Cowboy Eats

I'm always on the lookout for "western dining experiences" and when we moved to Arizona we made sure we headed out to the famous Greasewood Flat--an outdoor bar int he desert with plenty of cowboy ambiance and great food!

Greasewood Flat

Welcome to Greasewood Flat! Housed in a 130-year-old bunkhouse, Greasewood Flat was voted one of the “Oldest, Quirkiest and most Classic Bars” in America. Since 1975, we have served up hearty burgers and wicked libations to cowboys, bikers, locals, and tourists alike!

 

Enjoy great food, cold drinks, music and dancing, cool nights, plus patio fires and authentic western atmosphere all in an outdoor setting at Scottsdale's iconic old-west bar. Visit Doc's Barn or play a game of horseshoes.

History

Greasewood Flat began life as an old bunkhouse building in the middle of the sprawling DC Ranch which ranged over thousands of acres of Sonoran Desert in the late 1800’s. Over the last century this desert has developed into one of the most affluent areas of Scottsdale, AZ.

 

Doc Cavalliere bought 45 acres where Greasewood sits back in 1955 to have a place to get away from “downtown” Scottsdale, 21 miles south. The property came with a little wood and canvas building housing a café known as Pinnacle Peak Patio. He and his wife Marge changed the name to Reata Pass and ran it until 1975. By then they were in their 60s and decided to slow down a bit, so Doc fixed up the old bunkhouse, built some picnic tables, added a dance floor and opened up Greasewood as a little hideaway for his friends.

In typical old west fashion, Doc didn’t consternate too heavily on what to name the place. The area is flat and there are a lot of greasewood bushes – thus Greasewood Flat.

 

 

Since then Greasewood has grown into one of the last bastions of Old West Scottsdale, with its outdoor dance floor, corrals full of burros, rustic wagons, fire pits, and cast of characters all contributing to an atmosphere that compels you to kick up your heels and toss back a cold one.

 

 

While there has been many a celebrity to stop by, the real stars are the locals who have been a part of Greasewood’s unique heritage: Stan, our Mayor for the last 35 years; Jenner, the old hippie who painted everything and everybody who would sit for him; The Chicken Coop Cutie, a story that can’t be told in print; Mary, who has never missed a day of work in 29 years; Emmett, the bar dog and icon of laid-back-attitude; Ruthann, the minister who held services each Sunday at our Chapel and presided over “communion” at Greasewood following services; and of course Doc and Marge, who presided over all while they were with us and still inspire us today.

Yep, those are $1 bills hanging fromt he ceiling, they say leaving a dollar at the bar is good luck .

 

 

Have you ever eaten at any unique bars where you live?

Cowboy U

Have you ever heard of Cowboy U--an American  reality TV series that aired on CMT (2003 -2007).  Each season, eight "city slickers" stayed on a ranch and competed to win a final rodeo and $25,000

 

 

Cowboy U

City slickers pony up for the adventure of a lifetime with Cowboy U. Professional cowboys Rocco Wachman and Judd Leffew and their team of seasoned professionals attempt to acclimate a fresh batch of city dwellers to the cowboy lifestyle in only three weeks, coaching contestants through an intense cowboy boot camp. The eight contestants, whose occupations can range anywhere from a sales executive to a stay-at-home father, or even a waitress. Each face daily obstacles and physical burdens in their quest to become true cowboys. From their first contest, catching an ornery calf and putting panties on it, to their lack of big city luxuries, to their first bull riding lesson, the participants are pushed to their breaking point. In the end, only the strong survive, and only one will be worthy of the title of best all-around cowboy, taking home the cash prize and the glory. The first installment of Cowboy U debuted in August 2003 on CMTand took place in Arizona. It than continued to grow adding six more seasons in Colorado, California, Texas, Oklahoma and Hawaii.

 

Recurring competitions

 

throughout the series include the seven rings of fire, calf scrambling, cow dodging, firearm competitions, steer wrestling, driving a horse and wagon, buckboard wagon shooting, pig chasing, barrel racing, wild cow riding, bull riding, and various eating contests.

 

 

At the campfire, Rocco announces who has worked the hardest over the past few days and announces the reward. The winner gets a special reward, like a warm bubble bath, instead of the daily cold showers.

 

 

Once during each season, Rocco will show up at the bunkhouse and ask the contestants to decide who has done the least over the past few days. After they decide, the unlucky person has to do a special chore, like shoveling out horse barns. Every few days at the campfire, someone who is just not getting the job done is eliminated. They say goodbye to the other contestants, get their stuff loaded on the back of a truck, and they leave the ranch. Only four of the contestants not eliminated get to participate in the rodeo and have a chance at winning all-around cowboy and walk away with a check for $25,000.

 

Rodeo day arrives and the city slickers compete in barrel racing, steer wrestling, wagon racing and shooting and bull riding. One person will be named the all-around cowboy and walk away with a check for $25,000.

Season 1 contestants
Dotan Baer (M) commodities broker, Justin Rae Barnes (F) waitress/writer, Jason Ebs (M) Musician, Drea Gunness (F) Fitness Instructor & Winner, Marc Heber (M) sales executive and Chelsea McElroy (F) Boutique Owner

So what do yout think?  If you had the chance to attend Cowboy U would you?

Ida Bailey: The Famous Stingaree Madam

Unlike my previous blog about the haunted Whaley House in Old Town San Diego...a famous western lawman does make an appearance in this "All My Heroes are Cowboys" blog. 

While taking a San Diego Ghost Tour during my kids' spring break in March I learned about the history of San Diego's Stingaree district now known as San Diego's trendy Gas Lamp Quarter--for all you Hollywood gossips out there I saw the bar where Ashton Kutcher cheated on Demi Moore.

The Fluxx

 The Stingaree was a neighborhood of San Diego between the boom of the 1880s and the cleanup of 1916. The reason for the neighborhood's fame was its role as the home to the city's "undesirables", including prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers and gamblers. For similar reasons of societal exclusion, it was also the site of the city's first Chinatown.

 

 

Also known as “Stingaree Town” the area got its name from a mean, ray-like fish with a long, poisonous tail which swam in the bay.
 

 

 

Gambling and prostitution were illegal in California after 1855. However, law enforcement throughout America and especially in the West saw these vices as impossible to eradicate. Special "restricted" districts were created in many cities where the vices were allowed to be practiced in the open, provided that they were kept within the boundaries of the district and that there were no greater crimes involved. Illegal payments from the vice trade to the police were also typical components of these bargains. The Stingaree was one of these districts.

 

In 1888, it was said there were at least 120 bawdy houses within the city, and irate citizens complained this was going on at the sufferance of the authorities who were doing nothing to fix the nuisance. An occasional raid to close down one of the more notorious of the parlor houses or gambling establishments was carried on to give an appearance of law enforcement.

 

Among the gamblers who came to town during the Boom was Wyatt Earp, former lawman and refugee from the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp, while in San Diego, ran three gambling halls, one on Fourth across from the Plaza, and the others near Sixth and E, all in the "respectable" part of town. As a sideline, he acted as a referee for boxing matches. He was listed in the 1888 City Directory as a "Capitalist."

 

San Diego's most famous Madam was Ida Bailey who came to San Diego with the boomers of the Eighties. In 1887 the San Diego Sun reported that Ida Bailey and two other women had been arrested for the unlicensed selling of booze.  The San Diego Directory for 1889 lists Ida Bailey as residing at 253 Sixth Street, and a Mrs. W. E. Castle as "inmate of Ida Bailey's." By 1903 Ida Bailey had moved farther uptown to Canary Cottage, the most respectable of all parlor houses within the Stingaree.

 

 

Ida Bailey

 

 

Located on the west side of Fourth, between Market and Island, it is described as being one-and-a-half stories, set well back on the lot, with a picket fence at the front. It was painted a faded yellow and two rubber trees close to the windows made a convenient exit in the event of a raid. Unfortunately, no photograph of Canary Cottage is known to exist. However, the elegant "Haunted" Horton Grand Hotel was rebuilt on the same plot of land where Ida Bailey's original 1880 - 1912 "cat house" once stood.

 

 

Ida Bailey's, like the better parlor houses served only the best food and drink. Her girls were well-dressed, used little makeup, and were not allowed to smoke.  The patrons were all "gentlemen" and expected to act the part. If any customer did or said anything out of line, he was asked to leave. A bouncer made sure he did so. Her patrons included many from the "best society," well-known business and professional men, and political office-holders. The Canary Cottage was seldom raided, and then only for "window dressing," after an advance warning.  

After Ida Bailey retired, she lived for years near Second and G, not far from the Police Station. She was a familiar sight, an old lady shuffling down the street, who was pointed out to newcomers as San Diego's famous former Madam. During her last years she lived in destitution. At Christmas, when baskets of food for the needy were given to firemen to distribute. they always made sure Ida Bailey received an especially well-filled one.

^{Can you recommend any historical tours that you enjoyed taking on your vacations?} 

 

 

San Diego Ghost Tours

This month I thought I'd share my spring break experience at Old Town San Diego.  I talked my kids and husband into accompanying me on a Haunted San Diego Ghost Tour! www.hauntedsandiegotours.com 

 

 

 

I've always tried to keep an open mind about all things paranormal, but sadly I didn’t see a ghost on this tour.  I didn't feel a cold shiver come over me.  And I didn’t have any "orbs" show up in the photos taken at the haunted houses we visited on the tour.  But I did learn some fascinating things about the history of the places we visited that I thought would be fun to share.

TheWhaley House

 

Thomas Whaley

The Whaley House Museum offers a paranormal tour every last weekend of the month, and was named the most haunted house in the United States by the Travel Channel show America’s Most Haunted.

 

Thomas Whaley and his wife, Anna Whaley, and their six children Francis Hinton, Thomas jr, Anna Amelia, Violet, George, and Corinne Lillian lived in the house.  All but two Thomas sr. and Anna Amelia died in the house.

The building was started with the construction of a granary that later became the courtroom. The two-story Greek Revival house and store addition was designed by Thomas Whaley himself and constructed in 1857. It was the first two-story brick edifice in San Diego, and was built from bricks made in Thomas Whaley's own brickyard. The cost of the house was more than $10,000 and the first of its kind in San Diego. Over the years, the Whaley House also functioned as San Diego's first commercial theater, the county courthouse, and the Whaley and Crosthwaite General Store, a ballroom, a billiard hall, school, and polling place.

 

Whaley Family

 

The earliest documented ghost at the Whaley House is "Yankee Jim." James (aka Santiago) Robinson was convicted of attempted grand larceny in San Diego in 1852, and hanged on a gallows off the back of a wagon on the site where the Whaley house now stands.

 

Yankee Jim

Although Thomas Whaley had been a spectator at the execution, he bought the property and built a family home on it.  After moving into the house Whaley described hearing heavy footsteps in the house at night and assumed it was Yankee Jim Robinson.  Yankee Jim is buried right down the block form the Whaley House in the El Campo Santo Cemetery. He was a tall man and the undertakers broke his legs in order to fold his body small enough to fit in the tiny grave seen in the photo below.

 

Yankee Jim's Grave

 

Baby Thomas jr. caught scarlet fever in 1858 and died at 18 months in the Whaley House.
On January 5, 1882, Whaley's daughter Violet wed George T. Bertolacci, then soon after divorced him. The divorce humiliated Violet and she suffered such severe depression that she was monitored by a local physician, but was able to sneak outside to the privy and shoot herself in the chest.  She was taken back inside and later died on the parlor couch in 1885.

Another death occurred in the house… Marion Reynolds, the great grand-daughter of Thomas Whaley, died from ingesting ant poison and visitors to the house have reported being grabbed by the arm as they tour the house.

 

Wife and mother Anna died in the house in 1913 at eighty years of age.
It was then that Thomas Whaley built a single-story frame home at 933 State Street in downtown San Diego and moved into the new residence, leaving the Whaley House vacant for over two decades.

El Camo Santo Cemetery

Just down the block from the Whaley House sits another famous haunted landmark...El Campo Santo Cemetery was a Catholic cemetery started in 1849. 477 bodies were buried here including many early founding San Diegans.

In 1889 a horse drawn streetcar line was built through part of the cemetery, which later became San Diego Avenue. In 1942 it was finally paved over, leaving as many as 18 graves under the street and sidewalk. A variey of apparitions have been seen within and on the outside of the brick walls which surround the small graveyard. Including a woman in a white victorian dress and the image of a Native American.

Do you believe in ghosts?  Have you ever gone on a ghost tour? 

 


 

Good Ol' Cowboy Music

 

This & That

My March Newsletter is available online. Check it out to see how you can win FREE books from me!

 

 

No Ordinary Cowboy

April 2013

 

4 1/2 Stars

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*****

 Western Music

 

If you're a cowboy fan then you probably like country western music, too.  As much as we love the rhythm and the stories behind many of the songs, western cowboy music is credited with shaping the consciousness of our nation.  My latest issue of American Cowboy Magazine (April/May 2013) included an article written by Charley Engel called Where Did It Come From? Western Music.  He summarized the evolution of western music as follows:

 

Pre-19^th century

Immigrants brought music instruments from the Old World to America: fiddle, dulcimer and harmonica. "Blue Juniata" a song about a Pennsylvania Indian maid is considered the first popular Western song published in 1944.   It romanticized the landscape and introduced a valiant hero—what would become a trademark of western songs.

 

 

Italian Tunisian actress Claudia Cardinale playing a Dulcimer

 

 

1870's -1890's

The birth of the American Cowboy as we know him today came with the cattle drives after the Civil War.  These cowboys came from all walks of life and nationalities.  To ease the cowboy's homesickness they sang songs from their native cultures and reshaped them to fit the western landscape. The song "The Ocean Burial" (1839) written by Edwin Chapin became "The Dying Cowboy".  

 

 

Tending a Longhorn Herd near Deanville Texas on a spur of the Chisolm trail. Curtisy of http://www.forttumbleweed.net/cattledrives.html

1900's-1920's

Buffalo Bill and Cody's Wild West  show popularized the romantic image of the drover.  The cowboy was elevated from a lowly laborer to a knight of the plains. 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of the invention of barbed wire and a decrease in "cowboys" folksong collected realized the passing of the cowboy meant a loss of historic record. Then in 1925 Nashville's Grand Ole Opry began broadcasting western-themed music which helped to popularize the genre.

 

 

1930's-1950's

The era of the silver-screen cowboys marked the heyday of Western and cowboy songs.  Gene Autry, Roy Rogers along with bands like The Riders of the Purple Sage and The Cass Country Boys drew moviegoers. 

 

 

 

 

1950's –Present day

After WWII, jaded audiences cooled to the singing cowboy.  Performers tried to transition to a smoother more sophisticated music style known as country-western.  BY the late 1970's Nashville was known "country" and dropped the "western" as more pop singers embraced the emerging style.   

 

 

Music Row Nashville

 

 

I admit to being a huge country western music fan and I'm loving the new Nashville series on ABC.   Maybe because I've been featuring rodeo cowboy heroes in my books I have a soft spot for songs that depict the rodeo-way-of-life.  My favorite country music song of all time is Amarillo by Morning by George Strait.

 

Amarillo by Morning Youtube Video

 

 



*Do you have a favorite country music song?* 

 

Happy Ever After...The Cowboy Way!

 

 

 

 

Tombstone--The Town Too Tough to Die

*****

This & That

 

My Next Goodreads Giveaway March 5th-March 13th. Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of No Ordinary Cowboy (April 2013)

 

My March Newsletter is available online. Check it out to see how you can win FREE books from me!  

Tombstone

About a month ago my husband and I drove down to Tombstone just to walk around and enjoy the "cowboy" atmosphere of the Old West.  We'd been there before but had never toured the famous Bird Cage Saloon where many a famous cowboy stopped in for drinks, gambling, a muscial show or a visit with one of the many soiled doves who worked there.

For the past month I've been posting photos of my trip on my FB page and I've received e-mails from readers asking lots of questions about the town and the famous saloon so I thought I'd share a little history of the gambling hall on my blog.

Birdcage Theatre circa 1940

 

The Bird Cage Theatre was a combination theater, saloon, gambling parlor and brothel that operated from 1881 to 1889 in Tombstone, Arizona during the height of the silver boom.

The Theatre opened on December 26, 1881 and was owned and operated by William "Billy" Hutchinson and his wife Lottie. It's  thought that the name came from the fourteen "cages" or boxes along the two balconies on either side of the main hall. The boxes, also referred to as "cribs" had drapes that could be drawn while prostitutes entertained their clients. The main hall contained a stage and orchestra pit at one end where live shows were performed.

The Bird Cage Theatre operated continuously – twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year – for eight years. It gained a reputation as one of the wildest places in the country.  The New York Times said "The Bird Cage Theatre is the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast and the " The theater during its time was the site of sixteen gun fights, which resulted in the 26 deaths and left more than 120 bullet holes throughout the building. 

The dark-looking smudge below the woman's knee is where a bullet hole was repaired on this painting.

The basement poker room is where the longest-running poker game in history was played—continuously twenty-four hours a day for eight years, five months, and three days.  As much as $10,000,000 changed hands during the marathon game, with the house keeping 10 percent. Minimum buy-in at the table was $1000.00 per person. The waiting time to get into the game could be from 3 to 4 days.

The house gaming steward would receive a $1,000 deposit from the player and put his name on a waiting list.  When a seat opened, someone would be sent for the player.  Some of the famous participants in the game were Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Diamond Jim Brady, and George Hearst. When ground water began seeping into the mines in the late 1880s the town went bust, the Bird Cage Theatre along with it. The poker game ended and the building was sealed up in 1889.

 

 

Notice the dealer's box and the money box is still where it was when the poker game ended. 

Across from the gaming tables were bordello bedrooms where the gambling men took turns visiting the women.

 The famous bedroom of Sadie Jo

 

After the mines flooded, the building was not opened again until it was purchased in 1934, and the new owners were excited to find that almost nothing had been disturbed in all those years.

Present Day Bird Cage Saloon

What's the most interesting historical place you've been to?

 

Happy Ever After...The Cowboy Way!

 

 

 

The Border Patrol--America's Cowboy Police

Mark Your Calendars!

My Next Goodreads Giveaway March 5th-March 13th. Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of No Ordinary Cowboy (April 2013) 

 

    

*****

No Ordinary Cowboy

April 2013

BUY!

 

 

For those of you who follow the political issues of the day then you know that border security is a hot topic right now in the United States, especially as our government gears up to tackle immigration reform.  As an author there are times when certain social issues and causes beg me to use them in my stories.  I've done just that with my upcoming release No Ordinary Cowboy featuring a hero who's a border patrol agent in southern Arizona. 

 

Arizona-Mexico Border

 

 

In No Ordinary Cowboy, the hero Tony Bravo is investigating a human trafficking ring.  He believes the Mexican coyotes are transporting kidnapped school-age girls across his deceased best friend's family ranch.  I did quite a bit of reading about the border patol to write this story. I hope that if you read my book, you'll enjoy the setting details.

 

The most informative article I came across was written by Linda Kane, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs in which she write an article titled The horse patrol-runningneck and neck with technology.

The following information is taken from Kane's article ......

 

 

"Make no mistake, today's horse patrol agents are highly trained and sophisticated law enforcement officers."

 

A rich heritage
"From the beginning, horses were an important part of the Border Patrol, and they remain so today. Mounted guards, the predecessors of today's Border Patrol, were a colorful group who, as they watched the border for illegals, embodied the independence and love of the land associated with the old West. In 1915, Congress authorized the Mounted Patrolmen, a more formal group of officers on horseback, until finally, in 1924, the Border Patrol was established."

 

 

 

Signs

 

Typical day
"Mounted agents start their shifts by grooming their horses, brushing them, doing a sort of "pre-flight" inspection for bruises or injuries, then "tacking up"-putting on their saddles, bridles, reins. The horses are trailered and driven to an operating area. Agents, usually riding in groups of three or four, but at least in pairs, decide where they will ride based on intelligence developed by agents during the previous shift. Once out in the field, the agents scour the landscape, looking for footprints, disturbances in the brush, or other indicators of alien traffic. If there are no tracks, they may respond instead to movement sensors hidden in the landscape along the border."

 

 

Ready for Work

 

 

Friends of the environment
"The horse patrol has yet another advantage over all other high-tech methods of transport; horses are friendly to the environment. Border Patrol agents work between ports of entry, and in the southwest this means that much of the land is wilderness,remote, undeveloped, rugged land. And The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management want to keep it that way. Motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or any type of mechanical transport cannot be used in these wilderness areas.

 

Technology has its limits
Four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles allow the Border Patrol to cover rough terrain and patrol areas that might otherwise be off limits. Helicopters and airplanes provide a bird's eye view expanding the patrol range and making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to cross border territory undetected-but Border Patrol agents who mount up daily are a reminder that technology has its limitations. Patrols can travel places that ATVs and motorized vehicles cannot. And they can do it faster. A group of illegal immigrants will scatter and run away from a ground agent or helicopter that has stopped them. Add a couple of horses to the mix, and it changes the dynamic. Horses can get into the brush, and they have the advantage of being able to look down. The roar of an ATV engine or headlights presents another advantage that horses have over motorized vehicles--stealth. Horses are quiet, and they can see at night, making it possible for a horse patrol agent to get close to camps or groups of illegals without being detected.

 

Horses also bring an air of authority to explosive situations. Their size and speed can be intimidating, but they also have a calming effect on a large group detained by authorities. An agent on horseback can prevent a group of illegals from "making a run for it", fleeing in different directions into the wild. Horse and rider can shepherd the immigrants so they can be safely "walked out" of rough or dangerous terrain to roads where they can be picked up, and transported to the nearest sector office.

 

At the end of the day, each horse is brought back to the stable and inspected, de-tacked, and hosed off until the next day when the cycle starts all over again.

 

*****

I attended college at the University of Arizona in Tucson--Go Wildcats! After graduation my husband and I lived in Pheonix for fours years before moving all over the country.  Just recently we moved back to the state.  I've driven many miles across southern Arizona sight-seeing and only once have I spotted a group of border patrol agents on horseback.  Maybe they should be called Border Patrol Ghosts rather than agents.

 

Happy Ever After...The Cowboy Way!