whip Out and thought I could improve it.

Daily Whip Out: "They Rode On"

   Big day at home tomorrow. My goal is to not go anywhere.

"The best revenge is to not be like your enemy."

—Marcxus Aurelius

The Best Issue of True West Magazine Ever? It's The Contradictions, Ese!

 December 5, 2023

   By my count we have done 253 issues of True West magazine since we bought the dang title back in 1999. And, I have to say, the one that is on the way to the printer today, is the best one I have ever worked on, ever.

   It is quite juicy and the best news is that there are pages and pages of photographs I have never seen before. Our intrepid editor, Stuart Rosebrook, searched high and low in the archives and online, to find some rare images and the result is a spectacular and epic round up of the best cowboy photos I have ever seen in one place. Plus, you will find out how to spot a dude. It's not as easy as you might think.

It's The Contradictions, Ese!

    Now that I've finished the Larry McMurtry bio, I finally see that one of the strengths Larry brought to his stories, and especially "Lonesome Dove," is the epic contradictions. The two old Texas Rangers are quarreling and Gus says, "Me and you did our work too well. We killed off most of the people that made this country interesting to begin with." An early admission regarding the wrong-headedness of the cowboy ethos. There are tons of other examples but the most striking one is when Call (Tommy Lee Jones) visits Clara in Nebraska and she lets him have it: "I'm sorry you and Gus McCrae ever met. All you two done was ruin one another, not to mention those close to you." It goes on and she really nails him and his damned cowboy ethos: "You think you've always done right—that's your ugly pride—But you never did right and it would be a sad woman that needed anything from you." Then, the biographer Tracy Dougherty, sums it all up with, "Clara speaks here for McMurtry's mother and grandmothers, and for every other woman he knew growing up." Damn! So good.

   Somehow, all these wonderful contradictions seem to be missing from the sequels and prequels to "Lonesome Dove." I always chalked it up to stupid movie people not having any sense but then it comes out in the book that Larry and Diana Ossana were calling the shots on these misguided and empty offerings. Proof, I guess, that even the masters can lose their way.

   I'm having a sign made to hang over my writing computer that says, "It's the contradictions, Ese!"

"History is not a pledge. It's an argument."

—Jill Lapore

How to Write Better Books

 December 4, 2023

   I'm working on a thesis for a column Johnny Boggs asked me to write for an upcoming edition of Roundup, the publication he edits for the Western Writers of America. Here is a sneak peek at my thesis:

Eating superior Mexican food

can make you a better writer. 

   That's not my opinion, that's just good science. Here's the proof in the flan: I dropped out of the University of Arizona Art College six units shy of a degree. At that time (1969) I was unpublished. A mere ten years later, after a random, but delicious, dinner at El Charro (downtown location, try the topopo side dish) I not only stumbled into a publishing empire (15 books so far), but I also got hitched to my dinner mate—we are celebrating 45 years being married!)

My dinner date at El Charro

(June 7, 1979)

   I'm sorry, but you can't argue with these stats.

   So, obviously I have excellent reasons for picking this Old Pueblo Mexican food stalwart. For the rest, I have canvassed my fellow authors to give you a heads up cross section of where to eat while you attend the Tucson Book Festival so you too can write better. Keep in mind there are about a hundred choices in the Tucson area, but these are the ones that will help you write better.

   If you are into military history, try Del Cielo Tamales at 3073 N. Campbell Ave. They serve the best huevos rancheros and excellent homemade masa tamales.

   "Del Cielo Tamales are also the last bastion of Mexican hot chocolate in Tucson! As a youth, I remember being able to order this steaming treat nearly everywhere. BTW, Del Cielo has a vegetarian breakfast buffet on Thursdays."

—Dr. John Langellier, author of "More Work Than Glory; Buffalo Soldiers in the United States Army, 1866-1916" (2023) by Helion

   I canvased several other good writers and their fave Tucson Mexican food and they will appear in the article out soon. And I'll share their picks after the piece comes out.

"Tacos are proof that God wants us to be happy."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Two Cowgirls From Duncan, Arizona: Sandra Day and Bobbi Guess

 December 3, 2023

   With the passing of Sandra Day O'Connor I thought it would be appropriate to rerun an old post about our family's connections to the Days of Duncan from a BBB blog post in 2016:

   Last month I told the story of my crazy Duncan, Arizona connections to The Seventh Cavalry, Tarzan and my mother's babysitter. As if those ridiculous stories couldn't be topped, or, get any weirder, well, try this one on for size:

Sandra Day on Chico

   As some of you may know, the first female justice of the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, grew up on a ranch near Duncan, Arizona. And, she co-wrote a book about growing up on The Lazy B with her brother Alan Day. Her son Scott and I have talked many times about whether his mother knew my mother and we never could quite get a solid connection, even though that area is quite rural and isolated, and both our mothers grew up and were in the ranching community at about the same time.

 My mother Bobbi Guess

   Scott recently wrote up a piece about his mother and his family and our connection and in it he said my grandmother was born in the Duncan area. I knew that wasn't quite right. Unfortunately, our family historian, Tap Lou Duncan Weir passed recently and, so, on a hail Mary pass, I called my Kingman cowboy cousin, Billy Hamilton to ask if he knew where our grandmother was born. Long story short, he didn't remember, but he told me a funny story: he related that he and his dad, Choc Hamilton, used to attend roping events all over the Duncan area and, one time, Billy asked world champion cowboy Jim Wister if he ever knew our grandfather, Bob Guess. Wister laughed and said, "Knew him? He and his wife Lou were married in my living room."

   Turns out Wister was a cowhand on the Day ranch. So when I told Scott this he laughed and knew right where the ranch house is on the Lazy B. Scott rewrote his ending like this:

  "Louise Guess, one year older than Harry Day, lived in York, Arizona, 15 miles down the Gila
from the Lazy B Ranch. Her grandson, Bob Boze Bell and the O’Connor boys aren’t sure if
Harry ever met Louise, but we suspect they did, because Louise and Bob Guess were married at
the Willow Springs Canyon abode of World Champion Cowboy Jim Brister, on the Lazy B,
about 7 miles from the ranch headquarters. Like Sandra Day’s towering bronze statue in the
Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse in Phoenix, the 10 foot “Not So Gentle Tamer”
bronze of Louise Guess stands at the civic center of Prescott Valley, representing Arizona
pioneer women. Sandra O’Connor is sculpted with a law book under one arm. Louise Guess,
stands with a shovel in her left hand, used both for gardening and killing rattlesnakes, one of
which dangles helplessly from her other hand. Sandra’s law books killed veritable snakes in the
legislative and litigation arenas, while Louise’s hoe was used more prosaically. Both knew when
and how to use their tools to best effect.
Scott, Brian and Jay O’Connor are the sons of Sandra Day O’Connor, all proud of their family
heritage."

"Not So Gentle Tamer"

(The Arizona Centennial painting that led to the 10-foot tall statue of the same name in Prescott Valley and based on my grandmother)

  And, now, thanks to Jean Acosta, Tap Lou's daughter, who went thru her mother's two-rooms of research, we now know my grandmother's given name and where she was born:

Lue Vennie Robinson, August 18, 1896, born in Mineral Wells, Texas.

"Tell me where you were born and I will astonish you with who you are related to."

—Old Women Everywhere

Buddy Holly Boppin' to Vegas, Circa 1958?

 December 3, 2023

   Sometimes it's quite distressing for me to think about how immature my friends can be and I worry constantly about whether I should perform an intervention and attempt to school them on seeking better behavior.

   Case in point.

Buddy Holly Boppin' His Way to Vegas

circa 1958?

   Is this AI or just some damn Kingman kids goofing around with Photoshop? We know, for certain, the postcard is real. We know that is Buddy Holly's actual car and we think that is Buddy Holly himself boppin' out the window as he heads to Vegas.

   Or, maybe not. 

   Don't blame me. Dan The Man Harshberger mashed these up for our next book on The 66 Kids.   

   No, seriously.

   On a related note, Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "authentic." And last year's word of the year was "gaslighting." Somehow,  both apply to the above Not-So-Deep Fake.

"If a tree falls in the forest, a chihuahua 500 miles away will bark at it."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Larry McMurtry Shows Us The Way

 December 2, 2023

   As the old saying goes, he led by example. Dang, that Texan could write. He was prolific, to say the least. I finished the new biography "Larry McMurtry: A Life" by Tracy Daugherty and it was very inspiring for a kid from Kingman.

   First off, I have a thing about underlining words or sentences in my books. I don't want to deface them because they are treasures to me and I don't want someone coming in behind me and trying to read it and saying to themselves, "Why in the living hell did that old coot underline that word?" But, in the end, I just couldn't help it. There were too many choice phrases and sentences and concepts I just had to grab for future reference.

Number One Keeper

Ten More Keepers

The Spanish Disappointment

• "The American West as we know it today came about in response to European—particularly Spanish—disappointment. North American treasures could not match the Aztec or Inca vaults, so old-world monarchs lessened their investment in the region, leaving settlers to their own, frequently misguided ways."

Hometown Grievances

• "If I didn't love the place I'd hate it violently." Larry speaking of his hometown Archer City, Texas

Billy Bonney Disdain

• McMurtry did not care for Billy the Kid, saying, "How could [Bonney] have produced a legend, and a bibliography with thousands of items in it?. . .There's an element of sheer publicity in it." As is evidenced by his shabby book (my least favorite) "Anything for Billy."

All My Exes Are Gonna Be Texas Pagans?

• "Texas isn't as religious as it thinks it is. . .Underneath there is a strong current of heresy and paganism."

Larry Could Be Blunt

• "The job of the writer is to make up shit."

His Mother Didn't Get Him

• "Larry, honey, is that what we're sending you to Rice for? Those awful words?"

The McMurtry Machine

• "If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass. If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books."—Dave Hickey

Hollywood Hard-ons

• "It's a charming thing to watch when moviemakers have ideas. The delight these 'ideas' occasion, when they finally appear, approximates what an ardent 89-year-old lover might feel upon discovering that he has an erection."

Rodeo Kabuki

• "Rodeo merely pantomimes ranch life; bull riding and barrel racing are just costumed Kabuki."

Sky Driver

• McMurtry, had an early memory—about age 6—of being in the car with his father on a "long, long stretch of route 66. . .I thought my father was driving us into the sky." Elsewhere in the book, he describes driving home to Texas from the east, "The sky had quickly opened up, become a Western sky, with Western horizons beneath it. Coming into the openness, time after time, brought relief and indeed a kind of exhilaration. This lifting (and a corresponding lowering as I drove back east), occurred many times; I began to understand it bespoke a kind of sky longing."

"Being a writer and a Texan is an amusing fate."

—Larry McMurtry

Curly The Defiant Meets The Questionable Legend of La Gata

 December 1, 2023

   I finished the Larry McMurtry biography this morning, so the man and the myths he played with are on my mind.

Daily Whip Out: "Curly The Defiant"

   Over the years I have created a whole slew of characters that never quite made it into print. This is one of them.

The Questionable Legend of La Gata!

   South of Bacanora, Sonora, a young campesina struck terror into the hearts of rico hacendados and gringo mining engineers all over El Norte. Her real name has been lost to history but she was known far and wide as La Gata!

Daily Whip Out: "The Legend of La Gata!"

   While some have questioned whether this Mexican cowgirl ever actually existed, a former Kingman cartoonist swears she's the real deal even though the accompanying illustration was used to illustrate a Coors beer can promotion a quarter century ago. 

   Thus is history written. And, rewritten.

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

—James Warner and Willis Goldbeck (who wrote the screenplay for "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" instead of the guy who usually gets credit for the much quoted line, director John Ford)