Wild West Land Blog

Back in the days of the Great Depression, the US National Parks Service was persuaded by Charles E. Peterson, a young Park Service landscape architect, to create a new programme to generate work for jobless architects, draughtsmen and photographers.

And so the the Historic American Buildings Survey was born, its’ mission: “documenting a representative sampling of America’s architectural heritage“.

Now I love American history and love the access the web gives to search these historic databases. My first search turned up several treasures (I use the word loosely) in the city of Holbrook, Arizona, the city some 10 miles southwest of Cowboy Country.

Holbrook has a rich western history and an interesting mix of characters who were active during the second half of the nineteenth century when cattlemen and sheep ranchers roamed the vast lands around the soon-to-be Navajo County seat.

The HABS database has an entry for the Armijo House located at 301 Montano Street, Holbrook. Although it wasn’t built until 1915, the simple adobe style construction and freestanding water tower make it the most interesting building in the CF Perkins subdivision south of the Little Colorado River:

The house was originally built by the Armijo family “a pioneer group of Hispanic northern Arizona farmers and ranchers”. To learn more about the history and view another dozen black and white photos check out the report written by historian Robert G Graham on the HABS database.

I only wish I’d had the opportunity to know about this house and the other features of the city before my visit in January this year. If you are passing through and are able to send a photo or report of the location (16 years after the report was drafted) then I’d love to find out if the house is still standing.

“Were you really chased out of town by those American rednecks, or was it made up for the telly?”

That’s apparently the question asked a lot lately of Top Gear host Richard Hammond. It’s all in connection with one recent episode of the hit UK motoring show:

In the programme in question, we wanted to know if it was possible to buy a car and drive across a chunk of the USA for less money than the cost of traditional “fly-drive” schemes offered by holiday companies.

Rather foolishly the boys decided to paint slogans on the sides of their vehicles, rude/crude slogans that upset the Alabama locals enough to reach for their guns as The Times reports in an excerpt from Hammond’s forthcoming book, Or Is That Just Me?.

Back in 1993 I drove round California and Nevada in a beige 1977 Chevy Impala ‘cop car’ with ‘FBI’ marked on the doors with black electricians tape. We got some odd looks for that but no death threats!

“The Internet has finally taken on the characteristics of the Wild West where no one is to be trusted”

So said Sukhdev Singh, senior security consultant from IBM Internet security systems. It’s a dangerous world out there so make sure you’ve got your sixguns strapped on (read anti-virus/phishing/malware software).

It’s almost a year since I wrote about Annie Oakley, “the first American female superstar” and how she’s been portrayed in the media over the last 100 years.

The post remains the most popular on this blog with many people still interested in finding out just how one of the stars of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show looked all those years ago.

So with a bit of digging over at the Library of Congress archives, I’ve tracked down two new Annie Oakley pictures - the first was taken in 1899 by Richard K. Fox and is titled:

ANNIE OAKLEY - Famous Rifle Shot and Holder of the Police Gazette Championship Medal

The black and white photo does bear some resemblance to the Wild West Show promotional poster. The hat, dress, stockings and footwear certainly match, as does the chest full of medals.

But I can’t help but think the artist who drew the poster used a little ‘Photoshop magic’ - normally associated with modern magazine cover celebrities - long before the age of computer trickery.

The face is a little thinner and the nose a little more prominent, perhaps suggesting feminine beauty was a key ingredient of circus show marketing even back in the 1890s.

It’s circus acts that also form the centrepiece of the next picture, an illustration created by artist Peter Newell in 1894 to illustrate a story published in the March 31st issue of Harper’s Weekly:

The amateur circus at Nutley

Newell’s drawing illustrates an article reporting on an amateur circus performed by the residents of Nutley, New Jersey to raise funds for the establishment of a branch of the Red Cross Association. Their star performer was Nutley’s celebrated resident, Annie Oakley.

A gentleman wearing a hat and spectacles stands before a hoop held by two clowns. The scene depicted in the center of the hoop is of Annie Oakley, standing on horseback, giving a demonstration of her shooting ability. Outside the hoop are other scenes of circus acts such as acrobats, fencing, an animal on horseback, and a dancing bear.

Here’s a close-up view of the central part of the illustration showing Oakley shooting at an unseen target whilst standing on a moving horse.

It’s a truly impressive feat and one I can’t think would be allowed under modern entertainment laws given the potential risks to the audience and performer!