For several years now I’ve been listening to reports that paint the petroleum production industry as being evil or at the least a “bad boy.” Since there is no evidence to support this attitude, only words from those looking to increase their own importance I have tended to be only saddened or sometimes disgusted by such rhetoric. However, listening to a CBC interview with an NDP person (perhaps he was in Bella Bella?) I found myself getting extremely angry. There seems to be a belief in some circles that global warming has been accepted by all. It hasn’t been! I believe that perhaps 40% of Canadians have accepted the apocalyptic idea that is being presented. Another 30% do not believe there is ANY global warming but do believe it is all a scam to increase the importance of undeserving people and a method of extracting more money from over taxed citizens. The remaining 30%, including myself, believe that there may be some truth to a problem with our atmosphere created by those on...

Securing Supplies or “Possibles” I posted something similar to this back in September of 2014               Today we call them necessary supplies. Soldiers might call them “rations”. More than just food, “possibles” would also include needles, thread, first aid supplies, perhaps extra ammunition or a knife. In the early days of the mountain man they were “possibles” because there was a good possibility you would need them to survive and if you didn’t have any there was a good possibility you wouldn’t --- survive that is.               Some time ago an agent, commenting on one of my stories, wrote that he had “never heard of a log cabin built high in the trees.” He was commenting on a stores cache I had described. I couldn’t believe that anyone who had read historical fiction, history, or any story depicting mountain men and homesteaders had not heard of ...

Here is an excerpt from page 6 to page 14 of my novel “Partners”.  The reader has just ‘met’ the ‘old’ (he’s 36) educated one, Tom Brash and he, along with the reader is about to meet the young, boorish, impulsive one, Frank Clement. He was well into the Cypress Hills now, and climbing. Despite the heat and tired horses he altered his course and angled up the hill. From up on top he might be able to see something that would indicate the location of the lakes. Perhaps he would cross the trail of some animal going to water. Seeing a grove of trees might also help, for many trees could not grow without some water. Pausing for a moment he turned and looked back toward the south east. Although he had been in this wide open land for more than a month he still was not used to the vastness. Distance seemed to contract, and what appeared to be a hundred yards would prove to be five hundred. The climb was much steeper and longer than he had anticipated, but he did finally approa...

An integral part of who I am.  On the left a wild cow milking after the branding and on the right an iron horse collar used to ensure an exact fit when the horse shows signs of "galling" due to an inexact fit. Harness collars are usually made in "standard" sizes and not made to fit an individual horse. All those who have bought "Small" "Medium" or "Large" coat will understand that their coat fit just as well as the horse collar fit the horse. These are the only Penalty pics I have but there are many more in the collection below.             I’ve mentioned in several places that I spent some time repairing fence, putting up hay, herding cattle, stooking (grain) bundles, riding the range and other work associated with agriculture in Western Canada . The most memorable of those jobs was four months during the summer of 1964 on the Penalty Ranch. I herded 21 Hereford bulls the summer before on a neighboring ranch and have helped o...

Barkerville about 1865 Here is a rhyme covering some of the story that appears in the novel “Partners”. No, it is not about the current trend to marry members of the same gender. Wagon and three up on Cariboo Road I suppose it could be likened to some of the couples one sees, of all genders, who, at first glance one might suspect have no business uniting. Some do make a viable couple and some do not. This is a rhyme of six stanzas and therefore cannot cover all that is presented in a story of 246 pages which includes references to the wide Canadian Prairies, murder, genocide, renegades/outlaws, “manifest destiny”, Cree and Blackfoot, the early assassination of a policeman (murder again), vigilantes, gold mining, and self defense. It does give a fair idea of how I started the story; the unlikely joining of young and old, tenderfoot and “cheekako”, diplomat and attacker. Calvenos Claim on Lowhee Creek The video (not the best of those available but not the worst) ...