Frontier Citizen

18/06/2026

Your Stories!

It's time I reposted this as I have not had any volunteers for a while now.

If you would like your personal story on this page, please see the questionnaire below and send me your answers.

HOWEVER - NOT JUST INDIVIDUALS!

I would love to know the stories of your groups, for inclusion on this page but also for my newspaper.
Particularly, I would like to know about groups from around the world (as well as the USA and the UK). I am aware of groups in Spain, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Sweden, etc. etc. Many readers would be fascinated in how and why these groups have started and what you do.

Please message me and we can get your stories out to fellow enthusiasts.

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Good day everyone!
A few of my readers have volunteered to answer a questionnaire so I can write articles about them but I’d always like more.
Therefore, here is the questionnaire in full for all of you to see.
Anyone who would like to take part, please message me with your answers or, if they’re a bit long, message me for my email address (don’t put them on this post.)
Thank you kindly!
👍 📰 🗞 🤠

“Personal Old West Reenactment Stories – Questionnaire

Please answer as many of these questions as you can as fully as you are comfortable with. Feel free to expand on your answers and to add any other bits of information you feel would be relevant and interesting. Frontier Citizen will use your answers to form short biographies, not just a list of bullet point answers. These will be published on the Frontier Citizen page and may also appear as a series within the Frontier Citizen newspaper itself.

1. What is your name?

2. If you have a Western or reenactment name, what is it?

3. Which group(s) do you reenact with?
➢ Where – locations, types of events?

4. When, how and why did you first become interested in the American Old West?

5. How and when did you get into Old West reenacting?

6. What is/are your impression(s)?
➢ What inspired your choice?
➢ What makes it/them unique or significant in the history of the American Old West?
➢ What kind of research do you undertake to help you accurately represent the clothing, weapons and lifestyles for your impression(s)?

7. What opportunities or limitations have you encountered in terms of obtaining historically accurate clothing, weaponry, accoutrements, equipment etc.?
➢ Do you have any favorite suppliers that you would recommend?

8. How do you educate, engage and interact with visitors/public at events and shows?

9. Do you collaborate or interact with other historical reenactment groups or organizations and, if so, how do you exchange knowledge and experiences?

10. What are some memorable events or experiences you have had as an old west reenactor?
➢ Any favorite anecdotes or stories you can tell?

11. How has reenacting the American Old West enriched your own personal understanding of the history?

12. Have you ever had the opportunity to visit real historic sites related to the Old West and, if so, which ones?
➢ How did the experience enhance your reenactment activities?

13. If you have a job or hobby related to the old west period, please give details for the interest of readers.
➢ If you have a relevant business, I am happy to advertise it.

14. A photograph or two helps to grab the attention and often shows what you do better than words can. Please attach one or two clear photos of you in your reenactment persona(s).

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. Your stories will appear in due course for the interest and perhaps inspiration of other readers.”

Richard F. Baker
Frontier Citizen®

15/06/2026

Frontier Citizen ®️ doesn't make hard liquor but, if we did, ... ... ...

😉

(Apparent resemblance noticed by Mike Sweetman of The Victorian Association.)

15/06/2026

This coming weekend

I'll be at The Big Battle of Abbotts Bromley with Spearfish Creek Re-enactment Group.

Saturday 20th is a photography day but Sunday 21st is a public day.

Lots of different periods will be represented so, as usual, if you are in range, come and have a good day out. Say hello and maybe buy a newspaper (or a few 😉).

👍 ✍️ 📰 🗞 🤠

13/06/2026

Reasons to be Armed
this time – In Fiction.

This is the twelfth in an occasional series, highlighting the reasons why my frontier newspaper man impression is usually armed.
Previous articles in this series have been about real-life events whilst this one is about fictional examples.

In another of our occasional series - Old West Newspapering Depictions on Film and Television – we have covered three unfortunate newspaper people who perhaps should have been armed.

On 22nd January 2023, we covered: Louise Ellison as played by Jennifer Ferrin in the 2011 – 2016 TV series, “Hell On Wheels”.
Ellison has been investigating corruption in local government and law enforcement in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after which Governor John Campbell causes her newspaper to be broken into and destroyed. She is absent from her office at the time and she would have been outnumbered but, had she been there, being armed may have helped. Ellison is certainly a strong enough character to use a firearm although her principles against violence may have prevented her from doing so. Ellison does not give up and carries on as a freelance reporter in Laramie.

On 26th April 2023, we covered another newspaper reporter and editor from a 2000’s television series: A.W. Merrick as played by Jeffrey Jones in the 2004 – 2006 TV series, “Deadwood”, and the 2019 TV film, “Deadwood: The Movie”.
Merrick has principles and refuses to publish a false announcement that is ordered by the County Commissioner. The Commissioner’s partner in corruption, Cy Tolliver (owner of the Bella Union establishment), sends two henchmen to wreck the office of the Black Hills Pioneer. They destroy press, typesetter and all. If Merrick had been present, it is doubtful he would have been able to do anything, even if armed. He has principles but is not a physical fighter. The newspaper recovers, aided by Merrick’s dubious partnership with Al Swearingen (Tolliver’s main rival in Deadwood), and continues to enlighten the populace of events in the town.

On 3rd August 2025, we went further back in time and covered: Dutton Peabody as played by Edmond O’Brien in the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).
Peabody is the proprietor of the “Shinbone Star”. He is another principled newspaper man who believes in printing the truth and standing by what he believes. Valance is a hired gun who wishes to intimidate locals into voting against statehood; censoring the press is one of his tools. Opposing the local cattle barons and accusing Liberty Valance of violent wrongdoings in print earn Valance’s ire. Peabody does not help himself by being a drinker but he would probably have been helpless in any case in the face of the ruthless Liberty Valance who beats him up brutally. Peabody is helped to recovery and, after Valance is shot dead, continues to use his newspaper to push for statehood and to promote Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) for political office.

Now something a little different. Within your reporter’s collection of western comic book albums / annuals is another story of a newspaper office being vandalized. (There may be more that we will visit in future but not all the books have been read yet.)

In “Cowboy Hero Western Comic Annual, Number 4” (copyright 1960), the first story is “Monte Hale Meets the Undertaker”. Monte Hale was a real-life actor who appeared in many western B-pictures during the 1940s and 50s. Many comic book stories used real actors as their lead characters.
In this story, The Undertaker is a gunman hired by the local crooked political boss, Bill Dooley, who wants to take over the whole town. At the start of the story, Monte Hale rides into town and finds five men attacking the Baker City Bugle and its editor, Tony Black. Needless to say, Hale sorts everything out and wins the day. However, it is a nice point to note that even a children’s comic book, published in 1960, includes a story of a newspaper office and it’s editor being attacked. Hence, your reporter will very rarely be seen without some means of self-defense.

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References:
Facebook, Frontier Citizen®:
• Baker, R., (22 January 2023), Louise Ellison as played by Jennifer Ferrin in the 2011 – 2016 TV series, “Hell On Wheels”.

• Baker, R., (26 April 2023), A.W. Merrick as played by Jeffrey Jones in the 2004 – 2006 TV series, “Deadwood”, and the 2019 TV film, “Deadwood: The Movie”.

• Baker, R. (3 August 2025), Dutton Peabody as played by Edmond O’Brien in the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).

“Cowboy Hero Western Comic Book Annual No. 4”, (1960), London: L. Miller & Co. (Hackney) Ltd.
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Richard F. Baker
Frontier Citizen®

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07/06/2026

Horsing Around!

Some silliness on camp at Folkestone and Ashford Military Show and Country Fair today with
Spearfish Creek Re-enactment Group.

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07/06/2026

A wet day.

It rained yesterday. A lot.
As a result, visitor numbers were low and we spent most of our time under shelter.
It was even more interesting when the wind increased with strong gusts, threatening tents.
We did have a couple of decent hours in the middle of the day so still had a fun shootout.
Today is supposed to be dry and warmer - it's already sunny - so we should have a better day.

Spearfish Creek Re-enactment Group

Folkestone and Ashford Military Show and Country Fair 6th & 7th June 2026

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02/06/2026

Kent!

This is where I'll be this coming weekend: Folkestone and Ashford Military Show and Country Fair 6th & 7th June 2026 as part of Spearfish Creek Re-enactment Group.

If you’re in range, come say howdy!

✍️ 📰 🗞 🤠

31/05/2026

Reasons to be Armed.

This is the eleventh in an occasional series, highlighting the reasons why my frontier newspaper man impression is usually armed.

This time: William D. Dawson, editor of the ‘News and Press’, Cimarron, New Mexico, 1876.

From 1873, the Colfax County War (a range war) had been pursued between settlers and powerful landowners and speculators - namely the Santa Fe Ring. It is reported that the Cimarron ‘News and Press’ included articles both against and in favor of the Ring, in favor of and against the farmers and settlers.

The newspaper had three editors in the mid-1870s, William D. Dawson, William R. Morley and Frank W. Springer who worked together but who had differing opinions regarding the Colfax County War. As the editorials were not signed, it was not always obvious which of them had written a particular piece. The history is confusing as different sources state different things and the actual newspapers appear to be lost.
(Unfortunately, your reporter has been unable to find transcripts of the original articles, only general reports of their nature.)

One person in the area was a man that most would have been very careful not to upset: the volatile, some would say “mentally unstable”, self-proclaimed shootist named Clay Allison.

[There is much information available about the Colfax County War, the Santa Fe Ring and Clay Allison which will not be duplicated here. This post is about one specific incident.]

Not only had the newspaper published strong articles about the conflict, but it had also accused Allison of being responsible for criminal acts – comments apparently written by Dawson. Naturally, the subject of these writings was not happy.

During the night of 19 January 1876, Clay Allison led a group of ruffian friends to the office of the ‘News and Press’. Reports state that he had been drinking – not an unusual occurrence.

On arrival, the group broke in the door, set off a black powder charge in the office, used a sledgehammer to smash the printing press and then proceeded to drag the press along with type cases and other printing and office equipment to the Cimarron River bridge, from which they dumped everything into the river.

The day after the attack, Allison reportedly felt remorse. He is said to have gone back to the office and given Dawson $200 to cover the damages. However, William Dawson’s editorship was at an end. On 28 January, Dawson was ousted and control of the paper was taken over by W. Morley and F. Springer.

Most newspapers of the time were as much sounding-boards for their editors’ opinions as they were information sheets about actual factual events. The ‘News and Press’ was no exception. However, a lack of judgement was displayed in printing thoughts against such a dangerous and temperamental cohort. Had such feelings not been published, the incident would not have happened. That does not excuse the attack – people have a right to free speech and the freedom of the press has long been an accepted convention – but Dawson should have foreseen what would happen when he spoke out against such an explosive foe and he could have shown some restraint.

Had Dawson been present when Clay Allison and his group attacked, he may not have been able to do much and he may well have been seriously injured or maybe killed. He was not there but we feel he should have been armed at all times against such an incident occurring. He was, after all, an opinionated man who published partisan articles during a local war in a part of the States known for violence.

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Several sources including:

Boardman, M., 2022, “Stop the Presses”, available at: https://www.truewestmagazine.com/blog/stop-the-presses/ ; accessed 29 May 2026.

Cunningham, S., 2013, “Clay Allison: ‘Good-Natured Holy Terror’”, available at: https://historynet.com/clay-allison-good-natured-holy-terror/; accessed 29 May 2026.

Rasch, P. J., 1972, “The People of the Territory of New Mexico Vs. The Santa Fe Ring”, available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ ; accessed 31 May 2026.

Photograph:
Clay Allison aged 45 in 1885, nine years after the newspaper office attack. Public Domain.
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This is my 400th post on this page.

Richard F. Baker
Frontier Citizen®

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28/05/2026

Latest!

A few days behind when I wanted to issue it but I have been BUSY with a capital Bravo Uniform Sierra Yankee.

So, here is Volume V, Issue 2 of the Frontier Citizen®️.

I hope you like it. If you do, tell your friends! (If you don't, tell your enemies!)

[Just to clarify: the list of Suppliers includes Civil War Sutler. These excellent people have now retired from trading. I will amend the list for Issue 3.]

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