SHOOT RESULTS – NOVEMBER 2006

SHOOT RESULTS BY CLASS

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Volume 4, Issue No. 11                                 November, 2006

NOVEMBER – THE RANGE WAS COVERED WITH TURKEYS

Attendance was down at this years’ November after Thanksgiving shoot. In each of the 2 previous years, we had 70 shooters, but this year only 51 brave shooters ventured out – and 1 had a family emergency and had to leave.  But for those who participated – it was a warm, sunny, generally terrific day. The shoot was geared toward turkeys. After all, Thanksgiving is associated with turkeys.  And the script writer is a ……, you get the picture.  It was a fun day.

“Is it time to Shoot yet?”  – Roma Jane and Long Gulch listen to possible rules changes during the pre-shoot meeting.

Big, ready to shoot for the turkey. He was a Winner last year.

Each posse had a turkey shoot stage.  Look below and see the turkeys who won the turkeys.

The Top Gun was Marshal Too Tall and the Top Cowgirl Shooter was Last Kiss, shooting gunfighter.  The Top 10 Shooters were: (1) Marshal Too Tall (2) Festus D. Deputy (3) Dustin Clays  (4) Polecat Carl (5) Ocoee Red (6) Pleasant (7) Rusty Spur Slim (8) Cherokee Maddog (9) Horseshoe John and (10) Pyro. 3 shooters shot matches with no misses:  Dustin Clays, Outrider and Marshal Too Tall.  In the Buffalo Shoot, Marshal Too Tall won the Long Range Lever Action Rifle & Single Shot Rifle competition and the .22 Cal. class and Sundance McNeyman placed 1st in the Long Range Pistol Shoot.

Winners of the Turkey Shoots

L – R:  Rawhide Rex, Tennessee Mongo, Polecat Carl and Sheriff Donald

SHOOT RESULTS

TOP GUN – Marshal Too Tall … TOP COWGIRL – Last Kiss …

BUFFALO SHOOT – Long Range Pistol – Sundance McNeyaman … Long Range Single Shot Rifle – Marshal Too Tall … Long Range Lever Action Rife – Marshal Too Tall … .22 Cal – Marshal Too Tall

Outlaw

1. Curly Bill

2. Badlands Beck

3. Rawhide Rex

Wranglers (non shooting award):

Cherokee Maddog, Bittercreek Jack, Sheriff Donald, Fast Harley, Lightning McCoy

Wranglers are folks who put forth extra effort in helping their posses conduct the shoot

DECEMBER ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOOT & FAMILY EVENT  DECEMBER 16

Bring your family or special other and let them meet your cowboy & cowgirl shootin’ pardners.

See page 2 for more information.

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The Ocoee Ranger page 2                      November, 2006

THE REeL WEST & the real west

THE REeL WEST – HARRY CAREY 

(1878 – 1947)

Henry DeWitt “Harry” Carey II was a silver screen cowboy in both the silent and sound eras. But, he wasn’t native a westerner. Nope.  Ol’ Harry hailed from New York City.  While attending law school, he had a boating accident, and while recuperating, he wrote a play.  When he recovered, he convinced someone to put his play on stage.  Of course he had to play the lead.  It was a big success.  So, his law career was forgotten.  He gave up the courtroom for the floodlights.  Of course you could say that he gave up acting in front of a jury to take up acting in front of a paying audience.

Harry Carey

After his 2nd play flopped, Harry joined a movie stock company, and when it moved to Hollywood, he went along. In 1915, he appeared in THE BATTLE AT ELDERBUSH GULCH, a Western. During his career, Harry appeared in a lot of Westerns and in other stuff as well.  And he did well in all his roles.  In 1920, he began the most important role of his career: he met and married Olive Golden, and they became lifetime partners.

How good was Harry?  Well, by 1919, he was earning $1,200 a week. And he continued making Western movies: solid, realistic movies.  But the public’s taste changed.  They became more interested in the glitz and dash of Westerns featuring Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson and others.  Still, Harry kept making good films and real good money.

Sound came, and Harry kept right on going, just like the Energizer Bunny.  He bought a ranch and livestock, and kept making movies. Then in 1939, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but he lost to Thomas Mitchell for his performance as Doc Boone in John Ford’s STAGECOACH. In the years that followed, Harry appeared in a number of Westerns.  He appeared with John Wayne in ANGEL AND THE BAD MAN, and again with him in SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS and in THE SPOILERS and in RED RIVER.

Harry died in 1947, and was buried in his cowboy outfit. How about that? But Harry really didn’t die. As long as folks watch John Wayne Westerns, he never will.  You’ll see him directly in some of the Duke’s Westerns.  But you’ll see him indirectly in about all of them, if you watch John Wayne. John Wayne adopted some of the gestures that Harry used in his performances. Among others, he copied a certain slouch sitting in the saddle. And in the SEARCHERS, when he’s framed in the doorway in the final scene, you’ll see the Duke walking away, holding his left arm with his right.  Harry often did that. Oh yeah, Olive Carey also appeared in the SEARCHERS: she played Vera Miles’ mom.  And Harry Jr. played Vera’s brother.

Trooper John W. Vermillion

THE REAL WEST –

JOHN W. “TEXAS JACK” VERMILLION  (1842 – 1911)

John Wilson “Texas Jack” Vermillion was born in 1842 in Russell Co. Virginia.  In 1861, John did as many other Virginians did after the Yankees invaded the South in their War of Northern Aggression:  he joined General JEB Stuart’s cavalry of gray riders.

After God turned away from the South and allowed the Yankees to win the war, old John headed west.  In Indiana, he married a Yankee gal.  He probably thought that if he couldn’t lick’em, he might as well join ‘em. Then the newly weds moved to Missouri, where John became a lawman for several years. But tragedy struck and his wife and 2 small children died of diphtheria. Devastated by his loss, John tossed his badge and went further west, finally arriving in Dodge City, Kansas.  On the Western frontier, he began a different life.  He became a whiskey drinkin’, sixgun packin’, quick shootin’ gambler.

Somewhere in his western rambling, John became “Texas Jack” and met and apparently became friends with another southern gambler, John Henry “Doc” Holiday.  And like Holiday, he got involved in several violent encounters in saloons in various places.  In 1881, he was in Tombstone, Arizona. That was about the time when the Earps and Doc Holiday were involved in the OK Corral street fight and the aftermath shootings.  Evidently because of his friendship with Holiday, “Texas Jack” rode with Wyatt Earp on his vendetta ride in 1882, after Morgan Earp was killed. 

When the Earp posse left Arizona, Jack rode up to Kansas, where he plied his skills at the gambling tables there.  Before long, he got involved in a gambling fight and shot and killed one of his card cheatin’ opponents.  Then, he left the country and returned east to Virginia.

In 1883, John married Nannie Fleenor. But somehow, he couldn’t stay away from the west.  So, he took his family to Idaho.  In 1888, he became involved with the Soapy Smith gang and got involved in a shoot-out with another gang.  2 years later, in 1890, he killed a feller in another gunfight.  It was a fair fight, but “Texas Jack” hung up his spurs and moved back to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, for good. Guess what he did for a livin’ in Virginia to support Nannie, his 2 kids and himself?  He became, believe it or not, a Methodist Minister. In 1911, “Texas Jack” Vermillion died in his sleep.

Annual Christmas shoot & family event December 16

Don’t miss our Ocoee Rangers Christmas Shoot & Family Event on December 16th.  We’ll shoot 3 stages at the range and then meet at the Golden Corral Restaurant in Cleveland for lunch and activities:  presentation of annual awards; drawings for prizes, provided by

event sponsors; and cowboy & cowgirl gift exchange.  We always have a lot of fun.  If for some reason you can’t shoot, come to the after shoot activities anyway. Participation in the gift exchange is optional:  if you want to do it, ok; if you don’t, that’s also ok. Only folks who have shot in at least 1 match during 2006 –even if it’s that morning – are eligible for the drawings for gifts provided by sponsors.  Anyone, shooters & non-shooters, can participate in the gift exchange. If you want to participate in the gift swap, bring an unwrapped gift and put it on the gift table.  Prizes should be somewhat related to cowboy shooting or a western theme and should not cost more than $10 – $20.

The Christmas event is a good time to dress up in cowboy/cowgirl finery – shooters & non-shooters.  Mesquite Millie & Deadman will have their camera ready to take pictures of anyone (individual or family or special pardner) who wants their picture taken at the shoot.  No, it won’t cost nothing to get your picture took.

COME & PLAY WITH US IN DECEMBER.  AND BRING YOUR FAMILY. LET’EM MEET YOUR PLAYMATES

SCORES & RANKING – October 28, 2006

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Volume 4, Issue No. 10                       October,  2006

OCTOBER – SUNSHINE, LEAVES, FLYING TARGETS AND  GUNSMOKE

If you missed the October shoot, and a lot of folks did, then you missed a good one. It was a little chilly at registration, but the sun came out and the brilliant fall foliage (that’s leaves for guys like Festus and Too Tall) and the shooting scenarios that ol’ T-Bone wrote were great. 41 shooters shot stationary targets, a couple of flying birds and a real nifty flying witch that Horseshoe John provided. (The flying witch was a large, round target that slid on a suspended cable across the range.)  And then there were pumpkins: you can’t have Halloween without pumpkins.  The pumpkins were 2 small orange, round metal circles that were placed way out yonder for shooters to try for bonus points.

Dagnabit Deb & Keystone with the flying witch.

The Top Gun was Ocoee Red, back to his shooting form. The Top Cowgirl Shooter was Last Kiss.  The Top 10 Shooters were: (1) Ocoee Red (2) Unpleasant (3) Marshal Too Tall (4) Festus D. Deputy (5) Dustin Clays (6) T-Bone Angus (7) Pleasant (8) Widowmaker (9) Pyro (10) Dajango Slim. This is the first time that we’ve had 3 of the Top 10 Shooters from the same family: Pleasant (the old guy) and sons Unpleasant and Pyro.  2 shooters shot matches with no misses:  Ocoee Red and Deadman.  In the Buffalo Shoot, Outrider and Marshal Too Tall tied for 1st place in the .22 cal. class and Marshal Too Tall placed 1st in the Long Range Rifle shoot, after a shoot-off with Fast Harley.  Marshal Too Tall also placed 1st in the Long Range Pistol Shoot.

The ghost (Dustin Clays) and the flying witch.  When Dustin Clays, and his counterparts, dropped the rope, the witch flew across the range.

Above L- R: The Black Hat Gang – Tennessee Jake, Rev. Adam Jones, Mesquite Millie, Horseshoe John & Conejos Bob.

October’s Wranglers were Slater, Long Gulch, Dagnabit Deb, Keystone, Wildcat Wilkey and Tin Pot.   Wranglers are cowboys & cowgirls who put forth extra effort in helping conduct the shoot.

SHOOT RESULTS

TOP GUN – Ocoee Red … TOP COWGIRL – Last Kiss … BUFFALO SHOOT – Long Range Rifle – Marshal Too Tall … Long Range Pistol – Marshal Too Tall … .22 Cal – Outrider & Marshal Too Tall

Classic 1. Long Gulch       

Ruckus Roy defends the bank from bank robbers.

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The Ocoee Ranger, page 2                            October, 2006

THE REEL WEST – JOHNNY MACK BROWN  (1904 – 1974)

Johnny Mack Brown was a 1930’s -‘50’s movie cowboy.  But he wasn’t born in the West. Nope.  Old Johnny was born in Dothan, Alabama.  He did what most southern boys at the time did: he hunted, fished and played ball.  After high school, Johnny enrolled at the University of Alabama, where he played football.  And he was a really good football player. He was an All-American running back, and in the 1926 Rose Bowl, he scored 2 of the 3 touchdowns that Alabama scored in their winning performance.

In 1927, Johnny went to Hollywood and became a silent movie actor.  On screen, he appeared with Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, among others. (Barn Scoop is saying, “Who were all those old ladies?”) Then in 1930, he became important, at least to SASS cowfolk.  He was chosen to star as Billy the Kid in the MGM movie, BILLY THE KID.

But sound era movies gave Johnny, like a lot of other movie folks, a lot of trouble. You see, he was a southerner, and like a lot of us southerners, he had what other folks considered an accent, a southern drawl.  Of course we know that where Johnny was concerned that’s rubbish. He talked normal: it was all them other folks who talked funny. So, Johnny left the ranks of front line actors and became a silver screen cowboy.  And it wasn’t that hard for him to do.  He was in good physical shape.  And he played polo on weekends.  So he was comfortable on a horse.  He teamed up with a palomino, buckled on a stag handled Colt and buscadero gun rig and became a movie cowboy hero.

During his career, Johnny appeared in over 140 Western movies.  In the early ‘50’s, he found a new audience. TV was moving into homes on little boxes that showed old movies that were available.  Little fellers like yours truly, and probably a lot of other Ocoee Rangers, sat in the dark in homes all across the US and watched him fight the bad guys, as we ate hamburgers and potato chips and drank Royal Crown Cola.  Johnny continued working in small parts in movies and on TV.  He joined the posse in the sky on November 14, 1974.

THE WEST of our imagination –

Yankee Dutchman

Yankee Dutchman started cowboy shooting last fall.  As he tells it, “I’ve been cowboy shooting about a year and a month.” Of course, he said that a month ago. He heard about Ocoee Rangers cowboy shooting from people at work, non-shooting people.  Who told him? Well, it was the wives of some of the cowboys who shoot as Ocoee Rangers.  They told him about their husbands’ experiences.  Then he met the husbands.  And here he is.

What does he shoot?  .45’s.  “No little guns for me.”  Now that’s spoken like a real cowboy. Ain’t that right, Horseshoe John?

How’d he get his alias?  Here’s how he tells it:  “I come from New Jersey. (We won’t hold that against him.) So, I’m a displaced Yankee.  The people on my father’s side are all Dutch. So, I became Yankee Dutchman.”  That sounds logical, doesn’t it?

Who’s his favorite silver screen cowboy? “ John Wayne, by a long shot.”  Here’s what he had to say about cowboy shooting. “I enjoy shootin’ with everybody, shootin’ with guys with mixed backgrounds.  It’s really cool.”

 Shucks, Yankee Dutchman’s a feller who shoots .45’s, is an Ocoee Ranger, and is a John Wayne fan, They just don’t come any better than that. 

THE REAL WEST – LUTHER S. “YELLOWSTONE” KELLY  (1849 – 1928)

Luther “Yellowstone” Kelly was born in Geneva, NY, on July 27, 1849.  If he’d stayed there, he’d probably be unknown now.  Shucks, he’s almost unknown anyway.  But he was a significant figure in the American West of the late 1800’s.

Near the end of the War of Northern Aggression, Luther joined the Yankee army.  He was ultimately sent west to Minnesota and to Dakota to complete his enlistment.  When he mustered out of the Army, he stayed in the Yellowstone and upper Missouri River valley area.  He became a trapper and hunter, and after he became thoroughly familiar with the country, he became an Army Scout and guided many expeditions.  In time, he became Chief of Scouts for General Nelson Miles and for Colonel George Forsyth, of Beecher’s Island fame.

Luther was an educated feller. He read a lot and it’s reported that he frequently quoted Shakespeare.  That probably had something to do with the skirmishes he had with the Indians.  They probably attacked him to make him stop with the Shakespeare. (I can’t say that I blame them.) Luther used a Henry rifle and later a Winchester ’66 Yellowboy against’em. But they evidently figured it was worth the risk to try to stop the Shakespeare.  Of course, Owlhoot Hardin would probably disagree, him being a former college English professor.

When the government established Yellowstone as the first National Park in 1876, “Yellowstone” Kelly became its first Park Ranger. But that wasn’t the end of Luther’s career.  He later guided 2 expeditions to Alaska, was an Army Captain of volunteers in the Philippines War, and was an Indian Agent at San Carlos Indian reservation in Arizona.  He finally retired to California, where he died on December 17, 1928.  Luther must have known that the future California was destined to become a society of nuts: he asked to be buried in Montana. He’s resting atop Kelly Mountain near Billings, Montana. 

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The Ocoee Ranger page 3                      October 2006

OCOEE RANGERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOOT & FAMILY EVENT DECEMBER 16

Do you realize that there is only 1 more shoot before the Ocoee Rangers Annual Christmas Shoot & Family Event, which will be held on the 3rd Saturday (Dec. 16) in December. So, make plans to come out and shoot.  We’ll shoot 3 stages.  Then we’ll adjourn and go over to the Golden Corral restaurant in Cleveland.  After we eat lunch, we’ll present Annual Ocoee Ranger Awards. Then we’ll draw for prizes, and anyone who has shot at least 1 match in 2006, even if it’s the Dec. match, will be eligible to win. Prizes are donated by our event sponsors.  Then we’ll have our cowboy & cowgirl gift swap, for those who want to participate – participation ain’t required.  If you want to participate in the gift swap, bring an unwrapped gift and put it on the gift table.  You’ll get a ticket.  When your ticket is drawn, you get to pick a gift from the table.  The next person can pick a gift from the table, or select your prize – then you have to pick again. Etc. No gift can change hands more than 2 times following the initial selection. It’s fun.  Prizes should be somewhat related to cowboy shooting or a western theme and should not cost more than $10 – $20.  It’s an active, fun part of the event – but you don’t have to participate, if you don’t want to.  And non-shooters can also participate in the gift swap.

The Good People shown below are vendors who Sponsored our 2005 Christmas event.  Please remember them when you do your shopping and when you give others your Santa’s list for Christmas and other occasions.  When you order from them, say “Thanks for Sponsoring the 2005 Ocoee Rangers Annual Christmas Shoot & Family Event”.

Brownells, Inc.

200 South Front Street, Montezuma, Iowa 50171-1000

800-741-0015

www.brownells.com

Gun parts, cleaning stuff, cowboy gun leather, etc.

Red River Station

Route 1 box 26M,

Devol, Oklahoma 73531

red_river_station@excite.com

580-512-0584

Wild Rags Cotton or Silk

Sharpco Distributors

434 Riverbriar Lane

Kodak, TN 37764

(865)933-9387

Knives, cowboy buckles, cowboy movies, etc.

Benton Shooters

Highway 411

Benton, TN  37307

(423) 338-2008

www.Bentonshooters.com

Guns, hunting, fishing – all sporting equipment

Steven H. Maddock

Apishapa Studio

9 Holiday Drive

Tijeras, NM  87059

(505)286-9763

email: sawe21@hotmail.com

apishapa.com

Western Art Sculptures

Ten-X Ammunition

5650 Arrow Hwy.

Montclair, CA 91763

Richard Pumerantz

(Owner SASS Life 20466)

www.TenXAmmo.com      

or Orders@TenXAmmo.com

Buckaroo Bobbins

P.O. Box 1168

Chino Valley, AZ  86323-1168

www.buckaroobobbins.com

Authentic Vintage Western Clothing Patterns

West Creation

7916 FM 1241

Hamilton, TX 76531-3129

www.westcreations.com

email: westcreation@htcomp.net

Cowboy kitchen silverware, dinnerware, glass ware  and other western related products

Early West P.O. Box 9292 College Station, TX 77842 800-245-5841 979-764-7758 FAX

earlywest@verizon.net

Books – Western History & other West Related

Hamilton Dry Goods

4075 Roberts Matthews Hwy.

Sparta, TN 38583

(931) 739-6061

www.hamiltondrygoods.com

email: hamiltondrygoods@miltipro.com

Cowboy & Civil War Period Clothing and Merchandise

Henry Repeating Arms Co.

110 8^th Street

Brooklyn, New York 11215

www.henry-guns.com

American made firearms

Reflection of the Past

Judy & Melissa Jurgensen

2278 Harrods Pointe Trace

Lexington, KY  40514

www.ReflectionsOfThePast.org

Judy@ReflectionsOfThePast.org

Victorian ladies jewelry, hats & costumes

True West

P.O. Box 8008

Cave Creek, Arizona 85327

(408)575-1881

www.TRUEWESTMAGAZINE.COM

True West magazine

Shoot! Magazine

7154 W. State Street #384

Boise, ID 83714

www.ShootMagazine.com

FMG Publications

12345 World Trade Drive

San Diego, CA  92128

Publishers of these magazines:

    American Handgunner

    Guns

Wild West Wicks

11011 Desert Springs

Houston, TX 77095

281-851-0234 phone

info@wildwestwicks.com

email www.wildwestwicks.com

Candles with western scents

Saddlebag Bullets  (Cool Waters)

Bullets, reloading & gun cleaning supplies

Outrider  

Leather goods

Terry’s Toys   (T-Bone Angus)

Cowboy guns

River Bend Rough Riders Cowboy Action Shooting Club

Canton, GA area

Contact:  Sheriff Donald  (770) 607-0794

sheriffdonald@hotmail.com

What prizes have our 2006 Sponsors provided so far? Here are a few samples: .. Personal Cowboy Action Shooting cards with the cowboy’s / cowgirl’s photo and information (RG2, Covington, GA – advertised in the Chronicle and Shoot! Magazine)  …Clothing (Hamilton Dry Goods, Sparta, TN) … Gun Tools (Brownell’s, Montezuma, Iowa) … Table Ware (West Creation, Hamilton, TX) … Gift Certificates (Old Frontier Forts, Nebraska City, NB) … COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING book by Ron Harris (Mesquite Millie & Deadman – advertised in the Chronicle).

OH YEAH. THE CHRISTMAS SHOOT & EVENT IS A GOOD EXCUSE TO DRESS ESPECIALLY SPIFFY TO IMPRESS YOUR PARDNERS.

DEADMAN WILL NOT SHOOT THE CHRISTMAS SHOOT. HE AND MESQUITE MILLIE WILL HAVE THEIR CAMERA, WITH PLENTY OF MEMORY, TO MAKE PICTURES OF ANYONE WHO WANTS HIS / HER PICTURE TAKEN.  THE COST FOR DOING SO – ONLY A SMILE.  AND YOU ONLY HAVE TO SMILE AT MILLIE.

An Ocoee Ranger Howdy and Get Well Soon to Vinegaroon and D. Q. Jones, who’ve both experienced accidental injuries (non-shooting).  We hope you cowboys get better real soon.  See you on the range.