OCOEE RANGERS

SCORES & RANKING – March 4, 2006

Overall Score = The total of Rank of all stages    Overall Rank = The ranking of shooters by overall score  Overall Time = The sum of scores of stages       Misses = Total shots missed on all stages     Total Stages = Number of stages with no recorded missed shots  Red type indicates a clean match (In the event of ties in Overall Score, the tied shooter with the lowest Overall Time is ranked higher)

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Volume 4, Issue No. 2                          March 4,  2006

59 SHOOTERS BATTLED THE CLANG GANG AT THE MARCH 4^TH SHOOT

Festus D. Deputy  was the Top Gun at the March 4 Shoot.

The absence of a February shoot didn’t lessen the shootin’ skills or desires to play the cowboy & cowgirl shootin’ game any, as demonstrated by the 59 shooters who gathered to battle the Clang Gang at the Leadmine Valley range. Before the main shoot began, Marshal Too Tall began the day by capturing 3 of the 4 pre-shoot side match events, commonly called “the Buffalo Shoot”. He won the .22 cal event and the 100-yard pistol shoot.  And while he won the 100-yard lever action rifle shoot, he had real competition from Fast Harley.  From sitting positions, both hit 5 targets with 5 shots.  In the shoot-off, Too Tall hit 5 of 5 standing, and Fast Harley hit 3 of 5.  Mad Mike won the 100-yard single shot event.

How’d the other shooting go?  Well, once again Colonel Allison was 1 miss away from a clean match.  Festus D. Deputy was the Top Gun, followed closely by Sunshine Billy and Dustin Clays.  And Last Kiss was the top cowgirl shooter.  Deadeye Drew was the only Jr. Shooter, so he placed first amongst the juniors.  Unfortunately for both Deadeye Drew and T-Bone Angus, who shot B-Western, certificates are awarded only if 2 or more shooters participate in a category.

4 of the top 5 shooters shot no misses matches: Festus D. Deputy, Dustin Clays, Ocoee Red and Pleasant.  Others who shot no miss matches were Purly, Barn Scoop, Limp Along Charlie and Awful Close.

Thanks to the set-up crew for having the range ready for the shoot.  The crew consisted of Linc, Tucson Tuco, Sundance McNeyman and Horseshoe John.

Marshal Too Tall – Side Match King

The Opposition – the Clang Gang

SHOOT RESULTS:        Top Gun – Festus D. Deputy

Buffalo Shoot:  .22 cal  –  Marshal Too Tall   

Long Range Lever Action – Marshal Too Tall

Long Range Pistol  – Marshal Too Tall   

Long Range Single Shot  –  Mad Mike

NEXT SHOOT – MARCH 25

The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration 8:30 am  –  Posse Leader walk-through 9:15 am  – Safety meeting 9:45 am  –  Shooting follows !  All times are Eastern Time.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2            4  March  2006

THE REEL WEST, THE REAL WEST & THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION

THE REEL WEST –    Don “Red” Barry   1910 or 1911 – 1980

In the heyday of Hollywood B Westerns, Don Barry was a silver screen cowboy hero.  Don played a lot of different cowboys, including Red Ryder, a screen version of the comic strip character. From that role, he acquired a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life:  “Red”.  But he also played other western characters, including Jesse James.  In addition to starring in his own films, he appeared with John Wayne, Roy Rogers and a whole posse of other name – recognized cowboys.

Don’s career lasted 40 years, and during that time, he made a lot of Westerns, and a lot of other films and appeared on TV.  He was convincing in all his various roles, whether good guy or villain.  In his later years, he appeared in many “character” roles, many somewhat like those played by Dub Taylor.  But this word scratcher remembers “Red” Barry as a young cocky, straight shootin’ hero, not the “character” actor.

Don committed suicide in 1980. 

Don “Red” Barry

Tennessee Ted

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION    –    Tennessee Ted

Once upon a time, Tennessee Ted was a Secret Service Agent, but he’s retired to the life of a dignified Cowboy Action Shooter.  Why dignified?  Here’s how he describes what he shoots. “I shoot .45’s.  There’s only 1 cowboy caliber.”  That’s dignity.  Ted said he just dreamed up his alias, but Mesquite Millie commented, while I was writing this, that being from Tennessee and having Ted for a 1st name didn’t take too many slumbers or dreams to reach a conclusion.

How’d he get started in Cowboy Shootin’?  Well, his brother-in-law shoots in GA and told him about Widow Maker, who was 1 of his shootin’ buddies.  So, ol’ Ted called Widow Maker.  They went to Knoxville, where he shot in his first shoot, and he was hooked.  In his enthusiasm for his new hobby, he called his brother in Ohio and told him about it, and got him into hats and guns.  And he got Slater, our Slater, under a Stetson and packing guns and shootin’ metal cowboys.

Who’s his favorite cowboy?  Who else?  John Wayne.  With ever-present smile, a love of Cowboy Shooting, a fondness for John Wayne and an appreciation for .45’s, Tennessee Ted is a number 1 cowboy, who’s been shootin’ about 2 years. 

THE REAL WEST –  George A. Custer     1839 – 1876

George Custer was and continues to be 1 of the most controversial characters in Old West history.  He was vain, and egotistical and arrogant, but so were generals Nelson Miles, George Patton, and Douglas McArthur. Custer was and still is criticized for his judgment and strategy at Little Big Horn.  Many say he was foolish for splitting his command when attacking a superior force.  But in the War of Northern Aggression, Robert E. Lee many times fought superior forces and won.  And “Stone Wall” Jackson many times fought superior forces and won, such as his victory at Chancellorsville, where he split his command and attacked a superior force.

George A. Custer

Custer was born in Ohio in 1839.  Not interested in farming, he managed an appointment to West Point, where he was an unspectacular student, graduating last in his class.  He was commissioned a Cavalry Lieutenant in the War of Northern Aggression, and that began his legend.  He became 1 of the best cavalry leaders in the Yankee army.  Remember Gettysburg?  Well, the day after Lee began his retreat, a major cavalry battle was fought near Gettysburg.  Custer and his cavalry defeated the Confederate cavalry for the 1st defeat they experienced. Custer led from the front and his unit usually won the battles they participated in. As a result, he was quickly promoted to Brevet Brigadier General, and then Major General. 

That war ended, the army shrunk and Custer became a Lieutenant Colonel, reassigned to the Western frontier.  He became an Indian fighter.  That means he was assigned to battle Indians, and he battled them.  He grew older, but neither his vanity nor ego diminished.  He was supremely confident of himself and his soldiers and gloried in his success. 

In the summer of 1876, Custer embarked on his last campaign.  In conjunction with General Terry and Colonels Gibbons and Crook, Custer was to help surround the Sioux and Cheyenne and either capture or attack them.  Arriving at the valley of the Little Big Horn, he encountered his quarry, which outnumbered his troops. As he had in the War of Northern Aggression, Custer attacked the enemy.  Splitting his command, he planned to attack from 3 directions, achieving surprise, confusion and victory.  However, his old audacity and luck didn’t hold up.  1 arm of his command encountered stiff resistance and was halted in its attack, Reno’s command.  The 2nd arm never engaged the enemy, Benteen’s command, but fell back and supported the unit that had fallen back in defeat. And Custer did what he’d always done.  He attacked.  But unlike his previous actions in which courage and luck and esprit de corps made him successful, he met a determined force defending themselves and their families.  And he and the group that he led in the attack were all killed.

Was Custer a cartoon buffoon?  General Sheridan didn’t judge him to be so.  Was he an effective commander?  He had been hugely successful in his career.  Did he bite off more than he could chew at Little Big Horn?  You bet.  Does that mean that in the final analysis that he was incompetent?  Well, the best predictor of what someone will do in the future is what he or she did or accomplished in the past.  In his past, Custer had trusted himself and his soldiers and had charged and won against determined fighters.  Did he misjudge his opponents at Little Big Horn, or misjudge himself and his forces?  Evidently he did.  That question has been debated since July 26, 1876. In any event, George Custer became immortal at Little Big Horn, and in controversy or glory, he’ll never completely die.

OCOEE RANGERS

SCORES & RANKING – January 28, 2006

Overall Score = The total of Rank of all stages    Overall Rank = The ranking of shooters by overall score  Overall Time = The sum of scores of stages       Misses = Total shots missed on all stages     Total Stages = Number of stages with no recorded missed shots  Red type indicates a clean match (In the event of ties in Overall Score, the tied shooter with the lowest Overall Time is ranked higher)

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Volume 4, Issue No. 1                                            January,  2006

78 SHOOTERS PARTICIPATE IN 1ST 2006 SHOOT

78 shooters and a number of non-shooters rode down Leadmine Valley Road and, as Ocoee Rangers, engaged Billy Bowlegs and his Clang Gang in the 1st shoot of 2006. Clang gang?  Well, when they’re hit, they make a “clang”.  Double Eagle was the Top Gun of the day, and incidentally, the 1st Top Gun of 2006. But there are 10 more shoots in 2006 competition. We’ll see if he retains that distinction, or if some other cowboy or cowgirl emerges as the Top Gun of the year.  (The Christmas shoot is not counted in competition.)

L-R:  Dagnabit Deb & Summer Dove with 3 members of the Clang Gang.

Billy Bowlegs got away & will be back with another Clang Gang in March.

Marshal Too Tall spiffed up the Buffalo Shoot, that’s conducted before the main match begins, and shooters shot in categories brought back from long ago.  Festus D. Deputy won the Single Shot Long Range class.  Pleasant placed 1st in the Long Range Lever Action class. Marshal Too Tall won the 22. Cal. and the Long Range Pistol classes. Fiddleback came close and was only edged out in a shootout in 1 of the events.

7 cowgirls participated in the shootout with the Clang gang: Dagnabit Deb, Deadeye Daisy, Donsie Darlin’, Last Kiss, Ms Dee Lightning, Roma Jane and Summer Dove. And 12 cowboys shot “No-Misses” matches: Double Eagle, Hombre Sin Nombre, Owlhoot Hardin, Moonshine Roberts, Bad Eye Tom, Rev. Adam Jones, Dustin Clays, Devil Dog, Yankee Dutchman, Tarheel, Ruckus Roy and Blake the Snake.   Colonel Allison, our most senior shooter, only missed 1 shot – on the last stage. He’s still pursuing his 1^st “No-Misses” match, and the Clang gang better look out.  He shoots real good. (Owlhoot Hardin would say that’s not good English, and he’d be correct.  He shoots good too: he won the Duelist class and shot a “No-Misses Match doing it.)

January – On The Range

Deadfoot smokes up the neighborhood while Pleasant times.

NO FEBRUARY SHOOT – BUT 2 SHOOTS IN MARCH NEXT SHOOT – MARCH 4

Remember:  The Ocoee Rangers will not shoot in February, to support our friends of the Smokey Mountain Shootists, the Knoxville Cowboys & Cowgirls.  Their Shoot Out at Pigeon Forge will be held February 23, 24 & 25th.  Several Ocoee Rangers shoot in that event to support our neighbors and to have a good time on another range. Go up and join them, if you want a few fun days in cowboy land.

The Ocoee Rangers will shoot 2 times in March:  March 4 and March 25.

The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration 8:30 am  –  Posse Leader walk-through 9:15 am  – Safety meeting 9:45 am  –  Shooting follows !  All times are Eastern Time.

SHOOT RESULTS: 

Top Gun – Double Eagle    Buffalo Shoot:  .22 cal –   Marshal Too Tall    Long Range Lever Action – Pleasant     Long Range Single Shot –  Festus D. Deputy     Long Range Pistol – Marshal Too Tall

Classic

1. Lightning McCoy

2. Bittercreek Jack

OCOEE RANGER WRANGLERS* – January 2006

§         Danango Slim §         Dagnabit Deb §         Keystone §         S.A. Pondwater §         Coffee Joe

* Wranglers are cowgirls and cowboys who demonstrate extra effort or initiative in helping their posse leaders conduct monthly shoots.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                               January 2006

THE REEL WEST, THE REAL WEST & THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION

THE REEL WEST –    Charles Lafayette King, Jr.   1895 – 1957

Charlie King was 1 of the most recognizable villains in Western movies of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.  Sometimes he was 1 of the henchmen, and sometimes he was the boss-villain.  But whatever the role, he made the cowboy hero look good.  That means he was good in his role at being bad.  But he didn’t just appear in Westerns. He was in more that 300 movies, about 50 of which were Westerns. Of course his Western movies are the important ones to cowboy & cowgirl shootin’ folks, or at least those of us old enough to remember his face. However, most moviegoers don’t know or remember Charlie’s name, just his face with his scowling look and black mustache.

Charlie King – silver screen villain

Charlie was born in Texas, but somewhere along the way he headed west, arrived in Hollywood and plunged into the movie business.  In his time, hesupported a lot of movie cowboys, including Tex Ritter, Bob Steele, Buster Crabbe and many others.  Of course, Whiskey River Nelson would probably say, “what kind of crab was that, and who were those 2 guys mentioned with the crab?” 

When WWII, the big one, came along, Charlie, like many other silver screen cowboys, put on a uniform and marched off to serve his country. And when he returned, he resumed his sagebrush and gun smoke and other roles.  After he retired from the movie business, Charlie worked as a security officer to supplement his income.  He died in California in 1957.

T-Bone Angus

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION    –          T-Bone Angus

T-Bone has been a cowboy shooter since 1998, back in the days when our core group of shooters shot at Guns and Stuff.  From his 1st shoot, he plunged in and helped set up the range and take down targets and props.  Back then, we didn’t have spiffy targets with pop-up stands like now.  Each target stand was a metal rod that had to be driven into the ground with a sledgehammer and then pounded sideways at the end of the day to drag them out.  He gradually began writing shooting scenarios, and over the years, he’s written most of those that we’ve shot.  Several of us have occasionally written scenarios, but month in – month out, T-Bone has taken the initiative to be sure that we have stages to shoot.  And he’s made props and other stuff to liven up shoots.

 Where’d he get his alias?  He’s always been T-Bone, even before joining SASS.  Of course when he joined SASS, they already had one – a T-Bone that is.  So, he added Angus and became T-Bone Angus.  Over the years, he’s shot Traditional, and 49er and Black Powder and Duelist.  Of course the time he shot Duelist, he dispatched Horseshoe John to sign him and Deadman up to shoot with the Lead Mine Gang.  Horseshoe did.  Then he went back and told the other 2 that they were shooting Duelist that day.  T-Bone has shot .45’s and .44-.40’s and .357’s and a number of different makes of guns.  But shucks, he’s Terry of Terry’s Toys, so he’s not only had access to a lot of different guns, he’s had an obligation to make sure he’s knowledgeable about the different products and how they shoot.  (Does that sound like a good enough excuse to shoot a lot of different guns?)

In any event, ol’ T-Bone is a good cowboy and a willing worker.  And if he ain’t always right, he’s always right-minded.

T-Bone has been a bit ambivalent about 1 thing though; of course he doesn’t know he’s ambivalent.  He probably doesn’t know that word. If you’ve seen him at shoots on a regular basis over the years, he hasn’t been able to make up his mind about whether he wants to portray an image of John Wayne or Gabby Hayes.  And in his rush to get to the range, he’s just as likely to sit on his hat as his vest.  But so what. T-Bone doesn’t sweat the small stuff.  He just gets to the range, pals around, sets up his gun table and shoots good. And he always has fun, which is the purpose of the whole roundup.

THE REAL WEST –  Joseph G. McCoy      1837 – 1915

You’ve probably never heard of Joseph McCoy, but he was a very important character in Western history.  (Whiskey River Nelson would probably say, “If he was really that important, why wouldn’t we know who he is?”)  Joe wasn’t a cowboy, or a gunman (they weren’t called gunfighters in the real west), or a cavalry scout or soldier.  He was a businessman. Born on a farm in Illinois in 1837, Joe was many things during his long and varied career:  a fence salesman, grocer, livestock broker, feed store operator, real estate agent, author, and government civil servant. But that’s not why he was important.  Nope.  Joe was the man who made Abilene, Kansas the principle shipping point for moving Texas cattle by railroad to eastern beef markets.

In early 1867, the Kansas Pacific Railroad reached dingy little Abilene, KS.  At that time it consisted of about a dozen shacks: a small store, a saloon, and others.  Joe built a cattle pen that would hold 3,000 cattle, a bank, hotel, livery stable and sent information to Texans with cattle that they could ship them from Abilene. By the end of that year, 35,000 Texascattle had been shipped east.  In 1869, Abilene was incorporated, and Joe was 1 of the trustees and was elected mayor.  And Abilene grew and the number of cattle shipped increased into the hundreds of thousands.  Of course as it grew and money jingled in folks’ pockets, saloons appeared and then gamblers and painted ladies and rowdy cowboys and shootings.  Ultimately, 2 other notable characters appeared as marshal. “Bear River” Tom Smith, was 1st, he attacked the problem with his fists, and was soon killed.  Later, J. B. “Wild Bill” Hickok, another former Illinois farm boy, held the post, and he used twin colts to address the problem. 

Joe moved to Kansas City, MO in 1873, and opened his own livestock sales company.  With a background in the cattle business, he wrote Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest.  I know, you haven’t read it, and neither have I … nor are we likely to.  But historians consider it important.  Joe passed on in 1915.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 3                             January 2006

After pin goes through garment, push pin through crosses in rubber strip and then back through garment and clasp.  Slide rubber strip up close to top of pin to prevent badge loss.

A SIMPLE WAY TO PREVENT BADGE LOSS

Have you ever lost either your SASS or Ocoee Ranger badge?  If you have, you know that you’ve lost a treasure, and it costs several dollars to replace it.  (Our Ocoee Ranger badge now costs $62.50.) Not long ago, I noticed that my SASS badge and my Ocoee Ranger badges had both come unfastened and were dangling on my vest.  I fastened them, but at the end of the day, they were loose again.  That caused me to remember that a few of our cowboys and cowgirls have lost badges.

Here’s a low-tech way to prevent badge loss.  Mesquite Millie and I have tried it for several months, and it works.  Cut a narrow piece of rubber or rubber like material, and after your badge pin goes through your shirt, vest, etc., push the badge pin through the top of the rubber strip. (See the drawing at right.)  Then push the pin through the bottom of the strip, just before the pin goes back through the garment.Then clasp the badge.  Slide the rubber strip up close to where the top of the pin comes through the garment. If the badge pin comes loose from the clasp, the rubber strip will hold the badge in place, and it won’t fall off. I’ve noticed that the extra snugness has kept my badges clasped.

I know. Some super craftsman could mash the clasp closer together. But then it would take a screwdriver or knife blade to open the badge, just like when they’re new and before they get broken in.  And experimenting with bends could cause metal fatigue and a broken badge clasp. My way works.  It doesn’t cost much.  And any dipstick, such as me, can do it.  If the rubber strip wears out, replace it. You can use a piece of a wide rubber band or get a needle pusher (a packet of 5 thin rubber strips) in the sewing shop at Walmart.  It’s a lot cheaper than a new badge, and it doesn’t take shop time.

OLD WEST OUTLAWS IN KNOXVILLE, TN

Old West outlaws really got around. Did you know that Knoxville, TN hosted 3 of the Old West’s most dangerous outlaws?  It’s true.  On June 15, 1903, Frank James and Cole Younger were both in K-town appearing in The Great Cole Younger And Frank James Historical Wild West show.  There were 2 performances: 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm.  Now you’re probably like Whiskey River Nelson saying, “So what.  That was 1903 and the Wild West was over.”  But that wouldn’t be exactly true.

On that same day, Knoxville had Kid Curry, also known as Harvey Logan, housed in the Knox County Jail, just across the street from the Courthouse.  Harvey was a member of the Wild Bunch, as in Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. At the time, he was being held for shooting 2 Knoxville city policemen, passing stolen money from a Montana train robbery, and several other tidily-wink charges.  12 days after Cole and Frank had left town, Harvey broke jail, stole the Sheriff’s horse, rode across the Gay Street Bridge (over the Tennessee River) and disappeared. Of course Frank and Cole were luckier than Harvey.  They continued their various legal activities and died of natural causes.  About a year later, a Colorado posse cornered Harvey, after another robbery. Wounded in the shootout with the posse, he shot himself to avoid capture and prison.

The Gay Street Bridge in Knoxville, TN in 1903, looking toward downtown. If you’d been standing on the bridge in

What does all this mean?  I don’t know.  Maybe Whiskey River Nelson or Owlhoot Hardin can come up with some philosophical answer.  For me, I just thought it was interesting. I just finished reading HARVEY LOGAN IN KNOXVILLE, by Sylvia Lynch.  Sylvia ain’t the best writer in the world, but her book is well researched, has pictures and information about Knoxville and old Harvey, as well as other info about his girlfriend Annie Rodgers’ trials and tribulations in Nashville.  You can get a copy from The Early West (1-800-245-5841 or earlywest@verizon.net), one of the sponsors of our 2005 Christmas Shoot and Family Event.  If you’re from Knoxville, like Mesquite Millie and me, it’ll be especially interesting to you.

OCOEE RANGERS BADGES – Want One?

If you want an Ocoee Ranger Badge, get a badge order form from Mesquite Millie, fill it out and give it and your money or check to Ocoee Red.  He’ll order your badge for you.  The badge cost, including shipping, is currently $62.50.  No, badges ain’t required to be an Ocoee Ranger, but they look good and are nifty name tags.