Loops and Swift Horses are Surer Than Lead, by Charles Marion Russell (1916)

 

Hello There!

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words! I am a Western Writers of America Finalist for Best Western Juvenile Fiction for my book, Tom Mix and The Wild West Christmas. This is, simply, the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me, and I am thrilled beyond words. Thanks to everyone at Western Fictioneers who sent best wishes.

This month, I wanted to look at a painting by cowboy artist Charles Marion Russell. 

We can start with the obvious: the title of this work, Loops and Swift Horses are Surer Than Lead.  In my study of Western Art over the years, I have had occasion to look at several pictures that include bears in an attitude of menace. In fact, after Native Americans, bandits and over-zealous lawmen, perhaps the bear is the most frequently represented foeman in Western Art.

However, most any of Charlie’s contemporaries would take the obvious route, and paint a picture of Western figures shooting and killing the bear.  (Or, reaching for their rifles to do so, or putting them down after they have done so.)  Not Charlie. His cowboy heroes, though obviously well-armed, rope and scare the bear away to safer climes. Always more Roy Rogers than Clint Eastwood, Charlie didn’t see the West as a vast panorama of hardship and cruelty, but, rather, a boyish paradise of freedom and fun.

This is where Charlie differs most significantly from the artist frequently associated with him, Frederic Remington (1861-1909). For Remington, the West was unending hardship, merciless desert and physical exertion, a battle for survival to be won or lost. It is Remington, of course, who created in his work the now-familiar Western trope of the bleached steer skull that can still be seen in countless depictions of the West. Make a wrong move, Remington implied, and you’ll end up the same.

If this picture is any indication, perhaps Charlie’s vision was the truer one.  Loops and Swift Horses now hangs in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and is based on a true-life incident. This painting came about by way of his friends, the Coburn brothers of the famous Circle C Ranch in eastern Montana, where they described the roping of a giant brown bear. Artistic license was taken when Charlie turned the bruin into a Grizzly, but the rest of the story was true right down to the landscape in the background: the scenic Coburn Buttes.

The dominant color of the picture is blue, but Charlie manages to mute or pop shades of it to represent everything from trees to sky to mountains, to foreground scrub. Yet, the color never becomes monotonous or gimmicky. 

Charlie was also the master of figures in motion.  His horses move. Many of our greatest artists have been able to depict horses of majesty, of size, of monumentality, but Charlie’s horses are seen in dramatic action, twisting or jumping with a febrile life of their own. I can think of no finer painter of American horses than Charlie Russell.

 

Finally, Charlie underscores the tumultuous action of the picture with a rainstorm in the middle-distant horizon. Like all Western landscape pictures, the view-horizon is vast, going on for miles. Thus the far-off rain storm underscores the ‘storm’ of action going on between cowboys, horses and bear. 

Speaking of movement, take a moment to look at the bear. It twists and pivots on unsteady ground … you can almost feel the weight of the animal as it is pulled and slides down the natural incline. The cowboys, too, move as if in motion, alternately pulling or swinging their lariats. And notice the cowboy on the right, looking over his right shoulder, with right leg raised as counter weight to keep in saddle.

This is a really good picture, and something mysteriously akin to the essence of Charlie – not only is his West a world of action, freedom and camaraderie, but it can be a fairly bloodless one, too. Charlie loved the animals he found out West (when visiting cities, he always went to the local zoo, where he said he felt most at home), and it’s not surprising that he would depict his heroes scaring away the threat of a grizzly, rather than killing it. 

Perhaps we should all take a page from Russell’s notebook, and produce work that preserves the best parts of ourselves (or, at least, the myth of the best part of ourselves). The more I look at Charlie’s work, the more convinced I become that we need more artists like him now.

COVERED WAGONS: THE FIRST TINY HOMES? By Vonn McKee

One of Thomas Jefferson's boldest acts as president was the negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. He bought more than 800,000 square miles of land from France–sight unseen–for three cents an acre, doubling the size of the United States. The new lands stretched from the Mississippi River Valley to the Rocky Mountains. This initiated the great Westward Expansion of the 1800s. Between 1841 and 1869 alone, as many as half a million emmigrants braved the open prairies and rugged mountain ranges in search of a new start.

     The progress of a nation depends heavily on technology available at the time. As there were no roads, no steel rails, and little knowledge of navigable rivers, the hardy pioneers moved their possessions and loved ones west in freight and farm wagons, outfitted especially for the rigors of months-long travel. The covered wagon became a Westward Expansion icon, serving as a rolling storage room for food, water, tools, and furniture–as well as living quarters, birthing chambers, storm shelters, and sometimes the only available fortification in case of Indian attacks.

    

There were many kinds of covered wagons in use. It is a common misconception that all pioneers traveled in Conestoga wagons. That particular vehicle originated in Pennsylvania and was used more for moving heavy freight (up to 12,000 pounds of cargo). In fact, the sheer weight of the Conestoga made it unsuitable for travel across prairies, restricting its use mainly to the eastern states. That's not to say that no wagon train included Conestogas–only that they were not the preferred mode of transport. Its design was specialized, with a swooped, overhanging canvas top and a bed that was slanted up fore and aft to keep loads centered. 

oregontrailcenter.org

A lighter version of the covered wagon came to be known as the Prairie Schooner, since it resembled a ship with canvas sails crossing the prairie. These vehicles became the minivans of the West, if you will, or perhaps the first tiny homes. They were pulled by mules or oxen, the latter being favored for their strength, endurance, and lesser feed requirements. Most family members walked alongside. The wagon bed was crowded with supplies and usually reserved for small children, pregnant women, and the elder members of the party.

     Several covered wagon manufacturers sprang up in St. Louis, Missouri, the "Gateway to the West." The most popular was the Joseph Murphy wagon. There were many other makers including Luedinghaus, Linstroth, Gesting, Espenschied, and Studebaker (yes, the automobile manufacturer).

Interior of a covered wagon. Many dear possessions would be left along the trail.

     At an average speed of two miles per hour, and covering maybe fifteen miles on a typical day, the journey west often stretched from one season to the next. Even with inherent difficulties (river crossings, broken wheels, etc.), the covered wagon provided reliable transportation and a humble temporary home to the thousands of pioneer families who settled the American West.

All the best,

Vonn McKee

“Writing the Range”
2015 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award Finalist (Short Fiction)
2015 WWA Spur Award Finalist (Short Fiction)

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Now available on Amazon:

GRAVE HUMOR: AMUSING LAST WORDS IN THE WEST by Vonn McKee

 

While dying is not funny business, there’s no denying that some people utter some downright entertaining epigrams during their final moments on earth. Of course, there are plenty of unforgettably noble last words, but I submit that once Sam Houston summoned his remaining iron will to speak the words, “Texas––Texas! ––Margaret!” that nobody else could possibly top that. Why even try?

But those funny guys … especially the funny doomed guys, even if they didn’t mean to be amusing … they deserve special recognition, I believe, for using their last breaths to leave the crowd smiling, or at least wanting to smile. 

THIS IS FUNNY...

Some were famous, like Doc Holliday, who ended his life of gunfighting and wisecracking in a sick bed. With a glance down at his bootless feet, he declared, “This is funny.” You see, he always figured to die with his boots on, pistols blazing.

Some of the most interesting dying words were spoken by people who would have otherwise faded into Old West obscurity. Their memorable farewells are about all we know about them.

GALLOWS HUMOR

Sheriff Henry Plummer of Bannack, Montana, was hanged by vigilantes who suspected him of illegal activities. The sheriff held onto his bravado to the end and dryly remarked, “Give me a high drop, men.”

The Hanging Judge, Isaac C. Parker of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, dispensed of six murderers in a day. One of them, Sam Fooy, would have thumbed his nose at the judge and onlookers had his hands not been tied. He left them with, “I am as anxious to get out of this world as you are to see me go.”

John Owens murdered a man over five dollars in Buffalo, Wyoming, and couldn’t wait to get on with the show. “What time is it?” he said. “I wish you’d hurry up. I want to get to hell in time for dinner.”

A Nebraska farmer, Lee Shellenberger, was charged with killing his eleven-year-old daughter. Before the trial date, a lynch mob dragged him from the jail. Shellenberger was most indignant and delivered a threat just before the rope tightened. “If there is such a thing as haunts, I will do it, for I recognize several of you.”

We don’t know the name of the wise guy who was hanged at Yuma Penitentiary in 1887, but his punch line lives on. When asked why he was smiling, he replied, “Well, I was just thinking. You guys have got to walk back up there in the heat. I don’t.”

PARTING SHOT 

An outlaw named Bill Gallagher confronted tough rancher John Slaughter near Ft. Sumner, New Mexico, and decided to charge him on horseback. Slaughter coolly shot the man down. As Gallagher lay dying, he closed with a little self-analysis. “I needed killing twenty years ago, anyway.”

SHARP WIT

The Texas Panhandle produced plenty of tough characters. Sostenes L’Archeveque was one of them. Even his friends grew tired of his violent, troublemaking ways. They invited him over for a meal, then proceeded to ambush him. After being shot and stabbed, L’Archeveque still had plenty of fight left in him. He spat at his attackers, “You pull that knife out of my back and I’ll kill every one of you!”

➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼  ➼

HEY, Y'ALL...WATCH THIS! 

Having been educated at a white man’s school, a Kickapoo woman named Oo-Lath-La-Hi-Na tried to avert an attack by soldiers who apparently didn’t realize her tribe as friendly.

“I will go out and talk with the white Captain. He thinks we are Comanches. The white men won’t shoot a woman.”

A caravan of wagons stopped for the night near Battle Mountain, Nevada, in August of 1857. One of the pioneers, Smith Holloway, declined to join the circle of wagons and camped away from the group, despite warnings of potential Indian attacks. After an uneventful night, Holloway arose and announced his last words, "Wake up, everyone. No redskins in sight!"

Four robbers were holed up in a cabin near Kokomo, Colorado when Deputy/Detective M. E. Conrad crashed through the door. Seeing no guns elsewhere in the cabin, Conrad grilled the men, forcing them to walk over to their beds, throw back the covers, and prove they weren’t bad guys. “Boys, we must see what you have got under those blankets,” he said, just before he learned the truth.

For more fascinating accounts of Western characters and their send-offs, I recommend Garry Radison’s book, LAST WORDS: DYING IN THE OLD WEST. And watch your words, my friends. They could well outlive you.

All the best,

Vonn

VONN McKEE
“Writing the Range”
2015 WWA Spur Finalist (Short Fiction)
2015 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Finalist (Short Fiction)



www.vonnmckee.com
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ANCIENT VOICES AT SCOTTS BLUFF By Vonn McKee

"MITCHELL PASS" by William Henry Jackson

At the end of a recent trip to Wyoming, I decided to ramble over to western Nebraska and investigate Scotts Bluff National Monument. I have a couple of short works in progress set in the area and needed to see and smell it for authenticity’s sake.

     Scotts Bluff, named for a fur trader who died at its base, is actually a chain of sandstone/limestone rock formations covering 3,000 acres and towering 800 feet above the North Platte River. It’s a spot rich in history. From 1860 to 1861, Pony Express riders thundered by every ten days or so. 

     Between 1841 and 1869, some 350,000 people traveling the Oregon Trail squeezed through Mitchell Pass–with only sixty feet of clearance– in the shadow of majestic Eagle Rock, the southernmost peak of the bluffs. Westbound pioneers would have seen the pale hulk of Scotts Bluff for days before they reached it. It was an important landmark; it meant that they were a third of the way to Oregon and the prairie was about to give way to mountain ranges.

     It’s interesting to note that Mormon emigrants traveled and camped on the opposite, northern bank of the Platte, to avoid unpleasant encounters with those who opposed them. For that reason, the Mormon Pioneer Trail parallels the Oregon Trail for much of its length.

'THE HILL THAT IS HARD TO GO AROUND"

     Of course, the Native American tribes in the area had known about Scotts Bluff for a long time, although they may have had mixed feelings about its significance. Their name for it was “Me-a-pa-te,” or “hill that is hard to go around!”

     Scotts Bluff has been managed by the National Parks Service since 1919. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed an access road during the 1930s. The drive to the top of the bluffs is dramatic, beginning with a lazy arc across the plains, then rising steeply through outcroppings and passing through three tunnels carved in the sandstone cliffs. (I recommend that you postpone enjoying the breathtaking view of the plains until after you’ve negotiated the switchbacks and are safely parked at the top!)

     Hiking trails allow visitors a closer look at geological features and vegetation. Numerous overlooks afford sweeping views of the plains and another rocky area known as the Badlands, lesser to those located in South Dakota. The Oregon Trail Museum and Visitor Center, located at the park entrance, provides a wealth of historical and scientific resources, along with some gorgeous oil paintings by noted Western artist William Henry Jackson.

     While it’s always fascinating to walk in the footsteps of our pioneer forefathers, sometimes the line between present and past feels mysteriously blurred. As I hiked up the rocky trail to the overlook, I stopped to take pictures of a determined little pine tree that had contorted itself into existence in the rocky ground. As its branches swayed in the wind, I heard what sounded like a faraway song…but only for a few seconds. As the breeze ebbed, I heard it again and, this time, it sounded like a chant––a Native American chant.

     I was sure I’d become weak-minded from altitude sickness, but just as I gave up on hearing the chants, they drifted by once more. I crawled up on a flat boulder and looked eastward down into the valley. I saw a grouping of buildings next to a large grassy park, roughly the shape of a baseball field. It was packed with people…and, even at that distance, I could see that most of them gathered in a circle. The chants drifted up again. A pow wow!

     Later, I drove past the Legacy of the Plains Museum and confirmed that my first visit to the summit of Scotts Bluff had coincided with the closing ceremonies of the Lakota tribe’s Circle the Bluffs Pow Wow, or wacipi, as the natives call it. How lucky can a writer girl be?

     Of course, I left with an overflowing well of inspiration. While I do all my writing from a converted bedroom office in the southeastern United States (at least, for now), I try to make the most of trips out west. Stories emanate from the land and the people of a place. I take hundreds of pictures, talk to locals, and drive down backroads. I have learned the hard way how to identify roads on the map that peter out into gravel. I’ve been known to sneak pine cones and bags of rocks into my carry-on bags. You do what you have do to make the West come alive in your writing!

MODEL OF AN OXEN-POWERED PRAIRIE SCHOONER (EAGLE ROCK)

 Learn more about Scotts Bluff National Monument at www.nps.gov/scbl.

                                                           

                                                           All the best,

                                                           Vonn

Vonn McKee
“Writing the Range”

FIND VONN ON FACEBOOK

2015 WWA Spur Finalist (Short Fiction)
2015 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Finalist (Short Fiction)

ONE WRITER'S TOILS - Meg Mims

FIRST, an apology.

I have a reminder on my calendar to prepare a blog post every month for Western Fictioneers. And this month, I procrastinated. Yes. Page proofs for my historical mystery thunked on my desk, along with a ton of other pending matters. No excuses. I should have prepped this post, with an appropriate western theme, long ago. But such is the life of the writer. I'll do the next best thing - chat about all the blood, sweat, and tears that go into a writing life. You have to be desperate to want that.

SECOND, I was desperate to succeed.

Oh yes. Back in the early 1990s, with my 3-year-old daughter at my feet happily playing, I tapped the keys of a manual typewriter with hopes that one day... You can guess the rest. Like a cat pawing under the door, trying to find that elusive toy... Five stacks of manuscripts later (most with dead bodies, which puzzled the romance editors) and many years followed. I worked part-time as a substitute teacher and tutor, enhanced my brilliant daughter's education (schools were good, but she needed more than what they offered), assisted my husband caring for his elderly mother, published in the children's market (very little money in magazines, trust me), and even set aside my writing throughout my daughter's high school years to help (and lead) the Band Boosters. Once she hit college running, I needed time to recharge my batteries. Oh, and do housework. Housework is always last on my list. As it should be. It will wait for you.

THIRD, I finally took my dream seriously.

No longer would my writing be a hobby. I wanted a real career. I wanted that publishing contract and even an agent. But first, I had to figure out why -- while friends had published (romances) -- why, oh, why the editors praised my writing but pulled the carrot away. So I decided to get an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. My husband supported my decision. Doing the week-long term residencies and the hard, hard, hard work of writing at home between, I identified my strengths and weaknesses. I even found my voice (lo and behold, it wasn't romance!), shored up the weakness in my writing and infused more of my strengths into my work. I graduated, celebrated, and snagged an on-line writing job to help pay bills -- but that's not why I earned the MA. I set aside my "thesis manuscript" (flawed, despite two years of hard work), and revised the manuscript I'd written before I started the MA (just to prove to I could finish one again, after a four-year hiatus, although it was more romance than western).

That book became DOUBLE CROSSING. Nobody wanted it. Not even after winning awards and finalist berths in unpublished writing contests. That's when I realized I had to PUSH HARDER. What would it take to get a foot in the door? I accompanied my daughter to Vienna (in spring!) to recharge my batteries, think, and pray. We had a lovely time. Writing was furthest from my mind. Sometimes you just need to get away, relax, sightsee and eat Sachertorte.

When I returned, I accepted an offer from a small press -- no advance, but it was grand seeing my name in print at last. And I am SO GRATEFUL to the Western Writers of America for choosing Double Crossing as the Best First Novel of 2012. I'd submitted it to many contests, but that win helped me realize this was for real. My dream HAD come true. But the hard work wasn't over. Staying at a small press wasn't the end of the line for me, despite a supportive writing community of friends. My college friend and long time critique partner Sharon Pisacreta helped me write the sequel to Double Crossing, DOUBLE OR NOTHING, which won the Laramie for Best Mystery - Western. It helps, when you're stuck in the middle of a book, to kill off a character -- her words, exactly.

But while driving to her house for that helpful session, I had the brilliant idea (all thanks to God, of course, for pinging my brain) of pairing up Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins as amateur sleuths. Since Shaw's Pygmalion is in the public domain, that gave us license to "take over" the characters while keeping his original intent in mind, plus his witty humor. Together we wrote the first draft and came up with a pseudonym, D.E. Ireland. We also snagged an enthusiastic agent three hours after sending a query. And John Talbot landed a publishing contract within three weeks from Minotaur Books. We were thrilled.

No, our book is not a western. But it is historical, and it is a series. I haven't left the western genre, since I have ideas for future dabbling. But for now, my mind is far, far to the east, in jolly 1913 England. And our first book, WOULDN'T IT BE DEADLY, has been nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Historical of 2014! Wow. We are in grand company! Long established mystery authors Charles Todd, Rhys Bowen and Victoria Thompson are in that same category, with the decision to come at Malice Domestic the first weekend in May. We are SO HONORED.

And we are working on page proofs now for the second book, MOVE YOUR BLOOMING CORPSE, which is coming September 22nd, including Royal Ascot and the suffrage movement. We had so much fun writing it, and are enjoying these characters immensely. So while I may not be around much in the western field, I am still posting here... and plotting for the future.

Happy to place my nose back onto the grindstone... 

Award-winning mystery author Meg Mims -- also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland for St. Martin's Minotaur mystery series featuring Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins -- lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband and a sweet Malti-poo. She loves writing novels, novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. She earned a Spur Award, a Laramie Award and an M.A. from Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program. Follow on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest!

Remembering John Duncklee

by Troy D. Smith

I was heartbroken to learn Saturday night of the passing of my dear friend John Duncklee. For the past year I've been working closely with Dunck, editing his story collections. During that time we talked on the phone regularly, sometimes for hours, and damn how I looked forward to those conversations. Dunck has done it all: author and poet, geographer, professor, working cowboy, sailor. And boy did he have stories to tell. He would make me laugh so hard my wife could hear me downstairs. He was fearless, too, and lived life on his own terms. We joked about a possible title for a memoir: "And the Horse You Rode In On"... say that with a smile and follow it up with a booming laugh, yet leave your audience confident that yes, you not only said it but you actually mean it, and you would have the essence of John Duncklee. Or as one of his friends said, "Heaven won't know what hit it."

I had the privilege of editing and publishing John's twin short story collections Tales from Corral Fences and Tales from Clouds and Sea. I am damn proud to be associated with them; taken together, they are a masterful work. What made them come alive for me was the fact that, here and there among the stories, the narrator was being visited by the ghosts of his past, the spirits of people (often cowboys) he had known. I'm including an excerpt from one, "Silent Mike," so you'll see what I mean, and get a taste of John's voice (he won a Spur Award for his poetry, by the way.)

I look around at the soft swishing noise and Silent Mike had disappeared. Back in those bygone days, he would have bellowed, “Adios!”

As I looked around at that once beautiful desert grassland I thought about the sadness I had felt when I learned about the conditions under which Mike had died. It was a genuine sadness because I not only remembered the great times I had shared with the man, I also admired his bravery while rescuing the boy from the blizzard hidden mountain. After our chat, and I realized that all the rough times of his life that he had been particularly responsible for had vanished from his spirit being. Gone were the periods of anguish, the years of searching for wealth in dollars when he had already acquired a wealth of experiences. Given the chance, everyone has things they would just as soon forget. Passing to the spirit world may be solace after all. I knew that my sadness about Mike’s demise had vanished from my mind just as he had vanished, to go to wherever he wished.

I learned so much from my friendship with John. And he always had words of encouragement when things got tough. I'd give anything to know I was going to get another one of those calls. And I hope if I can make it in this rough old world another forty years, I will be as fearlessly, poetically, unapologetically real as my friend John.

And to that old grim reaper I say: And the horse you rode in on.

21st CENTURY WESTERN MOVIE REVIEW -- Meg Mims

I'm wondering if the good old western film genre, the type we loved, with a die-hard American wild west hero like the Duke, or Shane, Jimmy Stewart, or even Clint Eastwood goes up against the villains and toughing it out, who triumphs and survives... you know that type. IS IT DEAD? Have western movies made a comeback?

Let's review the 21st century of western movies, starting with... um. Okay, I had to dig for the ones I'd missed. It seemed dead for a while there. Like, dust. I have to admit there were a lot of TV movies made and miniseries including the remake of Around the World in 80 Days with Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan, but I'm talking the big screen. Film - those big reels (now replaced by digital copies) spinning a stream overhead, and a dark theater with those cushy seats, sticky floors, with a bucket of buttered popcorn at your elbow.

1999's WILD, WILD WEST was actually "steampunk" western, when steampunk was first getting hot. Should we classify it as a traditional western? Eh. I thought it was rather fun and Kenneth Branagh sure made a great villain. I suppose it's up for debate. 2000's THE CLAIM had mixed reviews, and SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL was considered hellish. But let's not forget Jackie Chan, who did a hilarious romp through the old west in 2000's SHANGHAI NOON with Owen Wilson -- who reprised their roles for 2005's SHANGHAI KNIGHTS. It's not the Duke, it's not Paul Newman and Robert Redford, or even Clint Eastwood, but when you peel away the martial arts and acrobatics, the Chinese backstory of Chan's character, the goofiness of Wilson and his fake twang, it's still good guy vs. bad guys and a genuine fun time in the old west -- or in London.

And then the tumbleweed started rolling... although western movie fans had to wait a few years before a slew of western movies started hitting the big screen again. AMERICAN OUTLAWS debuted in 2001, with Colin Farrell and Scott Caan, a remake of the Jesse and Frank James story. TEXAS RANGERS stomped all over Texas history, from what the reviews state. The animated film SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON came out quietly in 2002. Next wwas 2003's OPEN RANGE -- a Kevin Costner film where he wisely included Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. Who wouldn't love a film about the old days of grazing cattle across the open prairie versus the fencers, plus a villain who owns the sheriff and town... it's also on my TBW (to be watched) list. THE MISSING also came out, with Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett, but I missed it. Glad I missed GANG OF ROSES, though, pretty trashed. And any sequels of that.

In 2004, RENEGADE came out, along with THE ALAMO, another miss (dang!) with Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton and Jason Patric -- a remake of the John Wayne-Richard Widmark classic made back in 1960 -- along with  HOME ON THE RANGE, a cute and fun animated film from what I heard. All three are also on my list. But not the western horror DEAD BIRDS, though.

Who doesn't remember the success of HIDALGO? It also won a Spur Award for Best Drama Script in 2005. I loved it. The movie may have played off hero Viggo Mortenson's Lord of the Rings' popularity, but he sure can ride a horse and seemed convincing (for a Dane) as Frank Hopkins. The movie is based on a "legend" of a horse race in 1891, in Arabia, pitting an American mustang against pure-blood Arabian horses. Whatever the legend, or half-truths about Frank and the Ghost Dance, it sure made for great storytelling. And Omar Sharif also helped. Such a great actor. Also out that year, the sequel with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones for THE LEGEND OF ZORRO -- which was nearly as good as The Mask of Zorro back in 1998 with these two. I liked them both. PURGATORY (which won a 2000 Spur Award for Drama Script) had an interesting premise, with a town in the old west where dead legends got a chance at redemption (or failure) before going to their reward (or punishment). I am putting it on the TBW list. Not so BROTHERS IN ARMS, panned worse than 2003's Gang of Roses.

BROKEN TRAIL came next, in 2006, which was marvelous with Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church. Another Spur Award winner -- for Best Western Drama Script (Fiction), in 2007 -- and while it aired as a miniseries on television, I couldn't help including it here. It wove two historical events together, the slave trade of Chinese women taken upon arrival in San Francisco to serve as prostitutes in the American west, plus the herding of horses to sell to the British Army at the end of the 19th century. I enjoyed the complex story, the characters, the villains and the bittersweet ending. So great. So much better than the inaccurate, dark and getting progressively darker Hell on Wheels' TV series.

I'm not even going there with The Quick and the Undead. Nope.

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD -- a mouthful, indeed, for a film title, won the 2007 Spur Award for Best Western Drama Script (Fiction) and starred Brad Pitt. That should have made it a mega-hit, except I'd never heard of it. Reviewers certainly loved it. Probably worth a look, since the classic 1939 film with Henry Ford as Frank James and Tyrone Power as Jesse is stuck in my head. I'll have to add it to the list.

Another 2007 film, SERAPHIM FALLS, pitted Pierce Brosnan against Liam Neeson in a revenge-fueled post-Civil War story. I suppose you could say it was sort of a remake of Clint's The Outlaw Josey Wales, but not as good. I still enjoyed the movie. Two solid actors, even if it seemed an endless pursuit with a 'how can they survive so much with all that violence' type of reaction. And hey, Wes Studi was in the film too! Can't go wrong there.

BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE also came out the same year, with Aidan Quinn and Anna Paquin, which according to some reviews, is rather an inaccurate account of historical events. Missed this one, along with SEPTEMBER DAWN which dealt with a Mormon massacre.

3:10 TO YUMA brought Russell Crowe and Christian Bale together (or should I say pitted them against each other), in a suspenseful western that may or may not have lived up to the classic with Glenn Ford. I personally prefer Crowe in this movie, who seems more believable as an outlaw. Glenn Ford was too nice! The story is solid, the details authentic, and the gunplay perhaps a bit much but hey, western film lovers have been literally dying to see more films such as this.

And then in 2008, THERE WILL BE BLOOD was set in turn-of-the-century California, with Daniel Day Lewis who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in his role of Daniel Plainview, silver miner turned oil tycoon. It's a pretty dark movie, from what I hear, so I may bypass it. But hey, California *is* in the west after all, and has tons of great history. And another missed film was GONE TO TEXAS with Sam Elliott. Dang. Chalk another one on the list.

Next, actor Ed Harris (also the director, producer, co-author of the script) and Viggo Mortenson starred in the 2009 film APPALOOSA. Friends and mercenary peacekeepers, they were pitted against a villainous Jeremy Irons -- based on Robert B. Parker's bestselling novel. Pardon me if I'm totally out of the loop about Parker's books -- he has a string of best-selling western books. I admit I only saw it because I love Viggo -- although I didn't care for his goatee in the film -- but my feelings were mixed. It seemed a bit convoluted in terms of story, and didn't have much of a point in my opinion. Except -- if your friend kills so you can have a future with the one you love, will she resent you forever? I don't know. The details were spot-on for a western, however. A horror-western also came out that year, THE BURROWERS, a miss in my book, but hey, it was set on the Dakota prairie. THE LAST RITES OF RANSOM PRIDE was seriously panned.

Have you noticed the number of movies coming out each year? YEEHAW!

In 2010, the Coen brothers remade TRUE GRIT in a far more faithful adaptation of the Charles Portis' book. It won the Spur Award for Best Western Drama in 2012. But people complained that Jeff Bridges wasn't good enough to fill Duke's boots. I thought he did a fine job, and I much prefer Hailee Steinfield's portrayal of Mattie than Kim Darby. (Sorry, Kim, you were too old and you should have worn a long-haired wig in a loose topknot, at the very least). Even Matt Damon improved on Glen Campbell's LaBoef. I enjoyed seeing the Duke and Kate Hepburn in the (fictional) sequel, Rooster Cogburn, which came out after the original True Grit film. I have my doubts the Coens will bother. Too bad.

THE WARRIOR'S WAY also came out, along with MEEK'S CUTOFF and JONAH HEX. No idea if they're good/bad.

2011's RANGO was so fun -- and I don't care if animated films aren't seen as traditional westerns. I truly LOVED this movie. What a cool premise -- a green (and greenhorn) chameleon is stranded out west, meets some interesting characters and is seen as an unlikely hero. Loved Roadkill, Iguana Beans and other "townspeople" animals in Dirt -- plus the Spirit of the West... fabulous story, wonderful characters, a good solid and heart-of-gold ending. It may not be easy being green in Rango, but in my opinion Johnny Depp ought to have kept this as his "western tour-de-force" instead of tackling Tonto of the Black-Crow-head.

Another movie that came out that year, BLACKTHORN, begins with an intriguing premise. What if Butch Cassidy didn't die in Bolivia, and is tired of living as an ex-Pat and wants to see his old friends back home? From what I hear, Sam Shepard gives a solid performance. I'm putting it on my TBW list -- although some reviewers say it's nowhere near the Paul Newman-Robert Redford Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid romp of the 70s. Still, might be interesting to see. Yup, the list. Not so for THE LEGEND OF HELL'S GATE, despite being based on Texas history, or YELLOW ROCK.

And another -- COWBOYS AND ALIENS -- was a fun romp (at first) in the old west with a visit from an alien race, but took itself a bit too serious in the middle and end. I loved the beginning. Who can fault Daniel Craig for getting amnesia and wakes up with some weird-looking gadget on his arm, that will end up saving the old west town and its residents? And Harrison Ford as a bad guy who is redeemed -- another great plot point, but the mystical part ruined the fun in my opinion. Still, it was good to see the attempt. They tried to make it like Independence Day. Sort of...

I missed all of these 2012 films: DJANGO UNCHAINED which won director/writer Quentin Tarantino an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, plus a Golden Globe and a Spur Award for Best Western Drama Script (Fiction). Sam Elliott's I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER, which is supposedly a far more accurate depiction of the Nez Perce tribe's flight to Canada. Both AMBUSH AT DARK CANYON and DAWN RIDER were not well received. Surprisingly, the "are-you-serious?" hit ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER might not have been set in the west, but come on! Honest Abe, hunting fang-studded vamps! That is definitely on my TBW list.

2013 brought in THE GALLOW-WALKERS (another zombie fest, oh no!), A NIGHT IN OLD MEXICO, also with Robert Duvall, SWEETWATER with Ed Harris and January Jones, and the butchery (or scream-fest, depending on your point-of-view) of THE LONE RANGER. Need we say more? Did it put the kibosh (or a slash from El Kabong, for Quick Draw McGraw fans) on future western films? Did it signal the coming wave of comical westerns reflecting the tongue-in-cheek Blazing Saddles?

I rather doubt it, not with this year's coming films THE REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS, THE HOMESMAN, THE SALVATION, DOC HOLLIDAY'S REVENGE, FORSAKEN, HOT BATH AND A STIFF DRINK, plus 2015's JANE GOT A GUN and BONE TOMAHAWK plus others. Wow! Keep 'em coming, that's what we say. Don't forget this month's A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST -- it might not be as funny as The Lone Ranger. Then again, it might be better! Hey, Liam Neeson's in it. You might be able to see the whole movie by clicking here.

One thing is for sure. Western films for the big screen ain't exactly dead and buried. Yet.

Award-winning mystery author Meg Mims -- also one-half of the writing team of D.E. Ireland -- lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband, a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog and a sweet Lhasa Apso-mix rescue dog -- the "hero" of Santa Paws. She loves writing novels, short novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. She earned a Spur Award, a Laramie Award and an M.A. from Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program.

ON THIS DAY - CARRIE NATION by Meg Mims

On December 27^th, 1900, a dour-faced woman stood before the saloon doors in the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Intimidating at almost six feet tall and 185 pounds, Carrie Nation marched in with a hatchet and began smashing the place—the tables and chairs, the bottles and the mirror behind the bar, until the law arrived and arrested her.

Born Carrie Amelia Moore in November of 1846, to parents George and Mary Campbell Moore of Kentucky—slaveowners—she had little education due to the family’s financial troubles that brought about several moves until settling in Missouri. During the War of Rebellion, she nursed soldiers to health and then married a physician, Dr. Charles Gloyd, who had served with the Union Army. Her husband was also an alcoholic—not unusual, given the culture of the day when babies were given whiskey to quiet them, or worse. Carrie and Charles decided the marriage wasn’t working before they had a daughter, Charlien, on September 27, 1868. Carrie had no need for a divorce, since her husband died the following year.

Carrie married for the second time in 1874. David Nation was an attorney, newspaperman and a minister and almost twenty years older. Together they moved to a cotton plantation in Texas but failed to proper. David began to practice law, and in 1880 Carrie ran a hotel in Columbia owned by the Park family. She attended the Methodist Church and lived at the hotel with her daughter Charlien, her first mother-in-law and her husband’s daughter. David also owned a saddle shop near the hotel, but the family chose to move to Richmond, Texas, to run another hotel. Due to her husband’s involvement in a political feud, they moved to Kansas. David began preaching and Carrie took on another hotel to run. But Kansas also had enacted a ban on liquor—with plenty of trouble enforcing the law.

Although Carrie started a chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the group seemed to have little effect on the problem. So Carrie took a personal interest, first using rocks to smash bottles in saloons to protest the lack of enforcement, or singing hymns to patrons going in and out of places serving liquor. She often greeted saloon keepers as “destroyers of men’s souls,” or as “swill-faced, beak-nosed bed mates of Satan.” By 1899 Carrie felt God had called her to step up the work – taking her husband’s advice to use a hatchet for better effect.

Carrie divorced David in 1901, having never had children with him, and continued her campaign either accompanied by other WCTU members or alone. She was often arrested, and her fame grew through her “hatchetations.” She undertook lecture tours and sold small souvenir hatchets for another ten years until her death on June 9, 1911. The WCTU erected a stone to honor her near the unmarked grave in Missouri, with her name spelled as “Carry A. Nation” and “Faithful to the Cause of Prohibition, She Hath Done What She Could.”

Meg Mims is an award-winning author with two western mysteries under her Eastern belt. She lives in Michigan, where the hills are like driveway slopes and trees block any type of prairie winds. LIKE her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter or check out her books on her website. Double Crossing won the 2012 Spur Award for Best First Novel and Double or Nothing is the exciting sequel. Her story, "A Savior Is Born," is included in A Wolf Creek Christmas published by Western Fictioneers.