Paul Colt's Blog, page 34
March 9, 2019
Tales of Texas Rangers
How do you craft a series set in two centuries? You take a pair of third generation Texas Ranger partners in twentieth century contemporary time and rewind the tape to their grandfathers of the same names, partnered in the nineteenth century. No problem. The series paired Jace Pearson, played by Willard Parker and partner Clay Morgan, played by B western star Harry Lauter and off you go. The only quirk that escaped to the small screen were a pair of seventy or eighty year old horses, Star for Jace and Blaze for Clay.
Time travel was handled by the introduction to each episode which claimed the case you are about to see is taken from the annals of the Texas Rangers, “Volume 1” for today, “Volume 2” for the early days. The claim of authenticity likely grew out of the shows radio roots. Those scripts were based on adaptations of actual cases. The television series took creative license to the claim. Imagine that.
The radio series aired 95 modern era episodes on NBC from 1950 to 1952. Jace Pearson was played by film star Joel McCrea. In addition to basing scripts on actual cases, the show highlighted the latest scientific advances in crime fighting. The drama backed up its basing with the consulting assistance of thirty year Ranger veteran Captain M. T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas. Gonzaullas also consulted on the TV version.
Tales of Texas Rangers debuted in 1955 on CBS airing 52 thirty minute black and white episodes over three seasons. Scripts were adapted from Columbia Studio’s library of B Western scripts. The show’s theme “These Are Tales of Texas Rangers . . . “, was appropriately set to the tune “The eyes of Texas are upon us . . .” While it played, Jace and Clay strode toward the camera, figuratively reporting for duty.
Next Week: Guns of Will Sonnet
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Paul
Time travel was handled by the introduction to each episode which claimed the case you are about to see is taken from the annals of the Texas Rangers, “Volume 1” for today, “Volume 2” for the early days. The claim of authenticity likely grew out of the shows radio roots. Those scripts were based on adaptations of actual cases. The television series took creative license to the claim. Imagine that.
The radio series aired 95 modern era episodes on NBC from 1950 to 1952. Jace Pearson was played by film star Joel McCrea. In addition to basing scripts on actual cases, the show highlighted the latest scientific advances in crime fighting. The drama backed up its basing with the consulting assistance of thirty year Ranger veteran Captain M. T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas. Gonzaullas also consulted on the TV version.
Tales of Texas Rangers debuted in 1955 on CBS airing 52 thirty minute black and white episodes over three seasons. Scripts were adapted from Columbia Studio’s library of B Western scripts. The show’s theme “These Are Tales of Texas Rangers . . . “, was appropriately set to the tune “The eyes of Texas are upon us . . .” While it played, Jace and Clay strode toward the camera, figuratively reporting for duty.
Next Week: Guns of Will Sonnet
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Ride easy,
Paul
March 2, 2019
Mackenzie's Raiders
Mackenzie’s Raiders took its premise from historical fact, though story lines may not have matched the show’s dramatic opening narration.
“From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true story of Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and the cavalrymen he led- ‘Mackenzie’s Raiders’. His secret orders from the President of the United States- clean up the southwest . . . make it a fit place for Americans to live . . . wipe out the renegades and outlaws and murderers. If necessary, cross the Rio Grande, knowing capture means hanging by the enemy . . . discovery, court martial by the United States Army.”
Unauthorized incursions into Mexico risked international incident. The battle savvy Mackenzie crossed the border to inflict justice on banditos, renegade Apache, rustlers and cutthroats of all stripe. Mackenzie conducted his campaign with the understanding if he were caught, the government would disavow any knowledge of his authority.
The show starred Richard Carlson as Colonel Mackenzie. Carlson was one bright guy with an M.A. degree Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Smartest guy in the room, in his opinion. Likely was too in more than a few rooms. The show aired in 1958 for 39 black and white, thirty minute episodes. Short lived by most series standards, accounting for the modest amount of information available on the series. No public domain photo imagery could be found apart from Carlson’s PR photo pictured.
Based on the show’s premise, you’d think it might have done better. Mission Impossible did pretty well with a similar premise some years later. I guess it just didn’t translate well to horseback. We’re left to speculate what went wrong.
Next Week: Tales of Texas Rangers
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Paul
“From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true story of Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and the cavalrymen he led- ‘Mackenzie’s Raiders’. His secret orders from the President of the United States- clean up the southwest . . . make it a fit place for Americans to live . . . wipe out the renegades and outlaws and murderers. If necessary, cross the Rio Grande, knowing capture means hanging by the enemy . . . discovery, court martial by the United States Army.”
Unauthorized incursions into Mexico risked international incident. The battle savvy Mackenzie crossed the border to inflict justice on banditos, renegade Apache, rustlers and cutthroats of all stripe. Mackenzie conducted his campaign with the understanding if he were caught, the government would disavow any knowledge of his authority.
The show starred Richard Carlson as Colonel Mackenzie. Carlson was one bright guy with an M.A. degree Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Smartest guy in the room, in his opinion. Likely was too in more than a few rooms. The show aired in 1958 for 39 black and white, thirty minute episodes. Short lived by most series standards, accounting for the modest amount of information available on the series. No public domain photo imagery could be found apart from Carlson’s PR photo pictured.
Based on the show’s premise, you’d think it might have done better. Mission Impossible did pretty well with a similar premise some years later. I guess it just didn’t translate well to horseback. We’re left to speculate what went wrong.
Next Week: Tales of Texas Rangers
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Mackenzie's Raiders
Mackenzie’s Raiders took its premise from historical fact, though story lines may not have matched the show’s dramatic opening narration.
“From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true story of Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and the cavalrymen he led- ‘Mackenzie’s Raiders’. His secret orders from the President of the United States- clean up the southwest . . . make it a fit place for Americans to live . . . wipe out the renegades and outlaws and murderers. If necessary, cross the Rio Grande, knowing capture means hanging by the enemy . . . discovery, court martial by the United States Army.”
Unauthorized incursions into Mexico risked international incident. The battle savvy Mackenzie crossed the border to inflict justice on banditos, renegade Apache, rustlers and cutthroats of all stripe. Mackenzie conducted his campaign with the understanding if he were caught, the government would disavow any knowledge of his authority.
The show starred Richard Carlson as Colonel Mackenzie. Carlson was one bright guy with an M.A. degree Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Smartest guy in the room, in his opinion. Likely was too in more than a few rooms. The show aired in 1958 for 39 black and white, thirty minute episodes. Short lived by most series standards, accounting for the modest amount of information available on the series. No public domain photo imagery could be found apart from Carlson’s PR photo pictured.
Based on the show’s premise, you’d think it might have done better. Mission Impossible did pretty well with a similar premise some years later. I guess it just didn’t translate well to horseback. We’re left to speculate what went wrong.
Next Week: Tales of Texas Rangers
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
“From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true story of Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and the cavalrymen he led- ‘Mackenzie’s Raiders’. His secret orders from the President of the United States- clean up the southwest . . . make it a fit place for Americans to live . . . wipe out the renegades and outlaws and murderers. If necessary, cross the Rio Grande, knowing capture means hanging by the enemy . . . discovery, court martial by the United States Army.”
Unauthorized incursions into Mexico risked international incident. The battle savvy Mackenzie crossed the border to inflict justice on banditos, renegade Apache, rustlers and cutthroats of all stripe. Mackenzie conducted his campaign with the understanding if he were caught, the government would disavow any knowledge of his authority.
The show starred Richard Carlson as Colonel Mackenzie. Carlson was one bright guy with an M.A. degree Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. Smartest guy in the room, in his opinion. Likely was too in more than a few rooms. The show aired in 1958 for 39 black and white, thirty minute episodes. Short lived by most series standards, accounting for the modest amount of information available on the series. No public domain photo imagery could be found apart from Carlson’s PR photo pictured.
Based on the show’s premise, you’d think it might have done better. Mission Impossible did pretty well with a similar premise some years later. I guess it just didn’t translate well to horseback. We’re left to speculate what went wrong.
Next Week: Tales of Texas Rangers
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
February 23, 2019
Restless Gun
Producer David Dortort adapted the Restless Gun western series from the NBC radio show The Six Shooter, created by Frank Burt and staring Jimmy Stewart. Dortort cast John Payne as Vint Bonner, a fast gun, drifting in the post-civil war west on a quest to settle down and retire his gun. Payne owned 50% of the show. Dortort would later produce Bonanza and High Chaparral.
Payne once described Vint Bonner as a western “next door neighbor”. The characterization likely stemmed from the character’s roots in the laid back Jimmy Stewart character. Vint Bonner’s gun was a last resort. He favored peaceful conflict resolution often done with humor. The show relied heavily on Burt’s original radio scripts.
Restless Gun aired 77, 30 minute episodes in black and white on NBC over two season’s ’57-’59. NBC thought enough of the show after its first season to propose giving it a full hour. Payne opposed the move, fearing the show’s quality might suffer. The concern is interesting. Critics panned the show as mediocre, so one is left to wonder how much quality was there to protect.
In its second season, Restless Gun aired opposite Rory Calhoun’s Texan on CBS and found itself on the short end of the ratings game. I have to confess, I don’t remember the Texan series. I’ve added it to the list of shows to cover later in this post series. We’ll see if that jogs any memories.
Next Week: Mc Kenzie’s Raiders
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Ride easy,
Paul
Payne once described Vint Bonner as a western “next door neighbor”. The characterization likely stemmed from the character’s roots in the laid back Jimmy Stewart character. Vint Bonner’s gun was a last resort. He favored peaceful conflict resolution often done with humor. The show relied heavily on Burt’s original radio scripts.
Restless Gun aired 77, 30 minute episodes in black and white on NBC over two season’s ’57-’59. NBC thought enough of the show after its first season to propose giving it a full hour. Payne opposed the move, fearing the show’s quality might suffer. The concern is interesting. Critics panned the show as mediocre, so one is left to wonder how much quality was there to protect.
In its second season, Restless Gun aired opposite Rory Calhoun’s Texan on CBS and found itself on the short end of the ratings game. I have to confess, I don’t remember the Texan series. I’ve added it to the list of shows to cover later in this post series. We’ll see if that jogs any memories.
Next Week: Mc Kenzie’s Raiders
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
February 16, 2019
Trackdown
Robert Culp studied acting in New York and pursued his early career on Broadway. He agreed to shoot an episode for Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater thinking it a one shot deal. The pilot spun into a series and for the next two years, 1957-1959 and seventy-one black and white episodes, Culp’s career took an off Broadway trajectory.
Culp was cast as civil war veteran, Hoby Gillman who somewhat reluctantly joins the Texas Rangers, applying his gun skills to tracking down desperados and law breakers. The show employed a number of writers in addition to Robinson, notably the legendary Sam Peckinpah.
Culp took the role seriously, learning to handle his .38 Russian revolver from Arvo Ojala, arguably one of the best at his craft. He studied Texas Ranger history too, earning the show rare endorsements from the State of Texas and the Texas Rangers themselves.
Early in the series scripts had Gillman roaming the west in tracking down the objects of his pursuits. Midway through the first season the show settled into the town of Porter Texas, where Gillman effectively served as sheriff. The device allowed introduction of a regular supporting cast over the remainder of the series. Supporting actors and roles came and went including Ellen Corby as newspaper woman Henrietta Porter, James Griffin as bachelor barber Aaron Adams, Gail Kobe as Aaron’s sister Penny, Norman Leavitt as jail handyman, Rusty Wescoatt as a bartender, Peter Richards as a gambler and Adison Richards as Dr. Jay Calhoun.
Trackdown debuted on CBS opposite Jim Bowie on ABC. By the second season it faced Walt Disney on ABC and Ellery Queen on NBC. At midseason Rawhide took Trackdown’s time slot on CBS and the show moved opposite Ozzie and Harriett on ABC. Ouch.
Culp credited the show with being ‘a thinking man’s western’ and one of the better theatric achievements among westerns of the day. Right or wrong with thirty-six western series airing at the time, Culp’s critical acclaim never showed up in the ratings.
Next Week: The Restless Gun
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Ride easy,
Paul
Culp was cast as civil war veteran, Hoby Gillman who somewhat reluctantly joins the Texas Rangers, applying his gun skills to tracking down desperados and law breakers. The show employed a number of writers in addition to Robinson, notably the legendary Sam Peckinpah.
Culp took the role seriously, learning to handle his .38 Russian revolver from Arvo Ojala, arguably one of the best at his craft. He studied Texas Ranger history too, earning the show rare endorsements from the State of Texas and the Texas Rangers themselves.
Early in the series scripts had Gillman roaming the west in tracking down the objects of his pursuits. Midway through the first season the show settled into the town of Porter Texas, where Gillman effectively served as sheriff. The device allowed introduction of a regular supporting cast over the remainder of the series. Supporting actors and roles came and went including Ellen Corby as newspaper woman Henrietta Porter, James Griffin as bachelor barber Aaron Adams, Gail Kobe as Aaron’s sister Penny, Norman Leavitt as jail handyman, Rusty Wescoatt as a bartender, Peter Richards as a gambler and Adison Richards as Dr. Jay Calhoun.
Trackdown debuted on CBS opposite Jim Bowie on ABC. By the second season it faced Walt Disney on ABC and Ellery Queen on NBC. At midseason Rawhide took Trackdown’s time slot on CBS and the show moved opposite Ozzie and Harriett on ABC. Ouch.
Culp credited the show with being ‘a thinking man’s western’ and one of the better theatric achievements among westerns of the day. Right or wrong with thirty-six western series airing at the time, Culp’s critical acclaim never showed up in the ratings.
Next Week: The Restless Gun
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Ride easy,
Paul
February 9, 2019
Whispering Smith
Set in the 1870’s, Whispering Smith portrayed the exploits of Denver police detective, Tom Whispering Smith, played by Audie Murphy. The character combined elements of Richard Boone’s Have Gun Will Travel and Dale Robertson’s Tales of Wells Fargo, both proven concepts. Murphy was attracted to the project, thinking he could parlay his big screen motion picture successes onto the small screen. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but the show was star-crossed from the beginning.
Shooting began on the Universal backlot in 1959. With seven episodes in the can, Murphy co-star Guy Mitchell broke his shoulder in a horse wreck. Shooting suspended for six weeks, running into a conflict with a Murphy film obligation. That was followed by supporting actor Sam Buffington, who played Murphy’s boss, tragically committing suicide. What more could go wrong you say? How about Audie’s horse Joe Queen. He was too fast for the rest of the stock cast to keep up. Eventually Murphy had to ride a stand in double to stay in the scenes on camera.
Next came the creative and budget disputes. Four producers came and went. Some of a mind the shows could be made on the cheap. Murphy was having none of cheap. Costs soared past the $45,000.00 per episode budgeted. Eventually 26 of 84 contracted episodes were made.
Whispering Smith finally made it to air on NBC in 1961, opposite The Danny Thomas Show on CBS and ABC’s Surfside 6. The next round of controversy soon followed stirred up by none other than United States Senate. A Senate subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on the series citing it for excessive violence. Murphy found himself defending the moral values of law enforcement officer sacrifices for the protection of others. The hearings cast a shadow over the show and after twenty episodes aired, low ratings brought the curtain down.
Next Week: Trackdown
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Ride easy,
Paul
Shooting began on the Universal backlot in 1959. With seven episodes in the can, Murphy co-star Guy Mitchell broke his shoulder in a horse wreck. Shooting suspended for six weeks, running into a conflict with a Murphy film obligation. That was followed by supporting actor Sam Buffington, who played Murphy’s boss, tragically committing suicide. What more could go wrong you say? How about Audie’s horse Joe Queen. He was too fast for the rest of the stock cast to keep up. Eventually Murphy had to ride a stand in double to stay in the scenes on camera.
Next came the creative and budget disputes. Four producers came and went. Some of a mind the shows could be made on the cheap. Murphy was having none of cheap. Costs soared past the $45,000.00 per episode budgeted. Eventually 26 of 84 contracted episodes were made.
Whispering Smith finally made it to air on NBC in 1961, opposite The Danny Thomas Show on CBS and ABC’s Surfside 6. The next round of controversy soon followed stirred up by none other than United States Senate. A Senate subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on the series citing it for excessive violence. Murphy found himself defending the moral values of law enforcement officer sacrifices for the protection of others. The hearings cast a shadow over the show and after twenty episodes aired, low ratings brought the curtain down.
Next Week: Trackdown
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
February 2, 2019
Cimarron City
When George Montgomery was offered the lead role of Matthew Rockford, rancher and Cimarron City mayor, he finally found a role and a format to entice him to make the jump from big screen to TV series. That and the fact George got fifty percent of the show, making him equal partner with NBC. Montgomery was joined in the cast by John Smith as Lane Temple, blacksmith and deputy sheriff, Audrey Trotter as boarding house owner Beth Purcell and Dan Blocker, playing Tiny Budinger ranch hand and friend.
The show was set in Cimarron City in Logan County Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Cimarron City is a boom town, rich in oil and gold with all the nefarious plotlines brought on by mineral wealth and greed. Besides a talented ensemble cast the show’s twenty-six episodes played host to a cavalcade of guest stars including Nick Adams, John Carradine, Dan Duryea, Peter Graves, Fred MacMurray, Elizabeth Montgomery, Rita Moreno, Purnell Roberts and a host of others.
The move to TV from film proved a creative and cultural jolt for Montgomery. Almost from the beginning the agreed format for the show wandered away from the original concept. Montgomery’s creative objections were met with promises and excuses; but no substantive correction. Writing was fluid. George would study his lines the night before the next day’s shoot only to arrive at the lot the following day and be handed revisions from the overnight rewrite.
The pain was short lived. Cimarron City premiered in 1958 on NBC. The Saturday night 9:30 timeslot faced Have Gun Will Travel in the first half hour and Gunsmoke in the second. Guess who won that shoot out. The show wrapped after twenty six episodes. John Smith was immediately picked-up and cast in Laramie. Likewise Dan Blocker landed as Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza.
Next Week: Whispering Smith
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Ride easy,
Paul
The show was set in Cimarron City in Logan County Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Cimarron City is a boom town, rich in oil and gold with all the nefarious plotlines brought on by mineral wealth and greed. Besides a talented ensemble cast the show’s twenty-six episodes played host to a cavalcade of guest stars including Nick Adams, John Carradine, Dan Duryea, Peter Graves, Fred MacMurray, Elizabeth Montgomery, Rita Moreno, Purnell Roberts and a host of others.
The move to TV from film proved a creative and cultural jolt for Montgomery. Almost from the beginning the agreed format for the show wandered away from the original concept. Montgomery’s creative objections were met with promises and excuses; but no substantive correction. Writing was fluid. George would study his lines the night before the next day’s shoot only to arrive at the lot the following day and be handed revisions from the overnight rewrite.
The pain was short lived. Cimarron City premiered in 1958 on NBC. The Saturday night 9:30 timeslot faced Have Gun Will Travel in the first half hour and Gunsmoke in the second. Guess who won that shoot out. The show wrapped after twenty six episodes. John Smith was immediately picked-up and cast in Laramie. Likewise Dan Blocker landed as Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza.
Next Week: Whispering Smith
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 26, 2019
2nd Classic TV Western
Back by popular demand, 2nd Classic TV Westerns. When we did our first series last year a number of shows were not included for whatever reason. Most likely they were relatively short lived or victim of a disadvantaged time slot opposite some runaway favorite. Still enough of you, our readers, thought enough of them to suggest we not overlook these shows. Trust me we take you suggestions to heart when you offer them. Finding ‘interesting’ subject matter for these weekly ramblings is the hard part when it comes to creating these pages.
Before undertaking this series I confess I did a fast pass on the research to make sure I could find enough material on these shows to blog about them. In most cases I was pleasantly surprised. One series, The Outcasts was described as “rare”. I guess so. Rare is about what I found. A couple of others didn’t serve up a lot of information at first pass, so we may combine a couple into a single post. We’ll see.
With those minor qualifications aside here’s what is headed our way in coming weeks. See how many of these you remember. Cimarron City, Whispering Smith, Trackdown, The Restless Gun, McKenzie’s Raiders, Tales of Texas Rangers, Guns of Will Sonnett, Twenty-Six Men, Branded, Iron Horse and High Chapparal. Shane makes the list too, a not quite so classic TV series based on a classic book, one of my all-time favorite westerns and a classic movie by the same name.
I had a pretty good recollection of Chuck Connors in Branded and the Cannon family of High Chapparal fame. When it came to the rest, I could recall the titles; but that’s about as far as I got. The good news is with a little research for a crutch, you can hobble most anywhere. I think we can have some fun with these oldies.
Next Week: Cimarron City
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
Before undertaking this series I confess I did a fast pass on the research to make sure I could find enough material on these shows to blog about them. In most cases I was pleasantly surprised. One series, The Outcasts was described as “rare”. I guess so. Rare is about what I found. A couple of others didn’t serve up a lot of information at first pass, so we may combine a couple into a single post. We’ll see.
With those minor qualifications aside here’s what is headed our way in coming weeks. See how many of these you remember. Cimarron City, Whispering Smith, Trackdown, The Restless Gun, McKenzie’s Raiders, Tales of Texas Rangers, Guns of Will Sonnett, Twenty-Six Men, Branded, Iron Horse and High Chapparal. Shane makes the list too, a not quite so classic TV series based on a classic book, one of my all-time favorite westerns and a classic movie by the same name.
I had a pretty good recollection of Chuck Connors in Branded and the Cannon family of High Chapparal fame. When it came to the rest, I could recall the titles; but that’s about as far as I got. The good news is with a little research for a crutch, you can hobble most anywhere. I think we can have some fun with these oldies.
Next Week: Cimarron City
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 19, 2019
Well Said
We thought we’d find more material on this last lot. We didn’t. Here they are rolled into one. Will Rogers, when asked if his ancestors came over on the Mayflower said, “My relatives were here to meet them.” Rogers also said, “This thing of being a hero, about the main thing to it is to know when to die. Prolonged life has ruined more men than it ever made.” They say living long is the best revenge.
“All you need in life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” Mark Twain, doesn’t have anything to do with Will Rogers other than Twain too was a humorist. I expect Will would approve. “The more ignorant you are the quicker you fight.” Will Rogers.
“It was considered the most dangerous route in the (Black) Hills, but as my reputation as a rider and a quick shot was well known, I was molested very little, for the toll gatherers looked on me as being a good fellow and they knew that I never missed my mark.” Pony Express rider Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane. She was proud of the fact others considered her a ‘good fellow’. She could ride, chew, drink, cuss and shoot with the best of them. Shortly before her death Jane said, “Leave me alone and let me go to hell by my own route.”
“Never run a bluff with a six-gun.” Bat Masterson. “Shoot first and never miss.” Sound advice from one who would know. Bat saw it like his pal Wyatt Earp. Accuracy trumps speed. Most often accurate was fast enough. Bat lived out his later years as a sports writer for a New York daily. He died at his at his desk October 25, 1921. The following was found in his typewriter.
“There are those who argue that everything breaks even in this old dump of a world of ours. I suppose these ginks who argue that way hold that, because the rich man gets ice in the summer and the poor man gets it in the winter, things are breaking even for both. Maybe so, but I’ll swear I can’t see it that way.”
Bat Masterson’s life on the western frontier is one of the west’s more overlooked stories. Three years ago I began researching his life and times. His exploits are stunning. We explore his story, as he might have told it, in my new book. Friends Call Me Bat releases in May 2019.
Next Week: 2nd Classic TV Westerns
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
“All you need in life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” Mark Twain, doesn’t have anything to do with Will Rogers other than Twain too was a humorist. I expect Will would approve. “The more ignorant you are the quicker you fight.” Will Rogers.
“It was considered the most dangerous route in the (Black) Hills, but as my reputation as a rider and a quick shot was well known, I was molested very little, for the toll gatherers looked on me as being a good fellow and they knew that I never missed my mark.” Pony Express rider Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane. She was proud of the fact others considered her a ‘good fellow’. She could ride, chew, drink, cuss and shoot with the best of them. Shortly before her death Jane said, “Leave me alone and let me go to hell by my own route.”
“Never run a bluff with a six-gun.” Bat Masterson. “Shoot first and never miss.” Sound advice from one who would know. Bat saw it like his pal Wyatt Earp. Accuracy trumps speed. Most often accurate was fast enough. Bat lived out his later years as a sports writer for a New York daily. He died at his at his desk October 25, 1921. The following was found in his typewriter.
“There are those who argue that everything breaks even in this old dump of a world of ours. I suppose these ginks who argue that way hold that, because the rich man gets ice in the summer and the poor man gets it in the winter, things are breaking even for both. Maybe so, but I’ll swear I can’t see it that way.”
Bat Masterson’s life on the western frontier is one of the west’s more overlooked stories. Three years ago I began researching his life and times. His exploits are stunning. We explore his story, as he might have told it, in my new book. Friends Call Me Bat releases in May 2019.
Next Week: 2nd Classic TV Westerns
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 12, 2019
Gallows Talk
“But you won’t be here to see any of ‘em; not by a damn sight, because it’s the order of this court that you be taken to the nearest tree and hung by the neck until dead, dead, dead, you son of a billy goat.” Judge Roy Bean.
Bean wasn’t the only one famous for last words. “The United States court opened at Fort Smith last week with many cases on the docket. This court has the most extensive jurisdiction of any court in the United States. More prisoners are tried and convicted here of serious offenses than at any other court in the country and more prisoners are hanged here than at any other place in the Union. Here also resided the most noted executioner in America, George Maledon, who has hanged more people than any other man in the business and never did a ‘bad-job’. . .”
This last line becomes important to the subject of a hanging. The possibilities for bad hangings were numerous and unpleasant ranging from slow strangulation to decapitation. You needed a properly placed knot and an accurate weighting to do the trick. Given the number of armature lynching’s frontier justice was known for, I suspect there we more bad hangings than good.
“ . . . Maledon seems to take pride in his profession. Launching a man into eternity seems to have no more effect on his nervous system than castor oil on a graven image.” News account.
“Can’t you hurry this up a bit? I hear they eat dinner in Hades at twelve sharp and I don’t plan to be late.” Black Jack Ketchum on the occasion of his hanging.
“My mother always said I would die with my shoes on.” Last words said by Steve Long at his hanging after asking that his shoes be removed.
“You’re the sickest looking lot of sheriffs I have ever seen.” Tom Horn on mounting the gallows.
“We never did hang the wrong one but once or twice, and them fellers needed to be hung anyhow jes’ on general principles.” Unknown Judge
“I never hanged a man that didn’t deserve it.” Judge Isaac Parker’s hangman.
Next Week: Well Said
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Ride easy,
Paul
Bean wasn’t the only one famous for last words. “The United States court opened at Fort Smith last week with many cases on the docket. This court has the most extensive jurisdiction of any court in the United States. More prisoners are tried and convicted here of serious offenses than at any other court in the country and more prisoners are hanged here than at any other place in the Union. Here also resided the most noted executioner in America, George Maledon, who has hanged more people than any other man in the business and never did a ‘bad-job’. . .”
This last line becomes important to the subject of a hanging. The possibilities for bad hangings were numerous and unpleasant ranging from slow strangulation to decapitation. You needed a properly placed knot and an accurate weighting to do the trick. Given the number of armature lynching’s frontier justice was known for, I suspect there we more bad hangings than good.
“ . . . Maledon seems to take pride in his profession. Launching a man into eternity seems to have no more effect on his nervous system than castor oil on a graven image.” News account.
“Can’t you hurry this up a bit? I hear they eat dinner in Hades at twelve sharp and I don’t plan to be late.” Black Jack Ketchum on the occasion of his hanging.
“My mother always said I would die with my shoes on.” Last words said by Steve Long at his hanging after asking that his shoes be removed.
“You’re the sickest looking lot of sheriffs I have ever seen.” Tom Horn on mounting the gallows.
“We never did hang the wrong one but once or twice, and them fellers needed to be hung anyhow jes’ on general principles.” Unknown Judge
“I never hanged a man that didn’t deserve it.” Judge Isaac Parker’s hangman.
Next Week: Well Said
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Ride easy,
Paul
