tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68369227463354198352024-03-12T17:13:25.662-06:00Picturing the West* The Reel West * The Real West * The Old West *S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-77225745687788324222024-01-14T11:00:00.001-07:002024-01-14T11:00:00.246-07:00Kinishba -- An Ancestral Pueblo Site<p>About an hour south of Show Low and five miles west of Fort Apache Historic Park in northern Arizona, an unpaved dirt road leads to Kinishba Ruins. It’s a small site that once was home to Ancestral Pueblo people.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsTnssd8F_sFM_mS5FaTTCGpdbumm0nO6yk6_EclLtez7U8WOuHLSr2rMY1rEXwz2ezI9xbGqkBJbe_4qE0H2dU-Fx24d0rtJf73z4k0ZnHVvxitDoL10qIQCi0QkVeGC3nzrUR1w0ilJSllikwhOSSbqRbluTn1B4j35u44V3uRlBDMBNeaB4s1tozNE/s3568/entrance-sign-to-kinishba-ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by author of entrance sign to Kinishba Ruins; sign looks like a fencepost; partial ruins are visible in the back and mountains are in the background" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="3568" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsTnssd8F_sFM_mS5FaTTCGpdbumm0nO6yk6_EclLtez7U8WOuHLSr2rMY1rEXwz2ezI9xbGqkBJbe_4qE0H2dU-Fx24d0rtJf73z4k0ZnHVvxitDoL10qIQCi0QkVeGC3nzrUR1w0ilJSllikwhOSSbqRbluTn1B4j35u44V3uRlBDMBNeaB4s1tozNE/w400-h339/entrance-sign-to-kinishba-ruins.jpg" title="Kinishba -- An Ancestral Pueblo Site" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to Kinishba Ruins<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The entrance fee to Fort Apache includes admittance to Kinishba. At the Nohwiké Bágowa Museum, you can buy a small guidebook about the site. I highly recommend purchasing it because there is no description at Kinishba of what you’re looking at. But there are numbered posts that correspond to explanations in the guidebook about the buildings and spaces at the Kinishba; without the guidebook, I wouldn’t have known what I was looking at.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqyIR_LnMTw7JjDlqTwwivXG7FE4OcPE1oCCdMOZOj9MenPTouJSV99__8ZFowwXvZ-yKo3FU2OkaAP6Ko3WsLcKLChkfLuu6BsqGO7qFDXt6BXIv1jmwDNQLwjdZBb6JHnbXQzb_lE2vRAJjkKeGyk0Gw3eJa-DyrwJSK4qbmO4zhEfJGxJIHm8AsFbg/s4032/kinishba-ruins-near%20entrance-to-site.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by author of one of the buildings at Kinishba; constructed of dry stone masonry, 2 walls on either side are only a few feet high but the wall perpendicular to them is room height and is supported by 3 logs propped against it and it has a window in the wall as well" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqyIR_LnMTw7JjDlqTwwivXG7FE4OcPE1oCCdMOZOj9MenPTouJSV99__8ZFowwXvZ-yKo3FU2OkaAP6Ko3WsLcKLChkfLuu6BsqGO7qFDXt6BXIv1jmwDNQLwjdZBb6JHnbXQzb_lE2vRAJjkKeGyk0Gw3eJa-DyrwJSK4qbmO4zhEfJGxJIHm8AsFbg/w400-h300/kinishba-ruins-near%20entrance-to-site.jpg" title="Kinishba -- An Ancestral Pueblo Site" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the buildings at Kinishba<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Occupied from sometime in the 9th century to a time period in the 15th century, the ruins consist of several buildings of dry stone construction. Some buildings still have walls but others just show foundations that are a few feet high. There are also a couple of plazas – small, squarish sections of land but it wasn’t obvious what those spaces were until I read about them in the guidebook.<br /> <br />At its height in the 14th century, as many as 800 people might have inhabited Kinishba. The ruins are situated on a windswept plain, high above a river that ran along the edge of the settlement. Kinishba was an agricultural village and evidence of pottery, jewelry, and artifacts have been found there.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESyWjWXW9KoTqGhnK6L3MC2u75LLF0Fqa7ae6A_e3-zEax4c6L47ME95P9eVi4ntejxANLt8L7AfsRBjrJA50jRhDlntvsPcn3VqqzQBE9MNk9xUjdebGwzkQNdmBPJfzlwlVn0aTbOs3eCLxEqGTa_o9mo2BSplErLS_bRfnC6bOCXWQnpRfyNECkR9A/s3880/view-towards-river-from-kinishba-ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by author of view looking west, with a river down below and mountains on the other side" border="0" data-original-height="2910" data-original-width="3880" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESyWjWXW9KoTqGhnK6L3MC2u75LLF0Fqa7ae6A_e3-zEax4c6L47ME95P9eVi4ntejxANLt8L7AfsRBjrJA50jRhDlntvsPcn3VqqzQBE9MNk9xUjdebGwzkQNdmBPJfzlwlVn0aTbOs3eCLxEqGTa_o9mo2BSplErLS_bRfnC6bOCXWQnpRfyNECkR9A/w400-h300/view-towards-river-from-kinishba-ruins.jpg" title="Kinishba -- An Ancestral Pueblo Site" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View to the west of the river down below and mountains on the other side<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the 1930s, an archaeologist named Byron Cummings supervised the excavation of Kinishba by his students from the University of Arizona and members of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Cummings also constructed some buildings near the ruins; one served as a museum but it closed in 1952. These buildings are now in a state of disrepair.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9fuKOJGA8TIZtIfYCu-wd8ojezeVJwXkqf0xk40ywRsB85h_yd2EY7eJoSKuUDrDkYGHv04DGpPPeHvaNiDQ0qsd47SXrtIJHvtU5wViBxgJdjNIsqZDncuQMo7UwkuoVYiRl9rfLgM9j_OdSkIXLmjFbTEDlMWKy03Hk8NERqaxnY_0CqL6Fl-_d7Hd/s3830/dean-cummings'-buildings-at-kinishba%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photography by author of some of the dry stone buildings that Dean Byron Cummings built in the 1930s" border="0" data-original-height="2873" data-original-width="3830" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE9fuKOJGA8TIZtIfYCu-wd8ojezeVJwXkqf0xk40ywRsB85h_yd2EY7eJoSKuUDrDkYGHv04DGpPPeHvaNiDQ0qsd47SXrtIJHvtU5wViBxgJdjNIsqZDncuQMo7UwkuoVYiRl9rfLgM9j_OdSkIXLmjFbTEDlMWKy03Hk8NERqaxnY_0CqL6Fl-_d7Hd/w400-h300/dean-cummings'-buildings-at-kinishba%20copy.jpg" title="Kinishba -- An Ancestral Pueblo Site" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buildings built by UofA Dean Cummings to simulate the actual Kinishba ruins<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When I visited last November, for most of the time I was the only person at Kinishba. Two other people arrived at one point but they didn’t stay long, perhaps because they didn’t have the guidebook to tell them about the place.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBgLJ_0RK7xi9AWUKulY-kZMqQonXhljcOisz0uCtjIQl7Q3Ypdy_7V4l2TyGoG52kW__0Kt3mVawAvAxvxMLipELihLZpH6oZN2waMonkyEomBiOJwf7S2X_6SNM808diJ8SGiPOn3v0791JWqnrwmpEOZzbPFgUu8PUlJ92MmjFh0yfeyBsxXkDNIdp/s4032/close-up-of-kinishba-with%20sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by author of the interior of a buikdling at Kinishba, with the sun shining in the upper left of the image" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBgLJ_0RK7xi9AWUKulY-kZMqQonXhljcOisz0uCtjIQl7Q3Ypdy_7V4l2TyGoG52kW__0Kt3mVawAvAxvxMLipELihLZpH6oZN2waMonkyEomBiOJwf7S2X_6SNM808diJ8SGiPOn3v0791JWqnrwmpEOZzbPFgUu8PUlJ92MmjFh0yfeyBsxXkDNIdp/w400-h300/close-up-of-kinishba-with%20sun.jpg" title="Photography by author of some of the dry stone buildings that Dean Byron Cummings built in the 1930s Buildings built by UofA Dean Cummings to simulate the actual Kinishba ruins" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of interior of one of the buildings at Kinishba<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I tried to imagine living there a thousand years ago but had a hard time visualizing what it must have been like when Kinishba was a vibrant community filled with people. However, it is well worth the time to seek it out and I very much enjoyed the hour I spent at Kinishba.<br /><br /></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-19142826190126710122024-01-07T18:53:00.001-07:002024-01-07T19:40:56.433-07:00Fort Apache -- The Army Fort<div style="text-align: left;">Located on the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s land, Fort Apache was a U.S. Army fort in the 19th century and is now a National Historic Landmark. I spent a day there last November, learning about Apache history, about the fort and its work, and what happened after the Army left. The site looks nothing like the fort in the 1948 movie called Fort Apache, which I wrote about in <a href="https://www.picturingthewest.com/2023/09/fort-apache-1948-movie.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"></span></a><a href="https://www.picturingthewest.com/2023/09/fort-apache-1948-movie.html" target="_blank"><u><span style="color: #783f04;">another post</span></u></a>.<br /><br /></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeMJdkWjQMwQlLR12UMZ2HNiMIlZQSYmH5harJQShy6rrjH3ESp5XH_Q_3X95xD-LpENAxCh42a_NadQss3v23GHsJNsWRiapDi4o40yPcVKjULWn_6aa7ed-q6_aX6DCz5mrc3KfXmtKZ_QrbzjhcxygiNFNWJHq_YoJOYOuYW2lKV-pYw7L4xPt6Wd8/s3780/white-mountain-apache-tribe-flag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by the author of a black banner showing the Great Seal of the White Mountain Apache Tribe" border="0" data-original-height="2242" data-original-width="3780" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeMJdkWjQMwQlLR12UMZ2HNiMIlZQSYmH5harJQShy6rrjH3ESp5XH_Q_3X95xD-LpENAxCh42a_NadQss3v23GHsJNsWRiapDi4o40yPcVKjULWn_6aa7ed-q6_aX6DCz5mrc3KfXmtKZ_QrbzjhcxygiNFNWJHq_YoJOYOuYW2lKV-pYw7L4xPt6Wd8/w400-h238/white-mountain-apache-tribe-flag.jpg" title="Fort Apache -- The Army Fort" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banner in the Arrowhead Cafe<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br />Fort Apache is about five miles south of Whiteriver, just off Highway 73, in Navajo County, Arizona. After paying the entrance fee which, at the time of my visit, was $10.00, you’ll get a map of the site which you can use to orient yourself. However, I recommend buying the Fort Apache Walking Tour Guide because that contains a lot of background information.<br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQylIdfYV1ewqe5glzXIqzlgwyzJQJ57B5LewZIbRvb0peZ6L9kUWME10eQ2u0j_ftAXOc0jSdZ-gAFnV0tWyez6QeaAIjU5oqGLYdfNNaNXM6XV36ctgr2Meu9vYpY8MbMK7LNy4-NeZ7rR-to2HgwVRsJm066dwXo-Dnet8jrNpaS-TDirjpJebokE3s/s3886/sign-at-entrance-to-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by the author of the sign at the entrance to Fort Apache, made of wood to look like a fence with text in white and yellow paint, with trees behind it" border="0" data-original-height="3886" data-original-width="2894" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQylIdfYV1ewqe5glzXIqzlgwyzJQJ57B5LewZIbRvb0peZ6L9kUWME10eQ2u0j_ftAXOc0jSdZ-gAFnV0tWyez6QeaAIjU5oqGLYdfNNaNXM6XV36ctgr2Meu9vYpY8MbMK7LNy4-NeZ7rR-to2HgwVRsJm066dwXo-Dnet8jrNpaS-TDirjpJebokE3s/w298-h400/sign-at-entrance-to-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" title="Fort Apache -- The Army Fort" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign at entrance to Fort Apache Historic Park<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />To the left of the entrance, in the same building, is the Nohwiké Bágowa Museum. Translated as <i>House of Our Footprints</i>, it provides an excellent introduction to Apache history and culture. You’ll definitely want to spend some time here to get an idea of how the Ndee people, the White Mountain Apache word for themselves, lived before, during, and after the Army occupied the place.<br /> <br />A well-stocked gift shop is also in the museum. I had read online that everything sent from the post office here was stamped with a Fort Apache postmark, which I thought would be fun to have as a souvenir. Another gift shop, with different items, is located in another building.<br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5ctCY2xIpfwTu-3Bb30snYItq0-9lOOOnXJZSK9vNyNFYAN-E_ojBosnhyphenhyphendMJK18lk-Ii5LkrYGeYNdSlT6_ObCiyCyV9vXDmtFd-qRPFLw5ozltq3hkpQzBYRfgpIKkNIELGzn6GHg1AiMMCaIL3hoBEvqdJwoM9rZcTU73wcMDeDMmztqInZ6gX_71/s3862/fort-apache-arizona-post-office.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by the author of the front entrance to the U.S. Post Office on Fort Apache; the building is white with green pillars and roof accents" border="0" data-original-height="2897" data-original-width="3862" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5ctCY2xIpfwTu-3Bb30snYItq0-9lOOOnXJZSK9vNyNFYAN-E_ojBosnhyphenhyphendMJK18lk-Ii5LkrYGeYNdSlT6_ObCiyCyV9vXDmtFd-qRPFLw5ozltq3hkpQzBYRfgpIKkNIELGzn6GHg1AiMMCaIL3hoBEvqdJwoM9rZcTU73wcMDeDMmztqInZ6gX_71/w400-h300/fort-apache-arizona-post-office.jpg" title="Fort Apache -- The Army Fort" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">U.S. Post Office at Fort Apache<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Fort Apache was originally called Camp Ord and was founded in 1870. General George Crook enlisted the cooperation of local Apaches as scouts who helped the Army in their wars against other Indigenous people. One of the buildings on the site has an exhibit with detailed information about why the White Mountain Apache people aided Crook in the Apache Wars in the second half of the 19th century. There were economic, political, and other reasons but the exhibit also makes clear that the presence of the Army also completely changed the Apache people’s traditional way of life. One very interesting fact is that 12 Apache scouts received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872.<br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fd487cqJqfJkMe3blW5uSKRcBo3HXFVMRi8IiGXjkSSX46QTSF5iPebCf9p7f_IsDO5U_S-Ty5Bf-7pkfRgqWYQBtMKoaL1EZsh94NukirzeizF4HkkfQ7vv4Gag3JPR5kfng1rpI89Lr4X-oHW4utD4hahV7X8xb7kPavGPz635cEFvimCgY4d6zKg0/s4004/view-of-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by the author of the intersection of General Crook Street and Geronimo Street, with 2 white buildings with green accents across the road" border="0" data-original-height="3003" data-original-width="4004" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fd487cqJqfJkMe3blW5uSKRcBo3HXFVMRi8IiGXjkSSX46QTSF5iPebCf9p7f_IsDO5U_S-Ty5Bf-7pkfRgqWYQBtMKoaL1EZsh94NukirzeizF4HkkfQ7vv4Gag3JPR5kfng1rpI89Lr4X-oHW4utD4hahV7X8xb7kPavGPz635cEFvimCgY4d6zKg0/w400-h300/view-of-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" title="Fort Apache -- The Army Fort" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of one area of Fort Apache<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In 1922, the Army vacated Fort Apache. The next year, an Indian boarding school was established on the fort’s grounds. Named the Theodore Roosevelt School, today it’s a middle school for local children.<br /><br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEW7dSS_d5zmJXHrA5zgCqc6Lspui9dwPaBsOUcua-eLb84aUP-YoCjJRbeH3DW_xSC8p6MAtNCx4LJzSruNfC48qhSCpTfTKGlOmtavWVrPK8M9HhSOVOXbG7JdDFIQ2YQTzC1Xm5I3n7dLaEjWDv_iaw68gXpiBanl65P7D3yDQOd32ACrwVSeasIpEb/s4032/panoramic-view-of-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph by the author of a panoramic view of Fort Apache; it is looking across a field to buildings on General Crook Street, with mountains in the backround" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEW7dSS_d5zmJXHrA5zgCqc6Lspui9dwPaBsOUcua-eLb84aUP-YoCjJRbeH3DW_xSC8p6MAtNCx4LJzSruNfC48qhSCpTfTKGlOmtavWVrPK8M9HhSOVOXbG7JdDFIQ2YQTzC1Xm5I3n7dLaEjWDv_iaw68gXpiBanl65P7D3yDQOd32ACrwVSeasIpEb/w400-h300/panoramic-view-of-fort-apache-arizona.jpg" title="Fort Apache -- The Army Fort" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of Fort Apache<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Although Fort Apache isn’t large and following the walking tour won’t take long, if you stop to read all the information plaques, enter the buildings that are open to the public, eat in the Arrowhead café, browse the gift shops, take photos, and just soak up the atmosphere, you can easily spend several hours there, as I did. Anyone who is interested in the Old West, Arizona history, Indigenous culture and history, and Army life will enjoy visiting <a href="http://www.wmat.nsn.us/fortapachepark.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #783f04;">Fort Apache Historic Park</span></a>.<br /><p></p><p><br /></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-4592595817898384462023-09-04T00:08:00.000-06:002023-09-04T00:08:28.638-06:00Fort Apache - 1948 Movie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_4pYnBl8k4IHovo3-saOKAvb2S2btOvJ4qjaE-13aSUq7DjTgTu4N1WfazCdeV2h9Bg92f7YKWFC-2V-kq5ToLZxf2ZUyirKrG0ppFZXNw3eqnFE0673OnP-CHm_SV8rRvywM885h2pPUl_e_ZENwj4zdmH-X5q0WjTvTsSAtwOvNaHzrNznCHZEGmXE/s500/fort-apache-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Movie Poster showing John Wayne and Henry Fonda at top, text in middle, and a scene from the movie at the bottom" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_4pYnBl8k4IHovo3-saOKAvb2S2btOvJ4qjaE-13aSUq7DjTgTu4N1WfazCdeV2h9Bg92f7YKWFC-2V-kq5ToLZxf2ZUyirKrG0ppFZXNw3eqnFE0673OnP-CHm_SV8rRvywM885h2pPUl_e_ZENwj4zdmH-X5q0WjTvTsSAtwOvNaHzrNznCHZEGmXE/w228-h320/fort-apache-poster.jpg" title="Fort Apache" width="228" /></a></div>Opening with shots of a stagecoach traveling through Monument Valley, viewers soon find out that Colonel Owen Thursday, one of the passengers, is on his way to assume command of Fort Apache. It’s clear that he does not look forward to his new posting but the young woman accompanying him is pleased because she was not able to be with him while he was in Europe and can be now. At a stage stop, they learn that news of his arrival has not yet reached the fort. This is the first of many foreshadowing scenes in <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span>, an enjoyable if somewhat predictable film.<br /> <br />Henry Fonda plays Owen Thursday in this 1948 movie directed by John Ford. Shirley Temple is his daughter Philadelphia, the young lady traveling with him in the stagecoach. Glimpses of her persona as a child star percolate through her performance in <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span> as a headstrong woman unused to life in the West but for the most part, she is convincing as the daughter of an Army colonel. John Wayne is a supporting character, Captain York, who repeatedly clashes with Colonel Thursday. York is the commanding officer of Sergeant O’Rourke, played by John Agar, who becomes Philadelphia’s love interest and was her husband in real life.<br /> <br />At one point Thursday states, “I’m not a martinet but I do want to take pride in my command.” Which is emblematic since he says that as he dresses down his senior officers for not wearing their uniforms properly. There are several conflicts between various groups of men in <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span>, especially between Thursday and York, and especially over how to handle the Apaches who have left the reservation they were forced onto.<br /> <br />The women at the fort – the wives of the soldiers stationed there and the Spanish-speaking servants – all seem to get along with each other, though. Sprinkled throughout <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span> are several domestic scenes showing what their life was like at a frontier fort; at least, what it was like according to John Ford.<br /> <br />The plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span> is both a “fish out of water” story and the story of one man’s hubris. But the quality of acting elevates this 128-minute movie and makes it worth watching. Colonel Thursday, who thinks he knows more than the seasoned soldiers who have been stationed at the fort far longer than him and who have dealt with the Apaches many times, forces the troops to engage in activities and battles the others know are foolhardy.<br /> <br />Just before the end, there’s a scene with journalists that reminded me of another John Ford movie, <i>The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,</i> even though that film was shot many years later. It made me wonder if the scene in <span style="color: #38761d;">Fort Apache</span> was the inspiration for the famous quote from that movie.<br /><br />S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-23533071617352462662023-08-11T20:51:00.002-06:002023-09-04T00:09:50.224-06:00Fighting Caravans - 1931 Movie<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcWoaX7vw8ISp7-66BJC5xaivrueQeeLkYSf_dtK9h1VE6IvWsryvkrQbLCrOZcyN3Vssq8KWo0gBdeqJ284Acy1n8gPu8SxIRCkWNGS4XeVS81bdKk2EYB4t3IcqXnJG751wNLu4ACTVi5CAdY_VO5oNnVATyWfgh45N8o8gp1IVjpfLSNuMGxUgnIyy/s445/fighting-caravans-1931-movie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcWoaX7vw8ISp7-66BJC5xaivrueQeeLkYSf_dtK9h1VE6IvWsryvkrQbLCrOZcyN3Vssq8KWo0gBdeqJ284Acy1n8gPu8SxIRCkWNGS4XeVS81bdKk2EYB4t3IcqXnJG751wNLu4ACTVi5CAdY_VO5oNnVATyWfgh45N8o8gp1IVjpfLSNuMGxUgnIyy/s320/fighting-caravans-1931-movie.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> was made in 1931 and this black-and-white movie shows its age. Based on a Zane Grey novel, it stars a young and very thin Gary Cooper.<br /> <br />Set during the Civil War, on-screen text at the beginning of <span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> explains that the term “fighting caravans” refers to wagon trains loaded with freight going to California. As the movie progresses, the phrase takes on other meanings as well.<br /> <br />The plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> is basic: A diverse group of people are heading West and during their journey, they experience adventures and setbacks. Gary Cooper plays Clint, a scout who got in trouble with the law after a night on the town and is facing a 30-day stint in jail. Lily Damita, better known as the wife of Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn, plays a Frenchwoman heading to California on her own. The machinations of Clint’s two grizzled friends throw them together and from then on, the question is will they or won’t they stay together.<br /> <br />After a series of typical setbacks, including the lack of Army protection, a suspicious-acting trader, sober wives with drunk husbands, a stagecoach that’s attacked by Kiowa people, the travails of travelling through mountains covered in snow, runaway wagons, and a climactic attack by Kiowa and Comanches, the wagon train finally reaches California. Throughout these adventures Clint’s friends, the two old-timers who raised him and also are scouts, act as both comic relief and narrators who advance both the plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> and the budding romance between Clint and the Frenchwoman.<br /> <br />Despite some proto-feminist comments by the Frenchwoman saying she can travel on her own and doesn’t need a man to aid her, it’s very obvious that <span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> was filmed when women were not treated equally and Indians (as they were called in the movie) were always the enemy. The women on the wagon train had more sense than most of the men but their ideas were played for laughs. The Native Americans never became full-fledged individual characters and were mostly seen as an unnamed horde.<br /> <br />The audio quality was poor and the continuous background music made it even more difficult to understand the dialog. (If the Frenchwoman was ever named, I didn’t catch it.) Fortunately, the movie was only 81 minutes long. At least, that’s what the Netflix DVD says; other sources give the running time as 92 minutes. Whatever the duration actually is, <span style="color: #38761d;">Fighting Caravans</span> is a movie worth seeing only if you are a die-hard Gary Cooper fan.<br /><br /><p></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-8395792356362634472023-07-02T16:13:00.004-06:002023-09-04T00:08:51.176-06:00Young Guns - 1988 Movie<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68CP1Kxfwftl24OP8dteREHbNnLo8nXYfeV21wfGaOyaLQ_8JNcFg-403lJo1ooc5N5cf7VhQ_fPVQB21JWvUL1ozZdEe8-jvkLZep69IqVS-GIA-MmdjAvguYLMb3esw9Omk3J--kRbN--OKI-9vIZSRhSfe0EpoLQz0T2eDaH50grKFwTr8Bh4xnU06/s500/young-guns-movie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68CP1Kxfwftl24OP8dteREHbNnLo8nXYfeV21wfGaOyaLQ_8JNcFg-403lJo1ooc5N5cf7VhQ_fPVQB21JWvUL1ozZdEe8-jvkLZep69IqVS-GIA-MmdjAvguYLMb3esw9Omk3J--kRbN--OKI-9vIZSRhSfe0EpoLQz0T2eDaH50grKFwTr8Bh4xnU06/s320/young-guns-movie.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> is yet another Western which opens with a scene showing an ordinary main street in a nameless town that is suddenly interrupted by a violent action. In the case of this 1988 movie, two men talking on the sidewalk hear a gunshot and see a youth running down the street. Cut to the men rescuing the youth and taking him back to a ranch in their wagon.<br /> <br />So begins <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span>, which tells the story of the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, although it was filmed at Old Tucson in Arizona. Starring Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid – although viewers don’t know that’s who the character is until about 30 minutes into the movie -- and several other well-known young actors of the 1980s and 1990s including his brother Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland, and Lou Diamond Philips as Regulators, the film does a good job of showing the conflict from their viewpoint.<br /> <br />Early scenes in <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> reveal the friendly rivalry among the Regulators, the young men employed by John Tunstall (played by Terence Stamp) to work his ranch and protect it from outsiders, as well as how Billy does and does not try to fit in to the group. One scene in particular makes clear one way he is different from some of the others: After dinner one evening, the boys take turns reading from a newspaper as Tunstall contentedly sits in a rocking chair. He calls on Billy to read but Billy declines. After being told he can either read now or leave the ranch in the morning, Billy acquiesces and reads far more fluently than the previous youth. Tunstall is clearly pleased.<br /> <br />My impression was that Tunstall was trying to “civilize” his young workers. He refers to them as the “jetsam and flotsam of society” and dispenses nuggets of wisdom as they do their chores around the ranch. It’s a relatively peaceful, tranquil existence. <br /> <br />But it doesn’t last. In an altercation with a business rival, Tunstall is killed and the remainder of <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> is about how Billy and the Regulators attempt, first by legal means, to bring the murderers to justice. However, things don’t go according to plan and they find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Instead of chasing the bad guys, they are now the outlaws.<br /> <br />Billy’s true character is exposed as he repeatedly shoots people whom he believes are in his way of obtaining justice for Tunstall. The other Regulators he rides with are at first angry with Billy, then scared about what his actions mean for them, and finally resigned that they are stuck with being labeled as his accomplices. Billy seems to revel in the violence, unlike his companions, but they are unable to stop him. As <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> progresses, their situation becomes more and more dire.<br /> <br />A side plot involves Doc Scurlock (played by Kiefer Sutherland), one of the Regulators, trying to rescue a Chinese woman who appears to be the property of a wealthy man who was an enemy of John Tunstall. To the best of my knowledge, it’s not historically accurate but regardless of whether the purpose was to provide some romance or show the plight of Asian women in the Old West, it doesn’t detract too much from the main plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span>.<br /> <br />The climax of <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> involves the inevitable showdown between the Regulators and the men who opposed them and were behind the murder of John Tunstall. It’s suitably action-filled and tense. I won’t give anything away but will say that I disliked how the director (Christopher Cain) chose to film part of the ending.<br /> <br />Other stalwarts of Western movies who appear in <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> include Brian Keith and Jack Palance in supporting roles. At 102 minutes, the movie never drags and even if it isn’t quite true to what really happened in the Lincoln County War, <span style="color: #38761d;">Young Guns</span> is enjoyable viewing.<br /><br /><p></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-27737505832448131552023-06-23T20:39:00.001-06:002023-06-28T15:19:14.257-06:00Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!<p>Sifting through 19th century documents and struggling to decipher old-fashioned handwriting might not be your idea of a fun time but I recently spent a week at the Wyoming State Archives doing just that and it was wonderful! I stayed in a nice hotel with a kitchenette in Cheyenne, just off a highway that made it easy to drive to Laramie on the weekend. <br /> <br />In this post, I’ll describe my trip to Wyoming and include a few of the photos I took. You can see lots more photos on my Instagram account, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/picturingthewest/" target="_blank"><u><span style="color: #783f04;">PicturingTheWest</span></u></a>, about each of the places I discuss here. Cheyenne and Laramie are fun to visit but this post would be way too long if I wrote in detail about what I did when I was in Wyoming.<br /> <br />I’d been to the Wyoming State Archives several years ago when I first started working on my book about the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary but at that time, I was just gathering general information. Now that I have a clear vision for the book and have started writing it, I wanted to find information about specific aspects of the penitentiary and the inmates who were confined there.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3FgM9MIalQbZ-TR8wcQ9-yPQGYFA6h4o_fimFgifCc8vqk_UsuoEXkTpw0eJVi4K-_cRGoZxa6XBBNNmN1GpEnXPbJ-eS2KtyeoGdPt_vKMurbB4x9Kn7-fMdb4pHi1LJmmYqLt-XxcjIvO_90RDPuIrEtg-vOJ2AgM_niCZZdWZKn2xX58s-WS1F7ql/s4000/at-the-wyoming-state-archives.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Susan seated at a table and doing research at the Wyominng State Archives" border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3FgM9MIalQbZ-TR8wcQ9-yPQGYFA6h4o_fimFgifCc8vqk_UsuoEXkTpw0eJVi4K-_cRGoZxa6XBBNNmN1GpEnXPbJ-eS2KtyeoGdPt_vKMurbB4x9Kn7-fMdb4pHi1LJmmYqLt-XxcjIvO_90RDPuIrEtg-vOJ2AgM_niCZZdWZKn2xX58s-WS1F7ql/w400-h225/at-the-wyoming-state-archives.png" title="Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Researching at the WY State Archives; note Elnora Frye's book on table<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The staff at the Wyoming State Archives could not have been more helpful. With their support, I was able to find a lot of the info I was looking for. They also took the photo of me conducting research. I spent Tuesday through Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm, from the time it opened to when it closed, going through all the books and boxes of materials I’d identified as being of possible interest. (On Monday, I arrived mid-morning after first picking up a rental car.)<br /> <br />However, there just wasn’t enough time to read everything from start to finish so I took photos and made scans of material I thought might be useful. Tip: If you bring your own flash drive, you can make scans for free. And although I brought my Sony camera with me, taking photos with my phone was much faster and easier (and also free). Since I planned to use the photos only for research, and not publish them in the book, the quality of the images didn’t matter as long as I could read the text.<br /> <br />I also managed to squeeze in some sightseeing. The Wyoming State Archives is located in downtown Cheyenne in an area with several other government buildings. One day, I walked over to the Capitol, which I hadn’t seen when I was there years ago. Another day, I went to the Cheyenne Depot Museum, in the building that used to be the United Pacific Railroad depot. I wanted to ask a question about the railroad but the person I was told could answer wasn’t there.<br /> <br />On Saturday I drove to Laramie, where the penitentiary is located, and had the honor of meeting Elnora Frye. Elnora is the author of the <i>Atlas of Wyoming Outlaws at the Territorial Penitentiary</i>. The book has been an invaluable reference for my project. We talked for over 3 hours and it was a real pleasure hearing how she got started writing her book and how she found all the info. Since she wrote it before the Internet existed, Elnora did everything offline. I was very impressed!</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5dHkYdnMLsQHoWxD9nXVPC56_mN_qWKDFMvLKJ7b2q255EMx5PvwGNWdOLAcvDwWuBARteaxjLidnTtJwzVlx3BdWe4AKFdbclnPg7KvAOnHXomIB4R4uLCEO4nPIAB6A4VCngsd1opMNC_jpD1-7nhV6JbkjGwKEyP1vTKaYTfv0UhwuG72q9aqq7RJ/s1640/wyoming-territorial-penitentiary.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="View of the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary as one facrs the entrance" border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5dHkYdnMLsQHoWxD9nXVPC56_mN_qWKDFMvLKJ7b2q255EMx5PvwGNWdOLAcvDwWuBARteaxjLidnTtJwzVlx3BdWe4AKFdbclnPg7KvAOnHXomIB4R4uLCEO4nPIAB6A4VCngsd1opMNC_jpD1-7nhV6JbkjGwKEyP1vTKaYTfv0UhwuG72q9aqq7RJ/w400-h225/wyoming-territorial-penitentiary.png" title="Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The same day, I visited the Laramie Plains Museum. This was my fourth trip to Laramie but my first time to this museum. It’s the former home of Edward and Jane Ivinson, prominent citizens of Laramie in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I enjoy visiting house museums and this one has several pieces of furniture made by an inmate in the penitentiary that I wanted to see because I plan to include a short biography of him in my book. I took a tour led by a very knowledgeable docent and then bought some souvenirs in the well-stocked gift shop.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrVKvOAJeieVdvX6xZKcVPYeixnXRrGHN-midX2cv9YWXuan3HjVd2nW__451iAR1zrr3P8a1P6kjR6Erp-bKwakPzo-FMrjno5QGOG7T_SOaBtr-Nu2rHihHKqVHXaeyutAuzKcCNTCo60Xus06KqCfPYfWtxY6iXZTZ-mymTJhASYMJwsw5BYFKlLhL/s3232/john-hjorth-cabinet.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cabinet at the Laramie Plains Museum made by John Horth" border="0" data-original-height="2745" data-original-width="3232" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrVKvOAJeieVdvX6xZKcVPYeixnXRrGHN-midX2cv9YWXuan3HjVd2nW__451iAR1zrr3P8a1P6kjR6Erp-bKwakPzo-FMrjno5QGOG7T_SOaBtr-Nu2rHihHKqVHXaeyutAuzKcCNTCo60Xus06KqCfPYfWtxY6iXZTZ-mymTJhASYMJwsw5BYFKlLhL/w400-h340/john-hjorth-cabinet.png" title="Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The large cabinet was made by John Hjorth and is in the Laramie Plains Museum<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>After that, I drove out to see the Fort Sanders Guard House, on the outskirts of Laramie. Fort Sanders was a military fort and before the penitentiary was built, local people convicted of crimes served time in the Guard House. All that’s left now of the fort is a shell of the Guard House. My book goes into much more detail about Fort Sanders and its connection to the penitentiary.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEFu2ABpSLsqDJ-osguRMlY6MRI2Uhdm1aUYIEYG-5-C2HzcT4L6Ia3egWI7mFP4qMb4a9Q3Qhuv_-8QAKgdUqMPRrLEyIdEOr-cuIO2sYXQQGR-adG_FzgZu-RQaL88zzJIBkfOh5vL6uHUTD8Pj0rU88nWWXdVHYB8B7MMhgcuSE2qVxYDIEsn1_1Bj/s3866/fort-sanders-guard-house.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="View of the Fort Sanders Guard House under a very overcast sky" border="0" data-original-height="2900" data-original-width="3866" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEFu2ABpSLsqDJ-osguRMlY6MRI2Uhdm1aUYIEYG-5-C2HzcT4L6Ia3egWI7mFP4qMb4a9Q3Qhuv_-8QAKgdUqMPRrLEyIdEOr-cuIO2sYXQQGR-adG_FzgZu-RQaL88zzJIBkfOh5vL6uHUTD8Pj0rU88nWWXdVHYB8B7MMhgcuSE2qVxYDIEsn1_1Bj/w400-h300/fort-sanders-guard-house.png" title="Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All that's left of Fort Sanders is this Guard House<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>On Sunday, I drove to Laramie again and met with the site superintendent of the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary. I had met the previous superintendent but she retired so I wanted to meet her replacement. We had a very productive meeting. Then I took a guided tour of the prison and afterwards walked around again on my own. Seeing the penitentiary never gets old, partly because there are changing exhibitions so I always learn something new each time I visit.<br /> <br />The Overland Trail, a major route for migrants moving West in the 19th century, passed near Laramie. I drove the 13 or so miles out of town to see a historical marker acknowledging the trail; I briefly discuss the importance of the Overland Trail in my book. The marker is just off the side of a two-lane road with an information plaque next to it. Situated in the middle of nowhere in the undulating landscape with mountains in the distance, I tried to envision what it must’ve been like for people traveling in wagons across these high plains. Turning my back to the cars whizzing by, I could just about imagine it.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyTMFo8yhBg7IdIg22aoAdkbxYpCZrGy26cl64W7-QaIKaYaC1Ksr6i4sni-BGWlgPX5hwI8ubXwhPOdjW-zaZm1mSF7U3t4nJXMqTDF6NnwL-oOHl0ql7yrR_FQDfpc5w6LFG7F-P7n41V3vlWUcgZdMrs1uFSmQgSF8IIWLe-OdBtBRUqHh39e45q0J/s4032/overland-trail-marker.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Overland Trail historic marker and information board near Laramie" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyTMFo8yhBg7IdIg22aoAdkbxYpCZrGy26cl64W7-QaIKaYaC1Ksr6i4sni-BGWlgPX5hwI8ubXwhPOdjW-zaZm1mSF7U3t4nJXMqTDF6NnwL-oOHl0ql7yrR_FQDfpc5w6LFG7F-P7n41V3vlWUcgZdMrs1uFSmQgSF8IIWLe-OdBtBRUqHh39e45q0J/w400-h300/overland-trail-marker.JPG" title="Doing Research at the Wyoming State Archives is Fun!" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overland Trail historic marker at left and information board about it at right<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Driving from Cheyenne to Laramie and back on I-80, I passed 3 scenic sites of interest so I stopped to take a look. They were the Tree in the Rock natural feature, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument, and the Ames Monument. I’ll be posting about each of these attractions on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/picturingthewest/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #783f04;"><u>my Instagram</u></span></a> account soon.<br /> <br />If you’d like to get updates about the progress of my book, I invite you to like and follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009755106571" target="_blank"><span style="color: #783f04;"><u>my Facebook page</u></span></a>, where I’ll be sharing how things are going. I’d love to see you there!<br /><br /><p></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-68244680953623444362023-06-08T17:49:00.015-06:002023-09-04T00:09:21.150-06:00The Deadly Companions - 1961 Movie<p><span style="color: #38761d;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdj8yUFWUJRQ4iVFO_g-fOjVo_T9Bx6FCurPzXjBoCHDuSsofSX3IQQVYWTsoRIXB_3i8jC72W3H-E7oFcR-YwlYp6yRCjCL5rcjItwaEUEeKdMDR7upih4xrKsLGa8wXcgvwfvO1nBO8c70AC7IAM08TBHkEPL0eG9PFNOlYNua6eaVgs7pekAs2sw/s500/the-deadly-companions.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image shows DVD cover of movie. Director Sam Peckinpah's name is at top, underneath is picture of 3 main actors looking serious. Movie title is in center of image and in small text below is a description of the film. At the bottom are the actors' names Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara." border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdj8yUFWUJRQ4iVFO_g-fOjVo_T9Bx6FCurPzXjBoCHDuSsofSX3IQQVYWTsoRIXB_3i8jC72W3H-E7oFcR-YwlYp6yRCjCL5rcjItwaEUEeKdMDR7upih4xrKsLGa8wXcgvwfvO1nBO8c70AC7IAM08TBHkEPL0eG9PFNOlYNua6eaVgs7pekAs2sw/w227-h320/the-deadly-companions.jpg" title="The Deadly Companions" width="227" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">The Deadly Companions</span><span style="font-size: small;">,
based on the novel of the same name by A. S. Fleischman, is a short
92-minute movie from1961. It was the first movie directed by Sam
Peckinpah and stars Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;">As with many Westerns of this era, <span style="color: #38761d;">The Deadly Companions</span> opens with a shot of a man, who turns out to be a Union solder, walking
into a saloon in a nameless town. He orders tequila, looks around and
see a group of men playing cards, and then sees another man, accused of
being a “five ace card player,” with a noose around his neck struggling
to keep his footing. </p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;">The soldier is about to save the other
man when a young guy, with two saloon girls hanging on his arms, shoots
the rope instead. All three men quickly leave. The young guy is Billy
(played by Steve Cochran) and he was supposed to be looking out for his
friend, the man he saved whose name is Turk (played by Chill Wills).
They’re Southerners so they call the soldier Yellowleg (played by Brian
Keith). </p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>It looks like Billy and Turk were planning to rob the
bank but Yellowleg by force of will convinces them to go to Gila City
instead. Is the name of that town a foreshadowing of the poison that is
soon to overwhelm them all? </p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>They arrive in Gila City, where a
group of boys are playing in the street and a lone boy is on the roof
of a building playing a harmonica. Yellowleg tells Turk to see to the
horses and he and Billy enter the saloon to satisfy their thirst.
Yellowleg and Billy manage to get served but Turk is out of luck because
it’s being transformed into a church and no liquor can be served until
the service is over. Turk insists, though, and gets his way.</p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>The
townspeople enter the saloon and sit on the benches set up for them,
warily eyeing the strangers on the other side of the room. A woman
(played by Maureen O’Hara) and the boy who played the harmonica enter
and the other women start gossiping about her morals, or lack thereof.</p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>The
reverend reminds all the men to remove their hats. That’s a problem
for Yellowleg who, for some unknown reason, refuses. He leaves the
saloon and goes to a doctor instead, who seems to recognize who he is.
Yellowleg asks about getting a bullet removed from his shoulder but when
told he’d be laid up for a while, decides against the operation. He
does, however, tell the doc he’s in town to get revenge though doesn’t
reveal any details.</p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>After the church service ends, Billy
forcibly kisses the woman the others were talking about. She slaps
him. Billy and Turk prepare to rob the bank in that town but other
bandits beat them to it. In the mayhem that follows, someone is killed.</p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>The remainder of <span style="color: #38761d;">The Deadly Companions</span>
is about revenge, redemption, and revelation. The movie is a series of
adventures where anything that can go wrong does, and even a good guy
does bad things.</p><p> </p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>Filmed at Old Tucson Studios, its trademark
three mountain peaks are visible about halfway through. Maureen O’Hara
and Brian Keith work well together and the final scenes of the movie are
satisfyingly tense. <span style="color: #38761d;">The Deadly Companions</span> is certainly an apt description of the trio at the center of this taut, well-acted movie.</p><p> </p></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-68223161685650054702023-04-26T23:04:00.004-06:002023-09-04T00:09:38.211-06:00El Dorado - 1966 Movie<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84plO_NishQuTY_2iCCaL8vJIjwJNhmNMitO-jDT0tZCM-cMeMISAQnSLdPPQn94M3LFFkftsXdzBNsAfd78Ch1oLJQBeNsW8V36RXWZkZCxJyl6Sso8BtvWZLUbX9mNVLAbrCcBiDzPgDp37IUhpWsbO05uhkIpoqFmFG7brK62LCy2tY3PJbHHhSQ/s1518/el-dorado-movie-poster.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image of movie poster for El Dorado listing John Wayne and Robert Mitchum as stars, with picture of actors underneath and other credits below the picture." border="0" data-original-height="1518" data-original-width="999" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84plO_NishQuTY_2iCCaL8vJIjwJNhmNMitO-jDT0tZCM-cMeMISAQnSLdPPQn94M3LFFkftsXdzBNsAfd78Ch1oLJQBeNsW8V36RXWZkZCxJyl6Sso8BtvWZLUbX9mNVLAbrCcBiDzPgDp37IUhpWsbO05uhkIpoqFmFG7brK62LCy2tY3PJbHHhSQ/w211-h320/el-dorado-movie-poster.png" title="El Dorado" width="211" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">I’m not quite sure why this 1966, Howard Hawkes-directed movie is called <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span>. It certainly isn’t a gilded, gold-plated Oscar-worthy film. In fact, it is sort of a mirror image of <span style="color: #38761d;">Rio Bravo</span>, a pale sideways version of that much better movie. I <u><a href="https://www.picturingthewest.com/2015/04/el-dorado.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">wrote</span></a></u> about <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> in 2015 when I saw a special screening of it but now I'll post a detailed review.</p></div><p> <br />Instead of being the sheriff as he was in <span style="color: #38761d;">Rio Bravo</span>, in <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> John Wayne is the hired gun. Instead of the alcoholic deputy that was played by Dean Martin in <span style="color: #38761d;">Rio Bravo</span>, Robert Mitchum plays the alcoholic sheriff. The gruff older lawman, who plays a bugle instead of a harmonica, is acted by Arthur Hunnicutt rather than Walter Brennan. The young, naïve, fish-out-of-water character isn’t Ricky Nelson but a young James Caan, who was only 26 when this film was released.<br /> <br />An alternate title for this movie could be “The Adventures of Cole Thornton.” After the opening credits, which are overlaid on paintings resembling those of Charles Russell but were in fact by Olaf Wieghorst, a noted painter originally from Denmark who also acted the role of Swede, a gunsmith in <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span>, we see, from the back, a man strolling down the middle of a main street of a nondescript Western town. He enters the saloon, which is also a bathhouse, and discover he’s the sheriff. He confronts a man washing up at a sink who, clearly at a disadvantage, turns out to be Cole Thornton, played by John Wayne. The sheriff is J.P. Harrah, played by Robert Mitchum, and apparently they are old friends.<br /> <br />Thornton is in the town, which is named El Dorado, in response to a job offer from Bart Jason, a rich rancher played by Ed Asner, very much against type (or at least, against his <i>Lou Grant</i> character of much later fame) who wants him to get rid of the MacDonald family. But Harrah sets Thornton straight -- Jason needs the water on the MacDonald land for his animals but the MacDonalds don’t want to sell. That wasn’t exactly the story Thornton had been told so Thornton rides out to tell Jason he won’t be taking the job after all. On his way back to town, he’s shot at by one of the MacDonald sons.<br /> <br />From that point on, the plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> is a series of events typical of Westerns: Thornton has an encounter with another gunfighter, he acquires a young man as his sidekick, he rekindles a relationship with a woman. These adventures gradually reveal Thornton’s character.<br /> <br />Which is why we soon find Thornton back in the town of El Dorado where, while he was gone, Harrah has become an alcoholic. But Thornton will help him get back on track! It’s just too bad that Bart Jason and the MacDonald family are still at odds with each other. <br /> <br />Several scenes in the saloon and sheriff’s office are reminiscent of <span style="color: #38761d;">Rio Bravo</span>. Of course there are shoot-outs; one in particular occurs in a church and observant viewers will recognize it as Old Tucson, which is where <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> was filmed. <br /> <br />The characters faced no great moral quandaries. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that in <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span>, the good guys prevail. The ending, however, didn’t wrap things up completely and left me wondering what Thornton was really going to do. I actually liked that about the movie.<br /> <br />One thing I did not like, though, was when one actor dressed up as a Chinese person towards the end of <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> to distract one of the bad guys. It was a caricature, it was racist, and it was jarring.</p><p> </p><p>Other than that, <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> was enjoyable. The banter was light, even if it often wasn’t as funny as it was probably meant to be. Robert Mitchum and Michele Carey were the most interesting actors to watch. Cole Thornton was a role John Wayne could play in his sleep.<br /> <br />Three of the actors in <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> appeared in <i>Alias Smith and Jones</i>: Patriarch Kevin MacDonald was played by R.G. Armstrong (Max in <i>The Bounty Hunter</i>); Milt, one of the bad guys, was played by Robert Donner (3 episodes, including Nate in <i>The Bounty Hunter)</i>; and daughter Joey MacDonald was played by Michele Carey (Betsy in <i>A Fistful of Diamonds</i>). <br /> <br />At 126 minutes, <span style="color: #38761d;">El Dorado</span> was a pleasant diversion but I won't go out of my way to watch it again.<br /> <br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Related Link:</b></span><br /><a href="https://wieghorstmuseum.org/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Olaf Wieghorst Museum</span></b></a><br /><br /></p><p></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-92115426566554668252023-03-11T23:47:00.021-07:002023-03-26T01:24:16.589-06:00The Tucson Festival of Books is a Book Lover's Delight<p>Tucson, Arizona has a plethora of annual fairs and festivals. One of them is the Tucson Festival of Books. It’s held the first or second week of March and is the 3rd largest book festival in the U.S.<br /> <br />From its beginning in 2009 when 50,000 visitors were estimated to attend to the 2023 festival held a couple weeks ago, with 150,000 estimated attendees, it is one of the largest festivals in Tucson. The festival is run by a non-profit organization whose purpose is to support literacy in southern Arizona.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPF7gZPccWzs-vh-T0eG-c7Sna0pUzq3STDnQUfevtAKUCNdboyWrY2btzcvaT_kllmAZVSAzwxPX3Yf8nToN2o8q5YXxJ9lfdWn246VU2-OTXF1NFIgWevYhMalFqGWI_AKyS-TvAYeentabGt4-t_pCV8x6C4XCLFP1zngen8Iha1P-vtRe80EFPg/s2902/tucson-festival-of-books-sign.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image of Tucson Festival of Books logo" border="0" data-original-height="2902" data-original-width="2718" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPF7gZPccWzs-vh-T0eG-c7Sna0pUzq3STDnQUfevtAKUCNdboyWrY2btzcvaT_kllmAZVSAzwxPX3Yf8nToN2o8q5YXxJ9lfdWn246VU2-OTXF1NFIgWevYhMalFqGWI_AKyS-TvAYeentabGt4-t_pCV8x6C4XCLFP1zngen8Iha1P-vtRe80EFPg/w375-h400/tucson-festival-of-books-sign.jpg" title="The Tucson Festival of Books is a Book Lover's Delight" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logo of the Tucson Festival of Books; photo by S.L. Schwartz<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For 2 days, the University of Arizona Mall is covered in booths selling books and organizations about writing. There’s also an area for children’s activities; Science City, with science-themed activities for the whole family; a food court; a culinary demonstration area; and entertainment. </p><p><br /></p><p>In the buildings surrounding the Mall, authors give workshops about writing, facilitate panel discussions, and talk about their books. After each session, authors sign the books. Authors who give presentations at the festival must have published their books in the past year.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm3A6tKvUcJOBP9jzmkqS0h1fi0fXnOqq5upcJsyjGwM_-3e4gs1KQvo23y1_0mwLrqVuExOWSeSk66Y4yBqE56c3seaSUZ064vkZjKEDvi2ELF4wpqE3E5JEks6v8_qnjA7Bqi2tYmm-oBsPN1xKmoVBGL0-vVNB4wsyhnksAUJTiYqlgkhMS7M5gw/s4032/tucson-festival-of-books-author-signing.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph of festival visitors lining up to get books autographed by authors" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm3A6tKvUcJOBP9jzmkqS0h1fi0fXnOqq5upcJsyjGwM_-3e4gs1KQvo23y1_0mwLrqVuExOWSeSk66Y4yBqE56c3seaSUZ064vkZjKEDvi2ELF4wpqE3E5JEks6v8_qnjA7Bqi2tYmm-oBsPN1xKmoVBGL0-vVNB4wsyhnksAUJTiYqlgkhMS7M5gw/w400-h300/tucson-festival-of-books-author-signing.jpg" title="The Tucson Festival of Books is a Book Lover's Delight" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Authors signing books after a session; photo by S.L. Schwartz<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Winners of prestigious book awards, such as National Book Awards and Southwest Books of the Year, participate as do Indie authors. In 2023, over 400 authors were involved in the festival. Over 24 literary genres were represented by the participating authors.</p><p></p><p> </p><p>All events are free; however, some talks by the most famous authors
require advance tickets. Members of the public can try to reserve
tickets in advance but if unsuccessful, may still be able to get in by waiting in line outside the room it’ll be in. I did that a
few years ago for a panel discussion with members of the cast of the TV
show <i>Longmire</i>. (It was a great session!)<br /> <br />But for most
sessions, you can just line up outside the room shortly before the
scheduled starting time. Most sessions last an hour but several
sessions are scheduled simultaneously so it’s sometimes difficult to
choose what to go to. And, of course, you have to slot in time to visit
all the exhibitors’ booths, too.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFbyH1dhcugPkl5YUf-RfPW62UrELql6Z3gSHjnyIYy52eURQQREaneGqODMlvv2tq5ndTQiMusizG0PFUZr5igBvU2i3lXNlCox86vRpaeMDrhmW_1XXwyJPpe-v_U65rRyEX2SZ9-GYOTOsECvwWqnLB6jZf2fzFDE_5bC9kFU9cBX7zUJ41U8OOQ/s1440/tucson-festival-of-books-on-mall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photograph showing view of University of Arizona Mall with booths and crowd of people at the Tucson Festival of Books" border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1440" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFbyH1dhcugPkl5YUf-RfPW62UrELql6Z3gSHjnyIYy52eURQQREaneGqODMlvv2tq5ndTQiMusizG0PFUZr5igBvU2i3lXNlCox86vRpaeMDrhmW_1XXwyJPpe-v_U65rRyEX2SZ9-GYOTOsECvwWqnLB6jZf2fzFDE_5bC9kFU9cBX7zUJ41U8OOQ/w400-h303/tucson-festival-of-books-on-mall.jpg" title="The Tucson Festival of Books is a Book Lover's Delight" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Booths on the University of Arizona Mall; photo by S.L. Schwartz<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Every year that I go to the Tucson Festival of Books, I learn something new. Not only do I get info that’s helpful for the book I’m writing about the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary, I’ve also made some great connections.<br /> <br />The Tucson Festival of Books is a wonderful event and if you’re a book lover, you will definitely enjoy it!<br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="hs-body-level-container blogger" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-33835278142816727252022-12-26T08:30:00.027-07:002023-04-01T00:31:27.373-06:00Hannie Caulder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_B2Wr8wIo9p7fFQSZw4Gfg-bhv74typ445qj9j6mdCfnWMa4BT6s5TLAKoZ390tQNLTjsOf2fCw4LCHq_v8EyeNQKfiayfndJ_mwuMZXnMlUx6AFP5dk0Ds3SFgsZFkl6wOL8sS_zJti9jJp96iCu3-YzDNTmWoAssniy7JS83EbBbBEJ7MMOhzhWA/s2174/hannie-caulder-movie-image.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image of Raquel Welch at top, Hannie Caulder movie title on slant in middle, 3 male actors underneath movie banner title" border="0" data-original-height="2174" data-original-width="1522" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_B2Wr8wIo9p7fFQSZw4Gfg-bhv74typ445qj9j6mdCfnWMa4BT6s5TLAKoZ390tQNLTjsOf2fCw4LCHq_v8EyeNQKfiayfndJ_mwuMZXnMlUx6AFP5dk0Ds3SFgsZFkl6wOL8sS_zJti9jJp96iCu3-YzDNTmWoAssniy7JS83EbBbBEJ7MMOhzhWA/w140-h200/hannie-caulder-movie-image.jpg" title="Hannie Caulder" width="140" /></a></div><p>Perhaps even more relevant now than when it came out fifty-one years ago, in 1971, <span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span> tells the story of one woman’s revenge against three men who killed her husband and then raped her. Although I haven’t read other reviews of this film, since I don’t read any before posting my own review, after watching this movie through the filters of the #MeToo movement and the feminine gaze, I can’t help but think its reception was probably rather different back then than it would be today.<br /> <br />Raquel Welch is the eponymously-named heroine and embodies strength, perseverance, vulnerability and above all, agency, in the aftermath of the devastating attack that occurs at the beginning of <span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span><span style="color: #38761d;">.</span> Known for being a sex symbol, I was pleasantly surprised by Welch’s acting. She has good chemistry with Robert Culp, a bounty hunter named Thomas Luther Price who helps her achieve her objective. Christopher Lee makes an appearance as a gunsmith in Mexico who helps Caulder and Price. Set in Mexico and Texas, this 85-minute long movie was actually filmed in Spain.<br /> <br />The plot of <span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span> is simple: Caulder seeks vengeance against her attackers. Supporting actors Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, and Jack Elam (Boot Coby in <i>Bad Night in Big Butte</i> in <i>Alias Smith and Jones</i>) give good performances as the inept but brutal outlaws, the Clemens brothers. Although their bickering becomes a bit tedious as the movie goes on, they do provide a good contrast to the ruthlessly efficient Price. <br /> <br />When she meets Price, Caulder is vulnerable but gradually he decides to help her and slowly they develop an attraction to each other. A few scenes make this obvious and could have been shorter but overall their relationship is understated and works well. There are no love scenes in <span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span> but after what happened to her, that makes sense. <br /> <br />The movie does, however, periodically give a glimpse of Welch’s naked thighs and torso when she brushes aside the poncho she’s wearing. It’s almost as if Burt Kennedy, the director of <span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span>, felt required to include some shots of a woman’s body in order to keep the male audience engaged. That and the fact that some characters in the movie utter various swear words probably account for the “R” rating it received.<br /> <br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Hannie Caulder</span> builds up to its climax with a series of showdowns that become more and more dangerous. I was surprised at the outcome of one of them, but I think it actually makes the movie stronger. I would have preferred the movie to conclude at the end of the final showdown. Instead, there is a very anticlimactic scene that, in my opinion, weakens the power of this film that allows a woman to reclaim her self, if not her soul.</p><div class="hs-body-level-container blogger" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-25201398131198710842022-03-19T18:47:00.003-06:002022-12-26T09:29:46.881-07:00 4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson<p>I had no idea when I moved to Tucson, a city in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, that hiking was a popular activity. But although it’s too hot in the summer months, which nowadays generally means April through September, it’s cool enough the rest of the year to enjoy walking the numerous scenic trails in and around Tucson. I’ve hiked four trails on the northern edge of the city that offer a variety of experiences and will describe them below. <br /> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX8FT-fDDyE5uyujiJw6igR1QnycSvzDCJ7rD-4mUC9Q0iK_k3_1kd1OOfPV7Yx7lr2qC7_yQFVg1m6gHkEq9nUbsQj5jWkbUGL2ZBVk4hJBkqs83jIx8ViEqxuTXeQLUnFDFUKZ2GRCaGSb78juVSmPmD1SSYTezPmD39aUUYIPclfZ8b0dV8rDQRMA=s800" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photos of 4 hiking trails with title text overlaid on top" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX8FT-fDDyE5uyujiJw6igR1QnycSvzDCJ7rD-4mUC9Q0iK_k3_1kd1OOfPV7Yx7lr2qC7_yQFVg1m6gHkEq9nUbsQj5jWkbUGL2ZBVk4hJBkqs83jIx8ViEqxuTXeQLUnFDFUKZ2GRCaGSb78juVSmPmD1SSYTezPmD39aUUYIPclfZ8b0dV8rDQRMA=w400-h400" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Big Wash Trail</u></span></h3><p>Located in Oro Valley, this trail is 2.4 miles long. It’s a very flat trail, with wide open vistas at the beginning that soon turn into typical desert scrub landscape. Some sections are paved for cyclists, so you need to stay to the side when walking in those areas. There is nothing particularly unique about this trail but it’s a nice, easy walk if you’re in the area and looking to get outdoors for some quick exercise.<br /> <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrnf5RhMWu1DzuXchIn4mMtNRWBR4dXqcXShZAMN4GySn5N72x4-iXgJogL3etxF7tiCsv1lEzmKvshVklxm93-qHpy8DSs4vkjuVAPl5aib0quWaG952UJwQRoqyZ1wiKrALZwNUDsKR3YA2VJa-hm4bxOKqd6WlRzjtodWL8CSh61bHe6Sr93TYn2A=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of beginning of Big Wash Trail" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="800" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrnf5RhMWu1DzuXchIn4mMtNRWBR4dXqcXShZAMN4GySn5N72x4-iXgJogL3etxF7tiCsv1lEzmKvshVklxm93-qHpy8DSs4vkjuVAPl5aib0quWaG952UJwQRoqyZ1wiKrALZwNUDsKR3YA2VJa-hm4bxOKqd6WlRzjtodWL8CSh61bHe6Sr93TYn2A=w400-h297" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the start of the Big Wash Trail, February 2021<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWaNV08OETm9lBmy_0AzgLSGyLuYHE0YjVXuQyxFVo-YbHUNFILhZtIM6_ZnqmuSAtFDJ6wHNSzLi5w4KiuNLCgXg_Nw1yOOqoZaWpZVbmZIybxDeIQKtoG7bn52trNKIK-gDHazVc2hZU216FW1CxG9WVILpNw_XR_xUYaW3l1v8m2OViS6pX32SJjw=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of cycling path section of Big Wash Trail" border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWaNV08OETm9lBmy_0AzgLSGyLuYHE0YjVXuQyxFVo-YbHUNFILhZtIM6_ZnqmuSAtFDJ6wHNSzLi5w4KiuNLCgXg_Nw1yOOqoZaWpZVbmZIybxDeIQKtoG7bn52trNKIK-gDHazVc2hZU216FW1CxG9WVILpNw_XR_xUYaW3l1v8m2OViS6pX32SJjw=w400-h266" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One section of the cycling path of the Big Wash Trail, February 2021<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Honeybee Trail</u></span></h3><p>Located in Oro Valley, this trail is 2.3 miles long. You’re walking mostly in or next to a wash and some areas quite sandy. There is a north trail and a loop trail. The north trail leads to a couple of boulders with petroglyphs on them and is a popular place to take photos. The other trail goes through an area filled with cholla cactus, which makes for interesting photographs if you’re so inclined. This is an easy hike along mostly flat ground.<br /> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4OJKEJo2dSeOCEDANRdikCjNSt3T8TTZPjRoSJ0lQljGP6YiQH2DfjVGeZroOmGYIw3RfaeihlAenJ9UTur-kZlSzlkZsJNdVTuu6rpQf_SoBK56F-0UUF0v-1GI1GCdF0jlzxPRVVPk-4VC2ua8-l4YRLil-Krn38OpVS6_BeLbcNPOkohnT46cOw=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of petroglyphs on Honeybee Canyon Trail" border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="800" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4OJKEJo2dSeOCEDANRdikCjNSt3T8TTZPjRoSJ0lQljGP6YiQH2DfjVGeZroOmGYIw3RfaeihlAenJ9UTur-kZlSzlkZsJNdVTuu6rpQf_SoBK56F-0UUF0v-1GI1GCdF0jlzxPRVVPk-4VC2ua8-l4YRLil-Krn38OpVS6_BeLbcNPOkohnT46cOw=w400-h340" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petroglphys on Honeybee Canyon Trail, February 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPi0Gni8qj6q54dU4GiQ7cTTCDuDR4qggF65wDHyD3P3lqIA9k8E_UiEIvxBg720Qd1B5HqT-Kny709NUVqTNM1L6w0rFqWwYsMvRW4mxBb087m19Fmzb6TEiMomYfEdIsvmQvEcVS2MGz3FJl2HGK4C7DgoAgl19wJkDw4MkQc3IaX1hpZKjkaBUD1Q=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photos of cholla cacti on Honeybee Trail" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPi0Gni8qj6q54dU4GiQ7cTTCDuDR4qggF65wDHyD3P3lqIA9k8E_UiEIvxBg720Qd1B5HqT-Kny709NUVqTNM1L6w0rFqWwYsMvRW4mxBb087m19Fmzb6TEiMomYfEdIsvmQvEcVS2MGz3FJl2HGK4C7DgoAgl19wJkDw4MkQc3IaX1hpZKjkaBUD1Q=w400-h400" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cholla on Honeybee Canyon Trail, February 2020<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Linda Vista Trail</u></span></h3><p>Located in Oro Valley, this is a 2.2 mile long loop trail. The first half, ascending in elevation, is somewhat steep and rocky in places until you reach the top. Going down, the trail isn’t as rocky. There are nice views of sprawling Tucson at the outset. This trail may be closed in winter and spring because it’s a habitat for bighorn sheep and they give birth during those months. There’s another trail you can also hike but I haven’t done that one yet. This trail is a little closer to Tucson proper and there will be lots of other people out hiking as well.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWjvmJwSKEvHR7llM72QyqpF3mjeigbRfw_6TrD5gCz9LBzAEeTFiad57OIGM1Qn8OmZHR_JjJ7paOTVej3X_b5Hdtl5iZpvXCcqeFYpZdyCkL_-ctYULYHRNZePXW3rEKqifg7fgfbvrlFVKKf0Ay_uj7OPMxtz7O9jN-nTN2YJwgXuWVD-P-ijkwlg=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of Tucson from Linda Vista Loop Trail" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWjvmJwSKEvHR7llM72QyqpF3mjeigbRfw_6TrD5gCz9LBzAEeTFiad57OIGM1Qn8OmZHR_JjJ7paOTVej3X_b5Hdtl5iZpvXCcqeFYpZdyCkL_-ctYULYHRNZePXW3rEKqifg7fgfbvrlFVKKf0Ay_uj7OPMxtz7O9jN-nTN2YJwgXuWVD-P-ijkwlg=w300-h400" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Tucson from Linda Vista Loop Trail, March 2022<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX0MuiP6XXKiWEvvDv8gphsmgJIiNDNPe0PGu9-NTPYb4hc72NGbZr_zMPKnZKPRgL5zU5vuksMaJ86OgUgmUey4duVvPQxH4j6oeFFpt1__lL1DDt2OBwief0_w8lEG__5SYG32948bWGZGhLiC4ueBwOji6wiwJacGle2vWOsNpU_Ik9goi09GdQWQ=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of view near the top of the Linda Vista Loop Trail" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjX0MuiP6XXKiWEvvDv8gphsmgJIiNDNPe0PGu9-NTPYb4hc72NGbZr_zMPKnZKPRgL5zU5vuksMaJ86OgUgmUey4duVvPQxH4j6oeFFpt1__lL1DDt2OBwief0_w8lEG__5SYG32948bWGZGhLiC4ueBwOji6wiwJacGle2vWOsNpU_Ik9goi09GdQWQ=w300-h400" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the top of the Linda Vista Loop Trail, March 2022<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Pima Canyon Trail</u></span></h3><p>Located on the edge of Oro Valley, this trail is inside the Coronado National Forest. The total length is 10.10 miles but I only hiked a few miles of it. Some parts are fairly steep and rocky but then it descends into an area with a spring and gurgling stream. I saw minnows when there in March. Lots of large cottonwood trees provide shade cover. Hiking out of that section brings you to the more typical Sonoran Desert landscape. This is a popular trail so you’ll encounter many other hikers. It’s also an area where bighorn sheep live so it may be off-limits during the lambing season. (For more info about bighorn sheep in Arizona, please click <a href="https://www.azgfd.com/hunting/species/biggame/bighornsheep/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>HERE</u></span></a>.)<br /> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrAusHHSojFLrwW9978esjRLRcMotQgTCHOwQgWaZelZJzFH8M46OJa62qyOSJZjIVUKVcZ7F08pwO0tmcUKgm5Mv5T9ba_GYarsMBK-O1Mia9QUEXBJILhDPcvS300aZWJozPx1uPiDcPj0VKMugkonxOE7FAInVFDF00c8HWFIi_Gat_pC7Rb-7PWw=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of hikers on the Pima Canyon Trail" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrAusHHSojFLrwW9978esjRLRcMotQgTCHOwQgWaZelZJzFH8M46OJa62qyOSJZjIVUKVcZ7F08pwO0tmcUKgm5Mv5T9ba_GYarsMBK-O1Mia9QUEXBJILhDPcvS300aZWJozPx1uPiDcPj0VKMugkonxOE7FAInVFDF00c8HWFIi_Gat_pC7Rb-7PWw=w400-h300" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hikers on the Pima Canyon Trail, March 2021<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhq0sH7Zn6FXCT88hPAn4G1Rh7-xFTDvXoie4p-qHuG4pZX0TjM_V2XfxBfryMnQOYedxXoJwGmqt-pA_XHBeJzO_SJ7-aSKRiNZL_89TFTS5nFhXY5Ohw8uW6fd6D64Ih9aY63bT1aT_jpJGEQpx2uufumbk7bvWB-5bcacMWffJPAxAEnmZBxEaLI6Q=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="View of spring at Pima Canyon Trail" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhq0sH7Zn6FXCT88hPAn4G1Rh7-xFTDvXoie4p-qHuG4pZX0TjM_V2XfxBfryMnQOYedxXoJwGmqt-pA_XHBeJzO_SJ7-aSKRiNZL_89TFTS5nFhXY5Ohw8uW6fd6D64Ih9aY63bT1aT_jpJGEQpx2uufumbk7bvWB-5bcacMWffJPAxAEnmZBxEaLI6Q=w300-h400" title="4 Hiking Trails to Try In Tucson" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trees and spring at Pima Canyon Trail, March 2021<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Things to Keep in Mind When Hiking</u></span> </h3><p>Here are a few recommendations that will help you stay safe during your hiking adventure in Tucson:<br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>*</b></span> Even though it might not be summer, it still gets very warm by midday so dress in layers, wear sunscreen and a hat, and bring plenty of water.<br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>*</b></span> Go early, because although there are parking lots at the trailheads, they are not large and fill up quickly. I recommend arriving before 9:00am to ensure you get a parking space.<br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>*</b></span> Don’t wander off the trail! Not only do you risk getting lost, you might also damage the land. For the most part, it’s easy to see where the trails are and if you’re not sure, turn around and go back or wait until someone comes along and can point you in the right direction. </p><p> </p><p>According to <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/us/arizona/tucson" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>AllTrails</u></span></a>, which is where I got the info about the length of the trails, there are 248 hiking trails in the Tucson area. I have lots more exploring to do! <br /> <br /></p><div class="hs-body-level-container" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-36946803353833013832021-04-12T17:57:00.004-06:002023-04-01T00:30:09.514-06:00Support Your Local Gunfighter<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwctB55rVTBdTSm7gKNtyCgTRsDnG6ki41k7Jj2iZBkKXRbvlHn1Vhwf0yoItpETaOkjVzNoL7_aLyXkLYL1TWB4gCIzI00dFv98QMZkkcH9Y4eund_vbXjGmQCeT5iS6flsAtEFsfUoTz/s389/Support+Your+Local+Gunfighter+movie+review+by+Picturing+The+West.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwctB55rVTBdTSm7gKNtyCgTRsDnG6ki41k7Jj2iZBkKXRbvlHn1Vhwf0yoItpETaOkjVzNoL7_aLyXkLYL1TWB4gCIzI00dFv98QMZkkcH9Y4eund_vbXjGmQCeT5iS6flsAtEFsfUoTz/s16000/Support+Your+Local+Gunfighter+movie+review+by+Picturing+The+West.jpg" /></a></div>James Garner stars in <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighte</span><span style="color: #38761d;">r</span> and it’s easy to see why he was a star. His combination of good looks, witty dialog, and charisma carries what would otherwise be a second-rate film.<br /><br />My introduction to James Garner came with <i>The Rockford Files</i>, which began a few years after this 1971 movie. Jim Rockford and Latigo Smith, the character Garner plays in <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighter</span>, share many personality traits. In fact, even though <i>Maverick</i> isn’t one of my favorite TV shows, there is a clear line from Brett Maverick to Latigo Smith to Jim Rockford. It even looks like Latigo Smith’s clothes were the same as Brett Maverick’s, at least as far as shirts and ties go.<br /><br />There’s a lot going on in <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighter</span> and at times, it can be confusing to keep track of who is who and who is doing what to whom. After an establishing shot, the action starts on a train car, where Smith, as the audience will eventually learn is his name, seems to be on his way to Denver to get married. However, he also seems to be somewhat unwilling and bribes people to let him get off at the next stop, which happens to be a town called Purgatory.<br /><br />The reason for the town’s name becomes obvious, especially when Patience Barton, who is anything but, makes her presence loudly known. Played by Suzanne Pleshette, Patience is a far cry from Emily Hartley in <i>The Bob Newhart Show</i>, the character she played beginning the year after making <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighter</span>.<br /><br />The problem with Patience and Taylor Barton, her father played by Harry Morgan, and Jug, Smith’s sidekick played by Jack Elam, and most of the supporting characters, is that they are all played for laughs. They talk loudly and act broadly. Watching <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighter</span> through a 21st century lens, which I admit is not really fair, the movie makes fun of Patience in all her scenes, implicitly and sometimes explicitly contrasting her behavior with a stereotypical view of how a young woman should act. Sometimes it was amusing but it was also grating.<br /><br />Much of the plot revolves around Latigo Smith being mistaken for a famous gunfighter and using the misunderstanding to his financial advantage. All the disparate plot lines eventually converge and of course there is a happy ending for the good guys. Burt Kennedy directed but <span style="color: #38761d;">Support Your Local Gunfighter</span> is not best his movie. But it is only 1 hour and 33 minutes long so if you’re a fan of James Garner, Suzanne Pleshette, Harry Morgan, or Jack Elam, you’ll enjoy this lightweight movie.<br /><br /><p></p><div class="hs-body-level-container" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-82208903633957840742021-02-09T12:10:00.005-07:002023-04-01T00:29:00.626-06:00Mystery Road and Goldstone<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikvx4X933-torzMd-zythH5uUn7q5jb20k5CsEa1kjoSUDWGlCUL64eofNAaaczcVRbMXvtchVPgXWPCFv3TYfPeZwqx_OjDlhVrwJuUTva3pmlTUMtwokfkNxQKznOsmAQKR0UCpL7El/s250/Mystery+Road+%2526+Goldstone+review+by+PicturingtheWest.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikvx4X933-torzMd-zythH5uUn7q5jb20k5CsEa1kjoSUDWGlCUL64eofNAaaczcVRbMXvtchVPgXWPCFv3TYfPeZwqx_OjDlhVrwJuUTva3pmlTUMtwokfkNxQKznOsmAQKR0UCpL7El/s16000/Mystery+Road+%2526+Goldstone+review+by+PicturingtheWest.png" title="Mystery Road and Goldstone movie reviews" /></a></div>Does a Western have to be filmed in the western part of the United States to be considered a Western? The Australian movies <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span> and <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span> emphatically prove the answer is no.<p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>Both movies star Aaron Pedersen, an Indigenous Australian actor who has appeared in a number of popular Australian TV shows. In the 2013 film <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span>, Pedersen plays Jay Swan, a detective who arrives in a small town in the outback to solve the mystery of who murdered an Aboriginal girl. In <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>, released in 2016, some years have passed but again Jay Swan finds himself in another speck-of-a-nowhere town in the outback searching for a missing Chinese girl. The pacing is very slow at the start, especially in <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>, but both films climax with a burst of action followed by a denouement which resolves some questions but leaves others unanswered, as all good movies should so viewers can form their own conclusions. </p><p><br />In both <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span>, which runs 221 minutes, and <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>, which is 210 minutes long, several Western clichés are present. However, because of the superb acting, the wonderful and sometimes unusual cinematography, and the unfamiliar setting – to Americans, at least – they do not feel like tired tropes. <br /><br />Jay Swan is the outsider who appears suddenly from nowhere – the audience never learns where he is from. His home life is messy – he’s left his wife, who is very angry at him, and he’s estranged from his daughter. He works alone – and almost seems to go out of his way to discourage colleagues from getting too friendly with him. He swaggers when he walks – and does it beautifully, but in doing so he conveys an attitude of righteousness. He wears iconic cowboy clothing – an Australian version of a cowboy hat, a gun in a holster on his hip, and cowboy boots, which the camera lovingly focuses on many times, especially in <span style="color: #274e13;">Mystery Road</span> but also in <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>. Jay Swan is the loner who stands up to corruption and speaks truth to power – and gets hurt, physically and psychologically, as a result. <br /><br />As well, supporting characters embody classic Western traits: the mayor and others on the take, the fresh-faced younger guy who has trouble distinguishing right from wrong, the older woman with almost a heart of gold who is loyal to the wrong person. The towns that are the settings of both films are dusty with few inhabitants, located in what seem to be the middle of nowhere; they are self-enclosed environments where the law is not really present. In both <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span> and <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>, there are shoot-outs; I won’t spoil anything but both of them conform to Western showdowns. <br /><br />The victims in <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span> and <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span> are “little people” who have no power. Through many twists and unexpected turns, Jay Swan saves them. The bad guys get their well-deserved comeuppance. The world is made not perfect but better because of Jay Swan.<br /><br />After <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span> was released, a TV show was produced with Aaron Pedersen playing Jay Swan; currently, there are two seasons available. The TV series are set in between the time of the movies and fill in a little of the backstory of Jay Swan. Each series deals with one overall mystery. They, and the movies too, also address contemporary issues such as relationships between Indigenous people and whites, the power of the government, land control and use, and family dynamics. Although situated in an Australian context, they will resonate with audiences world-wide.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p>For a different take on the Western genre, <span style="color: #38761d;">Mystery Road</span>, <span style="color: #38761d;">Goldstone</span>, and the TV series are well worth watching.<br /><br /></p><div class="hs-body-level-container" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-27743788205227743352020-08-26T18:29:00.013-06:002023-04-01T00:27:06.316-06:00Nevada (1944 Remake)<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037124/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieT7ISVULrA6r7UL_9bAMnlIBFfH5Pv7CKOinY-L8ktF_B_xztLroAALasnsETcMMpuNTchxkqfMeRhkgFIcrHc9ID27uWsrMvg68FQwG-f4riKSY-XmiewnGLymN5ptJqcN9bJhWvmtzu/s0/Nevada+movie+image.jpg" /></a></div><p>If you want to see Robert Mitchum’s first major role in the movies, watch <span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span>, where the opening credit says “Introducing Bob Mitchum.” After viewing this black-and-white, just over an hour 1944 film, it’s easy to understand why he became a star.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span> opens with three men sitting on horses, Lacy (Bob Mitchum), Dusty (Guinn “Big Boy” Williams), and Chito (Richard Martin) listening to Chito sing and strum a guitar. Dusty criticizes his singing and says, “You foreigners butcher it.” To which Chito replies, “All kinds of people make up this country.” He then says his mother was Mexican, his father Irish and his full name is Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamante Rafferty. "Pretty good American, no?” For a movie made in 1944, in the middle of World War II, I thought his comments were really interesting and showed an awareness of the positive effect of ethnic diversity which I wouldn’t have expected from a film of that time period.</p><p> </p><p>The three men watch a wagon train roll by; Lacy rides over and discovers it’s heading to Sun Mountain in Nevada where someone named Comstock (Emmett Lynn) has staked out a big bonanza. Dusty dissuades Lacy from heading there because he says Comstock has never found anything of worth. The scene shifts to Gold Hill, as named on a title card, and an old geezer who turns out to be Comstock, nicknamed Pancake. He and another man go into an office and write up a claim that the other has bought. It was sometimes confusing following all the scene changes in <span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span> as all the plot threads were explicated.<br /><br />In another scene shift, the audience sees an out-of-control stagecoach being driven, sort of, by a woman with several other women passengers screaming in fright. We’re back with the three cowpokes and Lacy gallops off to save the women. The driver turns out to be Julie Dexter (Anne Jeffreys), the woman referred to by the man taking Pancake’s claim in the office in the previous scene. Of course Lacy saves the women and Julie renames him “Nevada.” He gets a faraway look in his eyes.<br /><br />From there, the plot involves Lacy in a saloon gambling with his trusty sidekicks Dusty and Chito (Three Musketeers, anyone?) and winning $7,000 to the dismay of the dealer who promptly tries to steal the money back. Splitting up from his friends, Lacy witnesses a wagon being bushwhacked. Meanwhile – there are many <i>meanwhiles</i> in this movie! – Julie brings a letter to the land claims man, whose name is Cash Burridge -- <span style="color: #274e13;">Nevada</span> is not especially subtle -- and they discover that Comstock hasn’t discovered gold but silver. Burridge, however, want to keep it quiet for the time being and even though she disagrees, Julie goes along because she loves Cash.<br /><br />With lots of short scenes interweaving the stories of Lacy, Julie, Dusty and Chito, Cash and his subordinate Powell, and the children of the murdered man, Hattie and Marvie, <span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span> is never short of excitement even if some of the strands of the story are predictable. There is lots of action and even a couple surprises. The acting is good and Pancake’s comic antics provide levity throughout. I did think the ending was abrupt, though; it seemed like the film was trying to end on a poetic note but it fell flat for me.</p><p> </p><p>An off-hand comment reveals that the setting of <span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span> is before it was a territory or a state, which means the movie’s events occurred before 1861. Since the plot concerns the Comstock Lode, which was discovered in 1859, that makes sense. However, a few phrases that stuck out are anachronisms (according to the online dictionaries I consulted):<br />* do what one little dogie told another another – git along: <i>dogie</i> was first used 1885 – 1890<br />* dry gulched: first use 1865 - 1870<br />* get down to cases: first use 1892<br />* jughead: first use 1925<br />Another phrase whose origin I couldn’t pin down was <i>slick-fingered sidewinder</i>. But regardless of whether Dusty’s exclamation that “We’re just a couple of low characters in high heels” is anachronistic or not, it’s a great comment that describes the light-hearted tone of <span style="color: #38761d;">Nevada</span> perfectly.<span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13;">Nevada</span> shows Robert Mitchum off very well. In fact, after one of the many fights, there’s a glimpse of Mitchum with his shirt ripped open to his waist. However, the view immediately cuts to a scene showing him fully dressed again and that is more in keeping with the tone of this movie.<br /><br />This <span style="color: #274e13;">Nevada</span> is a remake of a 1927 movie of the same name. Both are based on a book by Zane Grey. There are three bonus features on the DVD and one of them has Luke Grey, his son, presenting a pair of home movies about Zane Grey's fishing exploits. Since it's about 50 minutes long, fishing isn't one of my interests, and the language used in the intro was very dated, I didn't watch it. Another bonus feature, entitled "Fisherman's Pluck," runs about 8 minutes but I skipped that as well. The third bonus feature was a 28-minute biography of Zane Grey produced in 1985, which I did watch and found informative.</p><p><br /></p>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-8192095780975790142020-02-11T18:24:00.000-07:002020-02-11T18:28:58.238-07:00What is the Tucson Gem Show?One of the benefits of living in Tucson is being able to attend the Gem Show every year. The Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase, as it’s officially known, began in 1955 as an exhibition sponsored by a gem club at a local grade school. There were competitions for different types of collections and the show lasted two days.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculptures created from rock formations on display & for sale</td></tr>
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The following year the show was held at the Pima County Fairgrounds to accommodate more exhibitors and larger crowds. Again, the show ran for two days. Over the next several years, the show grew in size and crowds and in 1972, it shifted location to the Tucson Convention Center.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Booklets advertising various shows</td></tr>
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In 2020, there is an exhibition in the Convention Center and also 49 other exhibitions in venues spread throughout Tucson. The entire Gem Show lasts not two days but two weeks. It typically begins at the end of January and runs through the middle of February; however, each venue sets its own schedule and many shows run for just one week. Since moving to Tucson five years ago, I’ve attended the Gem Show annually with my mother, my aunt, and a friend. It’s an outing we look forward to every year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan</td></tr>
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The Gem Show, as it’s commonly called, has transformed itself from purely an exhibition of mineral and gem collections into a marketplace selling gems, minerals, fossils, handicrafts, rare coins and maps, beads, tools for creating jewelry, and jewelry from around the world. Each show includes numerous vendors. Many shows are in huge white tents that are visible all around the city. Most have free entry but the show at the Convention Center has an admission fee.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC8CRHopsy-WxT5Fj17rxkpi7lY-2WVJ1EJ9ZkFu33Udi6cIJ0I_CkYXS4_tymH0SN-5NJDhYqPjRGaC_NfxdJqcj-_hT2uKBsWvCy90fSimF3PRe8kVtHptNGd55wYBLPlCM0PRX_NEc/s1600/jewelry%252C+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1490" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC8CRHopsy-WxT5Fj17rxkpi7lY-2WVJ1EJ9ZkFu33Udi6cIJ0I_CkYXS4_tymH0SN-5NJDhYqPjRGaC_NfxdJqcj-_hT2uKBsWvCy90fSimF3PRe8kVtHptNGd55wYBLPlCM0PRX_NEc/s320/jewelry%252C+edited.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewelry & supplies purchased at the Gem Show</td></tr>
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Some venues such as the African Art Village, specialize in products from a particular region. Having been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone, I was eager to see what that was like so a few years ago, we went there. There were vendors from many sub-Saharan countries but none from Sierra Leone. All sorts of wood, basket, textile and other products were available, including shea butter which I used to make soap. Other venues, such as the Holidome, are open only to wholesale buyers and while free, require registration. Fortunately, my aunt has a business license because she makes and sells jewelry so I can get into those venues as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbwMeoztz9IAzwn9Bt5IyPee4BgFVZU-KibZ4QLRacnhAHW7TMA6uA7Lnx3au1nPaHh1skvTOSd12fu4tYY-qVKtd_5i3mTGoBc7FN0ew7p2bnMlzwEWFKk3b0RGgFQB6M11UNjsHeSnw/s1600/IMG_1818-min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbwMeoztz9IAzwn9Bt5IyPee4BgFVZU-KibZ4QLRacnhAHW7TMA6uA7Lnx3au1nPaHh1skvTOSd12fu4tYY-qVKtd_5i3mTGoBc7FN0ew7p2bnMlzwEWFKk3b0RGgFQB6M11UNjsHeSnw/s320/IMG_1818-min.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trilobites & other fossils are exhibited</td></tr>
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Spending an entire day at one of the shows is exhausting! We wander up and down the corridors looking at all the vendors’ exhibits, frequently stopping to examine things that catch our eye. We get lunch from one of the food trucks outside. I inevitably end up buying jewelry I didn’t know I needed but decide I can’t do without. I also buy materials for making earrings – which I’ve been doing for over 30 years – and necklaces, which I recently started making. Then, we go on another day to a different location for more fun.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YPhA5VC7VYT1YwVccMRBdwpD-ry3hxM15HKvyrzsKCuGgwmHj_PjSFy8CXXPyX3Dlyb8FeohTf1J3NuGCbfNc5o1MhA3L_G0bjhT_qDs4T7uxCINuo5PkvGtrknCO4qAg0sqM-HuwBtl/s1600/IMG_1822-min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YPhA5VC7VYT1YwVccMRBdwpD-ry3hxM15HKvyrzsKCuGgwmHj_PjSFy8CXXPyX3Dlyb8FeohTf1J3NuGCbfNc5o1MhA3L_G0bjhT_qDs4T7uxCINuo5PkvGtrknCO4qAg0sqM-HuwBtl/s320/IMG_1822-min.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All kinds of rocks and minerals are available</td></tr>
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The Gem Show brings vendors and visitors from all over the world to Tucson each winter. Around 65,000 people attend so it gives a huge boost to the local economy. There is also a smaller Gem Show in September. Many of the same vendors participate in that show, too. Every year I have a great time and I am glad I live in a city which hosts such a great event.<br />
<br />S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-51640219431232520792019-12-22T16:40:00.001-07:002019-12-22T16:47:29.300-07:00From Swords to Plowshares: The Vista Sunwheel in Catalina, ArizonaYesterday was the Winter Solstice, or Yule, in the Northern Hemisphere. I went to the sunwheel at Vista de la Montana United Methodist Church in Catalina, Arizona, to watch the sun set. It’s a tranquil area behind the church with a few benches on the perimeter. I was there at the Spring Equinox as well.<br />
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When I was there in the spring, Jim, the person who constructed the sunwheel, explained its purpose to me. (There’s also brochure about it that’s available in a box attached to a signpost.) He explained that this sunwheel is modeled after Native American medicine wheels. They were, Jim said, astronomic tools used to highlight the passage of the seasons. They are sacred structures and are found in many Native cultures, according to Jim.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY0ozwYKgtwSLV2k2nbQkg7O_DnzjcyhMpHkDH51pAYWt39nI4gH7Fjj_rp8pc5hVfRKoF4SFtA2MzX3sn5pVNav2fHbt0IPm-6CrxXkZSj1R9BEAkXP5yPS_EYzaLBY45OBTNKhOOxBb/s1600/PicturingTheWest%252C+for+Blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Find out what a sunwheel is & why there is one in Catalina, Arizona | PicturingTheWest" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY0ozwYKgtwSLV2k2nbQkg7O_DnzjcyhMpHkDH51pAYWt39nI4gH7Fjj_rp8pc5hVfRKoF4SFtA2MzX3sn5pVNav2fHbt0IPm-6CrxXkZSj1R9BEAkXP5yPS_EYzaLBY45OBTNKhOOxBb/s400/PicturingTheWest%252C+for+Blog.jpg" title="Find out what a sunwheel is & why there is one in Catalina, Arizona | PicturingTheWest" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunwheel at sunset</td></tr>
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As with others, the sunwheel in Catalina consists of an outer stone circle with a diameter of 61 feet. Emanating inwards are lines of stones, which meet at a center cairn, measuring 11 feet in diameter. Depending on the time of year, when the sun rises or sets, the rays line up with one of the lines in the circle of stones. I have to confess that I didn’t quite understand how it all works.<br />
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Nevertheless, it’s a very impressive site. What makes it even more remarkable is that it is built on top of a missile silo. The center cairn was the opening through which a Titan II missile would have been launched if the United States had been under nuclear attack. <br />
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Southern Arizona was home to 18 Titan II missiles during the Cold War. These intercontinental ballistic missiles, housed in underground silos around Tucson, were part of a network of 54 nuclear-armed warheads that were in operation from 1962 – 1987. Site #18 was the missile in Catalina; it's the one just above the text that says "Mt. Lemmon."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGqta0_G5rJHzpUF1k65um-ICVcr4LCj8vWbptZUkiN9KYBKEtOQd3gJ0-qpVFKQTiAzABuMzaP0nabsXdP0PJoKmcFDiHBm5DgfdfTe4j9C8mDIqOfUdEhdV-kUPdxlKMz9OKYWImueU/s1600/Titan+II+missiles+in+Tucson.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Find out where a Titan II missile silo is now a sunwheel | PicturingTheWest" border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="1174" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGqta0_G5rJHzpUF1k65um-ICVcr4LCj8vWbptZUkiN9KYBKEtOQd3gJ0-qpVFKQTiAzABuMzaP0nabsXdP0PJoKmcFDiHBm5DgfdfTe4j9C8mDIqOfUdEhdV-kUPdxlKMz9OKYWImueU/s400/Titan+II+missiles+in+Tucson.png" title="Find out where a Titan II missile silo is now a sunwheel | PicturingTheWest" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location of Titan II missiles in Tucson; click <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?hl=en&mid=1ZYaMhFJqpTcCrLX_HFyZ39ZdNW8&ll=32.45672323938102%2C-110.91842564992817&z=9" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">here</span></a> for an interactive map</td></tr>
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Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson operated the silos, which came online here in 1963. Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas and McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas also hosted 18 missiles each. The ICBMs in Tucson went offline in 1982. Below is a map of where all 18 missiles in the Tucson area were stored. At one of them, in Sahuarita, you can visit the <a href="https://titanmissilemuseum.org/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Titan Missile Museum,</span></b></a> which is a National Historic Landmark and education center. I haven’t visited yet but will get there eventually.<br />
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Fortunately, none of the Titan II missiles were ever launched and now the site in Catalina has been transformed into a place of peace.<br />
<br />S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-20575825657989204852019-09-19T12:39:00.000-06:002019-09-19T12:50:45.583-06:00Photographing Birds in Madera Canyon, Arizona<span style="font-size: normal;">Madera Canyon is located in the Coronado National Forest, about a 90-minute drive south from where I live in Tucson. It is a world famous location for bird sightings and is especially known for its varieties of hummingbirds. There are hiking trails and picnic areas but only rudimentary facilities, and there is a daily use fee. It’s an easy day trip from Tucson.<br /><br />Since Madera Canyon is at an elevation of almost 5,000 feet, it is particularly nice to go there during the summer as an escape from the heat of Tucson. I recently went to Madera Canyon with the local photo club I belong to. They have done outings to Madera Canyon in the past but this was the first time I was able to go. We drove down and arrived around 9:30am at the Santa Rita Lodge’s Bird Viewing Area. This is a great place for photographing hummingbirds because a series of hummingbird feeders is lined up and it is easy to set up a tripod. There are also a few benches and a covered area that make it comfortable for when you want to get out of the sun or take a break from using your tripod. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: normal;">I set up my gear and started shooting. I won’t go into the details of what settings and lenses I used because that is not the purpose of this post. But I will say that since this was the first time I’d ever tried to photograph hummingbirds, and I am still learning how to use my new camera, I was very glad there were experienced photographers who could help me when I had questions.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhc6UXq_QyZcrpMShfhJHpezY0iKI0G6MgJp7ZDwmjIO9HC3xzrOuN_HxI-oFpDtH8-76ZBOHtxnCTWCZqxR4O01kJcwAiUuxTOx4Z0ZQQb8BfB3SxmDjKGfByjYxGyI_WqCAY7npv7Nr/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="800" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhc6UXq_QyZcrpMShfhJHpezY0iKI0G6MgJp7ZDwmjIO9HC3xzrOuN_HxI-oFpDtH8-76ZBOHtxnCTWCZqxR4O01kJcwAiUuxTOx4Z0ZQQb8BfB3SxmDjKGfByjYxGyI_WqCAY7npv7Nr/s400/2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: normal;">I am not a birder so I have no idea what kind of hummingbirds I saw. I just tried to get photos of different varieties of birds and of birds in different positions. These photos show some of the many images I took. While they may not be professional quality, I am happy with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: normal;">In addition to hummingbirds, we also saw turkeys. At one point, I counted 13 of them! I also saw a woodpecker, which was nice. Here are a few photos of those birds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: normal;">Now that I’ve gotten a taste of photographing hummingbirds, I want to keep trying so I can improve my images. I will definitely return to Madera Canyon to photograph hummingbirds again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;"><br />You can see a few more of my hummingbird photos on my Instagram account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/picturingthewest/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>HERE</u></span></a>.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;">To find out more about Madera Canyon, please click on the links below: </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recarea/?recid=25760" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u><span style="font-size: small;">Visiting Madera Canyon</span></u></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;">Information from the USDA Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, which oversees the area</span><br />
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<a href="https://friendsofmaderacanyon.org/aboutmc/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u><span style="font-size: smanormalll;">Friends of Madera Canyon</span></u></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;">Detailed information for visitors </span><br />
<a href="https://santaritalodge.com/birds-and-wildlife/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u><br /></u></span></a>
<span style="font-size: normal;"><a href="https://santaritalodge.com/birds-and-wildlife/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Types of Birds Seen in Madera Canyon</u></span></a></span><br />
Info provided on Santa Rita Lodge website<br />
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<span style="font-size: normal;"><a href="https://santaritalodge.com/about-our-lodging/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><u>Santa Rita Lodge's Bird viewing Area</u></span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: smanormalll;">Scroll down the page to see the location of the viewing area</span><br />
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<br />S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-1575766183085242102019-08-26T22:02:00.003-06:002023-04-01T00:25:39.159-06:00Deadwood Pass<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuU0RDm6wBfR9xVy5p5iJLcEhmeoX6VTYh1C1mMjWqDu8FDUVnhJZCCOrPhLGEap90HMqtbMpH4nMs41N6c9e4_Spi0cq4gDmx3fk1qQxLO9gNYATJW7i-6hmuc9w975798MD7IqltF1Q/s1600/Deadwood+Pass+poster.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1297" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyuU0RDm6wBfR9xVy5p5iJLcEhmeoX6VTYh1C1mMjWqDu8FDUVnhJZCCOrPhLGEap90HMqtbMpH4nMs41N6c9e4_Spi0cq4gDmx3fk1qQxLO9gNYATJW7i-6hmuc9w975798MD7IqltF1Q/s320/Deadwood+Pass+poster.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
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This 1933 black-and-white film is only 62 minutes long but it packs a punch. Tom Tyler (whose real name was Vincent Markowski) plays Tom Whitlock, aka Tom Saddler, aka the Hawk, in <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span>. He's an escaped convict, though the movie doesn’t say from which penitentiary. He returns to his old gang, hiding out in a place called Deadwood Pass, to retrieve the treasure he hid before he was caught and sent up for 20 years. Well, that’s what the audience is supposed to believe.<br />
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Although the technical quality of the move wasn’t great, by which I mean there was some background static and tiny spots and faint lines in frames, especially in the beginning, there were a few aspects that made <span style="color: #274e13;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span> interesting to watch. The plot was clever and had some good twists and turns. However, much of the film consisted of typical Western movie scenes: a stagecoach chase, girl meets boy and they flirt, a saloon fight, a Mexican dancing girl, a shootout, the sheriff and posse riding to hopefully save the day.<br />
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What I most liked about <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span> was the role of the Mexican outlaw. He turned out to be more than a stereotype, even though he wasn’t played by a Latino actor (Merrill McCormick). It was amusing when he was first called Felip and then, later in the movie, Felipe.<br />
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Butch Cassidy was the leader of the gang in <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span> but there was nothing to identify him with the historical figure. The other gang members weren’t identified by name. At one point, Hawk wears Butch’s hat and coat, rides into the nearby town, and is mistaken for Cassidy. You’d think an outlaw with the reputation Butch Cassidy had would know better than to wear clothes that made him instantly recognizable.<br />
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And you’d expect a movie named <span style="color: #38761d;">Deadwood Pass</span> to be set in or near Deadwood, South Dakota, but this <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span> was clearly located somewhere else and, in fact, the movie was filmed in California. The one thing it had in common with ASJ was the lookout at the entrance to the pass, like the one in <i>Return to Devil’s Hole</i>.<br />
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The dialog was often clichéd and there were often long stretches without any dialog at all. Also, I was struck by the lack of background music. <span style="color: #38761d;"><span>Deadwood Pass</span></span> was clearly a movie made between the silent film era and before talking movies really came into their own.<br />
<br /><div class="hs-body-level-container" strategyname="Blogger"></div>S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-46503489833838252232019-07-30T03:00:00.001-06:002023-04-01T00:24:18.628-06:00Heaven's Gate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRDIHjoIhejk8IWyflIsXAKI4lgP4t4PBdeb_tRvd8wI-n-AR1kBXK0S7EsWJGfut1-LGT80qqZLgvTp0cKQ0HX3YSIeWPtnJRcatk79U7M_hDUl65KB2yROsq9KtCtLWNX4TDsYDhRk/s1600/aaa.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Review of Heaven's Gate | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRDIHjoIhejk8IWyflIsXAKI4lgP4t4PBdeb_tRvd8wI-n-AR1kBXK0S7EsWJGfut1-LGT80qqZLgvTp0cKQ0HX3YSIeWPtnJRcatk79U7M_hDUl65KB2yROsq9KtCtLWNX4TDsYDhRk/s1600/aaa.jpg" title="Review of Heaven's Gate | Leslie Silverlove" /></a></div>
I’ll make this short. Unlike the movie, which seemed interminable because I watched the director’s cut which ran 3 hours and 39 minutes long.<br /><br />I know that revisionist history says <span style="color: #38761d;">Heaven’s Gate</span>, about the Johnson County War in Wyoming, is a masterpiece. And I watched it for that reason and also because several ASJ episodes in the 3rd season dealt with the Johnson County War (<i>Bushwhack!</i>, <i>What Happened at the XST?</i>, <i>Witness to a Lynching</i>). <br /><br />But I just couldn’t get into it; the action moved waaay too slowly for me. It was also hard to keep all the characters straight. Also, some of the scenes strained my credulity and just didn’t seem realistic to me. I especially didn’t like the ending. On the other hand, the cinematography was beautiful and the set design was great.<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-13905316798134885462019-07-29T18:39:00.002-06:002019-07-31T21:44:19.320-06:00Gammons GulchGammons Gulch, located about two hours southeast of my home, is a small Old West film set. It’s near Benson, Arizona, and looks like it’s in the middle of nowhere but it’s easy to reach and makes a fun day trip for anyone who wants to step back in time for a little while. It’s privately owned so reservations are needed but only a nominal entrance fee is charged.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsgIwYxg4ojo1H-nCiQfEGx-xZo1V7zXMk0qPNOS6YOchI0X2Er0wBeltjOl6f9Qm2nKM_uiZ_Bx-40TPFDSI3Xyo5Nw-KJ3dhLrmZ1UU4X6GmlwwVtbraF4mm0tMAuH7wRQbnvw8Kv4/s1600/Gammons+Gulch+Sign+for+Flickr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1600" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsgIwYxg4ojo1H-nCiQfEGx-xZo1V7zXMk0qPNOS6YOchI0X2Er0wBeltjOl6f9Qm2nKM_uiZ_Bx-40TPFDSI3Xyo5Nw-KJ3dhLrmZ1UU4X6GmlwwVtbraF4mm0tMAuH7wRQbnvw8Kv4/s320/Gammons+Gulch+Sign+for+Flickr.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance sign to Gammons Gulch</td></tr>
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The owner gives a guided tour but this doesn’t take real long and then you are free to wander around for as long as you like. What sets Gammons Gulch apart from other Old West film sets in Arizona is that it can also function as a set for early 20th century productions because it has props, including some old automobiles, from that time period, too. These are out of sight, though, so as you walk down the main street and duck through the alleys, they are not visible. The ambience is definitely that of the Old West.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYNDhlAgVslB757xJ_IbWIVMXBJqH1rllh4tPzzJ75lGt7v2V8tMernXBaHoRkgHbW_O0B9y8BGpJP0Xzsq7safHUtVunHzbN9h_0Bpnpx3bRNKP9g2Bf9p8znr1OPuqFsFX6Qc9o6Ig/s1600/Main+Street+with+Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYNDhlAgVslB757xJ_IbWIVMXBJqH1rllh4tPzzJ75lGt7v2V8tMernXBaHoRkgHbW_O0B9y8BGpJP0Xzsq7safHUtVunHzbN9h_0Bpnpx3bRNKP9g2Bf9p8znr1OPuqFsFX6Qc9o6Ig/s320/Main+Street+with+Church.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view down Main Street</td></tr>
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At one end of the main street, as you enter the site from the parking area, there is a saloon on one side and a storefront photography shop on the other. The shop is closed to visitors but the saloon is open and decorated with a few photos of shots from famous Westerns that the owner, Mr. Gammon, worked on as a child actor.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4d3tOqrT3yAs9HZKkW26P8VzS5h7MSj0MZxlYZTy_MUKLTpwaZbBp3qj85gKr91-FQ9poeMpXp_ChTcxxV6_xxv2gPat8LXXjqEdtNxQ9UIaHqm7zR1LfLMdYY3OXwBKHmdzPgd7WDr0/s1600/Saloon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1339" data-original-width="1600" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4d3tOqrT3yAs9HZKkW26P8VzS5h7MSj0MZxlYZTy_MUKLTpwaZbBp3qj85gKr91-FQ9poeMpXp_ChTcxxV6_xxv2gPat8LXXjqEdtNxQ9UIaHqm7zR1LfLMdYY3OXwBKHmdzPgd7WDr0/s320/Saloon.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saloon at one end of Main Street</td></tr>
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I walked down the main street and took photos of one side, then the other. Some buildings I could enter, such as the jail. I couldn’t help but think what Heyes and Curry might have thought if they had been held there, especially as the “hanging tree” was visible through the window in the back of the place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7myRjz-Otfg8Q-9XTNItlKmRnfcNu6Q8IUYv-XQmmZNl3D4d14lTNGPHkeL9p_W5og60ZZSB8wU2Jfgo7K_PsnmEsGC417_9MhaotXK3dhFT6I0g-shEHACvr7yp3PqQqvq5uSH4gKA/s1600/Hanging+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1146" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7myRjz-Otfg8Q-9XTNItlKmRnfcNu6Q8IUYv-XQmmZNl3D4d14lTNGPHkeL9p_W5og60ZZSB8wU2Jfgo7K_PsnmEsGC417_9MhaotXK3dhFT6I0g-shEHACvr7yp3PqQqvq5uSH4gKA/s320/Hanging+Tree.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "hanging tree" behind the jail</td></tr>
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There are also some other buildings behind the main street, up on a hill. I liked the homesteader cabin – it made me think of all families in the Old West that could have lived there. It was actually kind of sad, what with all the cobwebs and all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx4fhyphenhyphen992auIjEaoFidZVr0Tl-6E_H5HfMh1esxHCNUIojqaIanDSQzKcpIhM0rQJKR_KS3WaOu-bJyZ830L1ppMt93BGnlVH0QfdncRQQTTl8f2LuQyLdmm0EWK8Dlb04oQGSGO3HRGQ/s320/Hill+House+Exterior.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exterior of homesteader's cabin</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L6dqIuHuCHo_Aea0KH4ShryLi4xDp-O4kGFxsTrXez7mRPQhvuwTvlldQDQaH-xh9oboLBXOBb_Yssc1ccNp_jFiFEkWWY0hsRbm74TxBFmNKMCVWBrwegIm9A0Id1Bf2i26bejKEBY/s1600/Hill+House+Interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L6dqIuHuCHo_Aea0KH4ShryLi4xDp-O4kGFxsTrXez7mRPQhvuwTvlldQDQaH-xh9oboLBXOBb_Yssc1ccNp_jFiFEkWWY0hsRbm74TxBFmNKMCVWBrwegIm9A0Id1Bf2i26bejKEBY/s320/Hill+House+Interior.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior of homesteader's cabin</td></tr>
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Also located up a hill and behind the main section of Gammons Gulch is the entrance to a mine. It looked obviously abandoned and it wasn’t possible to go inside. Not that I’d want to!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOL4zP7OLs4yalbHQzVuPtWwr-WTzx72jzgS5Ar-ikI-kVfSIIClbv5gP-41Y_bwGX5gCwTsx6Igy_IVS4X7ibVn0P_0vbhU4O4Z8L3cdYWfM-nEsVPP49HnNnPo4udsmIi9VeOkKgDx0/s1600/To+the+Mine+and+Bat+Cave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOL4zP7OLs4yalbHQzVuPtWwr-WTzx72jzgS5Ar-ikI-kVfSIIClbv5gP-41Y_bwGX5gCwTsx6Igy_IVS4X7ibVn0P_0vbhU4O4Z8L3cdYWfM-nEsVPP49HnNnPo4udsmIi9VeOkKgDx0/s320/To+the+Mine+and+Bat+Cave.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mine entrance</td></tr>
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At the other end of the main street was a church. It was interesting to me that this church and the one at Old Tucson Studios were both a little bit away from the rest of the “town.” It was almost as if the religious building didn’t quite belong in the rest of the town. Or maybe the rest of the town wasn’t quite good enough for the church!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ofk5s2wRYAJybfLdrur8DXs-BPLTydlm2LnU0H8iU3cJ6yPgSLYurjjDmDkk3g6Qw50wQF_9BbuwA_zQCu7cmderickK4HcdgjNk7qH1O4SAjiB1S2vHRwUDNvrAQOY2oWjYhXJOtzk/s1600/Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ofk5s2wRYAJybfLdrur8DXs-BPLTydlm2LnU0H8iU3cJ6yPgSLYurjjDmDkk3g6Qw50wQF_9BbuwA_zQCu7cmderickK4HcdgjNk7qH1O4SAjiB1S2vHRwUDNvrAQOY2oWjYhXJOtzk/s320/Church.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical Old West-looking church</td></tr>
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Whenever I visit a place like this, I like to photograph details as well as larger scenes. Below are a couple of such photographs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGv19ubvun0JDsiCuTrnThlixnKgq8dWbTmkKMb0PjGx00ScuBLY0V-aQ-oBARn0slAz32nzRg88RX1VwtN7qECfv_iybvnoJKaiko5MowK0Mz1_R8mkkVAhJXZkUGBGYNxDpqinmawA/s1600/Horseshoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGv19ubvun0JDsiCuTrnThlixnKgq8dWbTmkKMb0PjGx00ScuBLY0V-aQ-oBARn0slAz32nzRg88RX1VwtN7qECfv_iybvnoJKaiko5MowK0Mz1_R8mkkVAhJXZkUGBGYNxDpqinmawA/s320/Horseshoes.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horseshoes on a fence post</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmUPiVUIaZQ51AUb-df668Mr6IJ5cAhPHnHYgcaF8yz2eN88IzUVKIFtSdRygyY7Vi2SJjEd3hbOOiGsjYfZmJLwxxhTlcqCK2STbw4zGqjGcvs63TQ4ypbZNycFq4VEla2FdzD2t7Bo/s1600/Wheels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1600" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmUPiVUIaZQ51AUb-df668Mr6IJ5cAhPHnHYgcaF8yz2eN88IzUVKIFtSdRygyY7Vi2SJjEd3hbOOiGsjYfZmJLwxxhTlcqCK2STbw4zGqjGcvs63TQ4ypbZNycFq4VEla2FdzD2t7Bo/s320/Wheels.jpg" title="Gammons Gulch, an Old West movie set that people can visit | Leslie Silverlove" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wagon wheels</td></tr>
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All in all, Gammons Gulch is a fun place to visit and worth the drive.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-6679293648599199232019-06-24T18:30:00.000-06:002019-08-26T21:31:21.961-06:00Renamed, Revised, and Resurrected!You may have noticed there is a 3-year gap between the previous blog entry and this one. No, nothing terrible happened; I just put this blog on hold after getting involved with other activities in my new home in Arizona. But after attending the Western Writers of America Convention in Tucson in June, which was wonderful, I got inspired to start blogging again. <br />
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But I’ve decided to shift the focus a bit and expand the scope of the blog. Instead of being primarily concerned with finding connections to <i>Alias Smith and Jones</i> in the movies, I’ve decided to post general reviews of movie Westerns, regardless of whether there is an <i>ASJ</i> tie-in or not. Consequently, some reviews may not mention <i>ASJ</i> at all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4jQDyuzGAAfNrJtwC9W5Zkiimqk4aUqBm57pWGq_P_hhwBq9Cej7jjibFETGzURY8UwockXwiR6Bh3rQVoZSMLHlluEKsMQG-0NqGj_YbgyZwwUDbyv-X5yvU11ONoDiPFQsZcfa2POC/s1600/ASJ+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Renamed, Revised, and Resurrected: The "New" Blog | Picturing the West" border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="486" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4jQDyuzGAAfNrJtwC9W5Zkiimqk4aUqBm57pWGq_P_hhwBq9Cej7jjibFETGzURY8UwockXwiR6Bh3rQVoZSMLHlluEKsMQG-0NqGj_YbgyZwwUDbyv-X5yvU11ONoDiPFQsZcfa2POC/s320/ASJ+card.jpg" title="Renamed, Revised, and Resurrected: The "New" Blog | Picturing the West" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ASJ card in a deck of cards featuring TV Westerns</td></tr>
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And there will be more reviews of books related to the Old West, and maybe even the contemporary West, than there were before. Also, I will blog about places I visit in the West. Now that I live here, I can do that more often. I may even just post photographs I take, although it’s more likely you can find them on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/picturingthewest/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">my Instagram account</span></a>.<br />
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So although the blog will still revolve around movie Westerns, there will be more entries about other aspects of the West. As a result, I’ve decided to rename the blog to better reflect its purpose. Just in case the title isn't clear enough, the tagline makes things explicit. I also revised the earlier posts by cleaning up a lot of the links which were no longer working. <br />
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I’ll try to post once a month, but I make no promises. When I do post something new, I’ll also announce it on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/picturingthewest/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">my Instagram</span></a>, so you might want to follow me there. Just click here to do that. I hope you like this “new” blog!<br />
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<br />S.L. Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07236700594276307385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-63558932456663294042016-05-06T13:43:00.002-06:002023-04-01T00:25:53.604-06:00Monte Walsh (2003 Remake)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_S3kiCEvw0_XCV8cmrniNXEzADdLbyVMmcp3JVAx7eoA2fJbbTkHkgnHHhD3KhjHq4pPK1rDEK2X0BOdqa-lD89akQ-itb83Hh3UmLKr8nXIAZxB-QeLlXBf7KnCfJVhkX5po0uloGNI/s1600/Monte_Walsh_2003_VideoCover.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Review | Alias Smith and Jones in the Movies & More About the Old West" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_S3kiCEvw0_XCV8cmrniNXEzADdLbyVMmcp3JVAx7eoA2fJbbTkHkgnHHhD3KhjHq4pPK1rDEK2X0BOdqa-lD89akQ-itb83Hh3UmLKr8nXIAZxB-QeLlXBf7KnCfJVhkX5po0uloGNI/s320/Monte_Walsh_2003_VideoCover.jpeg" title="Review | Alias Smith and Jones in the Movies & More About the Old West" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
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I shouldn’t have resisted watching this movie for so long! I hesitated viewing this remake of <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> because I really enjoyed the original version and didn’t think a made-for-TV show could equal it. But it did and, in some ways, I liked it even better.<br />
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Tom Selleck stars as the eponymous character in this 2003 <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span>. The opening was completely different here but just as amusing. It starts off in a town – a title card says Antelope Junction, 1892. After some hijinks by a couple boys and a practical joke on the lawyer in the town, Monte Walsh and Chet Rawlins (Keith Carradine) are seen riding into town.<br />
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After the opening scenes, most of the rest of this <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> is the same as the 1970 movie. The plot concerns a group of cowboys in Wyoming who are slowly being forced into new ways of life because the era of “cowboying,” as they put it, is coming to an end. (Which is, of course, the same reason Heyes and Curry get outta their business.) The same characters populate this version and it’s interesting to see how different actors play them.<br />
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There are a few significant changes in this <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span>. The first is a long fight scene between the cowboys and a group of railroad men, which I don’t recall from the original film. Another change revolves around Monte breaking the horse that Shorty (George Eads) tried and failed to do: In this movie, it all happens during the daytime instead of at night. <br />
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I still felt real sorry for the shopkeeper who lost most of his inventory when the horse rampaged through his store. Likewise, the climactic shootout occurs in the daytime and didn’t take nearly as long. It was less suspenseful, though, because it didn’t last nearly as long but the accompanying music was just as effective. <br />
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However, the biggest change was the ending – the gunfight wasn’t the end! In this version, there was an epilogue. I won’t spoil it by revealing what happens but I will say that it left me with quite a different feeling than my final reaction to the original <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span>.<br />
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One thing I really liked about this movie was the cinematography: It almost looked like this <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> was filmed in Technicolor because the color in the outdoor scenes was very vivid and bright. All in all, this 117 minute long remake is definitely worth seeing.<br />
<br /><div class="hs-body-level-container blogger" strategyname="Blogger"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-86044846452890786012016-03-12T11:45:00.001-07:002023-04-01T00:22:39.967-06:00The Rough Riders in Arizona Bound & Below the Border<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmF7yeMVBnb4EOZ4e92zbN47n1QubaachSJPaOuVl4ru7prMQOm0gUGY-PZuO7cqVHKk4hqKiOtg-cAe3IM_yJD64KImYTXecd-A1NLsW5nl3k_sYemYJOwQSSp-C-PUmA9s5zABb4fiA/s1600/rough+bound.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmF7yeMVBnb4EOZ4e92zbN47n1QubaachSJPaOuVl4ru7prMQOm0gUGY-PZuO7cqVHKk4hqKiOtg-cAe3IM_yJD64KImYTXecd-A1NLsW5nl3k_sYemYJOwQSSp-C-PUmA9s5zABb4fiA/s200/rough+bound.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>
The Rough Riders are the Three Musketeers transplanted to the Old West. Just as many people nowadays have a romanticized view of America in the late 19th century, and have co-opted the phrase “three musketeers” to signify three friends who stick together through life’s adventures, the Rough Riders were Monogram Pictures idealized version of the trio that saved people from harm. The Rough Riders in <span style="color: #38761d;">Arizona Bound</span> was the first of eight feature films produced by the studio in the early 1940s. <br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Arizona Bound</span> packs a lot of action into this black-and-white, 53-minute long movie. It opens with the main Rough Rider, Buck Jones, sitting outside at his Arizona ranch gazing at the stars and telling his companion how glad he is to have hung up his guns. The other man doesn’t believe him and is proved right when a telegram comes seeking Buck’s help in Mesa City, where a stagecoach line keeps getting robbed of its gold shipments and US mail.<br />
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Next we see the various townspeople introduced; some are good guys, some not, and it’s pretty clear from the beginning who is who in <span style="color: #38761d;">Arizona Bound</span>. A lot of the action takes place in a saloon and when a preacher enters, he does so with a bang—literally. He tries to get a man who has crossed him to do a dance but this scene ends differently from the one in <i>The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone</i> where Kid Curry eventually does a jig, although at one point, the preacher in this movie does say, “They’re getting better every minute.” <br />
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This preacher, however, turns out to be another Rough Rider, played by Tim McCoy. The third member of the trio is played by Raymond Hatton. Naturally, before <span style="color: #38761d;">Arizona Bound</span> is over, there are several confrontations with the bad guys, deceptions by the good guys to trick the bad guys, good guys who get mistaken for bad guys, and a climactic showdown accompanied by overwrought and melodramatic music typical of movies of this time period. And, of course, a happy ending with all the loose ends tied up, along with the bad guys.<br />
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As the first in a series of Rough Riders movies, <span style="color: #38761d;">Arizona Bound</span> sets the stage very well. The song opening and closing the movie provides background information. One feature of this franchise is that the audience doesn’t know at first that the three men are working together, so the explanation in the end scene that explains how they all came together to solve the problem in Mesa City is helpful. The rallying cry, “Looks like here’s where the Rough Riders ride again!” is heard for the first but definitely not the last time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBqm3CmPktgOaK8-gKy9TQcEIqJaiOd3Te8yhItsUzTAZ195m4r5Jp6zzBMucCqM0o8xejrDmjjTYR9S4ELNv6L9_ipZbXvYMHmo80ls1cWG0f0fb3lGk42yv4dPZMZKc-XJBDOuv4mA/s1600/rough+riders.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBqm3CmPktgOaK8-gKy9TQcEIqJaiOd3Te8yhItsUzTAZ195m4r5Jp6zzBMucCqM0o8xejrDmjjTYR9S4ELNv6L9_ipZbXvYMHmo80ls1cWG0f0fb3lGk42yv4dPZMZKc-XJBDOuv4mA/s200/rough+riders.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
If only the condition of the print on the DVD I watched was better! <span style="color: #38761d;">Rough Riders: Below the Border</span> has a lot of positive features but sound and picture quality were not among them. Sometimes it was hard to hear what characters were saying and often the picture was blurry or perhaps there was ghosting of images, which made it difficult to completely enjoy the movie.<br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">Rough Riders: Below the Border</span> is a 57-minute black-and-white film from 1942. It stars Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, and Raymond Hatton, who were famous B-Western stars of the early 20th century. Although the movie’s duration is approximately the same as that of a TV show, there is so much action happening and so many characters that it seems “bigger” than a TV show.<br />
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The movie starts off with a scene of two Mexican women and an American man on a stagecoach, which shortly thereafter gets robbed by bandits. We also see a sheriff and some townspeople talking, and it appears that something shady is going on although it is hard to tell due to the poor audio quality. Then there’s a scene of an Anglo man driving a buggy into town, which is named Border City, and it turns out he is there to pick up the ladies; it also turns out he is sweet on the younger one.<br />
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Each subsequent scene reveals a little more of what is really going on but <span style="color: #38761d;">Rough Riders: Below the Border</span> takes its time letting the audience know. Several scenes occur in a saloon and revolve around the swamper. If after listening to how the Jordan girls (Lisa and Cindy Eilbacher in <i>The Posse That Wouldn’t Quit</i>) described their days on their ranch, including swamping out the place, one wasn’t sure what that meant, the character in this movie makes it abundantly clear. One scene was similar to the one in <i>The Day They Hanged Kid Curry</i> when Heyes and the Kid were trapped in the cave. However, in this film, the outcome was quite different.<br />
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Interestingly, the Rough Riders, who turn out to be a gang of three lawmen who work undercover, hail from Wyoming, Arizona, and Texas, all places that episodes of <i>Alias Smith and Jones</i> were set in. There is also a theme song, sung at the beginning of <span style="color: #38761d;">Rough Riders: Below the Border</span> and again at the end, which explains who they are and what they do.<br />
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This film is one of a series and there were eight Rough Riders movies. It’s a shame that the poor quality of the DVD detracted from my enjoyment of the move but since the plot was well-paced, I may seek out the other films anyway.<br />
<br /><div class="hs-body-level-container blogger" strategyname="Blogger"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-77458616596116058422016-03-05T16:40:00.002-07:002023-04-01T00:20:47.782-06:00Monte Walsh (1970 Original)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6t89VHlMZKIi3S6VR3uyoLlPzwiEZELWAUiudyFj4suiVwJVLQ9Cw0QH-RV4j0LdOKmLhKiUQtp0IKxf_qXpQAvNRVQq6JvNX7LekI6pOSh2ehdha_N2WaoABXNmhyphenhyphenhlSZhL_EBgmSE/s1600/monte_walsh_ver2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Review in ASJMovieWesterns blog" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6t89VHlMZKIi3S6VR3uyoLlPzwiEZELWAUiudyFj4suiVwJVLQ9Cw0QH-RV4j0LdOKmLhKiUQtp0IKxf_qXpQAvNRVQq6JvNX7LekI6pOSh2ehdha_N2WaoABXNmhyphenhyphenhlSZhL_EBgmSE/s320/monte_walsh_ver2.jpg" title="Review in ASJMovieWesterns blog" width="220" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> is a sad, depressing film interspersed with a few flashes of humor. It also includes an out-of-place opening theme song sung by Mama Cass and a jarring climax. With Lee Marvin and Jack Palance starring, the acting is of course great. <br />
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Ted Gehring (Seth in <i>Going, Going, Gone</i> and Jorgensen in <i>10 Days That Shook Kid Curry</i>) has a small comedic role in the first half of this 1970 movie and it is easy to see how he got the role of Seth as a result. The movie is based on a book by Jack Shaeffer, who also wrote <i>Shane</i>.<br />
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The opening scene of two men riding along, whistling, reminded me of the opening of <i>The Bounty Hunter</i>, although in <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> they were in a forest, not the canyonlands of the Southwest, and are returning to town after spending the winter in a line shack. Monte and Chet are partners and when they spot a wolf in the distance, they dismount and Monte prepares to take a shot. But he hesitates and then launches into a monologue about someone he knew – this scene also reminded me somewhat of the beginning of <i>The Fifth Victim</i> and the banter when Heyes and Curry are tracking the mountain lion.<br />
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Then they arrive in town (called Harmony, in a stroke of ironic brilliance) and from there, things slowly and inexorably go downhill. Monte wants to get a drink but the foreman of the ranch they work for wants to talk to them first. Chet is all ears but Monte wants a drink. Chet ultimately persuades him to hear the foreman out. <br />
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This is just the first of many times when things don’t go Monte’s way. Turns out the ranch they work for was bought out by a big conglomerate. The foreman offers them jobs but Monte isn’t sure he wants to work for a faceless company; Chet, however, persuades him it’s a good deal. In <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span>, Chet is the character who sees clearly that their way of life is ending.<br />
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Monte is in denial, though, and the reminder of <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> places him in situations designed to show how he is a relic who doesn’t fit into the new, more modern world around him. A younger ranch hand boasts about his prowess at breaking horses – something Monte apparently was known for – and there is an on-going conflict between the two men as a result. In between, Chet settles down and Monte continues his relationship with a prostitute (played by Jeanne Moreau!). <br />
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But nothing ever turns out well for Monte. Partway through <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span>, the film takes a very dark turn that sends Monte on a vendetta. The climax is sad and unexpected, made more so by the great music accompanying it, which is far better and more appropriate for the mood of the movie than the theme song.<br />
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Filmed partially at Mescal and Empire Ranch in Arizona, <span style="color: #38761d;">Monte Walsh</span> is an existential 106-minute long movie that makes one wonder if the real cowboys of the 19th century knew they were becoming anachronisms. I didn’t realize it until the end but the drawings in the opening credits sequence were by Charles M. Russell, adding yet another hint of the vanishing way of life Monte represented.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6836922746335419835.post-65807766925538074912015-12-08T13:12:00.001-07:002020-12-18T16:26:11.852-07:00Empire Ranch: Action! in Southern ArizonaThe <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span> is just the kind of place Heyes and Curry might have worked at when they couldn’t avoid ranch work. Located in southern Arizona, about 30 miles from the Mexican border, <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span> was founded in the 1860s on 160 acres as a homestead. It’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which would have suited the ex-outlaws fine, although the small town of Sonoita is nearby. At the present time, it’s still a working cattle ranch but a foundation administers the site, which is situated on Bureau of Land Management land.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DGalbxC-xNR9SpQdc6sG45f1e26OONTnH0mNPULjZk1syRF8Ax5UmPIv8G4yRXd_WNMG5raIqYHxrpNC1sMOSYWZWOnkdBuvnSbtQ_pgwuQY28Az4PGMoQPkFvvyNu1HUB7yCKxNeqg/s1600/biscuit+mountain%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DGalbxC-xNR9SpQdc6sG45f1e26OONTnH0mNPULjZk1syRF8Ax5UmPIv8G4yRXd_WNMG5raIqYHxrpNC1sMOSYWZWOnkdBuvnSbtQ_pgwuQY28Az4PGMoQPkFvvyNu1HUB7yCKxNeqg/s400/biscuit+mountain%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View around Empire Ranch; Biscuit Mountain is in the center</td></tr>
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On the first weekend on November, the Empire Ranch Foundation holds its annual “Round Up.” There are talks about Western, Old West and cowboy life, presentations by and about the people who used to live and work at the ranch, demonstrations of horsemanship and shooting, cowboy entertainment and food, kids’ activities and, my favorite, sessions about the Westerns that were filmed on the ranch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8rxuYM1Mf_baNIS3TifeUof0XJ3_Rw18mdEE2GyhnHzuo7SApJxUSl3I1GCyFweLztKP_FgI9MFdvDq8jGwuqhyphenhyphen3h-GthX0b4fF5_urNKlgpLF3EcdX1cuZBSkWSJVmEqE0m_ZOZ8Xk/s1600/entertainment%252C+edited.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8rxuYM1Mf_baNIS3TifeUof0XJ3_Rw18mdEE2GyhnHzuo7SApJxUSl3I1GCyFweLztKP_FgI9MFdvDq8jGwuqhyphenhyphen3h-GthX0b4fF5_urNKlgpLF3EcdX1cuZBSkWSJVmEqE0m_ZOZ8Xk/s400/entertainment%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entertainment area</td></tr>
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You see, <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span> was not just a working cattle ranch, it was also a movie set! Actually, a few TV series also filmed there: <i>Bonanza</i>, <i>Gunsmoke</i> and <i>The Young Riders</i>. Some of the movies that I’ve reviewed on this blog filmed scenes there, too, such as <i>3:10 to Yuma</i> (the original), <i>Gunfight at the O.K. Corral</i>, <i>Hombre</i>, <i>The Outlaw Josey Wale</i>s, and <i>Winchester ’73</i>, to name just a few. More on this shortly.<br />
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Since this was my first time at <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span>, I wanted to see as much as I could. And even though I spent about five hours there (and another couple hours driving each way to and from, and passed through through Border Control checkpoints because it was so close to Mexico), I still missed out on a couple things. I wanted to see the Dutch oven cooking demonstration but by the time I got there, they were packing up to leave. And I completely forgot to get a cup of Arbuckles coffee inside the main ranch house--dang!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YRbYYeDHMR8nnuoAiZ-hKXk7M2RMDIPjVEI9nylGUmropwpGbpipw640KPrs-n2MNn5YVOYwOUBq9p-F_NtiTBpSRjLbc1bzn_us9Im5DSGhXPsUjvkmANXvTg01iGVuZV46WrQiIXo/s1600/house%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YRbYYeDHMR8nnuoAiZ-hKXk7M2RMDIPjVEI9nylGUmropwpGbpipw640KPrs-n2MNn5YVOYwOUBq9p-F_NtiTBpSRjLbc1bzn_us9Im5DSGhXPsUjvkmANXvTg01iGVuZV46WrQiIXo/s400/house%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back entrance to main part of the ranch house</td></tr>
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But here’s what I did see and do:<br />
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There was a demonstration of roping cattle going on when I arrived. This was in a small arena and a few men on horseback showed how to do it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI9XPc9nbKsN3zt62KByEmZJeVdPczesUcnk3YpAJ3APmSYZz_3XijyElAuOhyz1habvs-IUZMiTxrIUd3l6EOt9Bxfsdq5ZZn50hiOoEm5avHB_yv2hN3zX4I2eJ98VGVr1LI0XuJT0/s1600/roping1%252C+edited.jpg"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPI9XPc9nbKsN3zt62KByEmZJeVdPczesUcnk3YpAJ3APmSYZz_3XijyElAuOhyz1habvs-IUZMiTxrIUd3l6EOt9Bxfsdq5ZZn50hiOoEm5avHB_yv2hN3zX4I2eJ98VGVr1LI0XuJT0/s320/roping1%252C+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yw9H6hwr746oVJ6cTyKJgVuPpRSdIQt7yRUy2-5by98Vlk78VyxEqsjiMmJFaVGumWmNZisVdQOInhOR-WbgRydlfiUwNEQnPlmDMzfbIGUHERyTp-vvBadTeUHC9h7rHwA9pQg7tF0/s1600/roping2%252C+edited.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yw9H6hwr746oVJ6cTyKJgVuPpRSdIQt7yRUy2-5by98Vlk78VyxEqsjiMmJFaVGumWmNZisVdQOInhOR-WbgRydlfiUwNEQnPlmDMzfbIGUHERyTp-vvBadTeUHC9h7rHwA9pQg7tF0/s320/roping2%252C+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I watched for about 15 minutes and then moved on. I could see why Heyes
and Curry might get tired of looking after cattle for days on end.<br />
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I had a very interesting discussion with a rancher about cattle brands. I learned that rustling is still a problem here! I also learned that all Arizona-registered brands can be searched on the Arizona Department of Agriculture website and when someone wants to design a new brand, the state has to investigate and make sure it isn’t similar to one already in use. It costs $75 to register a brand and the process takes a couple months. And I learned that although fancy brands look nice, simpler ones are better because they are easier to see clearly and to make. The rancher, Mr. Shock, had a table with various branding tools as well as other tools used for ranching.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dx76_CORKTClozn39_AHwGwSvyJxAuz5mAbQJEMf-vjxSwvZBlC9uYtFuCSYCI_iTPFSMQDlfa5MDY3NoAY_hKxT57irDN8d4aqWLHP6fAwUclFyknvB-U4U-cIjs-T_Ch3po4fC03M/s1600/tools%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Dx76_CORKTClozn39_AHwGwSvyJxAuz5mAbQJEMf-vjxSwvZBlC9uYtFuCSYCI_iTPFSMQDlfa5MDY3NoAY_hKxT57irDN8d4aqWLHP6fAwUclFyknvB-U4U-cIjs-T_Ch3po4fC03M/s400/tools%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Display of ranching tools</td></tr>
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Another thing I learned from him is which particular tool ranchers prefer to use when castrating bulls. But ‘nuff said on that!<br />
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Most of my time was spent learning about the movies that were filmed at <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span>. One talk was by two stuntmen, Rodd Wolff and Bunker De France. This was fascinating!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4NpVHjhCsUoWq3YV1NOTw3lTxV_2gy7rOGyoFsmuJvfYXiUltlMVcrGg4_S0f-nLvIdPTH6zYj4ZKeYPbjIbdv7M9XMEchAzXbcxbbJYYL_rj2Nbjl4B1XclvRxaDqNYhjdykey3eUKE/s1600/stuntmen2%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4NpVHjhCsUoWq3YV1NOTw3lTxV_2gy7rOGyoFsmuJvfYXiUltlMVcrGg4_S0f-nLvIdPTH6zYj4ZKeYPbjIbdv7M9XMEchAzXbcxbbJYYL_rj2Nbjl4B1XclvRxaDqNYhjdykey3eUKE/s400/stuntmen2%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rodd Wolff on left, Bunker De France on right</td></tr>
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They told stories about the movies they worked on and the actors and directors they worked with, including John Wayne, Paul Newman, and Jack Elam (Boot Coby in <i>Bad Night in Big Butte</i>). They also discussed how some stunts were done and the safety measures they took to prevent injury.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixODp-7Qqo7CMTpu6BesK_4sJ5vb-kiK3pqV_QgS3Zyk5Rd61PxcrzbYgK1x7Je-QknbR_Q7L82tyXOIEDytbm0pjdFWdWt792feF76QWVjyjW8aFioo_wgCO8jrKruFSDg_G5XuOqR_U/s1600/stunt+harness%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixODp-7Qqo7CMTpu6BesK_4sJ5vb-kiK3pqV_QgS3Zyk5Rd61PxcrzbYgK1x7Je-QknbR_Q7L82tyXOIEDytbm0pjdFWdWt792feF76QWVjyjW8aFioo_wgCO8jrKruFSDg_G5XuOqR_U/s320/stunt+harness%252C+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harness used when a stuntman had to fall off a horse</td></tr>
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Another talk was by Marty Freese, who is the historian at Old Tucson Studios. What a great job that must be! He showed lobby cards of movies filmed at <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span>, starting with the earliest movie, and discussed them in chronological order. The landscape surrounding the ranch is not the same as Tucson because the elevation is around 5,000 feet; it looks more like high desert or prairie than the Sonoran desert with its cacti. So movies could film at Old Tucson Studios and then go out to <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span> and it would look very different. But, just like at Old Tucson, there was a mountain called Biscuit Mountain (see the photograph at the top of this post) by the locals that often featured in the background of movies shot at <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span>.<br />
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The third movie-related talk I attended was the one I was most eager to hear. That’s because it was five men discussing the work they did on Westerns. Rodd Wolff and Bunker De France participated as did Bob Shelton, along with Marty Freese who moderated. The other participant was, drum roll please: Don Collier -- Mr. Tompkins in <i>The Young Riders</i>!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOq4nlOK9aC99tbWLTOcD2dls5hJrHrrPV5KUwWjfA6oAQjZNraBPm5sUNgJTl0fqLgo5P6bLqkkG3EQ_iNoapWrzjyfZk3klRdhlfAzEeCjtBLynyw6boDzLdpEECuVe0dxgaAYGp2g/s1600/Dan+collier.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOq4nlOK9aC99tbWLTOcD2dls5hJrHrrPV5KUwWjfA6oAQjZNraBPm5sUNgJTl0fqLgo5P6bLqkkG3EQ_iNoapWrzjyfZk3klRdhlfAzEeCjtBLynyw6boDzLdpEECuVe0dxgaAYGp2g/s400/Dan+collier.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don Collier</td></tr>
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He was also in <i>High Chaparral</i> and mentioned that show’s upcoming convention next March in Tucson. It was really cool to hear him discuss his career, although with four other people on the podium, he didn’t have all that much speaking time in the one hour slotted for this “Cowboy Conversation,” as these talks were called.<br />
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Mr. Collier didn’t talk about <i>The Young Riders</i> but afterwards, I went up and told him I was a fan (though I like ASJ more) and asked him about his time on the show. He said he really enjoyed working with all those young actors, as he put it. I also asked him what his favorite episode was and...can you guess? It was the Season 2 episode called <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>; the one when Tompkins’ wife and daughter are “rescued” from the Indians who abducted them years ago. That was one of my favorite episodes, too!<br />
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The last talk I heard was by John Larkin, an expert on the guns of the Old West. He had a large collection of hand guns, rifles and shotguns and explained the history of many of them. I saw a Winchester ’73, a Colt Peacemaker, a Schofield (Heyes’ weapon of choice: Wow!) and pistols used by Bill Hickok, though I’m not sure if they were authentic or replicas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCv3HLJ8GfMJnQykffKV6Qc0O0lEigkEUipa3kcKNIq52m64SUJfTZdJ2glj1ZQyz-JAzg8MHjwJQVn2lRhkdmsAtpODzz4PK2v3p8px3UiRvHxzIAqkmG9r22Mpk4uiPmERFmwlzYfo/s1600/winchester2%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCv3HLJ8GfMJnQykffKV6Qc0O0lEigkEUipa3kcKNIq52m64SUJfTZdJ2glj1ZQyz-JAzg8MHjwJQVn2lRhkdmsAtpODzz4PK2v3p8px3UiRvHxzIAqkmG9r22Mpk4uiPmERFmwlzYfo/s320/winchester2%252C+edited.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Larkin and maybe a Winchester '73</td></tr>
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One thing Mr. Larkin said stood out for me: Gun belts of the sort that Heyes and Curry wore weren’t used in actual fact because it was awkward and too time-consuming to reach around and pull out a bullet from a belt like that, especially when doing it quickly. Instead, men just kept their bullets loose in small leather pouches.<br />
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Time was running out so I walked quickly through the exhibit in the main house that told the story of <span style="color: #274e13;">Empire Ranch</span>. I spent a few minutes chatting with several writers who had tables set up inside to promote their books, all of which dealt with the West in one way or another.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieT_qsR_wIuSVnOkYV2a9iI9R5-WDQ10eMoawA7tIlBZjnOKQLI1NIM6bLrukPtz-5pCJqz6KX62FeTZg0An52EtM5JkHaA9VCPu6_dtika8aK4WiOfYZOJdlmllgDBQkMmislVAyC6hc/s1600/authors%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieT_qsR_wIuSVnOkYV2a9iI9R5-WDQ10eMoawA7tIlBZjnOKQLI1NIM6bLrukPtz-5pCJqz6KX62FeTZg0An52EtM5JkHaA9VCPu6_dtika8aK4WiOfYZOJdlmllgDBQkMmislVAyC6hc/s400/authors%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of the several authors promoting their books about the West</td></tr>
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Then I took a quick walk down to the beginning of the Heritage Discovery Trail, a scenic path that goes to, well, I'm not sure because I didn’t follow it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhI-cen7rqPJIAgjgbivQRpLR4KdDLXbMAUjjtCRWYu0TqCCaiePi-PtxaecSopCC2UnhWVw2Jho-fXp3ZhKgDeOU4OmIZihh3n9irOTX8NiKnckgYihZncdhwAXyVl3kW9Vub3upl7Vs/s1600/heritage+trail%252C+edited.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhI-cen7rqPJIAgjgbivQRpLR4KdDLXbMAUjjtCRWYu0TqCCaiePi-PtxaecSopCC2UnhWVw2Jho-fXp3ZhKgDeOU4OmIZihh3n9irOTX8NiKnckgYihZncdhwAXyVl3kW9Vub3upl7Vs/s400/heritage+trail%252C+edited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gate at start of Heritage Discovery Trail</td></tr>
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By then it was getting late and I didn’t want to drive back along isolated roads by myself in the dark. Like Curry and Heyes, I wanted a warm meal and a nice bed at the end of a long but very enjoyable day!<b><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></b></p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></b></p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><b><u>Related Links:</u></b></span><br /></span><u><span style="color: #990000;"></span></u></p><p><b><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></b><span style="color: #990000;"></span></p><p><a href="https://www.empireranchfoundation.org/empire-ranch/history" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><u>History of Empire Ranch</u></span></a></p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></p><p><a href="https://www.empireranchfoundation.org/visit/hours-map-directions" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><u>General information about Empire Ranch</u></span></a></p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></p><p><a href="https://www.empireranchfoundation.org/empire-ranch/movies" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><u>List of movies filmed at Empire Ranch</u></span></a></p><p><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="hs-body-level-container" strategyname="Blogger"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com