The Frontierado Holiday lands on Friday, August 7th this year. Regular Balladeer’s Blog readers may recall that Frontierado Season celebrates the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality. To mark the season, I always review Westerns, look at neglected elements of the 1800s west and examine overlooked gunslingers whose lives were at least as exciting as the big-name figures.
To give newbies the general idea, here’s a look at some of the 2025 Frontierado Season:
NEGLECTED GUNSLINGERS
“WHISKEY JIM” GREATHOUSE – He started out by shooting his way to the top of a bootleg whiskey ring in the early 1870s. From there he moved on to stealing horses and mules with his gang, later switching to Buffalo “Hunting” with Pat Garrett. That got Whiskey Jim caught up in the war between buffalo “hunters” and the Comanches. In New Mexico, Jim took on crime lord “Hoodoo” Brown and ultimately moved on to rustling and rubbing shoulders with Billy the Kid. Click HERE.
“BIG STEVE” LONG – After the Civil War, this ex-soldier headed west and worked as a bounty hunter, paid gunman and finally corrupt lawman as the enforcer for the Moyers crime ring in wild Laramie, Wyoming. Click HERE.
MOVIES
GARTER COLT (1968) – A Spaghetti Western about Lulu “Garter” Colt, a female gambler-gunslinger and her adventures in saloons and behind the scenes of the war to overthrow Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. Click HERE.
THE BELLE STARR STORY (1968) – Another Spaghetti Western, this one about the real-life outlaw Belle Starr. A very embellished take on the woman. Click HERE.
TELEVISION
STAGECOACH WEST (1960-1961) – The one and only Wayne Rogers stars as Alabama Luke Perry, a gunslinging stagecoach driver. His adventures include fighting off desperadoes trying to steal valuable cargos that he’s transporting, dealing with hostage situations, clashing with crooked town bosses and much more. Click HERE.
CIMARRON STRIP (1967-1968) – Stuart Whitman stars as U.S. Marshall Jim Crown as he struggles to maintain law and order in the Cimarron Strip/ Oklahoma Panhandle. Each episode was 90 minutes long and since it was the late 1960s by now a deeper dive into certain topics was possible. Click HERE.
CASEY JONES (1957-1958) – Alan Hale himself plays legendary railroad engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones in the 1890s west. Action and the occasional historical figures. Click HERE.
MISCELLANEOUS
THE RAILROAD WAR – From 1878 to 1880 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad vied with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad for the right of way in separate locales. While the Railroad Barons’ lawyers fought it out in courtrooms all the way up to the Supreme Court, they also hired gunmen who clashed everywhere the tracks were being laid. Participants included Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Texas Thompson, Dirty Dave Rudabaugh, Prairie Dog Morrow, Mysterious Dave Mather and John Joshua Webb. Click HERE.
THE DOUBLE DAGGERS (1877) – I review this second Deadwood Dick Dime Novel as he clashes with a new set of villains and fights to right some terrible wrongs in the Dakotas. Click HERE.
FIVE LOST OUTLAW TREASURES OF THE OLD WEST – A look at the lost loot from the 1879 Henry Seymour Gang stagecoach robbery – modern value: 6.4 million dollars. The Musgrove Gang’s unspent booty from 1868 – modern value: unknown. The proceeds of the Ellis, Kansas robbery of the town’s Wells Fargo office in 1870 – modern value: over $500,000. The Vasquez Gang plunder from their raid of Kingston, CA in 1873 – modern value: nearly $67,000. Brockie Jack Gang’s stagecoach robbery in Portneuf Canyon, ID in 1865 – modern value: 1.6 million dollars. Click HERE.
BODIE, CALIFORNIA: FROM GOLD RUSH BOOM TOWN TO GHOST TOWN – Examining the history of Bodie, CA’s rise and fall. Click HERE.
FIVE BEST BOURBONS FOR YOUR FRONTIERADO FESTIVITIES – The title says it all. Click HERE.
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