September 2007 Shoot Results

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Volume 5, Issue No. 9                                            September, 2007

Ocoee Rangers Celebrate Gene Autry’s 100th Birthday

100 years ago this month, Gene Autry, America’s Favorite Singing Cowboy, was hatched. And while he may not now be the icon that John Wayne became, in his day he was bigger than John Wayne. Yep. And he was 1 of America’s top movie stars in popularity for many years.  In September, we honored Gene’s memory by including him in our stage designs. Nope, none of us will give him a run for the money in the singing department, especially not Widowmaker, but in the shootin’ department … well, that’s a different story.

Gene Autry & Champion

Widowmaker on the Range, ready to sing or shoot. He shoots better

We started the day with 69 shooters, but Tinker Chapley’s health has been challenging him since he had a stroke, back in May, and he had to leave after the 2nd stage.  But ole Tinker said he’ll be back next month.  Rawhide Rex had to call it quits after 3 stages.  His scores are shown because he shot more than half the match:  but his misses show that he wasn’t too perky even before he quit shooting. And Horseshoe John couldn’t shoot, although he dropped by for a few minutes.  Horseshoe’s a farrier: that means he shoes horses. A couple of months ago, a dog spooked a horse he was shoeing, and it trampled him – twice.  He ain’t been normal since that time.  Well, he hasn’t been healthy: he wasn’t normal even before the incident. Hopefully all our ailing cowboys will get better and be back with us in October.

L-R: Bourne Sassy, Yazoo City Gal, Killin’ Time and Last Kiss

But the day wasn’t all somber.  Before the shoot, the Ocoee Ranger Gals, Yazoo City Gal, Bourne Sassy, Killin’ Time, and Last Kiss, earned $43 for Double Eagle to use to buy prizes for our Christmas Event. How?  They sold “huggins” and “dippins” and “droppins”. I know what a huggin is, but I don’t have a clue what a dipin is, and “droppin’s” – well, I thought folks stepped around them in the barn yard.  Anyway, these lady shootists contributed to our pot for Christmas event prizes.  So did Sheriff Donald and Deadeye Daisy.  They contributed several leather ammo bags, that ol’ Donald made, to be given to folks who contributed $10 or more to the Christmas Event Prizes fund. And they all went fast. This was the last shoot during which contributions to buy prizes will be taken.  Throughout the year, we raised $681, and $241 of it was raised at the Gene Autry – September Shoot. All the money raised will be used to buy prizes to be awarded by drawing at the Ocoee Rangers Annual Christmas Event after lunch and the awarding of Annual Shooting Awards. More info about that later.

Keystone Times as Tucson Tuco Shoots Steel Cowboys

The day started with the Buffalo Shoot, as usual.  And Tin Pot and Fast Harley had a face-off.  No, they didn’t shoot at each other.  But after 1 shot in the 100 yard pistol competition, they were tied at 1 hit each.  So they each fired a 2nd shot, and both missed. Being game to the bone, they each fired a 3rd shot, and they missed again. So, they solved the problem like gentlemen cowboys: they flipped a coin, and Fast Harley won.

The TOP GUN for the day was Unpleasant. The Top 10 Shooters were(1) Unpleasant (2) Marshal Too Tall (3) Festus D. Deputy (4) Ocoee Red (5) Rusty Spur Slim (6) Widowmaker (7) Cherokee Maddog (8) Tucson Tuco (9) Pleasant (10) Tabasco JOT

3 cowboys shot perfect matches with no misses: Rusty Spur Slim, TN Hoss and Owlhoot Hardin.

(Continued on page 3)

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                                        September 2007

THE REEL WEST – GENE  AUTRY

(1907 – 1998)

Gene Autry & his horse, the original Champion

Gene Autry would have been 100 years old in September. And while his influence isn’t seen a lot in Cowboy Action Shooting, he was 1 of the pioneers of the popular Western movie.  I know there were silent movie cowboys.  And Tom Mix made the transition easily from silent flicks to sound movies. And neither Gene’s movies nor Tom’s were very realistic. But Gene Autry really put Western movies in the limelight and kept it there for many years. Even in the Great Depression, audiences flocked to see his movies.

Gene was born in Tioga Texas in 1907, but he didn’t learn to ride a horse until he got into the movies. And he didn’t start out to be a Western movie actor. Nope.  He was a telegrapher, who strummed his guitar and sang a bit to entertain himself, when he wasn’t sending and receiving messages. Will Rogers happened by, heard him sing, and suggested that he try his hand as a radio singer.  And Gene did.  And he became a hit. Eventually, he had his own radio show, Melody Ranch. And it stayed on the air until the mid “50’s. But that ain’t all he did.  Not by a long shot.  He wrote songs, and had lots of hit records as a singer, and then he got into the Movies and became America’s Singing Cowboy on the silver screen.

During his career, Gene appeared in 93 feature films and made 635 record recordings, more than 300 of which he wrote or co-wrote. Look at his movies and you’ll notice that they showcased his records that were popular at the time. In effect, he was the first music video person.  Unlike the movies of the other singing cowboys who came after him, his movies had good songs in them, not just music to have music. But his movies also had action, and horses, and shooting, and the public flocked to see them. Back In The Saddle was 1 of his movies, and it introduced the song that became his theme song on his radio program and elsewhere.  Gene recorded 13 versions of that song on his records, and a few years ago, National Public Radio listed Gene’s version of Back In The Saddle as 1 of the 100 most significant songs of all time. (It was written by Ray Whitley for 1 of Gene’s movies, and later modified by Gene for his records.)

In WWII, the big one, Gene volunteered for duty in the Army Air Corps and became 1 of the Flying Sergeants, Non Commissioned Officers who flew airplanes.  Gene flew transports over the hump in the Indo China Theater.  His military experience taught him that when he was released from active duty, he wanted to be able to make a living without having to work himself. He said in 1 interview that the year before he went in the Army he made more than $60,000. And when he was an NCO in the army, he made about $600 a year.

In the 1950’s, Gene saw the potential of TV and jumped in as a producer and an actor.  He produced and appeared in the Gene Autry Show.  He also produced Annie Oakley (Gail Davis), The Range Rider (Jock Mahoney), Buffalo Bill Jr. (Dick West), and The Adventures Of Champion (his horse Champion, 1 of them).

This Statue of Gene Autry and his horse Champion stands in front of the Autry Museum

Gene’s song Silver Haired Daddy was the 1st record that ever went gold. And he had many others. He wrote and recorded Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and Peter Cottontail, and they both went platinum.  And he wrote and recorded Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, and it’s still 1 of the most recorded singles of all time. It eventually went double platinum.

Gene became fabulously wealthy as a businessman. He has 5 stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame: (1) radio (2) films (3) live performances (4) TV and (5) records. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Song Writers’ Hall of Fame, The National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and lots of other stuff. Gene also left his mark on Western history. In 1988, he established the Museum of the American West (formerly the Autry Museum of Western Heritage) in Los Angeles. It’s a terrific museum.  If you’re ever in the Los Angeles area, it’s well worth a visit, but plan several hours to see it.

Gene joined the posse in the Sky in 1998. Riding with that crowd, he’s Back in the Saddle Again.

The West of Our Imagination – Yazoo City Gal

Yazoo City Gal has been a cowgirl shooter for about 18 months. She was dating Judge’m All Duncan and went with him to a Cowboy Shoot with the River Bend Rough Riders. “After watching him shoot, I knew I had to shoot. I’ve been shooting ever since then.” She wasn’t a shooter nor familiar with firearms handling before she started shooting with Judge’m All.  But he was a good teacher, and she was a good student. “He reloads, and he helped me pick my guns. I started out shooting Traditional, and then I shot Duelist.  But my goal was to shoot Gunfighter.  That’s what I shoot now.” And she does it well, shootin’ her .32 Cal. pistols.

How’d she get her alias? “I was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi. That makes a great alias.” Yep.  It does.

What does she think about Cowboy Action Shooting?  “I’ve always been competitive. I played softball and went to the nationals in 1976.  I like the competition. But the people come first.  I’ve made a lot of new friends.  And I like dressing up, especially in the winter, more than the summer.” Yazoo’s a good cowgirl.  Just ask anyone in the Outlaw posse.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 3                                             September 2007

SHOOT RESULTS  (Continued from page 1)

TOP GUN – Unpleasant …

BUFFALO SHOOT – Long Range Pistol – Fast Harley … Long Range Single Shot Rifle … Colonel Mortimer … Long Range Lever Action Rifle – Last Kiss

Badlands Beck times Bourne Sassy, shooting Lady Duelist

L-R: Kenesaw & Cactus Red, Modern Range Riders

August Shoot Results – Overall Rank

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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.