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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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49er 1. Marshal Too Tall 2. Ocoee Red 3. Double Eagle |
Black Powder Duelist1. Owlhoot Hardin 2. Long Gulch |
Black Powder Cart. 1. Judge’m All Duncan |
B-Western1. T-Bone Angus 2. Dusty Clay |
Duelist1. Rusty Spur Slim |
Lady Gunfighter1. Last Kiss |
Gunfighter1. Pleasant 2. Widowmaker 3. Keystone |
Outlaw1. Badlands Beck 2. Loose Cinch |
Senior1. Tabasco JOT 2. Purly 3. Deadman |
Silver Senior1. Wildcat Wilkey 2. Tennessee Hawk 3. Linc |
Traditional1. Unpleasant 2. Festus D. Deputy 3. Grey Rider |
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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.
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