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August 2012 - Vol 4, Issue 8
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Feature Story
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 Viejos - In Praise of Older Horses
A little age on a horse shouldn't
be considered a disadvantage.
By William C. Reynolds The sorrel gelding stood in the middle of the pasture. Looking through the fence rails, it was hard for her to get a good look at him. As she passed through the gate and walked towards him, it was evident he carried some years on him. When she arrived at his side, he stood soldier-still. She reached up and hugged his neck as he dropped his head so she could slip the halter on him. As she started back for the gate, he led right out with her at a good walk, staying at her side - not pulling ahead or dragging behind her. Minutes later, she had saddled him and crawled on. Together, they stood in the circle with the other riders, ready to move out for the morning's gather. Some of the other horses were much younger and were having some difficulty standing still - what with all the people and horses and the excitement they were starting to feel. Her gelding stood rock still, ears forward and ready for the day, while she re-coiled her rope and tied it on. This branding season would mark the gelding's 24th year and while he was older than most of the horses present, he wasn't old, just a little more seasoned. For the little girl riding him - she wouldn't want any other horse under her. Neither would her father sitting two horses away. That gelding had been through three of his kids - one boy had shown him in local 4H & FFA competitions, hauling him all over the West - while his other son had taken him through four years of high-school rodeo and an endless number of weekend team ropings - not to mention the countless gatherings and brandings on their ranch and on neighbors' places. Today, this little twenty-four-year-young gelding - a sorrel, grade horse with no papers or fancy registration to his name - carried a ten year-old girl - a third youngster in the family - into a new chapter of western adventures for both of them. "I wish I had a barn-full of horses like him," the father said. "That's a horse I could put anybody on and never worry." He smiled, looking over at her, "Now I can't get her off of him. He doesn't seem to mind though. Just hope he lasts."
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Featured Photography by Steve Bundy
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The photo this month is by Steve Bundy - Ready to be Saddled
My goal is to capture and preserve the vast landscapes, crumbling buildings, rusting forgotten cars and evidence of diverse cultures that I find along the way between southern California and northern New Mexico - giving them new recognition, preserving them as they erode, before they melt back into the earth. When people view my images it is my hope that they see beyond my vision and experience their own feelings and emotions. Hopefully through my eyes they might gain a new perspective and see their world in a new and expanded way. web: www.stevenbundy.com email: steven@stevenbundy.com |
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Did You Know?
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1. Picuris is one of the Eight Northern Pueblos, known for micaceous pottery.
2. On cattle drives, when the chuck wagon cook was finished with his work for the day and before hitting the sack, he would always place the tongue of the chuck wagon facing north. When the trail master started in the morning he would look at the tongue and then know what direction he would be moving the herd. 3. The Fender is a wide leather piece attached to a stirrup leather to prevent rubbing of a rider's leg against the horse and to protect the rider's legs from horse sweat. Also referred to as a Jockey, Sweat Leather, or Sudadero.
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| Empty Saddle | 
Paul Sollosy
Artist and Horseman
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Linda's Feed Bag
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Spicy Jalapeņo Sliders
This month as we are getting close to the end of summer, forget the calories and try these spicy sliders with a big helping of cole slaw.
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 jalapeņos, seeded and diced fine, plus whole or sliced, for serving 
2 shallots, chopped fine
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated spicy Monterey Jack cheese
Pinch garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus pinch
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper, plus pinch
1 cup creme fraiche (or yogurt or sour cream)
1/4 cup store-bought salsa verde
12 mini dinner rolls
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large bowl, add ground beef, jalapeņos, shallots, panko, heavy cream, cheese, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Mix together well. Form into small patties and place in the oven or on the barbecue for 12 to 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl, add creme fraiche, salsa verde, pinch of salt and pepper and mix together. Refrigerate until ready to serve with your sliders.
Lightly spread creme fraiche mixture on both sides of buns. Place burgers in middle and add a slice of jalapeņo.
Enjoy!
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Help us "Put on the Feed Bag!" Appetize us with your favorite cowboy cuisine. Send us a recipe or culinary creation - keeping the traditions of the American West alive is about the great food too! From ribs to rhubarb, campfire food to a great bowl of chili - we Wild West epicureans want to know.
Submissions welcome at SmokeSignals@highnoon.com.
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What High Noon Can Do For You
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Good Friends
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James Nottage
Vice President and Chief Curatorial Office,
Eiteljorg Museum of the American Indian and Western Art
by Jayne Skeff
Anyone who has ever had the chance to meet, chat or spend anytime at all with James Nottage feels the passion for what he does electrifying the room, but in the most soft spoken of ways.
What he has done throughout his professional life is, at the root, the reflection of who he was as a young boy. It's not often that you meet someone who knew, by the ripe old age of 9 years, that he wanted to be a museum curator. "Did you even know what a museum curator was at that time?" I asked him. "Well, I'm not sure I knew what a curator was but I knew I wanted to work in a museum." What his life would be about was determined after his first visit to the Wyoming State Museum in the 4th grade. "I became completely enamored with museums and history and knew my life had to revolve around this world," he recalls.
Nottage, a 6th generation Laramie (WY) resident, was a city boy, not a cowboy, who spent a good deal of his time growing up talking to "the older folks" about the West and its history. He didn't get the chance to see that many museums as a youngster but that didn't deter him from his goal.
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A Little Cowboy Poetry
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This month we present a poem from the Key West Kowboy, Russell Petter...
The Merry Go Round
Like an old merry go round,
some friends get on for the ride,
and some get off,
As I remember back to the days of you and me,
The Merry Go Round kept going round and round,
what seemed like forever,...
until one day,...
when you barely kissed me,
and suddenly walked away.
If I had known then,...
what I know now,...
You would have never slipped away,...
into the darkness of a December Day,
when you barely kissed me,
and suddenly walked away.
If I had known that the Merry Go Round
was going to come to a stop,
I would have held you close,
and tried a little harder,
to hold onto the best friend that I ever had.
So many years later,
that December Day still haunts me,
like the Devil from the past,
your memory will never escape me,
If I had known then,...
what I I know now,
Then I would have tried a little harder,
to hold onto the best friend,that I ever had.
Just like the darkness,
after the last rodeo performance,
the fairgrounds are empty,
and there is not a friend to be found,
just the emptiness, and the loneliness
where life was once found.
If I had known then,
what I know now,
then I would have tried a little harder,
to hold onto the best friend
that I ever had.
Now the ride has been over,
for several years now,...
and I still cannot wait,
to once again ride the Merry Go Round,
with my best friend.
Tonight, I ride the Merry Go Round,
all alone, on a cold December night,
waiting once again,
for the best friend, that I ever had.
If I had only known then,
what I know today,
the ride would never had stopped,
and this Merry go Round
would not ever stop,..
instead,.we would be riding it forever.
until we both took our last breath.
If I had only known,...
just how the ride would end,...
If I had only known,..
I would have held you in my arms,
and never let you go,...
If I had only known,....
The KeyWestKowboy@yahoo.com
Russell Petter
254.716.1656
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Expressions
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Reel Cowboys of Western Cinema A Century of Silver Screen Heroes on Horseback
By Gary Eugene Brown There've been a few versatile cowboy actors who've starred in major, non-western productions. Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Joel McCrea were in that rarified group. Likewise, this month's featured hero starred in some of the finest photoplays of the Golden Age before making primarily westerns. The Hollywood press used terms to describe him as "The Chest," "He Man," "a Man's Man" and an "Idol of Women." However, he was much more than that.  GEORGE O'BRIEN At the start of the 20th Century (April 19, 1900), George O'Brien was born into a traditional Irish Catholic family in San Francisco. His father Daniel O'Brien was a Police Officer. Young George experienced the historic disaster - San Francisco Earthquake (1906) in which 3000 people lost their lives. George excelled in four prep sports. He also learned to rope and ride at a ranch near Los Gatos and would later train horses for the SFPD. His father, who would become Police Chief in 1920, and his wife Margaret wanted their son to become a doctor, however WW I altered their plans forever. George joined the Navy and became a "stretcher bearer" for the USMC. He was in the midst of the heaviest fighting in Bellaeu Wood and received several decorations from both the French and US, including the Silver Star. While in the Navy, George became the Light Heavy Weight Boxing of the Pacific Fleet.
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Roaming Range Reporter
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 Buffalo Bill Museum
in Cody, Wyoming
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Send us your stories...
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Upcoming Events
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NOW Until September 2, 2012 Bolo Tie Exhibit at the Heard Museum Phoenix, AZ
NOW Thru September 17, 2012 Extraordinary Animals Revisited Phoenix, AZ
NOW Thru November 2012 Many Mexicos: Vista de la Frontera Tucson, AZ
NOW Thru November 30, 2012 Birds and Beasts in Beads: 150 Years of Iroquois Beadwork Howes Cave, NY
August 11-13 & 17-19, 2012 The Santa Fe Show - Objects of Art Santa Fe, NM
August 12-14, 2012 34th Annual Antique Indian Art Show Santa Fe, NM
August 16-18, 2012 15th Annual National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo Kanab, UT
August 24-26, 2012 Vaquero Heritage Days San Juan Bautista, CA
September 6-9, 2012 20th Annual Western Design Center Jackson Hole, WY
September 6-9, 2012 United Tribes International Powwow Bismark, ND
September 7-9, 2012 Hells Canyon Mule Days Enterprise, OR
September 9-15, 2012 High Roller Reining Classic Las Vegas, NV
September 13-15, 2012 Crow & Cheyenne Indian Art Symposium Billings, MT
September 15-16, 2012 Fiestas Patrias California Los Angeles, CA
September 19-22, 2012 Rendezvous Royal Cody, WY
September 21-23, 2012 2012 International Iroquois Beadwork Conference Howes Cave, NY
September 27 - October 1, 2012 River City Rodeo & Stock Show Omaha, NE
October 5-7, 2012 20th Annual Will James Society Gather Elko, NV
October 12, 2012 Traditional Cowboy Arts Association 14th Annual Sale & Exhibition Oklahoma City, OK
October 12-13, 2012 Cowboy Artists of America 47th Annual Sale & Exhibition Oklahoma City, OK
October 13-14, 2012 The Golden California Antiques Show Glendale, CA
October 19-21, 2012 Gilla Valley Cowboy Poets & Music Gathering Safford, AZ
October 20, 2012 Buckaroo Bash Indianapolis, IN
October 20-21, 2012 Calabasas Pumpkin Festival Calabasas, CA
October 25-28, 2012 10th Annual Southeastern Cowboy Festival and Symposium Cartersville, GA
October 31 - November 4, 2012 Heber City's Cowboy Poetry Gathering & Buckaroo Fair Heber City, UT
November 7-17, 2012 American Paint Horse Association World Championship Show Fort Worth, TX
November 9-11, 2012 28th Annual Vaquero Show & Sale Santa Ynez, CA
November 30 - December 2, 2012 Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival Monterey, CA
December 6-16, 2012 Country Christmas Las Vegas, NV
January 26-27, 2013 High Noon Western Americana Antique Show & Auction Mesa, AZ
Send event submissions to SmokeSignals@highnoon.com
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Don't Fret About the Future - Invest in the Past!
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Mission Statement
Smoke Signals blows your way from High Noon Western Americana of Los Angeles, CA, producers of
the High Noon Antique Show & Auction held each January in Mesa (Phoenix), Arizona since 1991.
Our magazine was founded in 2010 from our desire to share thoughts and facts with and from our High Noon family. We write about what we know (cowboy and Indian artifacts), highlight dealers and collectors, their thoughts and memories. We also love to feed our readers with great recipes. We offer free western music, a look at factoids intrinsic to our interests, give you insight into the newest books and tell you what is going on across the United States.
And hopefully we educate along the way.
Linda Kohn Sherwood, Editor
Send us a Smoke Signal
Smoke Signals is for and about all of the wonderful people in our High Noon family. If you have news you want to share, hot tips on what's going on in the Western Americana world or just a suggestion of something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at smokesignals@highnoon.com
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Chief Publisher: High Noon Western Americana
Chief Editor: Linda Kohn Sherwood
Chief Art Director: Robin Ireland, Ireland Graphic Design
Chief Graphic Designer: Curtis Hill, Art Direction Services
Chief Writer: Jayne Skeff, JSLA Media Solutions
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