“Is that a real poncho?… I mean, is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?” —”Camarillo Brillo” by Frank Zappa In one of the few tender...
Ponchos Ride Again
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Art, Guns and Culture
Learning Their Trade…In Stir
Arnold Darby is in a great mood the day I arrive in Huntsville, Texas, to talk about his custom bootmaking business...with good reason. After...
Artists We Love—Ed Mell
Not one of the many art bios on Ed Mell mentions his great sense of humor. Ed Mell Not one of the many art bios on Ed Mell mentions his great sense...
Nampeyo’s Legacy
“I want to continue the traditional methods and designs,” Tonita Hamilton Nampeyo said. “I don’t want to deviate from what my mom [Fannie Polacca]...
Ugly Ducklings, No More
Because of their unusual looks, Merwin, Hulbert & Co. firearms have been considered the “ugly ducklings” of frontier six-shooters. For years,...
Colt’s Last Wild West Six-Gun
The Old West may have been gone by the early 1900s, but the West was still a place where a man needed to be “well heeled.” It was the era of the...
Nocturnes Hit Million-Dollar Marks
The moonlit views the artist saw from his skiff as he paddled near his retreat, Inglenook Island, inspired Frederic Remington’s first nighttime...
Indian Fare
“We have cooking classes three days a week. The girls are taught to make all sorts of nice things to eat…. “The menu consists of bread, coffee, tea,...
Cowgirls in the Sand
The idea of cowgirls in the sand was once just a fever dream Neil Young had about beaches in Spain—that was his explanation for the creation of one...
The Bronco Busters
“I never got to be a bronk rider but in my youthfull days wanted to be, and while that want lasted I had a fine chance to study hoss enatimy from...
Friends of the James Farm Bash
The family’s all here. I’m surrounded by historians and wannabe historians, fiction writers and wannabe fiction writers, journalists, blackpowder...
Scattergun Sidekicks Reunite
As the stagecoach gently rumbled through the soft dirt, I cradled my sawed-off scattergun, ready for trouble. A shot suddenly rang out from behind...