Tag: westerns

164 – The Cultural Damage of the Los Angeles Fires

My heart is breaking for my hometown. First of all for the lives lost, then for the homes and livelihoods lost, but I am also very sad for the damage and threat to the cultural landmarks of Los Angeles. We won’t know the full damage for some time, but here’s a first look at the irreplaceable culture being wiped out by the fires.

So far the Zane Grey estate in Altadena has been destroyed. Grey was the home of one of the creators of the genre of Westerns, and his home was a beautiful Spanish revival mansion. Also gone is the Will Rogers ranch house in the Pacific Palisades, which was a beloved California State Park property that served as the starting point for many hiking trails. Luckily the Getty Villa and Getty Center are safe as of the time of recording, thanks to the careful construction of the buildings and the vigilance of staff. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has inspired too many science fiction authors to count, is also safe for the moment.

Many other beloved and inspirational places have been lost, though, such as Christmas Tree Lane and the Bunny Museum. And many famous film sites in the Malibu hills are lost or under threat. Landmarks are a huge part of why Los Angeles is such a special place, and it’s terrible to lose so many of them. This is an unusual episode of the show but I had to take a moment to mourn the loss of important literary sites in these terrible fires.

86 – The Saga of Pecos Bill

Out of all the larger than life figures in American tall tales, Pecos Bill is the roughest, toughest, meanest, wildest, most untamed, and funniest of them all. Only Pecos Bill has the kind of personality and adventures big enough to have come from Texas.

Unlike most tall tales, which arose slowly and were authored by many people, Pecos Bill was probably the creation of one man, Edward “Tex” O’Reilly, whose own life can seem like a tall tale. Born in the last days of the Wild West, Tex traveled the world as a soldier, mercenary, adventurer, and at last, a writer and Hollywood star of the silent film era. His story “The Saga of Pecos Bill” likely did draw on tall tales told in his childhood days in Texas, but it also satirized popular adventure stories of the day such as the books in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Parents and teachers should note that Pecos Bill is by no means a role model. He fights, kills, swindles, robs, drinks, and cheats. However, it’s also fairly obvious from the tone of the story that none of this is meant to be taken seriously. These are silly stories about a bad man, so the worse he behaves, the better the story is. However, some tales about Pecos Bill may need to be modified or skipped entirely for younger children as they may take the tales more literatlly.

Activity: Draw one of Pecos Bill’s Adventures

After telling a few stories about Pecos Bill, ask students to create a work of art showing one of his adventures. Students may refer to the original drawings by Elmer Hader in The Century Magazine or other works of art for inspiration.

Activity: Peform a Pecos Bill Story

Have students write a script and put on a comedic skit or play showing one or more of Pecos Bill’s adventures. The performance should be as silly and funny as possible.

Links

“The Saga of Pecos Bill” as originally published by Edward O’Reilly in The Century Magazine issue 106

Stories of Pecos Bill told by Robin Williams

Depictions of Pecos Bill

Boatright, Mody. Tall Tales from Texas Cow Camps. Dallas: Southwest Press, 1934.

Botkin, B. A. “The Saga of Pecos Bill.” In A Treasury of American Folklore. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1944: 180–85.

Chechik, Jeremiah (Director). (1995). Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill. Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures.

Geronimi, Clyde (Director). (1948). Pecos Bill. Walt Disney Pictures.

O’Reilly, Edward. “The Saga of Pecos Bill.” The Century Magazine 106 (1923): 827–33.