The Frontierado holiday is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. This year it will be observed on Friday August 2nd. Here’s another seasonal post.
THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) – The gold rushes in Alaska during the late 1890s and early 1900s provided the usual tableaus of boom towns, claim-jumping, gambling and gunslinging. Unlike such rushes in the Continental United States, the frigid temperatures and monumental snows of Alaska added unique twists to the wild west feel of gold-seeking.
Previously, Balladeer’s Blog covered Alaskan prospectors, gunslingers and gamblers like the Montana Kid, Swiftwater Bill, Klondike Kate, One-Eyed Riley, Silent Sam Bonnifield and others HERE. The Alaskans starred Roger Moore, Dorothy Provine, Ray Danton, John Dehner and Claude Akins searching for gold in the 1890s.
The series was produced by the same outfit behind James Garner’s iconic series Maverick and featured Roger Moore’s character Silky Harris, who ran con games and gambled with as much skill as he displayed at gunplay. Dorothy Provine’s Rocky Shaw was a Klondike Kate-style saloon entertainer who knew how to handle herself in rough company.
John Dehner appeared as the real-life figure Soapy Smith, infamous crime lord of the frozen north. Balladeer’s Blog examined Soapy’s career of crime in Denver and later in Alaska HERE.
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THE FORGOTTEN LAND (1917) – Written by H. H. Knibbs. This writer was much better known for his poems about the American West. The Forgotten Land ventured into science fiction and “future history.” 
RIN TIN TIN (1918-1932) – Here at Balladeer’s Blog, I’m even fonder of dogs than I am of silent movies, so this post will combine the two topics. Sadly, most silent films have become so little remembered that few people even realize that there actually WAS a real Rin Tin Tin, adopted by American soldiers during World War One. 
CHARLIE SIRINGO – Like a real-life Harry Flashman of the American West, Charles Angelo Siringo, cowboy, bounty hunter and lawman, fought alongside or against some of the biggest names of his era. Siringo crossed paths with the likes of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, the Wild Bunch, Tom Horn, Clarence Darrow, Kid Russell, Will Rogers, William Borah and many others. 
WIN IT IN THE FOURTH – The INDIANA FEVER (9-13) played host to the NEW YORK LIBERTY (17-4) yesterday. 
TUSSLE AT THE TARGET CENTER – In this game the MINNESOTA LYNX (15-6) welcomed the WASHINGTON MYSTICS (5-17) to their Target Center home court. 
CAPTAIN AMERICA Vol 1 #193 (January 1976) 
Frontierado is celebrated the first Friday of every August, so this year it will be marked on August 2nd. This holiday celebrates the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Here’s a seasonal post regarding the Pony Express, the much-romanticized messenger service across the west that lasted from April 3rd, 1860 to October 26th, 1861. 
PONY BOB HASLAM – One of the most famous Pony Express riders of them all, after Buffalo Bill Cody. (Wild Bill Hickok did not really work for the Pony Express, but rather as a teamster for its parent company.) Click 
JULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.
THE SPY (1914) – This four-reel movie was based on the 1821 novel of the same name by THE James Fenimore Cooper. The story is set largely at a home in Scarsdale, New York as American Rebel families share feuds, intrigues and romances with British Loyalists. 
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