Happy October everybody. With this pandemic and the California wildfires, life has been hard on many of us. As much as I love being alone, I would rather it was my choice. I really miss our bi-monthly meetings at Lulu's Restaurant. Let's keep in prayer all those who are facing difficulties in this challenging time. I know of at least one of our members (Marvin Del Chiaro) who has had to evacuate their home because of the fires.
The world is crazy and chaotic these days; there are so many double-standards. One scientist or doctor tells you one thing, and another tells you something else, and the news media lies to us; you cannot know what is really true. You cannot go outside without a mask unless you are protesting. You can go to casinos, but not church. The only advice I have is: Avoid conflict with these riots, wear your mask (helps with the smoke from the fires as well), stay hydrated (drink lots of water), and help others where you can.
That Time the Marine Corps Killed a John Wayne Movie ~ by Davis Winkie
From the late-1940s through the mid-60s, Hollywood could count on the Defense Department to lend a hand in making realistic war movies. However, in 1954, the Marine Corps effectively killed a proposed John Wayne movie about a bloody Korean War battle because “the story would have a detrimental public relations effect for the Marine Corps."
In his book “Guts and Glory," historian Lawrence Suid documented how the Pentagon made many iconic movies possible. The Air Force loaned rare gun camera footage...
Most mountain men were independent, crusty people. They were only interested in meeting other people to trade their pelts for supplies. But, the mountain man of our story this week was different.
William Sublette was the eldest of five brothers. It’s possible his having a handful of brothers developed in him a much more sociable attitude than most mountain men.
Wild Bill Hickok is not just a legendary Old West character — for many, he's the legendary Old West character. The gloriously mustached frontier adventurer managed to fill his 39 years on this Earth with virtually every Wild West activity you can think of and more, and is one of the rare people who acquired the status of folk hero during their lifetime. This was helped by the numerous books, movies, and TV shows that have carried his legacy to younger and less outdoorsy generations, not to mention the fact that Hickok himself was never exactly shy about tooting his own horn, when the opportunity arose.
Gun Control in the Old West
~ by Matt Jancer
It's October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, and Arizona is not yet a state. The O.K. Corral is quiet, and it's had an unremarkable existence for the two years it's been standing—although it's about to become famous.
Marshall Virgil Earp, having deputized his brothers Wyatt and Morgan and his pal Doc Holliday, is having a gun control problem. Long-running tensions between the lawmen and a faction of cowboys – represented this morning by Billy Claiborne, the Clanton brothers, and the McLaury brothers – will come to a head over Tombstone's gun law.
Virgil Earp: Birth of a Lawman
~ by Bradley M. Courtney
So great is the shadow cast by Tombstone’s legendary 1881 shootout at the OK Corral, it is not widely known that Virgil Earp’s law-enforcement career began in Prescott. Its launching point was a prominent saloon along Whiskey Row.
In 1877, the Jackson & Tompkins’ Saloon at 134 South Montezuma Street near the center of Whiskey Row was one of the top four saloons in Prescott. On October 17 of that year, Col. William McCall, a Pennsyl-vanian who had been brevetted general during the Civil War, was...
There's a certain appeal to the idea of living in the Old West. The freedom, the open range, the completely unregulated use of swearing in the workplace. Sure, there are negatives, but even if you think you could survive a lack of indoor plumbing and options for takeout, there were plenty of other messed up things you'd have to deal with.
Remember when Woody Harrelson and Liam "Not Thor" Hemsworth starred in the 2016 Western The Duel? In case you didn't see it, Hemsworth is investigating some murders and a cult-like town led...
Untold Truth of the Old West
~ by Adam James
Everyone, deep down inside, fancies themselves an expert on the Old West. After all, we've seen every John Wayne western there is, binge-watched HBO's Deadwood, and took a a couple history classes in college. What else is there to know? Well a lot: much of America's most romanticized and glorified piece of history is still very much a mystery, so sit back on the porch, poor some whiskey, and let us fill you in. Here's the truth of the Old West.
$30,000. That's the cost of 75 camels imported from the Middle East and Mediterranean by the United States Army in 1857. With...
Fay McKenzie Dies at 101
~ by Mike Barnes
She also played the host of a wacky Hollywood bash in 'The Party,' directed by her neighbor, Blake Edwards.
Fay McKenzie, who starred alongside Gene Autry in five Westerns and appeared in five films for director Blake Edwards, has died. She was 101.
McKenzie died in her sleep on April 16 in Los Angeles, a relative, Bryan Cooper, announced.
After a brief marriage to tough-guy actor Steve Cochran in the 1940s, McKenzie wed screenwriter Tom...
