Baxter Black, Who Elevated Cowboy Poetry to Folk Art, Dies at 77

(NYTimes) Baxter Black, the country’s best-known cowboy poet, whose witty, big-hearted verse about cowpokes, feed lots and wide-open vistas elevated the tradition of Western doggerel to something of a folk art, died on June 10 at his home, a ranch outside Benson, Ariz. He was 77. Continued

Geronimo

(Wikipedia) Geronimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua: Goyaałé [kòjàːɬɛ́] "the one who yawns"; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.
From 1850 to 1886 Geronimo joined with members of three other Chiricahua Apache bands—the Tchihende, the Tsokanende and the Nednhi—to carry out numerous raids as well as resistance to US and Mexican military campaigns in the northern Mexico states of Chihuahua and Sonora, and in the southwestern American territories of New Mexico and Arizona.
Geronimo's raids and related combat actions were a part of the prolonged period of the Apache-United States conflict, that started with American settlement in Apache lands following the end of the war with Mexico in 1848. Continued

"Trick Riders and Bronco Busters"

Tucumcari Roundup, circa 1920 (University of North Texas)

Hereford Homesteaders

Photograph of early settlers of Hereford, Texas. (Portal to Texas History)

Paul Modrich

(Wikipedia) Paul Lawrence Modrich (born June 13, 1946) is an American biochemist, James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
He received a Ph.D. degree in 1973 from Stanford University and a B.S. degree in 1968 from MIT. He is known for his research on DNA mismatch repair. Modrich received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015, jointly with Aziz Sancar and Tomas Lindahl.
 Modrich was born on June 13, 1946, in Raton, New Mexico ... Continued

The Pralines, Pecan Log Rolls and Nostalgia Fueling the Stuckey’s Revival

Old Stuckey's billboard, just west of Tucumcari, New Mexico

(NYTimes) In June 2020, having used her life savings to buy back the failing roadside franchise that bears her family name, Stephanie Stuckey was in a Marion, Ark., parking lot in tears. The Stuckey’s in front of her was beyond decrepit; it was disreputable. A storm had opened a hole in the signature teal tile roof, and the owners hadn’t bothered to repair it. Sobbing, she called her vice president and said, “I can’t even walk into this store.” Without missing a beat he replied, “Welcome to your empire.” Continued

Hungarian Blackberry Juice and Wild Cherry Bitters

 

(Peachridge Glass) I’m not quite sure what I found in a New Mexican newspaper. The December 15, 1906 Tucumcari News (Tucumcari, New Mexico) had an advertisement (see below) for a bitters on page 11. There is no evidence they bottled it, but wow, what a great name, ‘Hungarian Blackberry Juice and Wild Cherry Bitters!’
OK, maybe they were selling a juice and a bitters. Not really sure. If this was someone else’s bitters, I would think they would state the brand. They often referred to brands of whiskey or beer in other advertisements. Continued

Remember! Only Sheep Can Prevent Forest Fires

(Santa Fe New Mexican) ... In the 19th century, livestock interrupted the cycle of frequent, cooler fires. “Historically the fires were just burning grass, so when the sheep came in and ate all the grass, there was nothing to burn,” Margolis said.
“We see fires actually stopped in this area in the late 1800s because that’s when the railroad brought a lot of livestock in.”
Then, starting in the 1940s, Smokey Bear’s mission to suppress all forest fires resulted in the buildup of brush and dead tree material that served as explosive fuel when big fires did occur. Continued

Jim Thorpe

(Wikipedia) James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for his home country.
 Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball.
He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals. Continued

Bonnie and Clyde

(Wikipedia) Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut Barrow a.k.a. Clyde Champion Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were American criminals who traveled the central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, robbing people and killing when cornered or confronted.
At times, the gang included his older brother Buck Barrow and his wife Blanche, Raymond Hamilton, W. D. Jones, Joe Palmer, Ralph Fults, and Henry Methvin.
Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "Public Enemy Era," between 1931 and 1935.
Though known today for their dozen-or-so bank robberies, the two preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and several civilians. Continued

T. Boone Pickens

... Pickens was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma, the son of Grace (née Molonson) and Thomas Boone Pickens. His father worked as an oil and mineral landman (rights leaser). During World War II, his mother ran the local Office of Price Administration, rationing gasoline and other goods in three counties. Pickens was the first child born via Caesarean section in the history of Holdenville hospital.
At age 12, Pickens delivered newspapers. He quickly expanded his paper route from 28 papers to 156. Pickens later cited his boyhood job as an early introduction to "expanding quickly by acquisition", a business practice he favored later in life.
When the oil boom in Oklahoma ended in the late 1930s, Pickens' family moved to Amarillo, Texas. Continued

Country Churches: Newkirk, NM

And the lowest hanging cloud I have ever photographed.

Harry Brown

Courtesy of The
475th Fighter Group
Historical Foundation

Harry Winston Brown (May 19, 1921 – October 7, 1991) was an Army Air Corps second lieutenant assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field on the island of Oahu during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He was one of the five American pilots to score victories that day.
Brown was awarded a Silver Star for his actions, and was the first Texan decorated for valor in the war. By the war's end, he was a flying ace. Continued

Sam Ketchum

(Geni.com) Sam Ketchum (18??-1899) - Hailing from San Saba County, Texas, Sam grew up to work along with his younger brother, Thomas "Black Jack" Ketchum, as a cowboy on several ranches throughout west Texas and northern and eastern New Mexico.
However, by 1896, the pair had turned to a life of crime, robbing businesses, post offices and trains in New Mexico. The two soon formed the Ketchum Gang which included a number of other outlaws, including Will Carver, Elza Lay and Ben Kilpatrick, who also rode with Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. Continued

Filmmaker may use Princess Theatre

(Quay County Sun) A filmmaker told the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday he is investigating the possibility of using the long-closed Princess Theatre in a movie that centers around the history of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Continued