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Volume 3, Issue No. 6                                                       June,  2005

Last Kiss – 1^st Cowgirl ocoee ranger posse leader at  june shoot!

Howdy pardners.  Ready for some Ocoee Rangers shootin’ stuff.  Well, here goes.  The June shoot was great, but they’re all great … just some are better than others.  And this 1 was a hum-dinger.  66 cowboy & cowgirl shooters rode out to the range for the round-up.  Then they unleashed their imaginations and their six-shooters … that hold only 5 rounds …and took after them bad guys.  You know, bad guys yell differently than good guys.  When a good guy is hit by something, he or she yells something like, “Oh”  or “ouch” or if the Rev. Adam Jones ain’t around something like “@#$%” (that’s difficult to pronounce).  But bad guys yell, “clang”, when they get hit.  Anyway, the Top Gun of the day was Tennessee Snuffy, a visiting cowboy from Spring, TX, closely followed by Dustin Clays and Pleasant. Roma Jane was the top cowgirl shooter.  9 cowboys shot no-miss matches: TN Snuffy, Dustin Clays, Pleasant, (these cowboys ranked 1, 2 & 3 in the top 10 shooters), Blayde Hollister, Festus D. Deputy, Owlhoot Hardin, Deadman, Wildcat Wilkey and Hombre Sin Nombre.

Flossie –

1st cowgirl shooter

The June shoot was notable because it was the 1st time a cowgirl served as posse leader at an Ocoee Rangers shoot.  That distinction went to Last Kiss, and she did great.  Since she began shooting as an Ocoee Ranger, she’s improved in her shooting, taken the Range Officer I and II classes, and been recognized as an Ocoee Ranger Wrangler for helping her posses conduct matches.  Last Kiss joins another cowgirl who has a “1st to” distinction: Flossie.  Flossie was the 1st cowgirl to shoot in an Ocoee Ranger match and was a regular shooter, until her other half, Jack Rabbit Bob,

Last Kiss –

1st Cowgirl Posse Leader

hauled her off to Florida.  Now, she collects hurricanes as a hobby.

June Wranglers are:  R.I.P. Overland, John Daniel, Awful Close, TN Snuffy, Wildcat Wilkey, Roma Jane & Adam Jones. These folks showed extra effort in helping their posses conduct the match. Speaking of extra effort, thanks to the Set-up Gang for making the range ready for us to go out and challenge them bad guys.

1 other comment worth mentioning: Fast Harley earned the distinction for showing the most hair-raising drumsticks seen on the range in a long time.  Wearing an Apache flap in front and back, he had legs showing from ankle to Jupiter.  It was a sight.  Reno, the wonder horse (the spotted nag that held the guns on stage 1) almost ran away when he saw them legs. Some cowboy grabbed the reins, or Reno would stilling be runnin’.

SHOOT RESULTS ………..   Buffalo Shoot:  .22 cal …  Marshal Too Tall 

 Long Range …  Yukon Hootch

Out on the Range – Last Kiss’s 1st Posse

L-R: Kneeling – Ocoee Red, Hombre Sin Nombre.  Sitting – Keystone, Anvil, Slater, Grey Rider. – Standing:

R.I.P. Overland, Widowmaker, Tennessee Ted, Last Kiss, Fast Harley, Rawhide Rex, Badlands Beck.

NEXT OCOEE RANGER SHOOT – 23 July

The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration 8:30 am  –  Tabasco JOT’s Side Match 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                                                 June 2005

The Reel West, The Real West & The West of Our Imagination

The Reel West – Edgar Buchanan   1903- 1979

To those of us over 40, Edgar Buchanan is one of the most recognized faces in cowboy movies and TV flicks. Ol’ Ed’s specialty was playing grizzled old characters that were either villains or sorta crooked, shifty & lazy critters.  He started doing that when he was a young feller. During his screen career, he appeared with a lot of film cowboys. He was in McLintock, with John Wayne.  And in Shane, with Alan Ladd. And in the Sheepman, with Glenn Ford, and Ride the High Country with Randolph Scott & Joel McCrea, and with Bill Boyd in a lot of his Hopalong Cassidy movies, and …. Well, you get the drift. He even did a couple of TV movies

Edgar Buchanan

with another feller who started playing old geezers when he was young, Walter Brennan.  They were 2 of the Over The Hill Gang.

Did you know that in 1954, Ed had his own TV series, and it was a Western.  Believe it or not, he played Judge Roy Bean.  That was also the name of the series, JUDGE ROY BEAN.

Ed didn’t start out to be a movie character. Nope.  Born in Missouri, he graduated from North Pacific Dental College in Eugene, Oregon, and became a dentist.  But like Doc Holliday, he developed other interests. Doc took up drinkin’ and gamblin’, and Ed took up acting. He started out doing it in his non dentist time, then later, he chunked the dentist trade and became a full time movie old geezer.  And he was good at it.  Ed joined the cowboy posse in the sky in 1979.

Purly

The West of our Imagination – Purly

Purly has been Cowboy Shooting for 15 months, and he loves it.  How did he get involved?  Here’s how he tells it..”Tucson Tuco was 1 of my students.  He was taking a course I was teaching, and he told me about being into Cowboy Shooting.  I went to an Ocoee Ranger shoot with him, but I didn’t have any guns.  When I got there, Horseshoe John loaned me a rifle, a belt and holsters.  I shot Tuco’s pistols and his shotgun.  I was hooked. Then a week or so later, Tuco took me over to T-Bone’s, and I bought pistols and a rifle.  Then I dug up a shotgun.  And by the next shoot, I had everything: guns, leather holsters

& belt, hat, boots and clothes.  I had it all.

How did he get his alias?  Well, there’s a bit more to his alias than meets the eye.  His complete alias is Purly Shell.  No, it has nothing to do with Hawaii.  His wife’s grandfather’s 1st name was Purly, and his grandfather’s last name was Shell.  So, he became Purly Shell, ‘couse he goes by Purly. Purly says that the best thing about Cowboy Shooting is the people.  “I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word to anybody.  But I have so much fun, I wouldn’t  have heard it anyway.”

Last year, Purly made a trip to New Mexico.  He investigated and discovered that there was a Cowboy Shooting group where he was going.  So, he took his guns and stuff and shot with the New Mexico Cowboys.  He said it was “interesting.”

Purly has his priorities in order.  He loves Cowboy shootin’, his favorite Western movie actor is Clint Eastwood, and he shoots .45’s.  Now some would say it’s a toss up between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but the .45’s mean that he’s a real cowboy.

The Real West – Patrick F. Garrett           

1850- 1908

Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett was a southern boy.  Originally from Alabama, he drifted west, like a lot of other young boys. At 19, he was a buffalo hunter out on the plains. He did that for 9 years. Then he quit, with the help of some marauding Comanches, and moved to New Mexico.  It was in New Mexico that he would marry and write his name forever in the pages of Western history.

Pat arrived in New Mexico, just as the deadly Lincoln County War was coming to a close.  Billy the Kid was prowling the county, generally raising cane (Rev. Adam Jones’ influence

Pat Garrett

put this word in here.). Governor Lew Wallace had just put a $500 reward on Billy so some other feller would do the job of seeing to his capture, and so he could go back to doing what he did best:  write the novel BEN HUR.

In the midst of all this excitement, Pat decided to run for sheriff.  No other sheriff had caughtBilly.  He probably figured that he couldn’t do any worse than anybody else, so Democrat P. F. Garrett ran and won.

Ol’ Pat hustled him up a posse and went out and caught Billy, killing 2 of his followers in the process.  He hauled Billy off to jail.  Billy was tried, sentenced to hang, shot & killed 2 deputies, and escaped. Pat set out after him again and finally killed him late at night in a dark room.  Some historians say that Billy had a pistol in his hand at the time, and others say he had a butcher knife and was headed for the kitchen.  Whatever Billy had in his hand, it was still there when he hit the floor.

Believe it or not, Pat didn’t even win the next election.  In death, the Kid became the hero, and Pat became the villain.  Ain’t that ironic?

In his later years, Pat was a rancher, sometimes lawman, customs collector, and general western character.  He never achieved wealth and never became a really successful rancher.  His 1 moment of glory, and it didn’t last long, was when he killed Billy the Kid.

Denied heroic acclaim and financial success, Pat was also denied a dignified death.  Nature whispered in his ear while he was out riding in a buckboard.  So, he got down and was watering the shrubbery. He was murdered while standing on the side of the road painting pictures in the dust.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 3                                                  June 2005

DEADFOOT – THE DOCENT

Cowboy & cowgirl shooters do and are all kinds of things when they’re not out on the range.  For example, did you know that Deadfoot is a docent?  It’s true.  At the May shoot, I was talking with Deadfoot about shootin’ & aliases and stuff.  In the conversation, he said , “I’m a docent.”

Not being too cultured and with limited vocabulary, I didn’t know what that was.  So, I backed up a step.  If it was contagious, I didn’t want to catch it.  But while I ain’t too smart, I ain’t bashful.  So I asked, “What’s a docent?” And he told me.

Deadfoot – the Docent

Mr. Webster defines a docent as follows:  a person who conducts groups of people through a museum or art gallery.  That’s Deadfoot’s version too.

Deadfoot does volunteer work at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA.  It’s a top notch museum, and folks like Deadfoot help make it that way.  In his volunteer work at the museum, Deadfoot is a tour guide, a teacher and a cowboy poet.  Yep, a poet.  And in his on-range persona as Deadfoot the cowboy shooter, he holds to the old West persona.  He shoots 1 handed, uses black powder and either a real, live ’73 Winchester .38 – .40 (made in 1890) or a real Marlin .32 – .20 (made in 1901).

If you haven’t visited the Booth Western Art Museum, it’s well worth the trip.  Just ask Tucson Tuco or Mesquite Millie.  Tuco and his better half have visited and were impressed.  Mesquite Millie and her other half have visited a couple of times.  More than 1 visit means that it’s worth going back for.  And who knows, the old docent, Deadfoot, might be there to show you around.

OCOEE RANGERS SHOOTERS COMPETE AT OTHER SHOOTS

Shoot-Out at Mule Camp … Georgia

6 frequent Ocoee Ranger shooters competed in the Shoot-Out at Mule Camp Memorial Day weekend, and they did very well.  Diamondback Dennis placed 25th overall in a field of 512 shooters, which included Evil Roy and Judge Roy Bean. Diamondback also placed 10^th in the Traditional category.  Tabasco JOT placed 79^th overall and 9^th in the Senior category.  Carolina Gem placed 1^st in the Lady Gunfighter class and was 136^th overall.  Other shooters were Cherokee Maddog, who placed 9^th in the Classic Cowboy category, Hombre Sin Nombre and Ricochet Richard.

Smokin’ Guns at Rabbit Ridge …. Mississippi

 Smokin’ Guns at Rabbit Ridge is the Mississippi State Championship shoot, and 182 shooters showed up to participate.  Amongst this august group were 7 shooters familiar to us Ocoee Rangers:  Cool Waters (placed 15^th), Sunshine Billy (18^th), Pleasant (20), Unpleasant (26), Dustin Clays (29), Pyro (39) and Lighting McCoy (59).  Lightning McCoy placed 1^st in the Classic Cowboy category.  Pleasant placed 1^st amongst the Gunfighters.  Sunshine Billy placed 2^nd in the B-Western cowboys and Pyro was the 3^rd place gunfighter.  Not to be denied honors, Dustin Clays received the “Spirit of the Game” recognition for his performance in his posse.  Both Pleasant and Unpleasant were Side Match winners.

Hooten Holler Roundup … Kentucky

Hooten Holler Roundup is the Kentucky championship shoot.  18 familiar shooters participated in a field of 160 shooters. Sunshine Billy placed 1^st in the B-Western class and 12^th overall.  Dustin Clays was 2^nd in the Sr. group and 31^st overall. Curly Bill was 2^nd in the Frontier class and 94^th overall, and Owlhoot Hardin was 2^nd in the Elder Statesman class and 96^th overall.  Badlands Beck shot his way into 3^rd place in the Frontier class and 124^th overall.  Other participants were;  Ocoee Red, Double Eagle, Unpleasant, Fiddleback, Kenesaw Kid, Devil Dog, Summer Dove,  Long Gulch, Roma Jane, Tennessee Tombstone, El Carrera and the silent but deadly Rawhide Rex.  Rawhide Rex shot Duelist:  the Outlaw class ain’t recognized just everywhere.

Parting Comments

All these cowboys and cowgirls and their fellow participants from many other shootin’ groups gathered to play our favorite game, and play it as ambassadors for their various shooting groups.  Us East Tennessee & North Georgia cowboys and cowgirls were very ably represented by these cowboys and cowgirls who shoot in Cleveland regularly or as often at they can.  Good shootin’ gang.

Hooten Holler:  Double Eagle gets his ammo. Over his shoulder is Rawhide Rex.  Curly Bill is in front of the cowboy in red.

OCOEE RANGERS CONTACTS

Ocoee Red … (423) 476-5303  ocoeered@bellsouth.net  …  Sundance .. (423) 479-8465  JSNEYMAN@aol.com  … Pleasant  .. (423) 476-6865  pleasant2@charter.net  .. 

Horseshoe John .. (706) 866-5372   .. 

Deadman & Mesquite Millie  .. (770) 889-0934 …  jedalton@mindspring.com  

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Volume 3, Issue No. 5                                                                                          May,  2005

Mule camp & rabbit ridge shoots, threatening rain & Long weekend – only 43  shooters!

Well, there were only 43 shooters at the May Ocoee Ranger shoot.  But that wasn’t surprising.  There was a lot of competition for people’s attention.  Several cowboys and cowgirls went to the Shoot Out at Mule Camp, south of Atlanta.  And Pleasant and his young’uns, Pyro & Unpleasant, went to shoot at Rabbit Ridge in Mississippi.  T-Bone and others used the long weekend for trips, and it was raining before and up to shoot time.  Then the Rev. Adam Jones arrived, used his influence, and it stopped raining and the sun came out.  The sun and temperature cooperated and it was a very pleasant day.

Cactus Red (L) & Rawhide Rex (R) Shot in the “Outlaw” Class

Whiskey River Nelson had a great day.  He finished as the Top Gun, shooting a no-miss match in the process.  Roma Jane took the honors as the Top Cowgirl shooter.  In addition to Whiskey River, Horseshoe John and Limp Along Charlie also shot no-miss matches. Then, rugged Cactus Red challenged the shy and ever quiet Rawhide Rex to a shoot-out in the “Outlaw” category.  (See page 4 for information about the “Outlaw” class.)  When all the smoke cleared away, Rawhide Rex won.

There were a few interesting tid-bits that occurred.  On stage 5, the shooter had to shoot through an open drum at 2 metal cowboys.  Dead Beat stepped up, aimed his pistol, fired his 1st black powder round, filled the barrel with smoke, and couldn’t see a thing.  He guessed where the targets were after that.  And 1 posse leader had to tour the range searching for his timer.  Couldn’t find that critter anywhere.  It was plumb embarrassing.  Then someone rescued him.  The timer was clipped to his belt … in front of him.  I promised Tucson Tuco that I wouldn’t reveal his name, but Marshal Too Tall laughed and said that he didn’t make no such promise.

There was a lot of help running posses at this shoot.  Keystone said that everyone in his posse worked so much that he couldn’t pick a Wrangler: they were all equally deserving.  Others named as Ocoee Ranger Wranglers were as follows:  Grey Rider, R.I.P. Overland, Cactus Red and Ben Shot.  Dee Harrod, John Daniel’s daughter, was named an Honorary Wrangler.  While not dressed Western, she did an outstanding job wrangling brass and helping her dad’s posse function.

SHOOT RESULTS ………..   Buffalo Shoot:  .22 cal …  Marshal Too Tall   Long Range …  Yukon Hootch

Out on the Range – Both Ends Of The Gun

Left:  Targets Shot Through the Drum.  Dead Beat’s favorite Stage.    Right:  Keystone shooting, Gunfighter style.

NEXT OCOEE RANGER SHOOT – 25 June

The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration 8:30 am  –  Tabasco JOT’s Side Match 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                                   May 2005

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

THE REEL WEST – Slim Pickens

His mom named him Louis Bert Lindley, Jr. But he lived it down.  During his lifetime, he was a cowboy and an actor, usually a cowboy actor.  He made lots of movies, and most of them were Westerns.

Born in Kingsbury, California, Louis learned to ride when he was 4.  And when he was 12, he quit school to go rodeoing.  Folks told him that rodeoing would be “slim pickings”, and he remembered that.  Later, when he selected his professional name, he became Slim Pickens. Eventually, ol’ Slim became 1 of the best rodeo clowns in the business.  Now for you uninitiated folks, rodeo clowns are also called bullfighters.  That’s because they put themselves in front of bulls to draw their attention away from riders on the ground.  It takes nerve to be a rodeo clown / bullfighter. And skill to be a live, walkin’ around rodeo clown/bull fighter.

Slim Pickens

But what the heck, we know Slim as a Western movie cowboy.  Sometimes he was a villain, and sometimes he was a comic villain, like in BLAZING SADDLES. Sometimes he was a comic character, like when he played Buck, the stage driver in the Ann Margaret & Alex Cord remake of STAGECOACH. But he played some straight parts too.  In Sam Peckinpah‘s PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, he played an aging lawman that was killed by the Kid (Kris Kristofferson).  He handled that part very well. But shucks, he handled them all well.  Slim had the look and the voice to make you like him or hate him, depending upon the role he was playing.  Slim joined the cowboy posse in the sky in 1983.  He was 64.

Did you know that Slim’s brother was also a cowboy actor?  He was known as Easy Pickens.  Sounds a little like Pleasant and Unpleasant, doesn’t it?

Hombre Sin Nombre

THE WEST Of OUR IMAGINATION – Hombre Sin Nombre

Hombre Sin Nombre has been cowboy shooting “for a little longer than 2 ½ years, but less than 3 years.”  That’s also how long he’s been shooting.

If you’ve shot with, or talked with, Hombre, you’ve probably concluded that he ain’t a typical Tennessee Hillbilly or Georgia Cracker.  And you’d be right.  As a little tadpole, he grew up in South Africa. Then in 1968, he came to the US to attend graduate school and work at Iowa State. But he saw the light and moved on.  For the last 27 years, he’s been part of the University of Tennessee organization in Knoxville.

How did a feller from South Africa get interested in cowboy shooting?  Here’s how Hombre tells it.  “As a boy, I read a lot of Zane Grey books.  And I saw a lot of cowboy movies, Tom Mix and a lot of others.  Then a few years ago, I was at a bookstore, and I bought GUNS OF THE OLD WEST and read it.  That got me interested in guns, so, I went out and bought a revolver.”

Who’s his favorite Western movie actor? Hombre says that he was a John Wayne fan, and then Clint Eastwood came along.  How well does he like Eastwood’s Westerns? Well, Hombre Sin Nombre, his alias, means Man With No Name.  For you forgetful cowfolks, that’s the character Eastwood played in his 3 classic spaghetti Westerns.

Oh yeah, Hombre shoots .38’s and 45’s.  But he says that he plans to return to shooting .45’s.  He recently bought a pair of real, live Colt revolvers … .45’s of course.

THE REAL WEST– Thomas E. Ketchum  1863 – 1901

“Black Jack” Ketchum – His Final Performance

Tom Ketchum was born in San Saba County, Texas, the youngest of 8 kids, in 1863.  His father died when he was 5 years old, and 5 years later, his mother died. Like many young fellers in the west, Tom drifted away and worked as a cowboy on ranches in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.  But that ain’t what he’s known for, and most folks wouldn’t recognize the name Tom Ketchum.  But like SASS cowboys & cowgirls of today, he had an alias that folks remember:  “Black Jack” Ketchum.  And that Ketchum didn’t make his living shooing cows.  Nope.  He was a sure ‘nough outlaw.

Tom and his compadres robbed stores, and trains, and shot fellers, and rode off with lots of money. In their business enterprise, they occasionally had to deal with posses, and many of the posse members concluded their careers in shoot outs when they “caught” the “Black Jack” Ketchum gang.  But most outlaws didn’t last long, and Tom’s compadres were either shot or drifted away.  So in August 1899, Tom attempted to rob a train single-handed.  He got it stopped.  But he had a shoot out with the conductor.  Tom was armed with a pistol and the conductor had a double barrel shotgun.  Tom lost … the shoot out and one of his arms.  It was shot so bad that when he was captured the following day and taken to a hospital, the arm had to be amputated.

Losing an arm would be tough.  But that ain’t all he lost.  Tom was tried and convicted for “felonious assault upon a railway train” and was sentenced to hang.  Well, Tom’s luck had been running pretty bad … and it didn’t get any better.  The folks in Clayton, NM had never hung anyone before and didn’t know much about rigging a gallows.  When Tom dropped through the trap door, the rope wasn’t adjusted right, and his head was amputated.  A doctor pronounced him dead, sewed his head back on, and they carted him up to boot hill and buried him. So ended Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum.  Sorta.  In the 1930’s, Clayton built a new cemetery, and they moved ol’ Tom into the new doings.  Sometimes, it’s hard to keep a good or a bad man down.

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The Ocoee Ranger, Page 3                                    May 2005

                      SASS END OF TRAIL SHOOT & EVENT 2005 … By Double Eagle

Double Eagle

End of Trail … or was it just the beginning?

I knew someday I wanted to go to End of Trail (EOT), so I could say, “Been there, done that.”  Was I ever surprised?  It all started when some pards at Hooten Old Town called and said they were going to EOT and asked if I wanted to go.  I didn’t even think about it. I said, “Yep!”  I told myself things like, I can’t shoot with the big boys, and this is going to be so disorganized because it’s the first EOT at Founders Ranch.  I was right. I can’t shoot with the big boys, and it was their first EOT. But it was well organized.

I was surprised see all the motor homes and the tent city.  I even found Sunshine Billy’s home away from home.  This is already a 1st class shooting facility, and it will only get better.

Outlaw Annie, many times World Champion Lady Mounted Shooter, and Buck Taylor, western movie actor, cowboy shooter & artist.  Photo by Double Eagle

We went out for the practice day and visited vendors.  I should’ve listened to Deadman and left my wallet at home.  There were all kinds of vendors.  I got to dry fire the new Ruger, spent a lot of time with Colt and their pistols, played with Cimarron and Stoeger. I even found a Marlin I liked.  I came home with only 3 more guns than I left with.  Enough of the guns.  Then I saw vendors with hand made custom knives.  Yeah, I had to have one of them too.  Then I saw a hat that had my name on it.  Of course it was the 3rd or 4th hat vendor before I saw it.  Did I resist or what?  Then I had to get some new pants and shirts.  I restrained and didn’t buy any boots.  Instead, I got some moccasins that feel great on my feet.  The wind was whipping so hard that I had to either get my pards to hold the hat on my head or get some stampede strings.  They suggested I get the strings.  Then there was everything  leather.  Lots of holsters and shotgun belts, but I’ve got Curly Bill leather. So I’m good to go.  I would’ve got a saddle, but then I would’ve needed to get a horse.  So, I just got a leather-covered canteen.  Custom earplugs, everyone’s got to have a pair of those.  I better quit telling on myself.

Oh, did I tell you I went to a cowboy shoot?  I was in posse 27 with Hipshot and Blue Eyes.  I found out Hipshot and I have something in common: both our SASS numbers end with a 7.  His SASS number is 7 and mine is 47,357.  He and his wife are just two of the wonderful people I met.  The shooting was fun.  There was movement (limited movement T-Bone) on every stage.  Targets were big, just not big enough for me.  I still don’t see how I missed those targets.  We shot 4 stages a day for 3 days.  I didn’t get to set up a single stage.  Horseshoe would still be adjusting the targets if I had set up 12 stages.  The shooting was fun, but it was 3rd or 4th on the list of the best things at EOT.

I met so many wonderful people.  They thought I talked funny, until they met the folks from down under.  Now they talk funny.  You had plenty of time, with how the posses were staggered, to talk with some of the top shooters in the country.  I got to meet Evil Roy, Holy Terror, China Camp, Handle Bar Doc, Lassiter and so many people who like myself were just wandering around in awe.  I know those folks are all talking about getting to meet Double Eagle.  I know I’ve been beat by the best, but it came down to the wire.  I was only 2,948 rank points away from being the World Champion.  I can’t think as fast as Badlands Bud shoots.  Just wait until he gets his license.  Then he’ll be able to drive to a shoot or the practice range.  I bet he gets better.

Oh, did I tell you there was constant western entertainment, shootouts (with blanks) and food?  Be careful of those chuck wagon cooks, enough spices in the pot and you have no idea what you are eating. 

The cowgirls and cowboys get the top billing for the best thing at EOT.  At our hotel, no one shut their room door until they were ready to go to bed.  A couple shooters from Texas put signs on all the doors with our alias and the State we were from. 

There were lots and lots of and different types of vendors.  The food and the entertainment were very good.  The shoot was well organized and fun.  If you want to go to EOT, go to EOT.  I don’t think with the 800 plus shooters there that you’ll finish last.  Just make sure not to drop a loaded gun on the first stage, or you could prove me wrong.  It was a wonderful experience.  The only thing I’ll do different next time is stay longer to have time to see and do more.  Oh, I would use new brass next time.  I could’ve been in the top 25% instead of 30% had it not been for a split case (maybe).  My pards from Kentucky are already starting to talk about going back next year.  I’ll go back, and it won’t be long. 

Keep the lead going down range.

(Dead Beat shot at End of Trail and in the New Mexico State Shoot, just before EOT.  Sunshine Billy placed 5th in the EOT B-Western category, becoming a Buckle winner. Cherokee Maddog was also at EOT. He worked as a Waddie, helping conduct the event.)

RANGE OFFICER II TRAINING CLASS – MAY 15

On May 15, Cherokee Maddog, assisted by Pleasant and Dusty Diamond Justice, a Bittercreek Ranger cowboy, conducted an ROII training course at the Cleveland Range.  Attending were the following cowboys: Linc,  Fiddleback, Sundance McNeyman, Polecat Carl, Tabasco JOT, Bittercreek Jack, Wildcat Wilkey, Moonshine Roberts, Festus D. Deputy, Owlhoot Hardin, John Daniel, Tucson Tuco, and Sunset Evans.

OCOEE RANGERS CONTACTS

Ocoee Red … (423) 476-5303  ocoeered@charter.net Pleasant  .. (423) 476-6865  pleasant2@charter.net Horseshoe John .. (706) 866-5372 Tri .. (423) 479-4450  adkissonjc@yahoo.com Sundance .. (423) 479-8465  jneyman8465@charter.net Deadman & Mesquite Millie  .. (770) 889-0934 jedalton@mindspring.com

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Volume 3, Issue No. 4                                                                                      April,  2005

April winds,  a chilly shoot  & 65 shooters

The April shoot was chilly: Whiskey River Nelson would say, “No it wasn’t! It was cold.”  But according to the Rev. Adam Jones, who’s in charge of weather, he did his part, and it didn’t rain.  And that’s true.  When it’s dry, it’s good.  Good enough that 9 shooters shot clean matches: Festus D. Deputy, Tennessee Ted, Limp Along Charlie, Anvil, Wildcat Wilkey, Hombre Sin Nombre, Sheriff Jack Cooley, Tarheel, and Honest Charlie.  The Dennis family returned with a bang:  Diamondback Dennis was the Top Gun of the day and daughter Dandy Diamond was the Top Cowgirl Shooter.

Hombre Sin Nombre shoots, John Wayne fashion, as Last Kiss times.

Festus D. Deputy placed 1st in the 49ers.  T-Bone Angus was the top Black Powder shooter.  Lightning McCoy was 1st in the Classic category.  Horseshoe John was the top Duelist.  That varmint Pleasant, once again, was the top Gunfighter.  S.A. Pondwater outshot the other Modern shooters, while brother Tabasco JOT placed 1st in the Senior category. Diamondback Dennis was the top Traditional shooter, and as said above, Dandy Diamond placed 1st among the cowgirls.

The scenarios had a variety of stuff: movement, target arrangement and props.  Shucks, shooters even performed surgery and removed a bullet from their saddle pal.  The patient apparently lived.  No one was served medical malpractice subpoenas on the way out. But then all the temporary doctors were armed with six shooters, a rifle and a shotgun.  Maybe that’s the real way to hold down medical suits in modern times.  Recon?

Shooting results are continued on page 3.

Out on the Range – Lightning McCoy’s Posse

Kneeling L-R:  Cactus Red, Fiddleback, Keystone, Dandy Diamond.

Standing L-R: Kenesaw Kid, El Carrera, Calibre .45, Dustin Clays, Lightning McCoy, Diamondback Dennis, Big, Tennessee Tombstone & J. B. Hemlock

Range Officer I Class Saturday, April 30 at 10:00 am  –  Range Officer II Class Sunday, May 15 Some time after noon.  To take the ROII Class, please contact Ocoee Red by phone or email at least 2 weeks in advance.  By SASS rules, Cherokee Maddog (the instructor) has to contact SASS in advance to insure that participants have had the ROI course.  Ocoee Red’s contact info is as follows: 

Cell phone  423- 595-3819             Home phone  423-476-5303              e-mail  ocoeered@charter.net

NEXT OCOEE RANGER SHOOT – 28 MAY

The Buffalo Shoot begins 8:00 am. Registration 8:30 am  –  Tabasco JOT’s Side Match 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                                                      April 23, 2005

The Reel West, The Real West & The West Of Our Imagination

THE REEL WEST   –   AMANDA BLAKE 

( 1929 – 1989 )

Would you believe that Amanda Blake, GUNSMOKE’S Miss Kitty Russell, operated a cathouse in real life?  It’s true.

Amanda began life in Buffalo, NY, where she worked as a telephone operator.  But bitten with the movie bug, red headed Amanda headed for Hollywood.  However, she wasn’t Amanda then.  She was Beverly Neill.  Once in Hollywood, she became Amanda Blake, got a few roles, then had a sizeable role in A STAR IS BORN, one of the early versions of the movie.  When the movie was edited, most of her part was left on the cutting room floor. But so what.  She was soon selected to become Miss Kitty Russell of GUNSMOKE. 

Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell

There were and still are a lot of actresses in Hollywood and elsewhere, but there was only 1 Kitty Russell, and she was it.  The radio gal doesn’t count.

Amanda ran the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, for 19 years and gave a lot of free beer to Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, Chester Good and Festus Haggen. And that was just the series.  She was also in a made for TV GUNSMOKE movie. Portraying Miss Kitty, Amanda was nominated for an Emmy in 1958 and for Golden Globe awards in 1970, ’71 & ’72. She was a real presence on GUNSMOKE. She had looks, showed grit and sometimes a temper, and held her own playing Miss Kitty as a tough, friendly, frontier business woman, who complemented an excellent ensemble cast of characters.

After she left GUNSMOKE, Amanda became very active in the Arizona Animal Welfare League, an organization that cared for abandoned animals.  At her Arizona home, she operated a cathouse …. where she kept a lion and 10 cheetahs.   She died in 1989. 

Deadeye Daisy

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION  – DEADEYE DAISY

Deadeye Daisy started shooting regularly in January 2004.  Before that, she had a little annoyance that kept interfering with Saturday shoots:  her job.  So being a resourceful cowgirl, she solved the problem:  she retired.

Daisy started cowboy shooting because her husband, Sheriff Donald, was having so much fun that she thought she might as well have fun too.  So, she rode down to the general store and bought a pair of Ruger Vaqueros, in .38 cal, a Winchester ’94, and a shotgun. Armed and deadly, she needed an alias.  Her other half was big on Donald Duck … ala Sheriff Donald, so she

decided to become Deadeye Daisy.  But there was a problem.  She called SASS, and they told her that there already was a Deadeye Daisy.  Shucks!  But all was not lost, SASS called back later and told her that the other Daisy hadn’t renewed her membership.  So, the name Deadeye Daisy was hers, if she still wanted it.  She did!  So, Donald and Daisy became regulars at cowboy shoots.

Daisy shoots several cowboy matches each month:  3.  She shoots with the River Bend Rough Riders (her base club), the Mule Camp Cowboys and the Ocoee Rangers. When interviewed by Mesquite Millie, Daisy said that the best thing about cowboy shooting is the people.  She likes going to the various shoots, and the people at all of them are very friendly, and no one picks on her for not shooting fast.

Who’s her favorite Western movie hero?  Tom Mix.  She said that she grew up playing cowboys, and she just loved watching Tom Mix’s movies.

There’s one other thing about Deadeye Daisy:  she’s a humdinger of a scorekeeper.

THE REAL WEST  – PEARL HART (About 1871 – ?)

Pearl Hart helped usher out the old West by conducting the last stagecoach holdup. Of course she had help from her pardner, Joe Boot. 5 foot 2 inches of petite female, armed with a pistol, Pearl robbed the passengers on a stagecoach headed from Florence to Globe, AZ of a little over $400.  Then, she and Joe fired a few shots in the air and rode away … just like bandits do in Western movies.  But neither was experienced either as a robber or as an off the road traveler.  So, they got lost.  2 days later, they were rescued … by a posse that took them to the local lockup.  Pearl was quite a sensation.  Shucks, it wasn’t just an everyday occurrence for a community to have a female stagecoach robber locked up in their jail.  So, Pearl got a lot of attention. But feisty little Pearl didn’t tarry long in jail.  A few weeks later, she and another prisoner (not Joe) escaped.  Imagine the headlines, Bandit Queen Escapes, or at least something like that was printed. Of course she was quickly recaptured.  Remember, she wasn’t too good at getting away.

Pearl Hart

Stagecoach Bandit

Pearl and Joe were tried, convicted, and sentenced:  he got 35 years and she got 5 years.  So, off they went to prison. Housed at Yuma Prison, the warden had to provide separate cell accommodations for Pearl.  She was the only female prisoner there.  While there, the warden allowed photographers to take Pearl’s picture in an outlaw garb with unloaded guns and as a well dressed young lady, after all she was only in her 20’s. Released about 18 months later, she went on the road to perform as “The Lady Bandit”, in a play written by her sister.  But her 15 minutes of fame soon ran out, and Pearl disappeared, later married and began another life.  In any event, she finally managed a clean get away.

Pearl Hart

Petite Young Lady

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The Ocoee Ranger Page 3                                                                  April, 2005

SHOOT RESULTS (Continued from page 1)

OCOEE RANGERS WRANGLERS – APRIL

have been recognized as an Ocoee Wrangler.  In that this was her 1st visit with us and she didn’t know the “rules” but demonstrated the “Spirit of the Game”, she is recognized as an honorary Ocoee Ranger  Wrangler for April.

In the picture above, Kristi is wearing Fiddleback’s 10 gallon hat.  Of course, it look’s much better on her than it does on Fiddleback. 

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY …. OR MAYBE, A ROSE AMONGST  THE THORNS?

Can you remember back in 1967 when Clint Eastwood’s Western movie THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY was playing for the 1st time?  Whiskey River Nelson will say, “Are you kidding?”  But even if you didn’t see it the 1st time around, you’ve probably seen it several times since its release in the good old US of A.  

Now what does this have to do with the picture at the left?  Beats me.  As page 1 says, it was windy at the shoot.  The Editor’s windy too, or is it also? Owlhoot Hardin wasn’t there to settle the question.

L-R:  Rev. Adam Jones, Tellico and Sundance McNeyman.  We can assume that the Rev. is the good.  The rest is up for grabs.

Page 1

Volume 3, Issue No. 3                                                             March 26,  2005

March 26th was a record day for the Ocoee Rangers.  85 shooters participated in the match. And 10 of them were cowgirls.  The Rev. Adam Jones was again responsible for weather, and he came through.  It was a terrific day. Once again, Pleasant shot himself into the position of Top Gun.  And once again, Roma Jane shot herself into the position of Top Cowgirl Shooter.  5 cowboys shot no-misses matches:  Horseshoe John, S.A. Pondwater, T-Bone Angus, Rev. Adam Jones and Sheriff Jack Cooley. 

With his trusty horse Reno tied to the corral fence, Big shoots the villains as Blayde Hollister looks on and times his efforts.

Before the Match, Marshal Too Tall limbered up, sighted down his rifle barrel and won both categories at the Buffalo Shoot.  Not to be outdone, Tabasco JOT won the early side match.  All in all, it was a rootin’, tootin’ plumb terrific Cowboy & Cowgirl Shootin’ Day.

Pleasant, in addition to being Top Gun, placed 1st in the Gunfighter class.  Marshal Too Tall, in his on-going competition with Ocoee Red, was the top 49er.  Cool Waters took the top position in the Traditional class.  In duelist type shootin’, Horseshoe John was the top Duelist, and Cherokee Maddog was the top Classic shooter. S.A. Pondwater was 1st in the Modern class, while T-Bone Angus took the honors in the Black Powder Cartridge class.  Last but not least, Tabasco JOT placed 1st in the Senior category.

It takes good shoot scenarios, a good set-up crew, posse leaders and working posse members

to have a good shoot.  And we had all these at the Easter shoot.  T-Bone had good scenarios, the set-up crew did plumb good, the posse leaders were effective and we had good help from shooters.  Thanks to all for your efforts.  Recognizing folks who put forth extra effort in helping during the shoot, the following were designated Ocoee Ranger Wranglers:  Fiddleback, Cherokee Maddog, Deadeye Daisy, Sheriff Donald, Tennessee Ted, Limp Along Charlie, Ranger Roger, and Roma Jane.

Shooting results are continued on page 3.

Out on the Range – Easter Cowboys & Cowgirls Before the Shoot

Before the Shootin’ began, the Rev. Adam Jones led the cowboys & cowgirls  in a moment of thanks and invocation.

Range Officer I Class Saturday, April 30 at 10:00 am  – Range Officer II Class Sunday, May 15 Some time after noon.

To take the ROII Class, please contact Ocoee Red by phone or email at least 2 weeks in advance.  By SASS rules, Cherokee Maddog (the instructor) has to contact SASS in advance to insure that participants have had the ROI course.  Ocoee Red’s contact info is as follows:  Cell phone  423- 595-3819             Home phone  423-476-5303              e-mail  ocoeered@charter.net

Page 2

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The Ocoee Ranger Page 2                                                        March 26, 2005

THE REEL WEST, THE REAL WEST &

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION

THE REEL WEST  –    GLENN STRANGE    (1899 – 1973)

Glenn Strange as a Bad Guy

Glenn Strange as Gunsmoke’s

Sam the Bartender

Glenn Strange was a real Westerner who made his livin’ in the reel West. Although he played lots of movie bad guys, that ain’t how he started out.  Nope. He started out as a musician, playing the fiddle and guitar at local dances.  Then later he joined a posse of cowboy singers called the “Arizona Wranglers” and appeared on the radio and around the country.  Finally, he ended up in Hollywood and in the movie business.

Glenn made a career playing mostly bad guys.  But that wasn’t all that he did.  He was also a songwriter and collaborated with Eddie Dean, a motion picture singing cowboy, on several songs. In all, he appeared in more than 250 movies, and more than 200 of them were Westerns.  And at least 3 of his roles stand out, or they do if you look at them.

Do you remember THE LONE RANGER TV series?  Not so fast Whiskey River Nelson.  You may not have been around for the 1st run, but they are still in syndication from time to time.  How did the Lone Ranger become the Lone Ranger?  Well, Butch Cavendish and his band of outlaws ambushed the rangers and wiped out all but one, right? And it took 3 episodes for Butch to conduct the ambush, run around a little, and then get caught by the Lone Ranger & Tonto, right?  Well, Glenn played Butch Cavendish.  But that ain’t the only notable role that Glenn had.  Nope.  He also played Frankenstein’s monster in an Abbott & Costello movie.

But his real role deserves a paragraph of its own.  Glenn was Sam the bartender on TV’s long running GUNSMOKE. He looked out for Miss Kitty, when Matt Dillon was out on prairie.  And he talked sense into rowdy cowboys, when he could. And when his good nature wouldn’t work, he reached under the bar and hauled out a double barrel shotgun that would make Dustin Clays say, “Anything you say, Sam.” Glenn was Sam from 1962 until just before he died in 1973. 

THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION  –  LINC

Linc

Linc has been a cowboy shooter since 2001.  For you cowboys what ain’t much smarter than your horse, that means that he’s been shootin’ about 3 years.  He’s another of the cowboys who collaborated with his wife to select his alias.  It seems that they were sittin’ around flinging out possibilities for his alias.  He picked 5 and trotted to the phone and called SASS and said something like, “Hey. Can I have 1 of these names?” And being as how SASS had grown so much, the cowgirl on the phone said something like, “Are you nuts.  Them names have already been picked.”

So, Linc rejoined his other half, and they began pondering again.  Then she suggested that he use the name of a Gary Cooper character from a Western movie that ol’ Linc likes:  Linc.  The movie is MAN OF THE WEST.  Linc called SASS again and officially became Linc, SASS # 38674.

What does he shoot? “I shoot .45’s and .38’s.  When I want to try to hit somethin’, I shoot the .38’s. I have a Marlin rifle and it shoots .38’s.” Talking about other activities, Linc said, “I play golf some.  But it’s hard to shoot and play golf too. So, my golf game’s sufferin’. The boys are takin’ me now.”  Maybe so.  But he’s sure got his priorities in order, doesn’t he?

Linc is personification of “the Spirit of the Game”.  He’s a constant member of the range set-up crew.  They ride out to the roundup each Friday before the match and set up all the targets and props for us cowfolk who show up on Saturday with a hankerin’ to shoot.  Lots of times, Linc has most of the work done when the other cowboys ride up.  Linc’s a fine feller.  And he shoots good too.

THE REAL WEST –  HENRY ANDREW THOMAS    (1850 – 1912)

Henry “Heck” Thomas was a real west lawman, who began his career working as an Atlanta policeman. Then in 1875, he went to Texas to work for the Texas Express Co. Legend says that he prevented the theft of a lot of money by hiding it in an unlit stove, when bandits robbed his train. Later promoted to detective, Henry eventually started his own detective agency, where he was involved in a shootout with some outlaws he attempted to arrest. They decided to shoot it out, and he ended their lawless careers … permanently.

In 1886, Henry became a Deputy US Marshal, riding the Oklahoma Territory for Judge Isaac Parker until 1892.  He made quite a showing for himself, arresting swarms of outlaws out in the territory and bringing them in for trial.  Among the villains he searched for were the Dalton and the Doolin Gangs.  Nope, he didn’t catch the Daltons, but he and his posse did end Doolin’s career of crime.  Doolin had busted

Heck Thomas

out of jail and was attempting to get to a relative’s house.  Henry and his posse were waiting for him.  Henry yelled for Doolin to surrender. Doolin came up shootin’. Henry and 1 of his posse blasted him to eternity, Dustin Clays style, with shotguns.  Some folks now say that Henry didn’t really shoot Doolin like this.  They say that Doolin was dead when Henry came upon him and that Henry blasted him and claimed the reward money, so he could give it to Doolin’s widow.  (In real life, the lawmen collected the posted rewards.) Who knows all the particulars.  However he did it, Henry ended Bill Doolin’s outlaw career.

After Henry quit Marshalling, he became police chief of Lawton, OK, until he retired because of poor health in 1909.  He died in 1912 at age 62. Sorta. In the 1970’s, Richard Boone had a TV series in which he played a late 1800’s deputy sheriff who used fingerprints and other detective tricks to catch crooks.  His character’s name was “Hec” Ramsey.

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The Ocoee Ranger Page 3                                         March 26, 2005

SHOOT RESULTS (Continued from page 1)

Buffalo Shoot – Marshal Too Tall

Ocoee Rangers Wranglers – March 26

NEXT SHOOT … APRIL 23

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

OCOEE RANGERS CONTACTS

Ocoee Red … (423) 476-5303  ocoeered@charter.net   … Pleasant  .. (423) 476-6865  pleasant2@charter.net  ..

Deadman & Mesquite Millie  .. (770) 889-0934  jedalton@mindspring.com Horseshoe John .. (706) 866-5372  horseshoejohn@bellsouth.net   ..

Tri .. (423) 479-4450  adkissonjc@yahoo.com … Sundance .. (423) 479-8465  jneyman8465@charter.net

Newsletter Staff:   Deadman & Mesquite Millie     Website:  Obadiah King