One of the most gratifying stories to come out of the great roots country music revival of the 2020s is the rise of Charley Crockett from broke and broke-down busker to 100-proof cowboy-singer star. We saw Crockett at the FairWell Festival last summer, and he puts on a helluva show.
A week or two ago, he played the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, and the owner pulled Waylon Jennings’ Tele known as No. 3 out of the on-site music museum and Charley played Good Hearted Woman on it. His take:
“No disrespect to Bob Wills, who used to own this place, but to me, Waylon Jennings is still the king.”
Aside from the music, the Frontier Partisan interest here is obvious question: Any relation to David Crockett? Apparently, the answer is yes — not a direct descendant, but part of the family.
*
Speaking of David Crockett, here’s a clip out of the old History Channel Boone & Crockett: The Hunter Heroes, which is, unfortunately, hard to track down. It was quite well done. The highly regarded re-enactor/historian Mark Baker portrayed Crockett. The piece accurately reflects Crockett’s ambivalent take on the Creek War that he was inviolved in in 1813-15.
The Fort Mims Massacre that kicked it off got his dander up, but he was dismayed and disgusted by the grim nature of the war. Crockett was a real-deal hunter, but he wasn’t much of a warrior, and didn’t want to be.
*
Artist Gary Zaboly announced that a new book he illustrated, written by the estimable Stephen L. Hardin, is set for release later this year. Texian Exodus: The Runaway Scrape and Its Enduring Legacy:
Two events in Texas history shine so brightly that they can be almost blinding: the stand at the Alamo and the redemption at San Jacinto, where General Sam Houston’s volunteers won the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. But these milestones came amid a less obviously heroic episode now studiously forgotten—the refugee crisis known as the Runaway Scrape.
Propulsive, lyrical, and richly illustrated, Texian Exodus transports us to the frigid, sodden spring of 1836, when thousands of Texians—Anglo-American settlers—fled eastward for the United States in fear of Antonio López de Santa Anna’s advancing Mexican army. Leading Texas historian Stephen L. Hardin draws on the accounts of the Runaways themselves to relate a tale of high stakes and great sorrow. While Houston tried to build a force that could defeat Santa Anna, the evacuees suffered incalculable pain and suffering. Yet dignity and community were not among the losses. If many of the stories are indeed tragic, the experience as a whole was no tragedy; survivors regarded the Runaway Scrape as their finest hour, an ordeal met with cooperation and courage. For Hardin, such qualities still define the Texas character. That it was forged in retreat as well in battle makes the Runaway Scrape essential Texas history.
*
FOXNation, the outlet’s streaming service, has premiered a new docu-drama series titled Outlaws & Lawmen. I believe that Paul Andrew Hutton is featured, and Samuel K. Dolan worked on the project. From Cowboys & Indians Magazine:
(Sean) Hannity serves as host and narrator for the historical re-enactments, with input from such experts as film historian Andrew Patrick Nelson, co-host of the podcast How the West Was ‘Cast, and Bob Boze Bell, executive editor of True West Magazine.
*
The great Italian biathlete Dorothea Wierer is not going quietly. She had a rough season, and it looked like she might be done, but she’s planning to stick around — and that’s a Very Good Thing.
From Biathlon World:
Dorothea Wierer has announced that she intends to continue her biathlon career until the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
The two-time Total Score Winner addressed her sports future in a press conference organised by FISI on Wednesday afternoon.
“It would have been a shame to end a part of my life in this way, not having been able to give my 100%, and I want to go on until the Olympics in Milano Cortina.”
After struggling with sickness throughout the past winter, Wierer ended her season prematurely after the World Championships in Nove Mesto na Morave and used the past two months to recover. Now all eyes are set on the upcoming season and the home Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina 2026, with the biathlon competitions taking place in her home stadium of Antholz.
“It was not an easy choice because there are many sacrifices to make, but I have already planned my trainings and I started with my group and people I trust.”
*
Like all competitors at the end of a career, Doro just wants to go out on a win…
Saw Corb Lund last Monday night at the Domino Room in Bend. Great show, as always. Gambling songs in minor keys. Cavalry songs. Agricultural Tragic songs. Tales of misadventure and herbal terrorism. The first country MMA ballad. See Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans when they come to your town. You’ll be glad you did.
*
Dorothea Wierer has a record of shooting quickly and accurately when the chips are down. But there’s high stakes and then there’s high stakes. Ran across this Safari Classics vid of a buffalo charge that has a pucker factor rating of 10/10. You’ll have to go over to YouTube to watch.
*
News just broke that Peter Jackson & Co. are working on a new Lord of the Rings film to be released in 2026. Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, will recount the Dunedain Ranger Aragorn’s lengthy trek across half of Middle Earth to track down the elusive Smeagol on behalf of Gandalf the Grey, who was still trying to piece together whether Gollum’s “Precious” and Bilbo’s prize was, in fact, the One Ring.
Aragorn captures Gollum. Art by Gareth Sleightholme.
After a long and wearisome effort, Aragorn (Strider) found Gollum lurking in the Dead Marshes and finally nabbed him. He described dealing with the stinky critter to the Council of Elrond:
“He was covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank.”
Apprehending a literally foul-mouthed fugitive and dragging him across the country to face justice is downright Western. This is a Ranger Tale, and I am pleased.
*
A little Rigby history from our friends at Rock Island Auction Co.
Matthew says
I wondered if Charley Crockett was related to David.
Fun fact, Richard Boone from Have Gun Will Travel was a descended of Squire Boone, which I am sure you know as Daniel’s brother.
I am not sure how I feel about the Gollum movie. It is possible it will be good, but I don’t know. They are also producing an anime called War of the Rohhirrim. Again I don’t know how I feel about that.