George Warren, Rain Riders and Jumbo Camels

[Bob Boze Bell]

July 12, 2012

   George Warren led a tragic life.

This is a painting of him. If it looks familiar it's because five years ago it was Mickey Free. Ha. Found it in my art morgue this morning and tweaked it to be a young George. Found some other images to use as bumpers like this Rain Riders painting done earlier this year:

Here's a painting I found in my art morgue which I did for Bad Men book. Tweaked it to add some clouds and this will be coverage for the George Warren segment on his gravestone (or, lack thereof):

Ken Amorosano and I spent yesterday afternoon in an editing bay at Channel 8 going over needed coverage for our Outrageous Arizona TV show. Here we are sitting in the dark looking at a Jana Bommersbach segment on Pearl Hart:

This morning I bailed into another Camel Corp concept. Want to show the size disparity between a big camel and horses and mules. One of the big camels shipped over from Africa was so large they had to cut a hole in the deck for his hump AND he was strapped down on his knees for the entire journey. Some of these suckers stood eight feet and with a rider, well, that had to be intimidating to a horse.

Okay, perhaps this is too big a size difference, but you get the idea.

"The camel's mobile lips and long neck aid in gathering food in difficult places without using the tongue (which could cause loss of valuable moisture). He can manipulate two flaps of his lips like fingers (camels have been known to untie a line or rope attached to a post with their lips)."

—Forrest Bryant Johnson, in his new book "The Last Camel Charge"

[Jim Pettengill]

George Warren has always interested me - I believe that he filed the original copper claims for the actual discoverer, Lt. Anthony Rucker, who was later drowned in the southern Chiricahuas trying to save a fellow soldier - Rucker Camp is named for him. There is a large memorial to George Warren in the Evergreen Cemetary in Bisbee - he is buried in Evergreen. The monument is just down the way from my inlaws' graves.