Beads for the Sole

 By James H Nottage    
 
 
It is amazing sometimes how misinformation gains and maintains a life of its own, no matter how carefully we try to debunk errors about art, artifacts, history, and culture. I am convinced that one reason for this is simply that people can be surprisingly lazy, no matter how passionate they are, about really trying to become their own authorities when it comes to the things they collect. A case in point is wonderful beaded Northern Plains moccasins that also have the bottom surfaces fully beaded in colorful designs compatible with the tops.

It was more than a few decades ago when during my childhood I was told that these were "burial moccasins." Over the years since, I have heard curators, collectors, and dealers use this reference and it often appears in collector publications and even in museum catalogs. One historian tells us that these were first observed in the 1870s on the bodies of Sioux found in burials after battles. As a result the myth began to grow. There is truth that such fully beaded moccasins were found in burials and that it was common to dress the deceased in the finest way possible. For a long time now, we have known that these were not identified by the cultures themselves as having been made for burial purposes. The cost of materials, the effort to create, and the status that came from such fine belongings was a matter more of stature and material wealth. Within a burial they were also a sign of respect.
  
PHOTO ABOVE: Late 19th century Lakota moccasin with fully beaded sole. 

 
  >>READ MORE>> 

The Beautiful Baskets of Northwest California

 
By Mary Lou Walbergh   
 
 
The livin' was easy, and the art was superb. From the late 1800s, the tribes of the far Northwestern California created baskets unmatched for beauty anywhere in the world. It has been speculated that this was possible partly because the climate was fairly benign, the rivers were teeming with salmon, the woods full of deer, and the oaks loaded with acorns. This allowed for a culture in which talented women were able to weave long hours every day, honing their skills to a level which is not possible in these complicated modern times, and creating baskets of rare beauty.

These baskets are known, collectively and informally, as Hupa, because the local trading post was located in the town of Hoopa (incorrectly spelled by the whites who named it) but actually there were six tribes living and weaving baskets within that tiny space: Hupa, Yurok, Karuk, Tolowa, Whilkut and Wiyot. They all spoke different languages, and indeed, those languages derived from three different base languages: Hokan, Athabascan, and Algonquin.
 
PHOTO ABOVE: A small trinket basket by Elizabeth Conrad Hickox. The swooping knob, intricate design, and use of quill and fern are hallmarks of her distinctive style.  

 
 >>READ MORE>> 

Wolves in the Art World

By Don Hedgpeth 
Excerpt from: Remember Me To Them That Ride By           
 
 
There was a time in the West, twenty-five or thirty years ago, when the western art business more closely resembled the buying and selling of used cars, or furnishing new clothes for the emperor. Caveat emptor was the watchword, and novice collectors were most often at the mercy of shady charlatans for whom culture was only a commodity. They roamed backroads across the West in old vans and decrepit station wagons with paintings stacked in the back and bronzes wrapped up in thin blankets stolen from cheap motels. It had always been impolite out West to ask where a man came from, and the same seemed true when it related to paintings and their provenance.
 
I remember, back in the early 1970s, when one of the original western art wolves from Kalispell, Montana, showed up in Cody, Wyoming, with a large W R Leigh painting covered in plastic garbage bags and strapped on the top of his car, and another time when a particularly mysterious and evasive entrepreneur disappeared after supper, leaving his station wagon packed with paintings parked on the street in front of our house for two weeks in the middle of a Wyoming winter.

A little later, back in Texas as the oil boom began, I watched the art wolves from Scottsdale and Dallas descend on Midland, drawn to the sweet scent of new money. They lined up paintings along the walls of dimly lit motel rooms where whiskey flowed free and hundred dollar bills were the currency of convenience. My son Cody who was about eight at the time, sagely observed that the western art business was like a game played without any rules.

A lot of mediocre and really bad art changed hands in those days. From time to time, I am amused when I see one of those old pieces show up again in an auction somewhere, like an old horse with a bunch of brands.
 
Sometimes, I miss those old days, and especially some of the more colorful scalawags, like the one who once told me he had always been as honest about the art as the company and circumstances would allow. Those days are done now, and I guess it's probably for the best. But they made good memories.

__________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Penned by Don Hedgpeth, our resident renaissance cowboy: historian, author, art expert, poet. He also sings and plays traditional cowboy songs and recites a few poems he has written. Don lives with his wife of nearly 50 years, Sug, and they, together, can be found at poetry and art gatherings, or at home in Medina, TX.
 
He does not have, nor shall ever have a computer. He has no cell phone nor typewriter and still writes longhand. He is wary of mechanical things getting between him and his muse.

You will see him at the 2012 High Noon Antique Show in January - he will be in the Main Hall hanging out with his buddy John Moyers.
 
This piece is part of an essay he wrote for a Clagget/Rey Gallery catalog a couple of years ago.

Books by Don Hedgpeth:
Howard Terpning: Spirit of the Plains People
Desert Dreams, the Western Art of Don Crowley
The Texas Breed: A Cowboy Anthology
From Broncs to Bronzes: The Life and Work of Grant Speed
Under Western Skies: The Art of Bob Pummill
Bettina: Portraying Life in Art
Remember Me To Them That Ride By    

One of My Favorite Things, Maynard Dixon’s Painting, Hill Camp

 
By James H Nottage     
 
As a museum curator, I have seen many remarkable artifacts and works of art over the years. One thing that strikes me is that sometimes small works can have a huge impact that goes well beyond their size or medium. Providing a little detail about one of my favorites, gives me the opportunity to marvel at an early work by California painter, Maynard Dixon. 
 
If you have not visited the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art where I work in Indianapolis, you cannot fully appreciate the extraordinary collection gathered by our founder, Harrison Eiteljorg. Among the museum's treasures is Maynard Dixon's 1938 oil painting, The Cow Country, painted in the year he moved to Arizona. It is a formal and mature, 30" by 40" painting, rich in design, color and composition. This is the kind of painting that any major collection would be proud to have. Also collected by Eiteljorg, however, is a small watercolor, just 8 7/8 inches high by 11 3/4 inches wide. Below the artist's signature is simply written, Hill Camp, Ore. June 1, 1901. Despite its size, this small painting cannot be dismissed as a minor work. I will tell you why.
 
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The Genesis of Western Clippings Newsletter

By Boyd Magers          
 
Dedicated to preserving the rich heritage and enduring memories of small and big screen westerns and the people who populated them, WESTERN Clippings was born in September 1994...

I've always felt I grew up at just the right time for a full appreciation of all westerns...the late '40s-early '60s.

My youth was spent in Independence, Kansas, near where the Dalton and James Gangs rode, and Ponca City, Oklahoma, the site of the famed 101 Ranch. In the '40s I was riding the Saturday matinee range with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Charles Starrett and others. By '53 the new medium of television offered me a steady hour upon hour appreciation of the early screen cowboys - Buck Jones, Ken Maynard and the rest. The early '50s was also the time for the dawning of dozens of TV westerns, so I came to appreciate all eras of westerns.

From '87-'94 I contributed a regular column on westerns to The Big Reel as well as writing various other articles. In '94 my wife Donna and I began self-publishing WESTERN Clippings with the purpose of keeping the honesty and moral values alive in the hearts and minds of other western film devotees. Our unique western movie and TV history must be remembered and preserved just as has the real West.

We're honored to have rounded up several name columnists as contributors over the years, including Will Sugarfoot Hutchins who has been with us since the first issue; stuntman Neil Summers; singer/actor Johnny Western; late actor Michael Pate; Ty Bronco Hardin for a brief period and Roy Dusty Rogers Jr., along with other noted historians.

Offering a diverse look at westerns from the silent era to today has made WESTERN Clippings the respected and successful publication we had hoped for. It gives us the same kind of pleasure all those westerns have given me all these years.

______________________________________________________
 
You are welcome to contact Boyd and Donna at:

Boyd Magers, WESTERN Clippings
1312 Stagecoach Rd SE
Albuquerque, NM 87123
(505) 292-0049
www.westernclippings.com

Both Boyd and Donna Magers are two of our Smoke Signals readers who kindly shared their story with us. We encourage you to share yours!  

Dan Katz, an ardent collector from Connecticut, beautifully articulates his (and our) passion for collecting

 
By Dan Katz, Collector         
 
Not everyone is a collector of anything. Though sometimes difficult for me to understand, the affliction which we label collecting, in fact, affects very few of us and a fair question arises as to what motivates the few who do enter the fray of the collector scene.

Two motivations for collecting stand out, I think. One is an interest in a general, broad area (art, antiques, western memorabilia) for the purpose of buying low and selling dear as a chosen way of making a living. The second, is an interest in a narrower area of the same category types but with no (or little) interest in resale. This is the more puzzling kind of collecting, the more peculiar kind of collector and, sadly for my family, the category into which I fall. For me, the chase is for lawman guns and badges, cowgirl guns from wild west shows, cowgirl trophy buckles and photographs.

Sure seems a useless way to spend time; a bunch of guns I don't shoot and won't sell, a pile of outdated badges, dozens of frilly buckles I can wear only in Palm Beach or Provincetown, MA, where they have no rodeos, and hundreds of photos I have little room to display. What the hell am I doing?

I am surrounding myself and my family with our uniquely American Heritage.

The guns and badges say that our constitutional respect for law was constant even during the lawless days of westward expansion; the cowgirl trophy buckles and wild west guns say that women were an integral (though under-appreciated) part of the country's growth and the western mystique with which we are so enamored; and the cowgirl photos remind me that, even in the tumultuous, unimaginably tough times of westward expansion, beauty and calm were present.

Collecting like that described above is more than acquisition. Even if pieces are sold off in order to make room for other items, such collecting becomes part of the person doing the collecting and, happily, becomes part of the self you take with you wherever you go.

_________________

Dan Katz is one of our Smoke Signals readers who kindly shared his story with us. We encourage you to share yours!

You can email Dan at: trurodan@aol.com

Cowboy Aesthetic

 
By Don Reeves       
 
Skilled craftsmen are familiar with that feeling, the need to create, but few verbalize their desire. The urging. A vision not so much seen as felt through the hands. There is an expectation of shape and line as fingers explore the supple texture of fine leather. The clay-soft yielding of fine silver as the graver cuts a graceful curve and then exits with an upward flourish of the master's hand.
 
At what point does a functional object transcend its function, yield to aesthetic desire, and become an objet d'art? Does a saddle, bit, quirt or silver concha begin as a tool destined to serve a particular task and then take a turn, throw off the shackles of utility and head toward the trophy room or mantle? Such objects are conceived, designed and executed by master craftsmen - artisans -  in the process of creating works that attempt to reach an envisioned aesthetic. 

>>READ MORE>> 

Stuff I Know About Indian Camp Blankets

 
By Barry Friedman      
 
While still doggedly pursuing my theory that Brian Lebel is Arnold Schwarzenegger's oldest love child, I've decided to take a momentary step back from that twisted tale to further educate Smoke Signals readers on my specialty, American Indian trade and camp blankets.
       
Certainly nobody can forget my March article that dealt with the history of the American Indian trade blanket. Everybody's still buzzing about that one and now here I am about to explain Indian camp blankets! I can hardly imagine your excitement and would give anything to be in your shoes and/or Lucchese's.
       
You'll recall that the fine wool geometric pattern blankets produced by Pendleton Woolen Mills and their competitors instantly became a staple of North American Indian life and remain so today. Pendleton is the only surviving pioneer trade blanket manufacturer and was the only mill that specifically went into business to create blankets for the Indian market. They manufactured their first blanket in 1896 and from the beginning made a very high quality product that commanded a good price. 
 
>>READ MORE>>   
 

Laramie Tales

 
By James H Nottage     
 
We do not pay close enough attention to them, but every community has residents who carry memories of local history that can sometimes carry us back to pivotal points of change and growth. The problem is that all too often these memories go unappreciated and unrecorded. Certainly, political and economic leaders get a lot of attention. I am making reference to those everyday people who were solid, contributing, but modest and nearly invisible residents - the ones who time tends to forget or at least not to acknowledge.  How many times have you said or heard someone else say that an elderly relative or friend should sit down with a tape recorder or write their story to preserve they know about the past?  How many times do you end up, at the person's passing, with regrets that this was not done?

One of my favorite members of one of the founding families of Laramie, Wyoming, was Miss Martha Wallis. In the days before the public raised funds to preserve the Victorian mansion of the Ivinson family as an area museum, the Albany County Historical Society held regular meetings at a community center - a surviving building of Fort Sanders that had been built in the late 1860s. It was at one of these meetings in the mid-1960s that I first met Miss Wallis. What fascinated me was learning about her home, the small stone house at 419 South 8th Street, that her father Noah Wallis had built in the 1880s. The junior high school I attended was across the street and next to the house was the original barn where the Wallis family kept a carriage and horses.  One afternoon, after school, Miss Wallis agreed to let me stop by and ask her about Laramie history.
 
>>READ MORE>>   

Billy the Kid is Coming to Denver
 

The one-and-only authenticated photograph of Billy the Kid - the famous Upham tintype - will be offered to the public for the first time ever at Brian Lebel's Old West Auction this June.    
 
Denver, CO - 130 years ago, legendary outlaw Billy the Kid had his "picture made" in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, posing for what is now considered the most recognizable photo of the American West. A single, original tintype is the only authenticated photo of the Kid in existence today. Descended through one family, and never before offered for public sale, it will be sold at auction on June 25, 2011 at Brian Lebel's 22nd Annual Old West Show & Auction, to be held at the Denver Merchandise Mart in Denver, CO. A famous, historical item with impeccable provenance, the tintype is estimated to bring between $300,000 and $400,000.

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Witness to Her Times,
A Wyoming Pioneer Teacher 
 
   

By James H Nottage

 

 

Photo:
Esther Hobart Morris, Wyoming symbol of women's rights.

In a column some time ago, I wrote about Bill Carlisle, the Wyoming bandit who robbed Union Pacific trains early in the 20th century. At the end of the article I commented that I have a few other favorite personalities who inspired my interest in history and that if the good folks at High Noon agreed, I would tell you about some of them. With words of encouragement and an occasional nudge about pressing and missed deadlines, my friend Linda has encouraged and allowed me to do so.

Let me say that in junior high school I had a great and inspiring social studies teacher named Eugene Brown. He was one of the sponsors who helped in the formation of a junior historical society. This small group of history nerds dutifully and enthusiastically gathered, elected officers, and decided upon what we would do. We determined to check a tape recorder out of the audio-visual department and conduct oral history interviews with area old-timers. Bob Burns, co-author of an important book on Wyoming ranching was an early victim. Soon thereafter, with the advice of my father, we introduced ourselves to Mable Wyoming Cheney Moudy, the oldest living graduate of the University of Wyoming. She was 86 years old and kind enough to allow us to spend a number of afternoons talking with her about Wyoming history.

>>READ MORE>> 

Indian Trade Blankets 101 
 
   

By Barry Friedman

As I reminisce about all the comments I've heard over the years at the High Noon show, one observation clearly stands out. When asked what he thought about the caliber of dealers on hand, a very astute gentleman let his gaze sweep across the room and said, "This is the smartest group of unemployable people in the world."

He got that right. We're all authorities who question authority. Working for someone else? Unthinkable!  Nobody would hire us and we'd quit if they did. Most of us are so ornery we can barely stomach working for ourselves. We're all clearly out of control with zero chance of recuperating because we all share Wild West disease. This silent killer usually strikes when the victim is young and the next thing you know you're middle-aged and passionately talking about woolies, unraveled bayeta, pommel bags and slobber bars to anyone who will listen.

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A Memory of Midnight
In praise of great dude ranch horses
 

 

By William C Reynolds

At left:
Billy Reynolds, Christmas 1957.
A new western shirt and bolo tie
for the annual spring visit to the
Alisal Guest Ranch in Solvang, CA.

As a kid of the early 1950s, wrapped up in all things cowboy, the idea of getting to go to a dude ranch for Spring Break was my idea of heaven. Back then they were called Dude Ranches, and for some very good and obvious reasons - mostly with regard to their guest's riding skills. Those reasons still exist today - but we now call these places Guest Ranches in deference to those dudes among us with questionable self-image issues. The one thing that hasn't changed, thankfully, is the quality of the horses. In fact, in many cases, the horses on guest ranches today are even better. Unless you were as horse crazy as I was, it's difficult to describe to someone afoot the true wonder and joy of a kid's first ride on one of those great dude string horses.

It's a guiding rule of guest ranches: great horses = great ranch experiences. Of course, the food has to be good, the view a knock out and the beds have to lull you into the sleep of angels, yet there is no greater asset that can ensure a wondrous ranch experience than being assigned your own personal Trigger during your stay. Those assignments remain among some of my greatest memories.

>>READ MORE>> 

The White Masked Bandit
 

By James H Nottage

 

I remember him clearly, an older gray haired man, slender with the kind of wind-worn face common to men who labored to make a living in the Wyoming of cowboys and railroaders. These were the men who scraped out a living in this often unforgiving land. Some of my earliest memories as a child come from listening to this man chat with my father while I sipped a grape soda. He operated tourist cabins on the east edge of Laramie and my father delivered Sinclair gasoline to his adjacent gas station. 

As an avid fan of Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers, I was all about Wild West shoot outs, galloping horses, and the scenarios of the fictional 1950s Westerns. Imagine the fascination of learning that the scars on the man's left hand were from a bullet wound earned in a shooting following a train robbery gone bad! That certain difference between the mythical West of television and movies and the real West of Wyoming was clear and evident to my young imagination.

>>READ MORE>>

 

The (He)art of a Collector –
Born or Bred?

By Linda Kohn Sherwood
Smoke Signals Editor

I sat down to lunch with one of our cherished collectors, Carl Robertson. He and his wife Sue Robertson have a beautiful Los Angeles home filled with creative objects, reflecting their integrated, exceptional taste. They have world-class collections of 17-18th century American furniture, Western Americana, art, textiles, among others, all set in a physical space that amplifies the beauty of each piece.

I wanted to learn what makes Carl's collecting gene work so well. And the answer is - he has it in his blood. Growing up north of Chicago, eventually moving out to a farm community in the 1940s, Carl purchased his first piece at the age of 15 at an old farm in Wisconsin. No, not trading cards. Not toy horses. But a drop-leaf dining room table! He bought it he said, because it had the original finish. Did he have a place of his own at that age to use or store it? No, of course not. But he had to have it. Did he purchase it to make money? No, he answers, great collectors love the objects first, and the possibility of making money with them is low on the list.

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Packing Your Kit,
The Transformation of Cowboy Leather Goods

By James H. Nottage

In this day of mass-produced goods and media manipulated marketing, it is no surprise that there is a clear sameness in the design and appearance of every kind of product from clothes to cars to electronic gadgets. Everything looks alike and when something new does have a distinctive appearance, you can bet that others will soon be copying it.

For those of us who enjoy the history of Western, and especially cowboy leather goods, there is something about the unique styles of saddles, gun belts, boots, and other gear that is very appealing. You can document particular fashions of shape, function, and design that are characteristic of regions, especially during the last half of the 19th century. As time passed, however, we clearly see how homogenized certain styles became. As an example, the classic cowboy saddle of the 1880s that we think of as the "Cheyenne" saddle, with square skirts, rolled cantle, and other attributes is easily spotted in catalogs, old photographs, and actual specimens. As most collectors know, however, saddles of this exact type can be marked by makers from Montana to California and even beyond. How did designs and forms spread so quickly?

Photo: Main & Winchester Saddle, Sold 2009 Brian Lebel Old West Auction

>>READ MORE>>

 

Sacred Sixguns?

Navy Colt revolers and Christian symbols decorate this church – a unique monument to one of the world’s greatest arms designers

By Phil Spangenberger

Have you ever heard of a church using firearms art to embellish its architecture? There is such a holy structure in Hartford, Connecticut-the home of revolutionary arms inventor and manufacturer Samuel Colt. When Samuel Colt passed away in 1862, his widow, Elizabeth Colt wanted to build a lasting memorial to him. After a few years, when it was realized that the congregation of the Episcopalian parish mission in the South Meadows area of Hartford, was outgrowing its original facility, Mrs. Colt decided that the construction of a new house of God would be a fitting memorial to her late husband, while providing a place of worship for the workmen at the nearby Colt's Armory.

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A Race to End All Races

The true exploits of horseman Francis Aubry

By Ron Soodalter

The nineteenth century American West was the time of the horse, in both fact and romance. It was also the time of the Great Western "windy" - the tall tale, or the outright lie, depending on the sensibilities of the listener. By now, every true fan of Western History knows that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express, which gives us a splendid opportunity to consider afresh the countless claims - mostly spurious - of would-be Express and long-distance riders. No sooner had the Pony Express passed into legend than dozens of men from all over the country - including such luminaries as Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok - claimed to have been connected in one way or another with the little corps of mail riders.

Nor were the many claims of fantastic deeds a-horseback limited to the Pony Express. If the film "Hidalgo" is any indication, there was never a rider to match the verve and stamina of Frank T. Hopkins when it came to endurance riding. Sadly, Hopkins' claims to have successfully ridden over 500 races, to have belonged to Cody's Congress of Rough Riders, to have been half-Sioux, to have coursed the Arabian desert, to have, in fact, played even the slightest role in the settlement of the West, appear to be just so much...well, horse-pucky. It's almost enough to destroy our faith in heroes. Almost.

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Chinacos

By Danny Neill

We can define Chinacos through various times of history. They were guerrilla liberals in Mexico during the War of Independence. They were common people. They were horsemen, independent, proud, and artisitic. But they were not always so.  

These men originally came from Spain, from the Salamanca and Andalusia areas. They learned of horses from the Moors who conquered Spain in 711 AD and stayed for over seven hundred years. The Moors brought them Arabian horses, which were lighter and faster than the European horse. They also introduced them to a smaller saddle with bags, spade and halfbreed bits, spurs, and fancy outfits. And the Spanish adopted all of these new ways to fit their needs.

By the time Cortez came to Mexico in 1519 he brought over three hundred men who could ride horses and fight, many of them Chinacos. As more men came from Spain and the fighting slowed down, the Chinacos settled in haciendas, eventually owning cattle ranches, becoming proud riders, representing personal independence and respect in the cultural context.

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The Smartest Horse in the World

From your editor: Linda Kohn Sherwood

Most of us have heard about the museum closing. Many of us have been to one or another of the auctions set to disperse the collection. Now that the final auction is coming up this week, it makes me think. What was the organic appeal and reaction to Roy and Dale from within us all? We've talked in our press releases about what good people Roy and Dale were. Their legacy certainly reflects their moral values and how they influenced all of us children of the 40s-50s (more or less). And, of course, Roy loved his children, but he also loved his horse!

I was at dinner last night with my sister-in-law, talking about our relationships with our animals: our horses, our dogs, our cats. Roy's most loyal companion was Trigger! Here was a horse who listened to his every word! Who among us can say we have someone like that! Trigger carried Roy everywhere, danced with him, bowed with him and ran with him. And Roy fell in love the minute he rode him for the first time. Trigger was then called Golden Cloud (after the manager of the California ranch where he was born, a man by the name of Roy F Cloud). He had an easy lope and a calm and willing attitude. I think it was Smiley Burnette, Roy's sidekick in the film Under Western Star", when Smiley commented, "Roy, as quick as that horse of yours is, you ought to call him Trigger." Roy liked the suggestion and began calling Golden Cloud by his new name of Trigger from then on.

>>READ MORE>>

Joe: A Blue Collar Thoroughbred

by Bob Cloud

I've known two track stars in my day. One was a high school distance runner who set and held, for many years, the Texas state high school record for the mile. The other athlete was a five-year-old, twelve hundred pound bay gelding named Joe who positively loved to run.  

I met Joe the summer of my thirteenth year while I was pretending to learn how to work cattle on my uncle's place near Matador in the Texas panhandle. Joe was a ranch hand himself who had fallen into bad favor with the cowboys that had to work him because of a flaw he had developed. That flaw was his propensity to chase jackrabbits. When one would spook out from under him, he didn't jump away from it like normal, instead he would make one jump then wheel and be after it in a flash leaving the poor sod that happened to be aboard at the time in an immediate state of free fall onto what ever the Texas landscape had to offer. Most of which is hard and sharp.

>>READ MORE>>

The Lovely Women of Mexico: Charra, China Poblana

 

By Danny Neill

The women of Mexico were the first cowgirls in the new world. As young girls growing up on ranches in the fifteen and sixteen hundreds, they learned to ride horses but would only ride sidesaddle as it was not ladylike to ride astride.

Clothing worn by the native women in rural Mexico was known as China Poblana. The legend was often told to young women about a pirate who captured a junk, a Chinese boat, on which a Chinese princess was sailing to South America. Along the way, she was sold to a Mexican Merchant who freed her on arriving to Mexico and had her baptized Catarina de San Juan. She was so charitable and generous that she became known as La China and thereafter, that's what her colorful outfits were called.

>>READ MORE>>

Taste and Collecting the West

By James H. Nottage

For some reason, I have been in a philosophical mood lately, reading some favorite old books and considering the broad world of Western American art and artifacts. Please indulge me for a short while.

In certain circles, if you talk about culture and collecting, they think you mean French provincial furniture, English paintings, and maybe Meissen China. There is a definite snobbishness about art and antiques that has been prevalent for generations and it often centers around what someone else says has value and significance. Historically, the "important" arts have been from the lives of those in Europe or part of elite Eastern American society. In 1949, Russell Lynes authored an influential volume entitled The Tastemakers in which he talked about how collectors and the general public are influenced by a wide range of voices coming from museums, scholars, artists, decorators, designers, authors and many others. Each adds to the knowledge, insights, and even ambitions of the collector. Lynes concluded his book writing that "unless I completely misunderstand the real reason for having taste, it is to increase one's faculties for enjoyment. Taste in itself is nothing. It is only what taste leads to that makes any difference in our lives."

>>READ MORE>>

Western Leather Goods, Union Made

By James H. Nottage

Near Midnight Pass

When we think of classic Western cowboy saddles, chaps, gun belts and holsters, cuffs, bridles, and other goods it is easy to picture independent business manufacturers scattered throughout the frontier. While small shops were common, there were also major factories and going concerns that might have large numbers of skilled leather workers. As early as the 1850s, union organizers became active. By the 1890s, the United Brotherhood of Leather Workers On Horse Goods could boast members in a large portion of the big shops. Among the rarest stamps to be found on some of cowboy goods, is that of this labor union.

>>READ MORE>>

Black Powder Framed Peacemaker–
What Does it Mean?

Among many Peacemaker fans, there's a misunderstanding of the terms "black powder" frame or "smokeless" frame, so let's clear the smoke.

By Phil Spangenberger

Among today's shooters and Colt Single Action Army (SAA) revolver collectors, we often hear the terms "black powder frame" and "smokeless frame." These are relatively modern terms (dating from roughly around the mid-20th century when gun collecting was gaining in popularity) and are used primarily to describe the era that a Colt Peacemaker represents. The "black powder" moniker comes from the fact that, the first Peacemaker Colts were made with a cylinder base pin retaining system that used a single screw, located at the front of the revolver's frame. In 1896, at around serial number 165,000, Colt changed over to the so-called "smokeless" frame, where the cylinder base pin is held in place by spring-loaded cross-pin screws. Ironically, this system has nothing to do with smokeless powder, since Colt did not guarantee any of their 1873 Single Action Army revolvers for use with the then new smokeless propellant until around serial number 180,000 (1898). Furthermore, this system had been employed as early as 1877 and again in 1878, on Colt's double-action models. It's simply a modern collectors' term to differentiate between the two types and/or eras of manufacture of the 1873 Colt SAAs.

>>READ MORE>>

Charles F. Lummis:
A Westerner with a Mission

By William C. Reynolds

Like so many things in Los Angeles, the landmark Southwest Museum was helped getting started by a character - a college dropout. Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928) had all the makings of a classic pioneer entrepreneur. He was a journalist, publisher, photographer, amateur anthropologist and passionate historian of the American Southwest. If he were in L.A. today he would have a screenplay rolled up in his back pocket he would want you to read as well. Lummis was a writer for a fledgling newspaper out west called The Los Angeles Times. In 1894 he became editor of a new magazine he started that promoted visiting the West, Land Of Sunshine. Among his other self appointed taskings was to push for the preservation of the California Missions as well as helping create L.A.'s first free public museum of the regions art, history and culture.

All these accomplishments were part of Lummis' personal mission to celebrate and help protect what he perceived as a rapidly disappearing appreciation for the pastoral "days of the Dons" of the old Californios of the early 1800s. So when Lummis came to Los Angeles he found that while there was a mildly nostalgic remembrance of the "old days" - the remnants of that truly elite Californio culture were either leaving or deeply in debt due to the rapid influx of new immigrants coming up from contemporary Mexico, individuals with little or no memory of the area's elegant agrarian past. This was unacceptable to Lummis, and as an educated easterner he brought with him a natural understanding of how to not only celebrate this unique pastoral history of the area but also promote its uniqueness and romantic attraction. His participation in creating the Southwest Society in Los Angeles presented a unique opportunity to record and protect the spoken history through the regions Spanish songs - in a way only Lummis could describe, "Before they disappeared like snow in the California sun." Using the most contemporary of tools, an Edison wax-cylinder recorder, by 1905 he had recorded over 100 songs in twenty-four native languages and over 400 Spanish compositions. A task he continued until 1912. In 1923, he published fourteen in his classic sheet music collection, Spanish Songs of Old California with the help of composer Arthur Farwell. The collection includes serenades associated with life on the rancho along with nursery songs that had been taught in many of the area's early mission schools.

As a staunch advocate of regional cultural promotion, Lummis' work as pioneering folklorist helped create a roadmap for later folklore ethnologists to follow. Uniquely, he was quite clear as to what he was accomplishing at the time as he felt the continuance of the viejo Californio culture's roots were critical to the "civilized" evolution of the area. An area he saw as a place where others would travel to for both "rest and revitalization." He was a unique and passionate westerner, a force to be reckoned with. A friend of his, Gene Rhodes, wrote a final tribute to Lummis after his death, "He was a remarkable man - his scholarly thoroughness, his appalling industry, his rapier-like wit, and the militant heart that never feared to make a foe in a good cause. He finished what he started and he paid for what he broke."

Learn more:
Much of this article's information, and much more, regarding this topic - the romantic appreciation of the Californio and its implications in the twentieth century, can be seen in McWilliams', North from Mexico, and Leonard Pitt's, The Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californians, 1846 - 1890 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966)

Up in Smoke...
When Your Collection
Bites the Dust

By Bob Sandroni with help from
his treasured co-pilot and wife, Lora

On October 22, 2007, my wife and I suffered the loss of our 7,500 square-foot home in Lake Arrowhead, California. In a few hours, our mountain sanctuary for 18 years, our family destination for holidays, birthdays and other milestones, and our showcase for our Western and Native American art disintegrated.

Gone were more than 1500 antique weapons, hundreds of salesman saddle samples, historic chaps and gun belts, museum quality Native American beadwork and oil paintings.

What can one learn from such a tragedy? A lot. What prevented this disheartening disaster from becoming an emotional and financial debacle?

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Special Announcement from Roy Rogers Jr.

I have been personally agonizing over how to start this letter. I guess I will start by saying thank you. Thank you for the years of love, support, prayers and loyalty to the Rogers Family. You, the fans, and our Board of Directors, are the ones who have kept our family's museum going for over 42 years. It has been a wonderful ride. After millions of visitors and countless stories of what Roy and Dale have meant to you, the Board of Directors have voted to close our doors of the Museum at the end of 2009. This has not been an easy decision. Many very emotional and financial issues have been addressed by all of us, as you can well imagine.

The decision to close the Museum has come after two years of steady decline in visitors to the Museum. A lot of factors have made our decision for us. The economy for one, people are just not traveling as much. Dad's fans are getting older, and concerned about their retirement funds. Everyone is concerned about their future in this present economy. Secondly, with our high fiscal obligations we cannot continue to accumulate debt to keep the doors open. This situation is one I have not wanted to happen. Dad always said- “If the museum starts costing you money, then liquidate everything and move on.” Myself and my family have tried to hold together the Museum and collection for over 15 years, so it is very difficult to think that it will all be gone soon.

What will happen to Roy Rogers, Jr and his family? For those of you that have heard I am retiring, nothing could be farther from the truth. My company, Golden Stallion, and its show tribute to Roy and Dale, will continue. I plan on taking the show to another venue in Branson. We are looking for space now. The show will also be available to travel around the country and take the message of Roy and Dale wherever we travel. I feel that this country needs the message that Roy and Dale always put forth, not only in their professional lives, but in their private lives as well.

The Museum's last day of operation will be December 12th. We want everyone to have the opportunity to visit the Museum one last time to see the collection in its entirety. This will be your last chance to see Roy and Dale's collection. Tell your friends and encourage them to come, before we close. This will be your final chance!!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Remember, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans will live forever in our hearts and minds, and will continue to ride across the silver screen through their movies. Every time you think of Roy and Dale, that warm feeling you have always felt, will always return.

Watch our website for further announcements and special dates.

I leave you all with Dad's favorite saying- Good bye, Good luck, and may the good Lord take a likin' to ya! See you in Branson, or on the road.

Love to all of you!
Happy Trails.
Dusty and Family

High Noon is honored to help the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum spread the beauty, memories and artifacts inside its walls out into the hearts and homes of people all over the world.

December 3, 2009 – Christies in New York will be offering musical pieces from Roy and Dale in their Country Music Sale in New York

www.christies.com/eCatalogues/index.aspx?id=422E6D74FC4B0F3F8525756D0058A2C3

On January 30, 2010 we will offer a few of the very special pieces owned by Roy and Dale in our annual auction to be held in Mesa, Arizona. Included will be one of Roy’s fabulous Bohlin silver saddles as well as his personal Bohlin Spurs, Gun Rig and Colts plus his Rose Parade Grand Marshal saddle, as well as buckles and personal clothing

www.highnoon.com

On July 14-15, 2010 High Noon will be offering approximately 600-800 other high quality, very personal items from the Roy and Dale Museum. High Noon is teaming up with Christie’s Auction House and will hold the auction in New York City.

Please watch both the museum and High Noon websites for more details.

www.royrogersmuseum.org
www.highnoon.com

By James W. Nottage
October, 2009 Smoke Signals

Leonard Pitts, a columnist for The Miami Herald, wrote a column recently lamenting that in our increasingly digital world physical things are disappearing. The time is coming when we may not have real newspapers, books, record albums, photographs, and even art. Pitts wisely pointed out that the demise of those objects also implies that the people who make them are facing extinction as well.

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By Ron Soodalter
September, 2009 Smoke Signals

It happened like this:

Custer and most of his command have been dead three weeks. Some eight hundred Cheyenne have jumped the reservation at Fort Robinson, and several companies of the Fifth Cavalry under General Wesley Merritt - around 400 to 500 men in all - are on a mission to keep them from joining Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Along either Hat or Warbonnet Creek, in the broken hill country that defines the Wyoming/Nebraska border, the army’s scouts spy some thirty of the Cheyenne waiting in ambush for two unsuspecting army couriers...

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By Bill Heisman
August, 2009 Smoke Signals

I have been building and collecting saddles, spurs and bits since the early 1970s and have been a full-time bit and spur maker since 1988. Most of my work involves the more intricate and ornate California style of bits and spurs.…Research has been a passion of mine ever since purchasing Bill Mackin's Old West Collectibles book back in 1979, accumulating a large and comprehensive resource library. However, hands-on restoration, not books have taught me how to differentiate between old and news spurs of comparable styles.

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By William Reynolds
July, 2009 Smoke Signals

That phrase aptly describes a special person in the history of early California and vaquero art. They were spoken by Alfred Douglas Harmer about his beloved father, and only begin to introduce the artistic and social contributions made by Alexander Harmer, an artist considered to be the first important painter of the West and a leader in California’s art community of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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By Jayne Skeff
June, 2009 Smoke Signals

As antiquers, we’ve known all along that antiques are green. We’ve known that the wicker basket bought at Target will be in the trash bin long before that Indian basket begins to show wear. We’ve known all along that the Monterey cupboard will long stand after the Ikea bookcase has bit the dust. We’ve been preserving and recycling before the word “recycle” hit Webster’s. But have any of us really thought about the benefits of being designated “green” businesses.

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By James W. Nottage
May, 2009 Smoke Signals

A correspondent to a saddle and harness journal in the spring of 1894 wrote about California women abandoning the side saddle to ride astride.  It comes as no surprise that independent minded women in the West might cast “aside” the proprieties of Victorian manners, and after all, even equestrian traditions had to adapt to the needs and environments of the American West.

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By James W. Nottage
April, 2009 Smoke Signals

If you are new to collecting, it can be difficult to know who to trust. You see dealers at shows, you see their ads in magazines, and you hear talk about them within the collecting fraternity. Which dealers are honest and how do you know who might be most helpful to you in developing your collection? Here are a few suggestions that you might keep in mind.

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By James W. Nottage
March, 2009 Smoke Signals

Albert Nottage worked his way through the Great Depression as a locomotive engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad.  Through those hard economic times, he managed to create a world-class collection of American coins.

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By William C. Reynolds
February, 2009 Smoke Signals

2009 will be the ultimate blind date. We just don’t know what it will be like. But for those of us who love the art and way of the American West - the genre offers some significant opportunity in these “challenging” times.   

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By Linda Kohn Sherwood
High Noon Western Americana
Cowboys & Indians Magazine, September 2007

Next to the horse and the hat, much of what creates the romantic aura of the cowboy is the rest of his gear. The poetic nature of the horseman’s trappings has long inspired stanza and verse, drawing and painting.

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By Linda Kohn & Joseph Sherwood
High Noon Western Americana

Los Angeles, CA When collectors think of “Folk-art” images of Amish quilts, duck decoys and Navajo rugs come to mind. However, one of the finest and rarest of the American textiles, the HORSEHAIR BRIDLE, is often overlooked.

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by B. Byron Price
From California Vaquero Traditions, Luis B. Ortega

Ed Borein knew another artist when he saw one, even if the artist’s medium was rawhide and not paint or bronze. As a former cowboy himself, the easel painter also recognized fine braiding when he saw it, even if the braider carried his work in a barley sack. Borein knew, too that Luis Ortega had a special gift for his ancient art, although his skills were not yet fully developed.

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