A journey from Old Europe to the New West

Donna Rifkin of The Washington Post has high praise for The German Bride, Joanna Hershon's ambitious novel about "a German Jewish woman named Eva Frank who, after a hasty marriage in 1865, leaves her wealthy father's mansion in Berlin to pursue a new life among the 'low mud-cake hovels' of the American West. Accompanied by her husband, Eva journeys across the ocean and then across the United States to set up housekeeping in Santa Fe, a makeshift, dirty, danger-ridden settlement that was just beginning to organize itself into a town." Vanity Fair asked Hershon who she would cast in a film adaptation of her book, and she replies here.

A double dose of Nashville Star

NBC has signed a deal with the Country Music Television cable network allowing CMT to repeat -- er, excuse me, I mean repurpose -- episodes of Nashville Star four days after their broadcast premieres. Nashville Star -- formerly a mainstay at the USA Network -- returns for its sixth season June 9 on NBC, with Billy Ray Cyrus as host.

Readin' and writin' and... ridin'?

Obviously, Tennessee school officials have zero tolerance for students who try to horse around before graduation.

Next stop: Australia

A very pregnant Nicole Kidman appeared on the red carpet (alongside husband Keith Urban) at Sunday's 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Fans may not get another up-close look at the actress until November, when she'll be seen opposite co-star Hugh Jackman (above) in Australia, an epic drama about a World War II-era cattle drive across hundreds of miles of the most unforgiving land in The Land Down Under.

R.I.P.: Oakley Hall (1920-2008)

From The New York Times: "Oakley Hall, the author of the novels Warlock and The Downhill Racers and a literary heir to fellow California writers like Wallace Stegner, died Monday at his home in Nevada City, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Nevada City, Squaw Valley and San Francisco... Mr. Hall, who began his career writing tightly constructed mystery novels, produced a steady stream of works, most set in the American West, of which the best known is Warlock (1958), a fictional reimagining of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Called 'one of our best American novels' in a Holiday magazine review by Thomas Pynchon, it was made into a film of the same name with Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda." There's more on Hall here and here.

Thank you, C&I readers!

Here at the C&I Corral, we're celebrating our 15th anniversary with an announcement of our record circulation growth. The Premier Magazine of the West is reporting a 22 percent increase in average paid circulation in the second half of 2007, achieving an all-time high circulation level of 147,400 (compared to 121,105 in 2006). All of which means that, using the formula of 5.2 readers per copy, as determined by the Magazine Publishers Association, Cowboys & Indians now has an average of 766,480 readers for each issue. Yippie-ti- yi-yay!

James Stewart centennial

To celebrate the May 20 centennial of James Stewart's birth, Turner Classic Movies will offer a marathon of the superstar's films -- including, naturally, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -- and Universal Home Video will release James Stewart: The Western Collection, a boxed set of DVDs including Destry Rides Again, Winchester '73, Bend of the River, The Far Country, Night Passage and The Rare Breed. But wait, there's more: Critic Mick LaSalle pays tribute to the great man here.

Curious about curios?

After the 1880 arrival of the railroad in New Mexico, Pueblo and Navajo artisans collaborated with non-Indian dealers to invent artifacts that had no purpose but to satisfy the demand for Indian goods. From its inception, the curio trade comprised cottage industries, retail spaces -- and a vast mail-order business. The rich, complex and controversial story of this phenomenon will be told in From the Railroad to Route 66: The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, an exhibit scheduled for display from Sunday, May 18, until April 19, 2009 at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe.

The mystery of the Arapaho photos

According to the Evening News of Edinburgh, Scotland, long-lost photographs of Native Americans have been uncovered in a file cabinet in the Charlotte Square headquarters of the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust. And thanks to the interest of an Edinburgh archivist who stumbled upon the pictures -- taken in 1921 -- and then pursued the matter rather than let it drop, 7,000 Arapaho people who live on the Wind River Reservation are reclaiming this part of their heritage for themselves

Legacy Art Albuquerque

Lou Diamond Phillips, James Avery and Holly Dunn are among the notables expected to be on hand for the eighth annual Legacy Art Albuquerque charity art auction Saturday, May 10, at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. This year's featured artist is the acclaimed CJ Wells. As always, all proceeds from the event go to Albuquerque's St. Pius X High School, and the Amando and J.B. Peña “Art Has Heart” educational foundation.

R.I.P.: Eddy Arnold (1918-2008)

Eddy Arnold, the country crooner credited as a pioneer of "The Nashville Sound," died Thursday morning at a care facility near Nashville, just days short of his 90th birthday. The Associated Press obit is here, Great American Country pays tribute here, and Fox News has a guide to Arnold's career highlights here.

They fought the lawyer, and the lawyer won

From the ABA Journal: In the aftermath of a 1869 heist in Daviess County, Mo., Jesse and Frank James stole a getaway horse from a wealthy local farmer. Unfortunately for the brothers, the farmer had a really good lawyer...

Return of The Big Trail

Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail -- the epic 1930 Western that showcases the late, great John Wayne in his first starring role -- has been restored for release as a collector's edition 2-disc DVD.

Coming soon to a computer near you

Wild West Online: Gunfighter -- a spanking new multiplayer computer game developed by Tenderfoot Games, LLC -- has entered its "open beta" testing period, meaning that the game is available to the general public. But take note: Accessibility may be periodically limited while the Tenderfoot team monitors the game's performance under heavy loads, fixes bugs identified by the growing community of players, and adds the final features desired for the game's official launch.

As the on-line intro explains: "In Wild West Online: Gunfighter, you will take on the role of gunslinger in the 19th Century American West. Your calling: To make your way across the country forging a name for yourself at the expense of every two-bit hayseed and cocksure tinhorn in your path. A bright flash, a sharp report... a cloud of acrid smoke. Then it’s on to the next town, the next territory and a new challenger anxious to test their mettle. But lest you get too big for your britches, be forewarned: ahead of you famous gunfighters from history lie in wait, ready to push your skills to the edge — or beyond."

Eager gunslingers can create a free account and try their skills here.

How the West was restored

How the West Was Won, the sprawling 1962 MGM Western epic boasting an ensemble cast that includes Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Gregory Peck and James Stewart, will be released August 26 in three newly restored and remastered versions.