With Frontierado fast approaching on Friday August 2nd, here’s another seasonal post.
THE CABALLERO’S WAY (1907) – This was the original short story written by O. Henry in which he introduced the character called the Cisco Kid. The Caballero’s Way was first published in the July issue of Everybody’s Magazine, then was included in the anthology The Heart of the West later that year.
The Cisco Kid in this short story bears no resemblance to the Kid of later decades in pop culture. Early silent films like The Caballero’s Way (1914) and The Border Terror (1919) kept the basics of the O. Henry short story. The Kid was a selfish, ruthless, self-centered robber and hellraiser whose only admirable quality was his chivalrous refusal to harm women.
The communities in the Cisco Kid’s territory between the Frio River and the Rio Grande help hide the kid from his Texas Ranger pursuers out of fear, NOT out of any fondness for the violent killer. Also unlike later portrayals of the Kid as a good guy, Cisco is an American whose surname is Goodall and he loves to shoot Mexican men.
A romantic triangle develops among the Cisco Kid, his favorite girl Tonia Perez and Lt. Dandridge, the Texas Ranger in charge of the latest attempts to capture or kill the Kid. In O. Henry’s story, Tonia clearly prefers Dandridge and wants him to kill Cisco so they can be together without any danger from him. Continue reading
THE FRONTIERADO HOLIDAY IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 2nd! 
MAVERICK (1994) – Richard Donner directed and Mel Gibson starred in this excellent tribute to the 1950s and 1980s Maverick television series. The original series starred James Garner as slick-talking gambler/ gunslinger Bret Maverick AND, in old-age makeup, as “Pappy” Beauregard Maverick, the gambler and con-man patriarch of that family of rogues. (No relation to the real-life Maverick family of Texas, for whom “maverick” cattle were named.)
Mel Gibson portrays Bret Maverick since by 1994 James Garner was too old for the role. Jodie Foster co-stars as rival gambler Annabelle Bransford and the iconic James Garner provides memorable support as a lawman. 
However, before that was known, 
By the way, the minute it was clear that the REAL perpetrators were 
For what it’s worth, here are my current thoughts on the ongoing situation regarding the attempt to kill populist folk hero President Donald Trump. There are countless articles out there praising his courage under literal fire and condemning the loathsome conduct of Trump-haters, so I’m covering a different angle right now. 
Well, the Democrats, their media outlets and their unhinged narrative that de facto Third Party President Donald Trump is the new Hitler finally got the result they’ve been wanting … almost. Clearly they would rather that Trump was dead. I will have more to write about this in a day or so. 
Longtime readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that when something huge happens I like to wait for the initial fog of mistakes and incorrect reports by the media to clear up before I do a lengthy blog post. In the meantime, obviously, I’m glad that Trump – who kept us out of any new wars, was the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime and the man most feared by the absolute garbage called career politicians in the United States – survived this attempt on his life.
THE TOUCH OF BREEZE (2023) – Last year Balladeer’s Blog reviewed 
Balladeer's Blog 