by Bill Markley | Oct 14, 2009 | Travel & Preservation
“This is the best place on the planet. If you don’t come back, there’s something wrong with you.” These words spoken by G.B. Cornucopia, a 20-year veteran U.S. Park Ranger, echo in my head as I gaze down into New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon. Desert winds tugging at my...
by Henry Cabot Beck | Oct 13, 2009 | Western Movies
Bonanza is so much a part of our cultural history and our TV past that its familiarity disguises the fact that the show is genuinely odd. Of all the gun-toting lawman and loner shows that ate up the finite broadcast space of TV’s Golden Age, Bonanza drew upon standard...
by Sherry Monahan | Oct 12, 2009 | Art, Guns and Culture
What is it about Christmas? Be it 2009 or 1889, people who celebrate it always find a way to recognize this holiday. Whether it be cattlemen stuck on the open range in a snowstorm, fortune seekers in a mining camp or families in a hearth-warmed home on the prairie—it...
by Bob Boze Bell | Oct 12, 2009 | Inside History
April 3, 1908 Arizona Ranger Jeff Kidder rides into Naco, Arizona, to renew his commission. Upon finding out that Capt. Harry Wheeler is chasing outlaws in the Chiricahua Mountains, Kidder crosses the border to “meet friends.” Removing his gunbelt, Kidder sticks into...
by Henry Cabot Beck | Sep 13, 2009 | Western Movies
The triumph of the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove is such that to once again name the awards and repeat the ratings and draw quotes from the universal accolades doesn’t quite do it justice. At the risk of possibly underselling it, which would likely seem absurd to...