Innehållsförteckning för February/March 2025 från Cowboys & Indians

A Moving Reader Favorite … Lady Long Rider: Alone Across America on Horseback is the title of a memoir by a woman [Bernice Ende] from Northwestern Montana who rode thousands of miles in the saddle, visiting and traveling through various parts of the United States. Absolutely phenomenal stories of experiences along the way, and people who treated her so dearly! Ende died in recent years, but had traveled by horseback with a dog until the dog got too old. —Lois Brown, Eureka, Montana … And A Forever Recommendation When I was a younger man and the world perched on my shoulders some days, I found Will Rogers and he helped me smile. —Craig Hawkins From the Editors: You and us, too, Craig! In fact, we always look to the witty wisdom…

You really can’t have a great western without a great villain. From the earliest days of silent movie horse operas to the contemporary wild bunch of traditional and revisionist shoot-’em-ups, outlaws who never aim to please often are as much of a main attraction for audiences as the straight-shooting heroes bent on delivering rough justice. These are some of the best black-hearted bad guys who have earned their places in the Western Hall of Infamy. BRUCE DERN AS ASA WATTS IN THE COWBOYS (1972) Anyone who plays a varmint guilty of fatally shooting John Wayne — in the back! — certainly qualifies as not just a bad guy but one of the worst guys in the book. That’s why we have to rank Bruce Dern at the very top of…

Red Stegall: Jim, what has changed from the time your daddy was running the ranch, and especially from when your granddaddy ran it? Jim McAllen: It’s amazing, if you look back in time, how they lived out here with absolutely nothing. With no running water, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no telephone, and, of course, [unlike] nowadays, no iPhones or things like that. I look back in awe at the period of time that my dad was involved. The cattle were wild and the fences were terrible, and so he continued the upgrading that his father had done. Red: And in those days, they used horses. A lot of them. Jim: And even when I was young, we were always breaking horses and riding horses. We had about 12 cowboys. And…

Shannon Sutlief, Art Calendar, page 82 Shannon Sutlief has been an entertainment journalist for nearly three decades, writing for The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Observer, Fort Worth Weekly, and others. She was born in Wichita, Kansas, home of Kiowa-Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin’s 44-foot-tall steel sculpture the Keeper of the Plains and the Mid-America All-Indian Center. Now she lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Known as “where the West begins,” it’s home to the oldest continuously running livestock show and rodeo; the historic Stockyards district with its twice daily cattle drive; and many places to see Western artworks and artifacts including the Amon Carter and Sid Richardson museums. Candace Echols, Stay & Play, page 58 Candace Echols lives with her husband and five children in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. But at…

Take your fashion sense to new heights in looks that carry you Outlaws issue, we’re pushing the boundaries of Western style from saloon to Sunday best. In the spirit of our American in a diverse selection of prints, patterns. DIVE INTO DIMENSION Lean into Western edge in statement accessories and a commitment to out-of-the-box texture mixing with pops of vibrant reds and turquoise. Electric earrings, $195, Peyote Bird, peyotebird.com; Night Sky fedora, $225, Stetson, stetson.com; Stretch faux leather flare pants, $148, Spanx, saksfifthavenue.com; Alvin Begay (Navajo) multi-stone three piece belt, $2,640, Samsville Gallery, samsvillegallery.com; Dolly fringe top, $225, Lindsey Thornburg, lindseythornburg.com; Suede dome studded jacket, $550, Understated Leather, understatedleather.com; Turquoise crocodile and antelope handbag, $1,395, Rockwell Tharp, rockwelltharp.com; Rizik Sun sunglasses, $350, Moscot, moscot.com; The Midland Boot limited edition, $2,500,…

He was truly a Renaissance man of the American West. Born in Uruguay in 1876, and raised in the East, Joseph Jacinto Mora, better known as Jo, was a painter, sculptor, photographer, cartoonist, illustrator, pictorial cartographer, cowboy, and more. He studied art in New York and worked as a cartoonist for Boston newspapers. Fascinated with cowboys and Indians from a young age, he headed west in his 20s. He landed first in California in 1903; then in 1904 he moved to Keams Canyon in northeast Arizona, where he would spend three of his 71 years living among the Hopi and Navajo, learning their languages (among the seven he spoke) and photographing and painting an ethnological record. Returning to California in 1907, Mora married and moved to Mountain View in Northern…

OUTLAWS POP UP in all shapes and forms, and with all kinds of intent. Traditional, literal outlaws terrorized the settlers and law-abiding folks of the Wild West. Others among them broke laws and did what they had to do to survive or seek justice, even if society frowned upon their methods. In later decades, less deadly outlaws built their names on stages and in arenas outside beaten paths — singing or riding for crowds who saw in them something different, something dangerous. Admirers emerged from those very crowds, inspired enough to step outside the boxes in their own lives and take the torches. The more theatrical outlaws of the West channeled a kind of evil that exists in the heart of every man (if he digs deep enough) and laid…

It was 20 minutes before showtime in Jackson, Mississippi, circa 1976, and Johnny Cash looked frightened. His eyes darted about nervously, and the apple he was paring almost dropped from his hands. He needed to take a quick swig from the Styrofoam cup of coffee—at least, it appeared to be coffee—on his dressing-room table. What had upset him so much? A personal tragedy? A sudden ailment? Stage fright? No, it was none of those things. I’d simply asked Cash about why he’d chosen to give his debut film performance in a tawdry yet suspenseful 1961 B-movie titled Door to Door Maniac. “Lord, I don’t have any idea,” Cash responded in a tone that could only be described as mournful. “I thought everybody had forgotten about that. Please don’t hold that…

STORIES ABOUT THE WILD WEST, like those passed down by the ancient Greeks, often focus on heroes. We are warmed by the tales of the men — and some women—in white hats. Thankfully, for those of us who make a living writing such stories featuring Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill Cody, Heck Thomas, Charlie Siringo, and others, there is an endless fascination with their legendary exploits. But let us give credit to the outlaws. We might not want to have encountered them in real life, but today, safely in our stories, they add spice and excitement and danger. In Greek mythology, Odysseus was a great hero, but his adventures would not be as thrilling without that tussle with Cyclops. In the books that I have researched…

When Kris Kristofferson left this world last year, we mourned the loss with his recordings as our soundtrack. We let our minds wander into a kind of extended nostalgia space. We imagined ourselves riding horseback in a Western valley, looking to the sky and seeing spiritlike faces of The Highwaymen singing their namesake tune. There’s Kris! There’s Johnny Cash! Waylon! And Willie’s singing! “I was a highwayman …” Rest assured, this wasn’t one of those strange trips folks are known to take in the desert. This was us transporting to a cherished old music video, remembering how it felt to obsess over, admire, and aspire to be like the “outlaws” it portrayed. As you'll see throughout this issue, outlaws can be a force for good in the right context. While…

SMOKE SHOW Even though Steve Courter had to wait for his children to grow up and move out of his Austin, Texas, home to get a mancave of his very own, all that time turned out to be a plus. After all, he had years to figure out exactly what it should look like. Once the coast was clear, he called dibs on a catchall storage space, and then he called Lyndsey Gauthier of CG&S Design Build to help make his vision a reality. “From the beginning, Steve knew the aesthetic he wanted. He described it as a Mad Men-style work-and-lounge space,” says the designer. With that in mind, Gauthier set about creating a spot where Don Draper would feel right at home mixing up an Old Fashioned. She took…

In Oaxaca we sampled all of the chocolate drinks that we could find, and enjoyed most of them (the pozontle had large chunks of hominy in it, which we did not particularly enjoy), but there is a reason that most chocolate these days is eaten: The fat of cocoa butter and cream draws out the flavor of cacao so beautifully, and balancing its bitterness with sugar makes it a nearly irresistible dessert, particularly here, where the chocolate is imbued with hints of its past in the form of spicy cinnamon and earthy chiles. And here’s where I remove any hesitance you might have to make this dessert: It will seriously only take you 10 minutes. Chocolate mousse is one of my favorite desserts to make in the bus in part…

Most moviegoers know Eugene Brave Rock for his standout role as a demigod in 2017’s Wonder Woman, where he starred alongside Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Robin Wright. In the blockbuster film, the First Nations actor speaks Blackfoot in an early instance of authentic Indigenous representation within contemporary pop culture. Brave Rock knew that was a rarity at the time, but he didn’t fully comprehend the meaningful impact it would have on audiences—especially his own people. “My love of language and culture was instilled in me by my grandmother, so having the opportunity to share our language on Wonder Woman was huge,” says the 46-year-old actor, who grew up on the Kainai Nation reserve in Alberta, Canada. “I didn’t realize just how powerful it was until I went home and…

Allan Houser and Harry Jackson are the two most important Western sculptors since Frederic Remington — and at first glance, they seem anything but similar. Houser was the first freeborn Chiricahua Apache from a tribe held by the federal government as prisoners of war for 27 years; his father was Geronimo’s grandnephew. Born in Chicago, he grew up wandering the city’s streets and stockyards, then ran away to become a teenage ranch hand in Wyoming before joining the U.S. Marines. But despite coming from very different walks of life, both men were boundary-breaking sculptors who raised the bar and helped shape the evolution of Western art. You can explore their complementary creative odysseys at the exhibition Parallel Paths: The Art of Allan Houser & Harry Jackson at the Booth Western…

CHARLEY CROCKETT The Texan descendant of Davy Crockett grew up in a trailer park, hopped freight trains, and even worked on a weed farm before his musical dream finally began to take hold. The “Welcome To Hard Times” crooner has gone on to drop acclaimed studio albums sell out shows worldwide, most recently landing a nomination for Best Bluegrass Album at the 67th Grammys for the LP $10 Cowboy. JASON ISBELL Jason Isbell first made a name for himself with the iconic Southern rock band The Drive-By Truckers before charting his own path with backing band The 400 Unit. The “Cover Me Up” singer has gone on to earn six Grammys in addition to becoming a crossover star with appearances on the animated television show Squidbillies and the Martin Scorsese…

The protagonist in the search for and arrest of the newly christened Butch Cassidy was a rancher named John Chapman. Originally from Illinois, he had spent time in Oregon; then in 1878 he established a ranch of at least 1,300 acres in northwest Wyoming. His operation was very successful, which included breeding especially sturdy stallions. Owning an abundance of good stock of horses and cattle, Chapman, inevitably, was the target of rustlers. To keep being successful, he was at the forefront of ranchers’ efforts to deter such thieving. From time to time, Chapman had encountered Butch Cassidy. The rancher liked the young man who seemed more engaging and literate than the average cowpuncher. But as more of his stock disappeared and the more questions Chapman asked, the more Butch was…

“You can rest assured that a horse thief always gets a fair trial before he’s hung.” —Judge Roy Bean (Walter Brennan), The Westerner THE PRACTICE OF EXECUTION by hanging is one of the more notorious aspects of Old West history. During the years when frontier expansion outpaced a reputable criminal justice system, the fate of an accused criminal was often decided at the end of a rope — with or without a trial. Sometimes even a sheriff wasn’t necessary. There were certainly more “unofficial” hangings in the Old West than those of the legal variety according to Robert J. Tórrez, who served as New Mexico’s official state historian from 1987 to 2000. While researching his 2008 book, Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime & Punishment in Territorial New Mexico, Tórrez became…

I bent at the knees, wrapped my hands under her belly, and lifted. Carrying this calf that was roughly 10 minutes old was like carrying a slimy, slippery, leathery bag of Jell-O. I put her in a wheelbarrow emblazoned with “calf taxi” on the side and started walking. I wheeled her out of the “back lot,” as students and staff at College of the Ozarks’ W. Alton Jones Dairy call the area where they keep pregnant cows; through the mat barn, short for maternity barn, where newborn calves live before joining the herd; and into another building, where I picked her up out of the calf taxi and plopped her indelicately onto a grain scale. This bouncing baby girl weighed 79.5 pounds. The sun was starting to set as I…