by Jenny Barnett

If you’ve been riding along with us these past few months, welcome back.
If you’re new here, grab a mug, kick off your boots, and let’s get you grounded.

This post is part reflection, part rally cry.
Because Wild West Topos isn’t just a blog.
It’s a way of living: steady, storied, and stitched together with care.

What We Believe

This is our Modern Frontier Manifesto, a reminder of why we’re here and what we’re building.

We believe…

• The land still speaks, if you slow down enough to listen.
• A well-seasoned skillet and a topo map are both survival tools.
• Home should hold history, not just furniture.
• Wildcrafting and wall hooks both deserve reverence.
• Good design tells the truth. So does good dirt under your nails.

Around here, we’re not chasing aesthetics. We’re crafting a life that feels like it means something.

Our Content Pillars

Over the past season, we’ve explored the modern frontier through four main lenses:

1. Home with Heritage

We wrote about decorating with story and grit, choosing hardware with history, and building spaces that feel rooted, not just pretty.
→ Favorites: Old West Iron’s Hardware, Forged Ring Pulls on Etsy

2. Wild Wellness

From tonics and tinctures to the rhythms of seasonal living, we’ve celebrated wellness that comes not from a label, but from the land.
→ This tallow balm is one of my go-to cold-season essentials. Clean, honest, and made the way your great-grandmother would’ve done it.

3. Topo & Terrain

We shared our love for contour lines and trail maps and offered a beginner’s guide to reading topo maps so you’ll never lose your way (on foot or in life).

4. The Maker’s Path

Ironmongers, homemakers, seed savers, you’re all welcome here. If you’re crafting anything with your hands and your heart, this place is for you.

Looking Ahead: Autumn, Winter & Beyond

The wild doesn’t hibernate and neither do we.
Coming soon:

• Homestead holidays — how to celebrate simply and soulfully
• Winter prep guides — from pantry stocking to hardware built for snow
• Legacy gifting — including heritage kitchenware, field tools, and rugged seasonal décor
• Interviews with modern makers who are redefining the frontier from coast to canyon

If that sounds like your kind of trail, make sure you’re subscribed.
We send one solid letter a week, no fluff, no flash sales, just real-life stories and tools worth your time.

Join the Newsletter

A Few Favorite Finds

These aren’t just pretty things. They’re functional heirlooms in the making:

• Hand-poured tallow balm with vanilla bean — perfect for dry knuckles, windburn, or stocking stuffers
• Pressed flower fall candles on Etsy — we keep one by the hearth when the evenings start to stretch
• Iron hardware & bolts from Old West Iron — tough, timeless, and the kind of detail that gives a home its backbone

This is the modern frontier — rugged, intentional, and yours for the shaping.
Thanks for walking the line with us this season. We’ve only just begun.

— Jenny