The Genesis of Western Clippings Newsletter   

 

By Boyd Magers          

 

Dedicated to preserving the rich heritage and enduring memories of small and big screen westerns and the people who populated them, WESTERN Clippings was born in September 1994...

I've always felt I grew up at just the right time for a full appreciation of all westerns...the late '40s-early '60s.

My youth was spent in Independence, Kansas, near where the Dalton and James Gangs rode, and Ponca City, Oklahoma, the site of the famed 101 Ranch. In the '40s I was riding the Saturday matinee range with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Charles Starrett and others. By '53 the new medium of television offered me a steady hour upon hour appreciation of the early screen cowboys - Buck Jones, Ken Maynard and the rest. The early '50s was also the time for the dawning of dozens of TV westerns, so I came to appreciate all eras of westerns.

From '87-'94 I contributed a regular column on westerns to The Big Reel as well as writing various other articles. In '94 my wife Donna and I began self-publishing WESTERN Clippings with the purpose of keeping the honesty and moral values alive in the hearts and minds of other western film devotees. Our unique western movie and TV history must be remembered and preserved just as has the real West.

We're honored to have rounded up several name columnists as contributors over the years, including Will Sugarfoot Hutchins who has been with us since the first issue; stuntman Neil Summers; singer/actor Johnny Western; late actor Michael Pate; Ty Bronco Hardin for a brief period and Roy Dusty Rogers Jr., along with other noted historians.

Offering a diverse look at westerns from the silent era to today has made WESTERN Clippings the respected and successful publication we had hoped for. It gives us the same kind of pleasure all those westerns have given me all these years.

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Boyd Magers, WESTERN Clippings
1312 Stagecoach Rd SE
Albuquerque, NM 87123
(505) 292-0049
www.westernclippings.com

Both Boyd and Donna Magers are two of our Smoke Signals readers who kindly shared their story with us. We encourage you to share yours!  

Historic Pancho Villa Silver, Snake-Head Saddle to be Sold at Auction    

 

 

Pancho Villa, infamous renegade, Robin Hood, revolutionary and hero of the Mexican people, was assassinated almost 100 years ago after a highly contentious yet ultimately celebrated life. A life celebrated numerous times on the silver screen (played by actors including Telly Savalas and Antonio Banderas), in museums and institutions around the world and a name honored on street signs and plazas throughout the Americas. What remains today of this complex and mysterious man, are the facts and folklore and his final magnificent silver threaded saddle -  saddle that will captivate collectors and historians alike when it finally comes to public auction on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at the High Noon Western Americana auction in Mesa, Arizona. Historic, romantic, important - this final artifact of his life is estimated to bring $150,000 to $250,000.

 

 

The provenance of this saddle matches the richness of Villa's life. Given by Villa's widow and only legal wife (reportedly he had eight) to famed Hollywood director Howard Hawks during the filming of Viva Villa, she presented this glorious saddle to him as a gift as she felt the film truly extolled the Mexican Revolution and the man she knew - Villa himself. For the past 20 years, Villa's saddle has been on display at both the Witte Museum in San Antonio, TX and the South Texas History Museum in Edinburg, TX.

The saddle, in excellent condition, is smothered in silver-wrapped threads and boldly-domed silver conchos.  Made and marked by expert craftsmen, it has Francisco (nickname: Pancho) Villa's initials in high relief on the stirrups. Thematically it has a 3-dimensional silver snake head and a carved diablo in the leather under the grand saddlebags. Joseph Sherwood of High Noon says, "This is the trifecta for saddles: beautiful, in great condition and historically significant."

Linda Kohn Sherwood of High Noon says, "Pancho Villa was both a charismatic hero and cruel outlaw." He survived countless battles and assassinations of 3 strong Mexican revolutionary leaders (Madero, Zapata and Carranza) and the stories of his life helped define the spirit of his country's struggle for freedom. His place in history is a paradox: a revolutionary idealist who believed firmly in public education, health and good government, and a vicious, mean-spirited, cruel revolutionary who would do anything to win.

The saddle's colorful history also blends with Hollywood mystique. Pancho Villa has been played by over 35 actors since 1919. The most recent rumor is that Johnny Depp may take the roll next! His legend is a mosaic of folklore and fact, including stories of his treasures said to be buried somewhere in the Mexican desert.



The 22nd Annual High Noon Western Americana Weekend Event will be held January 28 and 29, 2012 at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, AZ.

The important High Noon Western Americana Auction will begin at 5pm Saturday, January 28th, when the final Pancho Villa saddle as well as over 300 lots of important Western Americana art, artifacts and historic property will be offered. Preview for this event will be Thursday and Friday, January 26th and 27th or by private appointment prior to the sale.

The weekend is complemented with the renowned two-day High Noon Western Americana Antique Show where over 100 of the country's finest exhibitors featuring the best in historic to contemporary fill the Mesa Convention Center Exhibit halls making this event a Western Americana shopping experience of a lifetime.

For more information on the January 28-29, 2012 High Noon Western Americana Weekend event and the Pancho Villa saddle, please visit www.highnoon.com or call the office of High Noon at (310) 202-9010.

We Pointed Them North

The Masters of Contemporary Western Art
Celebrate the Tradition of the American West 

 

EC Abbott was a cowboy in the great days of the 1870s and 1880s. He came up the trail to Montana from Texas with the long-horn herds, which stocked the northern ranges. He punched cows in Montana when there wasn't a fence in the territory, and married a daughter of Granville Stuart, the famous early-day stockman and Montana pioneer. For more than fifty years he was known to cowmen from Texas to Alberta as Teddy Blue. The story of his life and his experiences was first published in 1939 and the title of that book was We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher. To many his book, as told through Helena Huntington Smith, is the most colorful yet true account of life of the cowboy during the wild west days of the 1800s. He witnessed and experienced firsthand train hold ups and the final destruction of the American Indians' nomadic way of life. And coming in December to the Cattle Raisers Museum in Ft. Worth, TX, in a special event and exhibit, today's contemporary Western artists will celebrate the life and the legacy of Teddy Blue Abbott and fellow puncher and artist, Charles M. Russell.

The finest Contemporary Western artists will each be exhibiting three to five works they have specifically created to commemorate the famous trials on the trail north or that are an interpretive rendering of a memory that inspired them. Brainchild of Western artist Teal Blake, this event will showcase the works of Bob Morehouse, Dave Powell, Buckeye Blake, T.D. Kelsey and many more. This event will showcase these artists' interpretation of that time, that color and that experience. The goal? To never let that period of history be forgotten, to educate and compel Americans to learn more and never forget their heritage. The event will showcase "art that grabs hold of your heart as well as your eyes," says Teal Blake, founder of this event.

The exhibit will open with a special preview and dinner on Wednesday evening, December 7th, 2011. The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, December 11th, 2011. Plus the museum is located next door to the cherished National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame.

For more information about or to purchase tickets to this important event, please visit www.wepointedthemnorth.com or call (817) 509-8963.

Photo top: Teal Blake, founder and producer of We Pointed Them North.
Photo below: The Broomtail, watercolor, by Teal Blake.

Nolan Ryan Wins the National Golden Spur Award from the Ranching Heritage Association of Lubbock, Texas     

 

 

The Ryan Express, pitched a perfect game last month in Lubbock, TX. After 27 years in baseball, the award-winning pitcher, now CEO of Texas Rangers baseball club, became a rancher extraordinare. His talents were recognized with a nod from the Ranching Heritage Association, receiving their illustrious Golden Spur Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the ranching and livestock industry. As a thanks to the RHA, he graciously supplied all the meat for the event. Congratulations, Nolan!!

129 years in the making...

Rob Schaezlein, 4th Generation of Perfection

by Jayne Skeff

"The only thing we get is raw material and when it leaves, it's a work of art." And that has been happening for 129 years at R Schaezlein & Son of San Francisco. Works of art in silver and works of art in gold.

Talking to Rob Schaezlein, fourth generation silversmith in a line of masters, you are immediately taken with his passion for history and passion for the heritage arts. It's a history that goes back to 1882 when his great-grandfather, German born Robert Schaezlein I, set up shop in San Francisco creating society badges and flatware. Quickly gaining a reputation for impeccable silverwork of the highest caliber of the day, his business thrived and grew in tandem with the legendary era of San Francisco when the finest craftsmen settled there to satisfy the needs of the gold rush barons. Almost destroyed by the major 1906 San Francisco earthquake which left their shop in rubble and ruins, he salvaged what he could and moved his shop by horse drawn wagon to the basement of his home where it remained for the next 57 years. By this time, Rob's Grandfather, Robert F Sr., had begun working with his father, taking their work to another level and creating their now recognizable style and high standards of art for saddle makers such as Visalia Saddlery and the legendary Levi Strauss Company.

After World War II, Rob's father, Robert F, Jr., joined the family business training under German master engraver Fred Newmeyer. Taking their work and designs to yet another level, fine hand-cut lettering and ornamental engraving became the hallmark of their impeccable work.

"I used to spend a lot of time with my dad, helping out in the shop in small ways doing basic stamping and a lot of cleaning up," recalls Rob about growing up. "I went away to college and when I returned in the 80s I had a choice - to pursue a career in business or join my father at R Schaezlein & Son. I realized, in my heart, that if I didn't join my father, that the business would likely eventually disappear - I didn't want that to happen. So, I began to learn from my father and as I did more, he did less."

Learning from three generations of masters definitely has its reward and today Rob Schaezlein is regarded as one of the finest silversmiths in the country if not the world. He's not comfortable with the accolades though, and he's wonderfully humble about the works he creates. Humble to the point where he feels art is his weakest talent yet what he designs and what he creates is most certainly art. "That's actually the hardest part of this - often the design takes much longer than the actual product. It has to be perfect down to the tiniest detail. I'm obsessive about doing a really good job and I hope people will notice."

Notice indeed! Rob's work is featured in many of the finest shops in the country, all done one at a time and all done by Rob. No mass manufacturing here. "That is a problem, I just won't go there, I won't sell out. It's not who I am nor who I ever want to be."

Rob's designs are typically rich in tradition but lately, he's been stretching the envelope a bit with some more contemporary designs. "That has been fun, stretching my creativity, but my heart still goes to tradition."

Is he still in the basement of his great-grandfather's house on Clay Street? No. After all, some traditions do eventually have to change.

Whether contemporary or conservative, it's his world-class designs that make him such a treasured tradition for the High Noon family.

Visit Rob on Facebook at R. Schaezlein & Son or his website: www.handcrafted-belts-buckles.com

This month, we present cowboy poetry by amy elizabeth...    

We are what we are 'cause age tells no lie,
My ol' horse ain't what he was but either am I.
He's ready to go trail ridin' at the drop of a hat,
I reckon me too, long as the terrain is somewhat flat.

His head's bobbin' from a stiff left shoulder,
But it hardly shows until the weather's colder.
Can't say I'm no different on any given day,
My hips get to achin' just from mountin' that dinky bay.

I tossed around the thought of puttin' em fer sale,
But I knew his worth was prob'ly less than a three wire bale.
The difference between value an' worth took time to see,
I realize now he's invaluable to an ol' nag like me.


by amy elizabeth
http://tbnranch.wordpress.com/


Stories of the Old West were an inspirational tool in my early cowboy poetry. Born in Chicago, Illinois, horses were sparse and cowboys few - but if there's a will there's a cowboy way. Today, home is on a small ranch in Arizona where horses are plentiful and cowboys are an arm's length away. I'm currently at work on a Western Romance Novel, and I just completed my first book of Western Folk Poetry. Sometimes you have to grab life by the reins, put weight in the stirrups, sit deep, and chance every mountain no matter how steep.

- amy elizabeth

 

Congratulations, Joe Flores and Family: 

 

The Ranching Heritage Association honors the Flores Family, both father and son. Congressman Bill Flores received the prestigious Boss of the Plains Award. And the Western Gallery opened with Selections From the Joe Flores Western Collection featuring pieces from Joe Flores' personal collection.

Congratulations go out to Joe, a longtime member of our High Noon family, and his son!