One of the great characters of the Grand Canyon was Shorty Yarberry. His whole name was George Armstrong Custer ‘Shorty’ Yarberry. He was born on the day of the Battle of the Little Big Horn when Custer was killed. He…
Jack W. Holley was born on May 7, 1872 in Crawford County, Arkansas. He served in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and spent many years at sea as a Merchant Marine and fisherman. He reportedly sailed around the world…
Antonio Zapien… Born:July 23, 1942, Numaran, Mexico Home: Tucson, Arizona Profession: Researcher, Animal Husbandry Antonio tells me such an unusual and poignant story of his journey to America that I ask him to write it in his own…
About a year before his death in December 1998, I spent some time with Herb at his home in Fallon, Nevada. He lived in a 42 foot “Smoker” house trailer that he purchased in the early 50s. One night as…
(Click each image to enlarge.) The Early Years: Camping in the ’36 Ford and the ’41 Lincoln “Zephyr” The ’50 Ford “Woody” Herb’s ’71 Ford Econoline (that carried him more than 350,000 miles) Don’t forget the Zephyr ads! All links…
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT…Jim Stiles I Still Miss Martin Murie…15 Years later—Thoughts on the “Wilderness Mentoring Conference of 1998.” SOWING CLOVER…Tonya Stiles THE WILDER WEST…Dave Wilder “Anything is Possible” What Might Have Been…From the August 1990 Zephyr Jim Stiles…
It’s been well past a year—January 28, 2012—since my dear friend and mentor and kindred spirit, Martin Murie passed away. For almost a quarter century, I often turned to him for support and advice and understanding the way a son…
I am hopelessly nostalgic. By nature, it seems, I am drawn to historic town squares, brick streets, and dusty museums. I am a sucker for trains and soda fountains. Any pre-World War II architectural style fascinates me. And this fascination,…
May 22-24, 1998…Rex Ranch, Arizona http://www.jmccomb.com/mentor/ EDITOR’S NOTE: This page, in its entirety, is an excerpt from a 1998 “wilderness mentoring conference” that occurred 15 years ago, on May 22-24, 1998 at Rex Ranch, Arizona. This portion of their report…
From Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation you can make out the ghostly outline of Nuvatukya’ovi, or the San Francisco Peaks, 75 miles to the southwest across the tan expanse of Great Basin desert. The center heights in these mountains…
From the OUTER BANKS… GOOD MEN…Long Time Passing Judy Banks I grew up believing that once I was grown I’d find a good man and make him my own My search for this man has left me at a…
What Might Have Been? In 1990, Moab was in the process of being “re-discovered” yet again. The University of Utah announced plans to build a massive Kokopelli National Theater on the Sand Flats adjacent to the Slick Rock Bike Trail. …
Paul Vlachos is a New Yorker who understands The West. And he is a New Yorker who understands New York. Wherever Paul goes, he finds signs of life… Jefferson Parish, City of Westwego, just south of New Orleans. This place…
When you smile for the camera…. #moab #willys #overland The jukebox at Milt’s, back when Milt had the place. #milts #jukebox #moab #45s Freeway barrier w/capitol building Juniper@TacoBell,Price,Utah Truckin’ Down The Potash Road. #moab Kiln Old kiln, near Moab Standing…
Did a Land Transfer Blessed by Environmentalists Give a Boost to TAR SANDS NATION? I seem to stumble into stories these days. I wasn’t looking for this one. But a couple weeks ago, I was perusing one of the local…
…Excerpts from ‘THE LAST CAMPAIGN: ROBERT KENNEDY & 82 DAYS THAT INSPIRED AMERICA’ By Thurston Clarke Indiana University Medical School… He spoke for twenty-one minutes to an audience that a New York Times reporter described as “generally hostile.” There was…
Anything is Possible Acrylic, 20×10″ I like to think of myself as an optimist. But let’s face it, the world’s a mess. Our mess. But we can turn things around can’t we? Climate change, overpopulation, mass extinctions, you know, all…
THEME PARKS John Colter, 1807-08 They kept track of him that winter west of the Absarokas, by day brilliant ravens avid over snow, wolves and coyotes hung around refining careful judgements, the man recognized: one of them, killers and scavengers…
Sedona, Arizona. mid-50s & 2013 via Google Street-view MARBLE CANYON… 1950 & 2012 (Google) TONOPAH, NEVADA… 1942 & 2012 (Google) HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West,…
SMARTPHONE ADDICTION? How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today’s nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves—and he says there’s evidence it…
