A Test of Character at the Grange We enjoyed another feast of a potluck down at the Grange. It’s not that women out here in the country were born better cooks than city gals. But I think the slower pace of life encourages making dishes from scratch. Fresh cream, butter, and white sugar haven’t been […]
What Is a Judas Steer? by Stephen Bly I watched a Judas steer in action when I attended a rodeo down in Pocatello. Some old boy lasted about two seconds on the back of a bull. Soon he found himself kissin’ the ground. The main excitement happened when the pickup men rode up to herd […]
Through the Valley Jornada del Muerto I sat on a dusty trail at the western edge of the Organ Pipes Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. Located on the border with the state of Sonora, Mexico, some of the bleakest countryside anywhere surrounded this monument. Like several other parts of the old southwest, this region […]
Toss the Box or I’ll Shoot! A common old western movie scene has become a cliché. The masked holdup men drag trees across the lonely, isolated canyon road. The stage comes to a screeching, bone jolting stop. And men with black hats suddenly appear. They threaten to shoot the driver and his guard if they […]
An Old-Fashioned Jiggle Like gearshifts on your pickup, horses operate at different speeds or gaits. You can walk, trot, gallop, amble, canter or jiggle a horse. Your animal can be 4-gaited or 5-gaited, depending on their training. In the Old West, they had a great name for the ordinary gait of a cow horse. They […]
More Power to Jerky Did you know that jerky helped settle the West? For mountain men and prospectors, surveyors and cowboys, a handful of jerky provided critical nourishment. This in a time of no preservatives or refrigerators. Didn’t matter whether the jerky came from beef, deer, elk, or buffalo. All retained their flavor and value. […]
Sisters Seek Their Fortunes The Cheney sisters determined to make their fortune in the Montana gold mine fields. They followed their male counterparts who boomed their way west to the Agenta Gulch in 1892. They learned the first lessons in prospecting. Get there early or find no land left to claim. And don’t be a […]
SHE’S A STANDER! All the heroines in the Stuart Brannon Series rate what I call ‘standers.’ They can be counted on to be there during the toughest of times. I got a letter from Kelly of Lyndale, Indiana. She enjoyed my Westerns. “I’m only eleven years old,” she wrote, “but I’ve enjoyed every one of […]
What’s a Jerk Line Anyway? One hundred years after the invention of the automobile, they still measured the strength of an engine by its horsepower. And I love it. Of course, I’d be more fascinated seeing a ten-up freight wagon rig rather than the latest issue from Detroit. Now, that was real horsepower. Or mule […]
Jawbone Credit Western Slang Devotional by Stephen Bly On February 15th, 1894, Milton Porter, without a penny to his name, walked into the White Pine County Bank in Ely, Nevada, and carried out $12,000 cash. He used jawbone credit. He didn’t have a mask over his face or a six-gun in his hand. The tellers didn’t […]
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