The Frontierado Holiday is fast approaching and will be marked Friday August 2nd this year. Frontierado is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Balladeer’s Blog has covered a lot of Range Wars of the old west, and a few Mormon Wars, but this time I’ll present some politically oriented gunplay.
JAYBIRD VS WOODPECKER WAR (1888-1889) – First off, let’s make sure to distinguish between JayHAWKS and JayBIRDS. Jayhawks were the anti-slavery forces in Bleeding Kansas during the 1850s. Jaybirds were in 1880s Texas and were the racist white Democrat forces trying to expel the mixed black and white Woodpeckers who had gained power from Republicans during Reconstruction after the Civil War.
NOTE: An old song about Woodpeckers and Jaybirds had provided the names of the two factions. Democrats seized upon the name Jaybirds, which left Republicans with the name Woodpeckers.
Fort Bend County in Texas was the site of the Jaybird-Woodpecker War. As election day approached, tensions grew so high that exchanges of gunfire as well as violent beatings had broken out. Continue reading
MEMOIRS FROM A JOURNEY WITH THE FLYING FISH “PROMETHEUS” (1870) – Written by Danish author Vilhelm Bergsoe. I shortened the title in the heading for this blog post. Some editions shorten it even more, to just Flying Fish Prometheus. 
William’s American colleagues send the new airship Prometheus to fetch him. The Prometheus is cigar-shaped (like so many UFOs would be described decades later) and sports wings plus propellors. Our man Stone boards the airship in Koege, along with other passengers including his love interest Anna Blue. 
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 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.
In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined epic myths from around the world and from many belief systems. Examples include 
COWBOY G-MEN (1952-1953) – A reader recently mentioned the old Robert Conrad series The Wild Wild West, and that reminded me of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. AND the much earlier television western titled Cowboy G-Men. That last series featured fictional exploits of U.S. Secret Service Agents in the old west. 
DOWN TO THE WIRE – The INDIANA FEVER (11-15) took it on the road against the MINNESOTA LYNX (17-8). 
BROOKLYN BATTLE AT BARCLAY’S – In this game the NEW YORK LIBERTY (21-4) welcomed the CONNECTICUT SUN (18-6) to the Barclay’s Center. 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #1 (October 13th 1976)
Synopsis: British college student Brian Braddock was working as an assistant to Dr. Hugo Travis at the Darkmoor Energy Research Center, a scientific organization probing the supernatural energies and anomalies of the Darkmoor area. 
The Amulet of Right and the mystic Quarterstaff turned Brian into the costumed superhero called Captain Britain. Stragg and his men had not seen Braddock’s face clearly, so his real identity was safe. Using his new powers – flight, a skin-tight force field, enhanced senses and enough strength to lift a couple tons – the hero defeated Stragg’s armed thugs. 
SHOTGUN JOHN COLLINS – This overlooked gunslinger was like a talented session musician whose name isn’t better known to laymen mostly because of his time with assorted big-name rock bands. Shotgun John was born Abraham G. Graham in South Carolina on November 22nd, 1851. His great-grandfather had served under General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, during the Revolutionary War. 
Okay, not THAT Keith Richards. 
THE JAMES BROTHERS OF MISSOURI (1949) – In this 12-chapter Republic serial the Keithmeister General starred as Jesse James with Robert Bice as his brother Frank. Future Lois Lane Noel Neill played Peg Royer, while B-movie staple Gene Roth was along for the ride in a supporting role. 
THE LIVING CHRIST SERIES (1951) – Keith was At His Satanic Majesty’s Request as Judas in this 12-episode television series about incidents in the life of Jesus Christ. Each episode filled a 30-minute time slot. 
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. 
Balladeer's Blog 