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Volume 5, Issue No. 8                              August 2007

ROADKILL COWBOY VISITS AUGUST SHOOT

Sundance – the Roadkill Cowboy

Sundance McNeyman showed up for the pre-shoot side-match looking … Well, looking like he’d driven into a herd of chickens on the way to the shoot.  And he evidently left a bunch of ‘em in the road, judging from all the different feathers in his summer hat. It appears the chicken drovers took 5 for coffee, and our boy hit the herd … vigorously. At least that’s what it looked like. Then Oracle spouted some words about Cowboy Shooting: “Think about it.  Cowboy Shooting is the only man’s sport where a man can walk up to another man, reach out and feel the texture of the material of his vest, and say, “Man, that’s a nice vest.” And nobody will think anything about it.”  Both these fellers sound sorta weird. But we’re all a little different:  we all go out in public dressed like the folks we pretended to be when we were young’uns playing cowboys and cowgirls. 

Then, the shoot began.  And Tio Don gave Sundance and Oracle a run for their money in the unusual department.  He’d decided to make blue smoke fly when he shot his pistols.  So, he put blue stuff in his cartridge cases. But there wasn’t much gunpowder in them cases.  So, the blue stuff mixed with the other stuff and the result was sub sonic projectiles going sorta down range, but not more than a few feet.  They didn’t even make it to the pistol targets.  He ain’t gonna do that again.

Lightning McCoy times Tio Don as he shoots at bar-flies. He’s Shootin’ real ammo at this point.

Our attendance was down. Several weeks of 90+ degrees temperatures kept lots of folks away.  But 48 brave souls, plus Sundance, ventured out to shoot. Ol’ T-Bone did a good job writing the stages. They were fast and not too complicated.  Shucks, Tellico even managed to shoot a clean match, as did Lightning McCoy, Josey Buckhorn, Horseshoe John, Wildcat Wilkey and Tennessee Hawk.

S.A. Pondwater was the Top Gun of the day. Last Kiss was the top shootin’ cowgirl. The Top 10 Shooters were: (1) S.A. Pondwater (2) Marshal Too Tall (3) Festus D. Deputy (4) Unpleasant (5) Ocoee Red (6) Widowmaker (7) Dustin Clays (8) T-Bone Angus (9) Pleasant and (10) Fast Harley.

Tellico , shooting, and Lightning McCoy, timing, both shot no-miss matches

Shoot Results – Top Gun .. S.A. Pondwater

Buffalo Shoot – Side Match

o   Long Range Single Shot Rifle – Colonel Mortimer o   .22 Cal. Lever Action Rifle – Marshal Too Tall o   Long Range Pistol – Sundance McNeyman

Linc and Dagnabit Deb:  We miss you and look forward to you being able to rejoin us on the range.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                             August, 2007

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

THE REEL WEST – ROD CAMERON

 ( 1910 – 1983)

Do you remember Rod Cameron? Odds are most of you’ll say, “Nope.” He was a silver screen cowboy back in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and some in the 60’s. Rod was hatched in Calgary, Canada, but he exercised good judgment: some years later, he looked south and then hit the trail for the U.S.

Rod Cameron

Rod started his movie career as a stunt man.  That means he got tromped on, run-over, hit, smashed, and generally abused for a few dollars, while the more prominent movie folks stood in the wings and said, “Wow! My fans will think I’m great when they see me doin’ that.” But eventually, he got a speaking part, not in a Western, but he got one. And the rest just sorta happened. Most of his films were Westerns. And most of his Westerns were B films.  His most memorable Western, at least by title, was RIDE THE MAN DOWN.  You can still catch it

occasionally on the Westerns Channel. But he was in lots more.  He even did a TV Bonanza. In his career he appeared with Tex Ritter, Rory Calhoun, Fred McMurray and lots of other folks. Late in his career, Rod went modern and played cops in 3 different TV series.  Rod died in 1983 in Gainesville, GA, current home of rootin’ tootin’ cowgirl, Mesquite Millie.

Now before you write Rod off as a “so what”, remember this. At 1 time, some significant movie personalities had comic books about their movie adventures. John Wayne did. So did …. Rod Cameron.  Yep. There were 20 issues of ROD CAMERON WESTERNS. How ‘bout that?

Badlands Beck

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION –

BADLANDS BECK

Some folks are influenced to do stuff by childhood chums.  Take Badlands Beck for instance.  He’s known Rawhide Rex since they were in the 6th grade. And ol’ Rex led him into Cowboy Shooting. Rex had been shooting sporting clays with Badlands, so it was 1 of them I’ll do your stuff, if you’ll do mine.  And away they rode.

What’s Badlands shoot?  “I started shooting .45 Vaqueros.  Now, I shoot 2nd generation Colts. They’re .45’s too.  And sometimes, I shoot S&W Schofields. They’re also .45’s.”  When asked if he shoots mouse / butterfly loads, here’s what he said: “No.  I shoot standard loads. I like to hear a good boom.  I read what a guy said once.  He said, ‘Why do I shoot .45 Colts?  Because they don’t make .65 Colts.’ ” Badlands sounds like a real cowboy to me.

Here’s how he became Badlands Beck.  “I really wanted Equalizer.  When I was growing up, my dad said I was his equalizer.  He said he couldn’t have stood the other 2 if it wasn’t for me.  But someone already had Equalizer.  My wife suggested Badlands Beck.  Beck has always been my nickname.”

Badlands is an Outlaw shooter. “The 1st time I shot Outlaw was in Cleveland. Tombstone had been shooting it about 6 months, and I was tired of Traditional.  I’d shot Duelist a little, and so, I tried Outlaw and loved it.  I shot Traditional 1 time after that and hated it.  Of course you have to get used to missing a lot, when you shoot Outlaw.”

Badlands Beck sports about 7 cowboy hats. Cowboy hats + .45’s + real loads = a real fine cowboy.  He’s real friendly too.

THE REAL WEST – TOM JEFFORDS  ( 1832 – 1914)

Everybody who’s a Western movie fan knows the story of Tom Jeffords. Sorta. We all know that he became blood brother to Cochise, the Arizona Apache leader, and brought an end to hostilities in the area. How do we know?  Because we watched BROKEN ARROW, the movie and the TV series. Here’s the real story, in a short flippant version.

Thomas J. Jeffords was born in New York in 1832. Sometime before he arrived in the southwest, he operated some sort of small boat and became known as “Captain” Jeffords, and the name stuck: “Captain”.  The Jeffords part wasn’t up for grabs.  In 1862, he arrived in Arizona, and in the ensuing years he became a U.S. Army Scout, Superintendent of a Mail Line, Indian Agent, Deputy Sheriff, and desert rat Miner.

“Captain” Tom Jeffords

In His Later Years

The movie told the basics of the story: Jeffords met Cochise alone, established a friendship, and stopped the raids against and death of his mail riders. While hostilities continued in the area, his mail folks were not bothered.  Then in 1872, President Grant sent General O. O. Howard to stop the warfare in the Tucson area.  And Howard, learning about Jefford’s friendship with Cochise, convinced him to introduce him to his friend. Ultimately, a peace treaty was signed.  In the process, Cochise sought and received approval for 2 things: (1) his (not all) Apaches were to be allowed to stay in their mountains and (2) Jeffords was to become their Agent. (Jeffords wasn’t thrilled about that.)

The treaty and the peace lasted a little over a year. Cochise died. The local folk in the Tucson area didn’t care much for “Indian Lover” Jeffords, and they wrote stacks of letters to Washington and had him removed as Indian Agent.  They also convinced the politicians in D.C. to move the Cochise Apaches to San Carlos Reservation.  That broke the treaty. The main reason the Tucson folks wanted the changes was so they could go copper and silver hunting on the Indian land. They did. The Indians resumed hunting white folks, and the hostilities didn’t end until 1886 when Geronimo surrendered for the last time.

What became of Jeffords? Well, he did other things: drove a stagecoach, served as a deputy sheriff, and mostly became a hermit miner, making a living digging holes and getting copper and silver in small amounts.  The Tucson folks, had shunned him because of his dealings with the Apaches, and because of that, he evidently discovered that he didn’t like them any better than they liked him.  So, in his final years, he lived with his best and most reliable friend: himself.  Tom died in 1914.

The Ocoee Ranger page 4                                                                                                                                     July 2007

SHOOT RESULTS

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Volume 5, Issue No. 7                                July 2007

What Happens When It Rains?

What happens?  Shucks, cowboys & cowgirls get wet.  And before the July Shoot, it rained buckets – it really poured. But it stopped just before a delayed registration, and it didn’t rain during the shoot.  It looked like it would, but it didn’t. And Ol’ T-Bones’ scenarios were good, even if several of us had procedurals.

There was a bit of oratory from that silver-tongued devil Owlhoot Hardin. He made his pitch thusly (How’s that for a lead-in Owlhoot?): “Several of us would like to shoot black powder duelist and have it recognized.” Then he said that the illustrious shooters for that day included himself, Kenesaw & Long Gulch. Impressed by his oratory, and by the fact that there were 3 shooters who would shoot BP Duelist, Deadman spouted an eloquent answer: “Ok.”

And following the 3 P’s, shooting began: (Pledge, Prayer & Posse Assignment). All totaled, 47 shooters participated. There would have been 2 more, but 2 had to leave just before shoot time.

L-R: Owlhoot Hardin & Kenesaw demonstrate deadly determination as Black Powder Duelists

The Buffalo Shooters gathered, as usual, but it was raining. Either they didn’t shoot, didn’t bother to record results, or didn’t report results. S.A. Pondwater was the Top Gun of the day, shooting Modern.  Only 2 cowgirls participated in the shoot, Yazoo City Gal and Last Kiss, both shooting Lady Gunfighter:  Last Kiss placed 1st. The Top 10 Shooters were as follows: (1) S.A. Pondwater (2) Rusty Spur Slim (3) Marshal Too Tall (4) Unpleasant (5) Ocoee Red (6) Judge’m All Duncan (7) Pleasant (8) Double Eagle (9) Tabasco JOT (10) Lightning McCoy. Did you note that there are 2 father-son teams in the Top 10 shooters: S.A. Pondwater and Tabasco JOT; Unpleasant & Pleasant.

12 cowboys shot no-miss matches, and 4 of them were in the Top 10 Shooters: S.A. Pondwater, Marshal Too Tall, Judge’m All Duncan, and Lightning McCoy. The other no-miss cowboys were: T-Bone Angus, Grey Rider, Wildcat Wilkey, Tennessee Hawk, Deadman, Owlhoot Hardin, Calibre .45, and Outlaw Tracker.

Did any other significant event happen? You bet. Big was back.  He’d had a heat related injury at an Oak Ridge shoot a couple of months ago and had to be hospitalized.  But he’s back in the saddle.  Ol’ Linc was present, although he’s scheduled for surgery on Aug. 7. Keystone reported that Dagnabit Deb is making progress in her chemo treatment, although she couldn’t be present. And then to consider something a bit more light-hearted: Pleasant showed up WITHOUT HIS BEARD! Yep! He’d had

Pleasant –

The Beardless Cowboy

it 14 years and then said, “Good bye Beard.” Why? Here’s how he explained it: “My wife said it scratches.” He may not be macho, but he sure knows his priorities.  Mesquite Millie commented: “You look a lot younger without it.” And getting rid of it didn’t hurt his shooting: he placed 7th in overall competition and 1st among the Gunfighters

Good Bye, Buckshot

L-R: Pleasant & Buckshot

Shortly before the July Shoot, we learned that Buckshot, AKA James Allen Ware, joined the posse in the sky on February 5, 2007.  Buckshot’s been an Ocoee Ranger in spirit for years, but his health hasn’t allowed him to shoot with us since 2000. He’s kept up with us through our newsletter.

Buckshot’s wife, Jean, informed us about his passing and said that she has his gun cart that he never got to use in competition, and she’d like to sell it.  If you’re interested in buying it, call Jean at 423-472-4336.

Good bye, Buckshot. You were a good cowboy.

Linc – Ailing Cowboy

Linc – Miracle Cowboy

Linc has received bad news from his doctor.  He’s scheduled to have cancer surgery on August 7th.He and his better half, Nancy, have asked that they be remembered in your prayers

Linc is 1 of our Miracle Cowboys. That means that he is a regular cowboy who sets up the range on Fridays, before we shoot on Saturdays.  Some folks probably think every month a miracle occurs, and the targets just appear on the range.  Well, it ain’t so. Linc and his pardners perform the Miracle.

SHOOT RESULTS

TOP GUN – S.A. Pondwater

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                                 July 2007

THE REAL WEST   –  Lillie Langtry   (1853 – 1929)

Lillie Langtry

What do you know about Lillie Langtry?  If you’re like me, probably not much beyond that she was English, an actress and the apple of Judge Roy Bean’s eye. So, here’s the scoop, briefly and a bit flippantly told.

Lillie Langtry was born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton on the Isle of Jersey in 1853. Her papa was a high-level minister, religious type.  Her mama was an attractive lady with good social skills, who supported Lillie’s papa in his socializing church duties. And Lillie? Well, she was the only girl among 6 brothers.  So, she grew up a scrapper with a mind of her own.  She read a lot. So, not only was she educated and smart, she had lots of opinions and wasn’t shy in sharing them with others. And she was attractive.  Shucks, when she was 14, she received her 1st marriage proposal.  But she was too young, and her suitor was out of luck. 

In 1874, when Lillie was 20, she married her favorite brother’s wife’s brother-in-law, Edward Langtry. Ed was a plump and pompous widower and not the greatest of folks, but he had a real nifty yacht. And he appeared to be wealthy. He was husband material.

It didn’t take long for Lillie to discover that she really didn’t care much for Ed. After a personal illness, she convinced ol’ Ed that she’d be much healthier in London. So, he sold his boat and took her to the big city, where she plunged into London society and the whing-dings that went with it. All the guys noticed her, and she became a hit.  Shucks, several artists convinced her to model for them, and she appeared in several of their paintings. One of them, John Everett Millais, painted her holding a Jersey lily and titled his portrait, The Jersey Lily.  And from that she acquired her famous title, the Jersey Lily.

The Jersey Lily –

by John Millais

Artists weren’t the only fellers who noticed Lillie. Several rich fellers also noticed her. And she had several flings.  That means she messed around with fellers that weren’t her husband. Before long, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria, and future King Edward VI, took a shine to her, and she became his mistress for a time.  When that ended, she became the companion of other wealthy fellers. In 1880, Ed Langtry declared bankruptcy.  But that didn’t matter.  Lillie had been using her likeness in early day commercials, selling soap and stuff, and doing a little theater.  Then, she took up with Prince Louis of Battenberg, and sometime thereafter, she got pregnant. Of course in them days, unwed births weren’t as acceptable as they are now a days.  So, Lillie’s daughter was raised by Lillie’s mother and grew up thinking Lillie was her aunt. She only learned the truth shortly before she was married.  But that didn’t matter.  Evidently she didn’t cotton to Lillie as and aunt and didn’t like her any better as a birth mother.  Such is life.

Remember, Lillie was a smart gal.  She became an actress, banking on her looks, figure, and fellers hoping for a glimpse of her legs when she was in costume.  Later, she went to acting school and became a real, talented actress.  And over the years, she grew wealthy.  She managed theaters, had her own theater company, bought racehorses and California vineyards.  And she even broke the bank in Monte Carlo.  From her enterprises, Lillie became a multi-millionaire.

Somewhere along the way, Lillie divorced Ed Langtry, and when she was 45, she married Hugo de Bathe.  Hugo, ain’t that a fine name, was 18 years younger than her and some sort of nobleman.  He convinced her to retire from acting and to sell her racehorses.  It just didn’t look seemly for his wife to be acting and racing horses.  Then he packed his gear and trotted off to fight in the Boer War in South Africa.  And Lillie, being an independent female, promptly came out of retirement and came back to the U.S. to do another very successful theater tour. Their marriage, such as it was, lasted for 30 years, with both largely going their own ways.  In 1907, Hugo’s pappy died and he inherited his pap’s title and became Sir Hugo. That made Lillie, Lady de Bathe.

In 1904, Lillie was on 1 of her American tours and stopped at Langtry Texas to meet Judge Roy Bean, who for years had sent her letters and had named his saloon after her: the Jersey Lilly.  Unfortunately, ol’ Roy had died about 10 months earlier.  He died with her memory, and she went away with his six-shooter: some friendly townsman gave it to her. Lillie died in 1929, the same year that Wyatt Earp died.  Both had lived exciting lives and are still remembered.

Ok.  Technically, Lillie wasn’t an Old West character. But you can’t consider Roy Bean and not hear about Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lily.  And face it. Most of us know little or nothing about her.  But … she’s part of the myth of the West.

Shoot Results – June 2007