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Volume 4, Issue No. 8 August, 2006
AUGUST SHOOT – A FAMILY AFFAIR
The August Shoot was a real family affair. How so? Well, amongst the shooters were Tucson Tuco & his sons, Gator & Hoot Owl, and Mrs. Tuco kept score for their posse. And Bad Eye Tom & his son, Bad Arm Slim were there. And there were Wildcat Wilkey & his little feller, Polecat Carl. And Pleasant & Unpleasant. And Boondock Saint & his son, Irish Jake. And then there were the husband & wife shooters: 2 Dogs & Red Neckerson; and Last Kiss & Fast Harley; and Killin’ Time & Rusty Spur Slim, and Deadeye Daisy & Sheriff Donald; Josephine Marksman & Krazy Jim. And there were brothers who shot together: Doc Duncan & Judge ‘em All Duncan. You get the idea. (I’ve probably missed some. Sorry.) In all, 80 shooters participated, and we had a number of visitors who observed the action.
The Outlaw posse seems to keep growing. One of these days, we may have to have 2 of ‘em, if they keep growing. And then there was the Buffalo Shoot. Marshal Too Tall moseyed up to Mesquite Millie, while she was counting the money and doin’ administrative stuff and said, “Hey, Millie. Do you want to know who won the Buffalo Shoot?” Of course the ol’ gal said yeah. Too Tall grinned and said, “I won it all.” And he did.
Who else did well at the shoot? Everybody who was there. The objective is to have fun, and it sure seemed that everyone did. Festus D. Deputy was the Top Gun and Last Kiss, shooting Gunfighter, was the Top Cowgirl shooter. 8 shooters shot no-miss matches: Festus D. Deputy, Dustin Clays, Mr. Pistol, Lightning McCoy, Horseshoe John, Wildcat Wilkey, Limp Along Charlie, and Deadman. Oddly enough, 6 of the 8 shot in the same posse.
The Top 10 Shooters were: (1) Festus D. Deputy (2) Marshal Too Tall (3) Slater (4) Fiddleback (5) Doc Duncan (6) D.Q. Jones (7) Double Eagle (8) Pleasant (9) Dustin Clays and (10) Unpleasant
IN MEMORIUM – Dirttown Desparado
Dirttown Desparado, a.k.a. Jim Carter, joined the cowboy & cowgirl posse in the sky on August 3rd. Jim began cowboy shooting and shooting with us last year. He attended matches with his wife, Judi. In an email to Ocoee Red not long before Jim left us, Judi said, “He tells everyone about the western shoot organization with a passion and a knot in his throat because not only does he miss the shoot, he misses all the cowboys that have treated us like family. I wish with all my heart he could come to one more shoot. … He didn’t do it long but his compassion grew for it.”
Goodbye, Dirttown Desparado.
OUTLAW SHOOTERS
Fast Harley shooting Outlaw. Yellowcreek Johnson times while Widowmaker counts misses.
L-R: Tennessee Tombstone & Badlands Beck Demonstrating Outlaw Shooting Style
August Wranglers were Bad Arm Slim, Keystone, Lightning McCoy, Killin’ Time, Tennessee Ted, Boondock Saint, Gator and Hoot Owl. Ocoee Ranger Wranglers are cowboys & cowgirls who put forth just a bit more effort in helping their posse conduct the shoot.
SHOOT RESULTS
Top Gun – Festus D. Deputy … Top Cowgirl – Last Kiss … Buffalo Shoot (all classes) – Marshal Too Tall
Duelist1. D.Q. Jones 2. Horseshoe John 3. Rusty Spur Slim |
Gunfighter 1. Doc Duncan 2. Pleasant 3. Widowmaker |
Traditional 1. Slater 2. Fiddleback 3. Dustin Clays |
|
Outlaw 1. TN Tombstone 2. Badlands Beck 3. Rawhide Rex |
Modern1. Polecat Carl 2. Limp Along Charlie 3. Shepperd |
49er 1. Festus D. Deputy 2. Marshal Too Tall 3. Double Eagle |
|
Senior 1. Mr. Pistol 2. Wildcat Wilkey 3. Sheriff Donald |
Lady Traditional 1. Josephine Marksman |
Lady Duelist 1. Killin’ Time |
|
Classic 1. Lightning McCoy |
B – Western 1. T-Bone Angus |
Black Powder 1. Judge’m All Duncan |
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The Ocoee Ranger page 2 August, 2006
THE REEL WEST, THE REAL WEST & THE WEST OF OUR IMAGINATION
The Reel West – Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming is a Westerner, a Californian. Born to show biz parents in 1923, she got into the movie business largely because of her looks. Her story is like several others. She was walking down the street. A guy saw the tall, good-looking redhead with a terrific figure, and 1 thing led to another and she was in the movie business. Oddly, she never became a major actress. Critics admit she had the acting skill and the charm and the looks, but somehow she never rose to the heights of a lady superstar. But so what? She did well in her career in the movies, on stage and on TV. Then she retired in 1960 and became a humanitarian of great note, involved at a major level in several charities.
Rhonda Fleming
But lets talk about the important stuff: her career in Western Movies. Rhonda made several shoot’um ups. She was in PONY EXPRESS (with Charlton Heston), and THE REDHEAD AND THE COWBOY (Glen Ford), and BULLWHIP (Guy Madison), and GUNGLORY (Stewart Granger), and ABILINE TOWN (Randolph Scott) and others. And in her roles, she played spirited gals who weren’t wallflowers to the heroes. Unfortunately, she was never paired with John Wayne. That would have been something. Rhonda’s most notable role was that of Laura Denbo, a lady gambler and Wyatt Earp’s love interest in GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL. Burt Lancaster was Earp. GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL is a good movie. It ain’t no TOMBSTONE, but it’s good. The 3 best things in the movie are Rhonda’s portrayal of the lady gambler, Kirk Douglas’ portrayal of Doc Holiday, and Frankie Lane’s song – Gunfight at OK Corral. Rhonda also appeared on TV Westerns: shows like Wagon Train and The Virginian and others.
Oh yeah, Rhonda had a nickname when she was making movies. Her striking red hair, figure (frequently in skimpy costumes) and charm resulted in her being called “the Queen of Technicolor.”
Dajango Slim
The West of our imagination –
Dajango Slim
Dajango Slim has been a cowboy shooter for about a year and a half. One day, Buckwitt invited him to an Ocoee Rangers shoot, and he’s been a cowboy shooter ever since. “The first time I came, I thought I was going to be an observer. But Buckwitt handed me a holster and a pair of guns and said, ‘You’re gonna shoot.’ I got hooked because of the camaraderie and the spirit of the game. You couldn’t shoot with a better group of people.”
What does he shoot? “I shoot the old style Ruger Vaqueros in .38 caliber, but I’m gonna save up and get some .45’s.” (Doesn’t that sound like music to an old cowboy’s ears?) How did he come by his alias? “I’ve always had the nickname of Slim. I saw a movie called Da-Jango. So, I sorta put them together, without the hyphen.”
Who’s his favorite cowboy? “John Wayne. When I was 7 years old, I saw the movie TRUE GRIT, and I fell in love with it. I’ve been a John Wayne fan ever since.” A feller could do worse than admire John Wayne and worse than shootin’ with Dajango Slim.
The Real West – Lottie Deno
(1844 – 1934)
Carlotta Thompkins, the eldest daughter of a rich plantation owner, was born in Kentucky in 1844. When she was 17, her daddy was killed in the War of Northern Aggression, and her mama sent her to visit folks in Detroit to find a rich husband. But Lottie was strong willed and made other plans. She’d traveled extensively with her daddy and had been exposed to his business dealings and his gambling on cards and horse races. And her daddy had taught her to play cards and to apply the tricks to win. And that’s how she supported herself and was the source of money she sent home to her mother and sister. Of course they didn’t know that. They thought he’d married a man with money. Lottie never went back to the plantation.
Lottie Deno
Queen of Hearts
Ol’ dad had taken Lottie with him on Mississippi riverboats, so she played her game on the boats and eventually landed in New Orleans. Then she went west to San Antonio, TX, where Frank Thurmond hired her to be a dealer at his University Club. Lottie always dressed stylishly and was a good-looking redhead, and the fellers couldn’t wait to lose their money at her table. She became the belle of the gambling trade, and Frank’s gal. Later, Frank was accused of cheating at cards, killed a man, and left town on the dodge.
Lottie stayed in San Antonio for a while, then drifted west to Ft. Griffin to find Frank. That was where she became Lottie “Deno”. Supposedly some drunk who’d lost a lot of money to her said that she should call herself Lotta Dinero, and for whatever reason, she liked it and became Lottie Deno. She also met, played against and beat Doc Holiday at cards at Ft. Griffin.
Several years later, Lottie and Frank moved to Deming, New Mexico, married and became respectable. They gave up being gamblers. Frank became a businessman and eventually became the Vice President of the Deming National Bank. He died in 1908. Lottie died in 1934 and was buried beside Frank. Some folks have written that Lottie was the inspiration for Miss Kitty, who ran the Long Branch Saloon in GUNSMOKE, and of Laura Denbo, the redheaded lady gambler in the Burt Lancaster and Rhonda Fleming movie, GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL. Whether she inspired either character or not, she became a legendary character in the Old West.
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The Ocoee Ranger page 3 August 2006
TN Tombstone,
The Father of Outlaw Shooting
OUTLAW SHOOTING
What do Tennessee Tombstone and George Washington have in common? No, it ain’t wooden teeth or powdered wigs. Both are known as “the father of” something. George is “the father of his country”. Tombstone is “the father of Outlaw shooting”. It’s true.
What caused Tombstone to start shooting that way? Here’s how he explained it. “I couldn’t hit nothing anyway, and all the cowboys on TV shot from the hip or pointed, so I thought I’d try it.” And he did. He started shootin’ what he called Outlaw style in Knoxville with the Smoky Mountain Shootists Society. Then Badlands Beck joined him. Then Rawhide Rex started shooting that way, and then others and before long, the Knoxville cowboys recognized Outlaw as a shooting class. At an Ocoee Rangers shoot after the Knoxville cowboys recognized Outlaw as a shooting class, Rawhide Rex asked Deadman if the Ocoee Rangers would recognize the Outlaw class. Deadman said, “Sure.” At that shoot, Tombstone, Rawhide Rex and Badlands Beck shot Outlaw. And seeing them, others began doing so in short order. But that wasn’t the end of it, before long Tennessee Tombstone and his compadres persuaded the Possum Trot and Hooten Old Town shooters to recognize Outlaw as a shooting class. Then the Kentucky State Cowboy Action Champion Shoot recognized the Outlaw class.
By now, you may be saying, “Ok. Enough. What is Outlaw shooting?” And that’s a good question. Here’s how Outlaw shooting is done:
1. SASS basic rules govern.
2. Pistols are shot from the hip or with the arm not higher than armpit level and with a bend at the elbow. (No fast draw.)
3. The shotgun is shot from the hip or waist area. If there’s a flying target, the shooter can shoulder the gun, it he / she chooses.
4. Rifles are shot from the shoulder.
5. The shooter must have Fun.
The rules are still evolving, but the basics are as above. How well do Outlaw shooters do? Well, they don’t win matches. But they have a growing following, and they have gun. As one shooter said to Tombstone at the Kentucky State Shoot, “You fellers sure do take the tension out of a match.”
At the Ocoee Rangers August shoot, Tennessee Tombstone missed only 3 shots, shooting Outlaw. But it’s not for everyone. At the July shoot, the Outlaws convinced Calibre. 45 to shoot Outlaw style. Calibre .45 is an excellent pistol shot. He missed 22 shots. That equaled his total misses for the previous 3 ½ years.
If you want to give Outlaw shooting a try, see Tennessee Tombstone, Badlands Beck or Rawhide Rex or any of the other Outlaw shooters, and they’ll show you how it’s done.
WHAT DO THESE PICTURES HAVE IN COMMON?
James Arness
William Conrad
Take a look at these 2 pictures. Look really close. What do they have in common? Now if you’re a cowboy about Horseshoe John’s age or more, you probably know. But if you’re Barnscoop’s age, you probably don’t have a clue. And if you’re Deadeye Drew’s age, you don’t know and couldn’t care less. What’s the answer? Both are pictures of GUNSMOKE’S Matt Dillon. The feller on the left is James Arness. He was Matt Dillon on TV for about 20 years. The feller on the right is the original Matt Dillon. He’s William Conrad. He played Matt on the radio, before GUNSMOKE moved to TV. This is a publicity photo from the radio show. If you haven’t heard the radio show in real time or on tapes of the show, you’ve missed a treat. This word scratcher used to listen to the radio GUNSMOKE with his grandmother. The radio story was told by the sounds of boot steps, jingling spurs, gunshots and the sound of narrator Conrad’s deep voice as Matt Dillon, US Marshal.
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