Cowboys and Such

Listening to Michael Martin Murphy's new CD, Tall Grass and Cool Water puts me in mind of the lives of a couple of my friends.

Jim Gray lives the cowboy life in addition to being a writer and historian. I'm sharing some of his photos from his recent cattle drive to Ellsworth. A fourth-generation rancher and inductee into the Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame, Jim is one of those rare people you meet not so rarely in Kansas. He is the real deal, probably born in the wrong century but I'm glad to share in his time on earth. His gracious wife is the iconic pioneer woman. Just quietly doing whatever needs to be done. I admire her very much.

To help raise awareness of the Cowboy legacy and to keep folks informed of events, Jim founded the Kansas Cowboy, official publication of the Cockeyed Old West Band of Yahoos Society. It's one of those have-to subscriptions. Get that and a copy of Jim's book, Bad Seed, then rare back in your leather chair and listen to Murhpy and the boys singing and playing Blue Prairie. You're liable to be transported to a better, simpler time.

Bail Out Blues

For a different look at the economic bailout, my friend Henry McClure (aka Denny Crane) made this observation:

"Bailout????????!!!!!!!

Hell, back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey!"

That's about as succinct as it gets.

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C.O. W. B. O. Y. S.

The official publication of the Cockeyed Old West Band of Yahoos Society arrived a few days ago. Jim Gray and his lassie Kassi do a great job with this publication and it's just full of fascinating stories from the era when Kansas was the forefront of the Wild West. Jim has a new book, Desperate Seed: Ellsworth, Kansas, on the Violent Frontier.

According to our buddy, Dave Zerfas:

Desperate Seed is well researched and brings to life the excitement, danger, and amazing characters that walked the stage of Frontier Kansas in the 1860's and 1870's. Jim's ability to lay out the timeline and intersperse amazing stories of shoot-outs, fights, hangings, will keep the reader eager for the next page. To have been but a fly on the wall. . .

Hey, an endorsement from Zerf is high praise. Email kansascowboy@kans.com for subscriptions, book orders, or just to tell Jim and Kassi that Deb said Hey!!!