The Frontierado Holiday is coming up this Friday, August 1st. The holiday celebrates the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality. For newbies to Balladeer’s Blog here are some of the best Frontierado Sagas – examinations of assorted gunslingers and wild towns that often get overlooked.
The Vigilante called “X”.
X: THE REAL-LIFE VIGILANTE – John Xavier Beidler was better known as “X” for his distinctive middle initial. I have no idea how a figure this colorful and with such a memorable alias is still so underappreciated.
Beidler first made his name as a vigilante dealing with bandits, claim jumpers and corrupt lawmen during the Gold Rush in Montana. As the years went by, he became a legitimate lawman and a mounted guard for stage coaches. FOR HIS FULL ENTRY CLICK HERE.
DUSTY DELIA HASKETT – She was the first female stagecoach driver for the United States Mail Service. Delia was born in 1861 and built a reputation for herself during her adventurous career driving stagecoaches throughout California.
In later years she became something of a Grand Dame among the Golden State’s Pioneer Women. FOR HER FULL ENTRY CLICK HERE. Continue reading
“CRAZY MIKE” HOGAN – Also called Frank Hamilton, Tom Blake and Tom Moore, some sources claim this trigger-happy outlaw’s real name was Thomas Hamilton Blanck. However, researcher Mark Dugan maintained that the man was born Michael Hogan Jr. on October 28th, 1870 in Schenectady, New York. 
A clash with his employers led to the thug quitting and heading west in 1889. One account holds that Mike robbed some cash from those employers before fleeing. He next surfaced out west working as a railroad brakeman before setting out on his infamous True Crime saga. 
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. 
During his teen years Shotgun John was in and out of jail for assorted offenses, but to that point not fatal ones. This time period saw our man forge casual friendships with future notorious figures like Johnny Ringo and John Wesley Hardin.
Well before this part-hero, part-villain became renowned as “The Only Law West of the Pecos” he was already experiencing an adventurous life. In 1841, at the age of 16, Bean hitched a ride on a flatboat from his dirt-poor Kentucky community to New Orleans, LA in search of work. 
FERD THE DANDY (1821-1866) – The Frontierado holiday is coming up on Friday, August 4th this year, so here is another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. This one covers a ruthless, yet often forgotten, gambler-gunslinger. 
Come 1859 Ferd the Dandy had acquired too big a reputation as a professional gambler to even get in a game anymore, so he gravitated to the Sailors’ Diggings Gold Rush near Waldo, Oregon. The mining town had already known the murderous rampage of the Triskett Gang by the time Patterson arrived to stain Waldo with his own activities. 
BUCKSKIN FRANK LESLIE – Franklyn Leslie, full name Nashville Franklyn Leslie, was better known as Buckskin Frank. “Nashville” was, he claimed, his actual first name, NOT a nickname. 
Documentation starts to show up regarding Buckskin Frank on July 11th, 1869 when he arrived in San Francisco via the steamship Portland according to the passenger information published by the Daily Alta California. 
DUTCH HENRY – Henry Borne, spelled Bourne in some sources and Born in others, was born on July 2nd, 1849 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. His parents were fresh from Germany and the old “Deutsch-Dutch” confusion on the part of non-German speakers led to Borne’s eventual nickname Dutch Henry. 
Come 1874 and Dutch Henry was living on the Texas Panhandle. He was on hand at the storied Adobe Walls store called Myers & Leonard’s when the Second Battle of Adobe Walls began on the morning of June 27th. A combined force of several hundred Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa warriors attacked, led by Comanche Chief Quanah Parker (at right). 
FARMER PEEL – Gunslinger Langford Peel got the nickname “Farmer” Peel through the same sense of irony that earns some tall people the nickname Shorty and some fat people the nickname Slim. Peel was always well-dressed and smooth-tongued and the furthest thing away from the image of a Farmer that you could get among the high-stakes gambler/ gunslingers of his era. 
THE APACHE KID – This Native American gunslinger’s life on both sides of the law intrigued a lot of people. Some saw his saga as a western Robin Hood tale when he was funneling supplies to his put-upon people on reservations. The tantalizing mysteries regarding his ultimate fate cement his immortality in the public’s imagination. Click 
“All through the year we waited” as the song lyric goes, but in this case regarding Frontierado instead of Christmas. The first Friday of every August marks this holiday devoted to the myth of the old west rather than the grinding reality. For some of us the celebration kicked off Thursday night, for others they wait until the actual day of Frontierado to hold their festivities. Enjoy yourselves today and tonight, and enjoy the leftovers on Saturday and Sunday. 
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. 
Balladeer's Blog 