TERRORS OF THE OLD WEST

The frontier west was a wild and untamed place. Dangers lurked around every corner and from under every rock. If one wasn't protecting themselves from thieves, cutthroats and unfriendly Indians, they were at risk from the multiplicity of perils from the natural world. Snakes, centipedes, scorpions, Gila monsters and other assorted and sundry critters roamed the desert in search of something to eat.

But that's not all. In the mountains, plains and forests wandered huge beasts that could rend a man's flesh from his bones. A mountain man never wanted to get between a mother bear and her cubs or that could spell certain violence. A mountain could be lying in wait, and if hungry enough, would attack a man or his horse. And there were millions of bison, buffalo that wanted nothing more than to be left alone -- but if disturbed and stampeded, watch out!

Stories and scenes of these day-to-day terrors of the old west were depicted in pulp magazines that sprang up in the 1950's, some that are still on the newsstand today. During their heyday of the 1960's and 1970's titles like TRUE WEST, FRONTIER TIMES, OLD WEST, GOLDEN WEST, and many others populated the magazine racks, and all promising -- unlike their predecessors who published only fiction -- true tales of the old west.

Shown here are cover illustrations for these magazines, all depicting man vs. beast or the deadly denizens of the desert.

WESTERNER Spring 1975
Shown at the top of today's post is "The Eyes of the Dead Man", listed as "painted exclusively for WESTERNER by Jim Daly. This fine western painter is rapidly making a name for himself with his outstanding art at galleries across the country. Here he pictures the strange and eerie mysteries that remain unsolved in the west." Mr. Daly is still actively painting and his work depicting frontier and early western themes is outstanding.

FRONTIER TIMES Spring 1960
This moment of "action frozen in time" was painted by George Phippen in 1958. Described as a famous painter and authority on the Old West, he wrote: "I have read in George Catlin's writings that he had observed the killing of buffalo with a knife in the manner shown in the painting. The buffalo in the painting is a three or four year old cow in a summer or early fall coat -- giving it a less shaggy appearance. The bison, with his very high vertebrae at the shoulder, has his next extended and out -- not an uncommon position."

TRUE WEST December 1964.
Cover art: Gene Shortridge.
The Gila monster was legendary in the old west. Tales were told that if a Gila latched onto you, he wouldn't let go, even after separating the head from its body.

THE WEST March 1971
Cover art: Victor Drake
Camping out could get dangerous if a black bear or grizzly caught a whiff of your food.

TRUE WEST February 1962
Cover artist: Joe Grandee
Nothing could be more thrilling -- or deadly -- than hunting in the middle of a buffalo charge.

TRUE WEST April 1960
Cover artist: Clay McGaughy
The Grizzly was the most feared beast in mountains. Once riled, it usually didn't give up unless it killed or was killed. Many a' tale was told about mountain men fighting grizzlies -- that is, if they lived to tell the tale.

TRUE WEST August 1962
Cover artist: Gene Shortridge
The most feared of the desert dwellers was the rattlesnake. Once bitten, you had a slim chance of surviving in the era before antivenin. Even horses would get spooked if they heard the snake's rattle.

Gene Shortridge did many illustrations for TRUE WEST and other western magazines. His obituary below is from a Los Cruces, New Mexico notice. He lived in NM for the last 10 years of his life.

Eugene Shortridge was born in Flasher, N.D. After distinguished service in WWII, Gene moved to Sarasota, Fla., and enrolled at The Ringling School of Art. Later, Gene studied under the highly acclaimed artist Harold Von Schmidt. He spent much of his career as an illustrator for True West magazine, True Treasure and other publications. Gene's paintings and bronze sculptures are featured in many distinguished collections. After settling in Sarasota, Gene married Ann Colby. They moved to Silver City, New Mexico 10 years ago. Ann passed away in July. They are survived by their daughter Lynn Medlin.

Published in Las Cruces Sun-News on Mar. 27, 2014

This stunning cover of a mountain lion (aka Cougar here in the Pacific Northwest) caught in action was painted by W. J. Wilwerding for the May 1967 cover of TRUE WEST. Born in Winona, Minnesota, Wilwerding made his living painting animals and teaching. This image is one of his most memorable. It depicts an interior story written by O.A. Washburn that tells the true tale of the author who was hired to hunt and flush out a mountain lion that had decided to winter over in a coal mine in the southern Rockies. A bigger problem was the local folks needed the coal to be mined without interruption because they were faced with the worst winter storm in memory!

Note: In this same issue is a death notice for Mr. Wilwerding, who had passed away the previous year.

BONUS: This preview of a collection of western art by Al Martin Napoletano (b. 1920- ) is from "The New Era" a newspaper from Sweet Home, Oregon. Napoletano is known there because he created a number of program covers for local rodeos over the years. Mr. Napoletano also illustrated many stories in the pages of Joe Small's TRUE WEST and FRONTIER TIMES, among other western magazines.

Western artist Al Martin Napoletano has brought old west to life for 60 years
The New Era | Sweet Home, OR | March 16, 2001

Nervous energy was crackling around western artist Al Martin Napoletano Wednesday as appreciative fans admired his works and his stories during a reception held at the gallery of Linn-Benton Community College.

Napoletano has spent nearly 60 of his 82 years perfecting his craft, primarily focusing on pen and ink but often escaping into other mediums. His forte' though, has remained steadfast, western art especially illustrations that help bring tales of the old west to life.

Born and reared in San Francisco, Napoletano's western creativity might seem odd--especially since he was a machinist working on big ships--until one learns that his childhood neighborhood included a herd of horses and a hacienda with an old barn and wagons that fueled his imagination.

As friends and family mingled about the LBCC gallery peeking at a saloon gunfight, a cattle drive, or a herd of wild horses dancing across a mesa, Napoletano talked about his love of art.

"I'm a self-taught artist," Napoletano said. "The editor of western publications sent me a manuscript and told me to see what I could do. That led to about 2,000 illustrations over the years."

Napoletano's works have appeared in magazines such as Western Horseman, Horse Lovers, and Hoofs and Horns among many others.

After he retired in 1982, Napoletano and his wife, Vivian, moved to a homestead between Lebanon and Sweet Home to be closer to their daughter, Norene and son-in-law Roger Consorti. Vivian passed away a year ago.

While he retired from machinist work, he didn't retire from drawing.

"I've got something on the drawing board right now," he said.

Napoletano said he has always loved horses.

"My mother used to say that I would crawl out of my buggy if I saw a horse anywhere near," he said.

Napoletano said his works appealed to editors because he often shifted mediums and offered them variety. He could provide scratch boards, opaques, oils and others in addition to his pen and ink specialties.

Napoletano is well known in the Sweet Home area, having produced the cover art for several Calapooia Roundup rodeo programs in the early 1990s.

A man of passion about his work, Napoletano gets especially excited when he talks about the works of his favorite artist, Charles Russell.

"He was a genius," Napoletano said.

Publishing pressures increased over the years, Napoletano said. He has watched magazines grow increasingly specialized over the decades.

Magazines that used to publish quarterly now publish monthly. The amount of time he has to prepare his artworks has decreased as has the size of his drawing boards.

"Now, because everything is scanned into a computer system, I work on 8 1/2" by 14" boards. That's confining," Napoletano said.

Napoletano's art show came about after he donated an etching press to the college. A conversation about his works ensued and soon, the gallery was contacting him to get a show together.

Nicknamed "Fuzzy" a derivative of an Italian moniker given him by his uncle, Napoletano said he was extremely pleased with the show.

"Nothing like this has ever happened this big for me," he said. "It's really great."

Gallery coordinator Sidney Rowe was impressed with the quality of Napoletano's work.

"I didn't know anything about western art illustrations until I met him," she said. "He has opened a whole different world in usage of line. He is a man who has made his own mark."

She added that it was especially interesting to view Napoletano's art in terms of time periods.

"His use of lines, ink, washes, story telling. Each frame is wonderful," Rowe said.