Book Review: Screen Greats Vol IV, Hollywood COWBOY HEROES: By G.C. Stevens

        Subtitle: Authors big find at the local Salvation Army

 Resale Store, a very nice Dietz Kerosene Lantern

 and a copy of "Hollywood Cowboy Heros, Screen Greats Vol IV."

                              

The front cover of "Screen Greats Vol IV, Hollywood 

"COWBOY HEROES"

It was Hollywood and T.V. that introduced my generation to the western genre, we learned American history by T.V. osmosis.                  

 -G.C. Stevens

Screen Greats Vol IV was originally published in 1981 by Starlog Press Inc. Which was a publishing company better known for their sci-fi mags, but Starlog went out of business in 2009 along with many of our other beloved magazines from that time period that disappeared when the internet started taking over media. I did an immediate search for information on "Cowboy Heros" I found that there are still some copies that can be found on sale. This magazine contains forty different chapters covering subjects from silent movie period, early serial period, big screen movies and television. It contains actors from "Bronco Billy Anderson to John Wayne and just about every cowboy actor in between" 

The is booklet is 82 pages long, it's packed from cover to cover with many photos. Each page contains multiple vignettes in alphabetical order. The booklet is in black & white, (except for inside covers photos which are in color.) and the pages show some age. The paper it is printed on does not appear to be acid free paper, so there is some discoloration. The book starts out with one of these authors favorite movies "The Great Train Robbery" filmed in 1903, to a complete list of John Wayne's filmography from 1929 to 1976. Cowboys Heros is a direct reflection of what we saw at on T.V. and at the movies. It was Hollywood and T.V. that introduced my generation to the western genre, we learned American history by T.V. osmosis. Our entertainment was a good western and six-guns blazing and the local theater. As I turned the pages in this book, I could smell buttered popcorn in the air, and the crack and pop of the film projector in the background. I'm glad I was able to add "Hollywood Cowboy Heros" to my collection.

 

 

 

  My new Dietz #76, which was a very popular 

Lantern introduced in 1976 a great find.

A very dashing Gary Cooper, well mounted and handsome.

A list of early silent westerns.

Happy New Year From the CSL&OH.A. 2025 in Review & 250 years of America

 

Happy new year from the Central States Lawman and Outlaws Historic Association!

I just want to personally thank all of our readers for a great year. Last month was record breaker for this blog, with over 5000 views and multiple contributors during the course of 2025.                                                                                                                                       

Over the next twelve months the CSL&OH.A. and Dusty Trails of the Old West Books, along with our partners, editors and publishers will be bringing out more content. I currently have two new books coming out in the near future and I will post those here when they go on sale. I will also be posting articles each month for Americas 250th birthday. I hope 2026 is a happy and prosperous new year for everyone.

G.C. Stevens

Living along the famed "Dragoon Trail" 

In honor of the those who forged the country

by broadaxe and bayonet.

Some Photos from 2025, Good Friends, Book Signings & Historic Events!

Book signing at the Fort Dodge Iowa Frontier Days

Our Friends "The Hole in The Sock Gang"

                            In 2025 I had the honor of speaking at the Jesse James Birthplace 

Gallatin Missouri 

More Exploration of Adair Iowa. 

Site of the first train robbery west of the Mississippi River

The John Wayne Birthplace and Museum

 Winston Missouri train robbery site

Friend with the Army of the Southwest

 

Author Richard Gooch, at the Jesse James Birthplace

Richard passed away in 2025

Gene with Barry Corbin in Winterset Iowa

Good friends Tom Shaw and Kevin Schmitt of History Delights

19th Century Iron implements: By G.C. Stevens

  

An awesome example of a 19th century circular gridiron This particular gridiron is in the collection of antiquarian Patrick Meguiar. Photo permission of Patrick Meguiar

G.C. Stevens

During my many years of reenacting and visiting historic sites all over the country. Among of the most prominent things that bring back memories of those days is the smell of a campfire and the singing hammers of the Black Smiths who followed the trail of history to educate people, and to sell their wares. My fond memories of these days ever prompted me to write a poem about it. 

Blacksmith

"Somewhere in the distance on a clear summer evening

I hear the clanging of the hammer, a heartbeat of steel on steel.

Against the anvil it crashes a man with a task, The sweat upon his brow, 

Molding solid iron, to form and function. Without him, the wagon would never roll. 

Without him, the nation would have no soul. From the plow,

to the iron on the stove, the strong arms would hammer the incessant song of the steel hammer,

To pound the mettle that would cross the prairie, on the trail of a great endeavor."

-G.C. Stevens 

Blacksmiths crafted and repaired these wrought and cast iron items, including horseshoes, hinges, and machinery parts, using forges, anvils, and hammers, In the 19th century, blacksmiths were indispensable members of rural and frontier communities. They are often romanticized in works like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Village Blacksmith." And have parts in many western movies and western T.V. Series. Black smiths were and are still, skilled craftsmen who forge essential iron tools, hardware, and implements by hand. They shaped the tools and equipment of the nation, long before widespread industrialization. The blacksmith's day was made up of intense physical labor in a dimly lit, and hot shops filled with the roar of the coal-fired forge. The familiar rhythmic clanging of hammer on anvil, and clouds of smoke were part of the American landscape. They used bellows (later replaced by rotary fans) to heat iron to glowing red-hot, they employed techniques like forging, welding, and tempering on heavy anvils with various hammers, tongs, and vises. They crafted and repaired horseshoes, plowshares, axes, wagon parts, nails, hinges, and household items, serving farmers, travelers, and households. Apprentices learned the trade through years of hands-on work, often starting as boys.

Types of Implements
• Agriculture: Iron plows (like the famous Deere plow), reapers, mowers, hay rakes, and hoes.
• Household: Pots, skillets, stoves, candlesticks, irons (including specialized goffering irons for fabric), and shears.
• Tools: Hammers, chisels, saws, shovels, rakes, files, knives, swages, cutters, and pokers.
• Construction/Industry: Iron for building components, wagon wheels, and parts for early machinery. 

About the gridiron in the photo above

'This gridiron came from a Doctor in Murfreesboro which is Rutherford County. That Doctor bought local items. So it most likely from there or an adjacent County. He had several early iron items from Davidson County or the Nashville area. I have had at least one other rotary gridiron that was like this one that was found under the floor in an early house in Middle Tennessee. This Doctor is a big collector of local early items, but exactly what Middle Tennessee County is not known to me, however around the Nashville, Tennessee area is very likely to be where it was made."

-Patrick Meguiar