Western Writers Chat Newsletter September 2005
SEPTEMBER Vol. 9 No. 9
PART #1
JAMES - YOUNGER GANG SURROUNDED
IN ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY
by MargeeBee
September 7, 1876, Minnesota
In the heat of the afternoon, five men rode into Northfield, Minnesota yelling and shooting their guns in the middle of town. Their main idea was to distract the citizens from what was happening at the Northfield First National Bank. Three other men wearing long, tan dusters moved quickly into the bank building, their guns drawn on the teller and customers inside. One slim young man ordered the teller to open the safe and fill their sacks with money. The teller recognized the familiar face of Jesse James and diverted him by saying the safe door could not be opened because of the time lock. Scared or foolish, the bank teller made a daring run for the back door and was fired upon by two of the outlaws. The man was shot twice in the shoulder but stumbled out of the door and managed to get away. He warned the citizens of Northfield that the bank was being robbed.
The town folks quickly armed themselves and surrounded the bank and began shooting the minute the gang ran outside. The James - Younger men began to fall in the street, mortally wounded. The first man to die was Clell Miller, then Bill Chadwell was peppered with bullets from rapid firing. Frank James was struck in the leg. Jim, Cole and Bob Younger were all badly wounded.
Jesse James, after shooting the bank cashier in the head, was the last man out of the bank. He quickly mounted his horse and yelled for the rest of the gang to ride out. They hid as well as they could in trees and brush a few miles out of Northfield patching their wounds. A fast moving Northfield posse pursued them but they managed to keep hidden.
Being frustrated by the unusual force that the Northfield citizens had used against them in defense of their money, Jesse and Frank decided they would head out in a different direction and left the wounded Youngers behind. The two brothers headed to the Dakota territory until things cooled down and the posse dispersed, then they rode to Nashville, Tennessee where they began to reorganize a new gang determined on bigger and better robberies.
PASSAGE TO CORPUS CHRISTI
Part Two
by Frazer Williamson.
"Carey," Hamish McDougal said. "I'm worried."
"She'll hold," Carey Wright, sea Captain of the Mississippi Belle, reassured the riverboat Captain. "Why man, the Mississippi has rougher waters."
"I'm not so sure," Hamish said.
"I trust Captain Wright," said Sarah Abel. She made a third at table.
Carey said, "We're not goin' out into the Atlantic. We're in a gulf, a great lake with as much fresh water as salt."
"A lake of hurricanes," Hamish said.
"Too early for hurricanes," Carey said. "Passage'll be as smooth as silk."
Sarah Abel saw that Hamish McDougal was not convinced. Each day he made an examination of the structures that had transformed the Mississippi Belle from riverboat to halfship.
"Anything temporary," he'd told her, "is not to be trusted."
"We'll be in Corpus Christi before the hurricanes start," she said.
Her son lay wounded in a hospital at Nueces Bay and she wanted to be with him as soon as possible.
Hamish looked at the passing Louisiana coastline.
* * *
The day before they sailed, a ship belonging to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, came into New Orleans. Hearing of its arrival, General Winfield Scott who had been ordered by President Polk to assume command of all the U.S. forces in Mexico summoned the leader of the survey team, Professor Ashram. The Professor was questioned about weather conditions and about how much the Gulf Stream would impede the progress of the Army towards Vera Cruz. It had been decided to attack Mexico City from the South as General Taylor came from the North.
Ashram said, "The conditions for a hurricane are right and we did not want to risk our scientific instruments."
"I have it on good authority," said Scott, "that hurricanes never occur this early."
"There will be a hurricane within the week if I am not mistaken."
"We intend to sail, tomorrow," Scott said.
"I would advise against it," Ashram cautioned.
General Scott thanked the Professor and made the decision that the invasion force would sail the next day, and that nothing was to be said to any of the captains about hurricanes.
* * *
On the third day out there was darkness at noon, and the coastline could be seen no longer. Sarah Abel climbed to the bridge and joined the two Captains. The swell of the sea had increased and a rising wind was whipping up waves that broke with a crash over the bow. All hatches were battened down and shutters were put on all windows, but it was not possible to close all areas of the Belle to the sea.
"Let's make for a port in Louisiana," he said to Carey.
"We'll keep her on course. This is nothing but a big blow."
Seeing Sarah Abel, Carey said, "Best if you stayed below, Sarah."
"I felt sick below. I'm better up here."
Wind, waves, and darkness became worse. Lamps were lit in the wheelhouse, as were the Port and Starboard lights that were soon extinguished as the winds raged and the seas became mountainous.
Sarah paled and prayed as the glass of the wheelhouse windows shattered and she was cut and soaked with salt water. The wind took her breath away. She was thrown against the back of the wheelhouse and collapsed to the floor to be washed between the feet of the two Captains who wrestled with the wheel. Her head hit something but she did not loose consciousness. She felt herself being washed away.
A hand took a bunch of her clothing and hauled her to her feet. There was rain now as well as breaking waves. She felt a mouth on her ear and heard Hamish shouting for her to help Carey with the wheel. She gasped in air and hung on for dear life and tried to help Carey.
Hamish left the comparative shelter of the wheelhouse. The wind caught him and threw him against the rail but an incoming wave threw him back along the companionway. He sprawled his way aft his eyes stinging with salt water. He tumbled down to the engine room where all was flooded and clouded with hissing steam.
The Chief Engineer had managed to keep two lamps burning. The furnace fires were out and the Chief was trying to lift a pile of wood that had fallen on two of his men. Hamish helped him. One man was dead but the other had crush injuries.
Suddenly everything became calm, and in that calmness they got the injured man to the saloon. He told the Chief to get back and get the furnace going again while he sought the rest of the crew. He found them huddled under the bridge tied to stanchions. He cut the ties and got them working on the pumps. He felt the ship shudder as the paddles began to turn and just as the Belle was making way the wind howled again with increased velocity and the sea became a monster.
Carey could take care of the bridge. He'd see that the pumps were manned and the furnace was kept lit as long as possible. He took two men to the engine room to throw wood into the furnace.
"God have mercy upon us," Hamish prayed. "Let her stay afloat and keep her together as much as possible."
For a day and a half, the Mississippi Belle was battered and bruised and driven in circles into the deeps of the Gulf of Mexico, but the crew fought it with the same spirit as the Texans had fought Santa Anna at the Alamo, and they came through with just the one life lost, before the hurricane left them to devastate the Atlantic coast. The dead stoker was buried in a still sea before the Belle made its limping way to Corpus Christi.
Sarah Abel with multiple cuts and a bump on her head the size of a ducks egg, wanted to know where Neuces Bay was. Her whole concern now was for her son.
TONY THE PONY
When Ah wuz a kid
Ah always did
'zactly what I was told
Ah got a pony
Ah named him Tony
When Ah was twelve years old
Ah loved him like a brother
Didn't want no other
since he was out of the fold
Roundin' up steers
For the next eight years
We worked the Chisholm Trail
Ridin' night and day
For not much pay
Through sun rain and hail
He'd never grumble
And never stumble
He'd just prick up his ears
And give me a nuzzle
With his great big muzzle
Jus' to show that he cared
But Ah had no sense
Tried to jump a fence
And down fell poor old Tony
The foreman spoke
"His leg is broke
Ya gotta shoot that pony."
Mah eyes filled with tears
When he pricked up h is ears,
He seemed to know he had to go.
Ah seen them big, sad eyes
As we said our good byes
Then, Ah shot him through the head.
It broke my heart and I cried
We left him where he died,
On the hard trail lying dead
Then back home at the ranch
Washed my face in the branch.
Then sat and cried as Ah hung my head.
Mizz Tinny and Fretherne
From Chuckwagon Tales 2005
SIR JOHN MILLS IN A WESTERN - - INDEED !
by Stephen Lodge
Working with Sir John Mills on an American Western TV Series
The first TV Show I did as a costumer was "The Fugitive," starring David Janssen -- a very popular show in its day. Sorry to say, "The Fugitive" wasnt a Western, though the show itself and most of the story lines ran along a definite Western theme.
The second TV Show I did as a costumer was a short-lived series called, "Dundee & the Culhane." A cute little cowboy show for CBS, about a lawyer and his sidekick traveling through the old West, helping others.
This show took me to my first distant location -- Arizona. We shot in Flagstaff, Apache Junction, and Old Tucson. I was a very lucky guy. The star of "Dundee & the Culhane" was the renowned British actor, (Sir) John Mills. His sidekick, a relative unknown, Sean Garrison. Both of them, great to work with.
As wardrobe set man, thats the number two person in the costume team -- the Key Costumer being the one who decides on the clothes to be worn and actually fits the actors -- I was hired about the time everything had to be loaded up for shipping.
After waiting until the last minute to pack all the stuff Id be wearing for the next month or so, I joined the cast and crew at the Burbank Airport, boarded a charter, and took off for Arizona.
Our first location was quite a few miles from Flagstaff, where we were staying -- east, near the Painted Desert. It was an old adobe fort, a set built for the 1964 Raoul Walsh Warner Bros. epic, "A Distant Trumpet." The guest stars for this first episode were, John McIntire (Wagon Train), David Canary (Bonanza), and Sally Kellerman (MASH). The story was about a treasure buried on the grounds of the fort. Every one wanted the gold.
I was very impressed by stuntman Jack Williams who took a two-story fall from a building at the same time it was blown out from under him.
I had seen stunts performed before, but never one of that measure. The show carried another stuntman on full salary - Fred Stromsoe. His main job was to double Sean Garrison, but he was always being put to use playing other parts or doubling a guest star or two.
Working on "The Fugitive" TV Series for two seasons before I landed "Dundee and the Culhane" had prepared me for a distant location, inasmuch as a location is a location. One or the other, youre away from your home base (studio) and must fend for yourself. Thats why every studio department takes with them anything and everything they may want or need that has any relation to their job.
My boss on "Dundee and the Culhane," Chuck Arico, and I had a small trailer for the wardrobe. When I say small, I am comparing it to other trailers and trucks I would use in my future years as a costumer. In other words, we were very cramped. The trailer was so small that when packed with all the clothes we took for the actors we would be fitting for the next month, a person couldnt move around inside. In addition to learning new things on the shooting location, there was other stuff I picked up about what location crews did in their off time. On location, there was definitely more drinking, more carousing, more messing around with the opposite sex, more dinners out and, of course, less sleep.
One night I got together with the male nurse -- he on the drums and me on guitar -- and we out-did, or maybe I should say, out-blasted, the local hotel band. Needless to say, we all had a lot of fun.
I was able to put my stunting experience to good use in Flagstaff. The production manager asked me to double John Mills on one occasion -- opening the wooden gates for a stagecoach barreling into the fort. The coach and six horses coming so close to Mills (me) that the rush of air knocked his (my) hat off.
Our second location, Apache Junction, provided the settings for two episodes. The first was a segment guest starring Warren Oates and John Barrymore, Jr. (Drew's father.) The second, an Indian story shot on the Green River. In the Barrymore episode, I was called upon to use my limited expertise in horsemanship. I doubled Barrymore as he led his band of outlaws through a barn at full gallop. We did it in the first take. While I was basking in my momentary glory, the company picked up and moved to the next set, leaving me all alone with my horse. Oh, well. The third location was Old Tucson, an excellent adobe and wood Western town set built in 1940 for the Jean Arthur, William Holden, Columbia adventure, "Arizona." We were there to do three episodes.
One of those shows guest starred a man who was to become my writing partner on, "The Honkers," several years later - Steve Ihnat. I had met Steve on "The Fugitive," and would work with him again a few times before he would realize I wanted more out of show business than just supplying actors with their rags.
Every afternoon at precisely four oclock, John Mills and his wife, Mary Bell, would take tea in their canvas chairs, wherever we might be shooting. For the British, teatime always comes first. It was very amusing, for me and the rest of the crew, to watch the two of them sitting so regally, sipping tea from real china, while the rest of us waited on some rocky hillside until they were through.
The rest of the 13 episodes were finished up locally, Corriganville, Thousand Oaks, and several of the other Western movie ranches in the Los Angeles area. We also spent a great deal of the time on the CBS Studio Center Western Street and back lot, as well as many hours on a sound stage.
"Dundee and the Culhane," the story of a lawyer who travels through the old west, always dealt with a trial of some kind usually murder. We made courtrooms out of saloons, old mine shafts, train cars, cabins and even on the trail. Just about everywhere. Then we were canceled. Oh well.
Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit!:
http://www.texasoutfit.com_ (http://www.texasoutfit.com/
COMING SOON :
Nickel-Plated Dream
http://behlerpublications.com/titles-lodge-dreams.asp
C O N T E S T
LOUIS L'AMOUR "DUO IN DURANGO"
SWEEPSTAKES OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
Open to legal residents of the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico), who are 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2005. Sweepstakes ends December 15, 2005.
TO ENTER:
Mail-in Entry:
Handprint your complete name and address, including zip code, and phone number (optional) on an Official Entry Form or 3" x 5" piece of paper. Mail entry in a hand-addressed (#10) envelope to: Louis L'Amour "Duo in Durango" Sweepstakes, P.O Box 878, Farmingdale, NY 11735. Entries must be postmarked by December 15, 2005 and received by January 2, 2006. You may enter as often as you wish via mail, but limit one entry per outer mailing envelope.
Online Entry:
Enter online beginning at 12:00 Midnight, U.S. Eastern Time (ET), August 1, 2005, through 11:59 PM, U.S. Eastern Time (ET), December 15, 2005, at www.louislamour.com by following the Louis L'Amour "Duo in Durango" Sweepstakes directions and providing your complete name, address and email address. Limit one entry per person and/or email address per day.
Sponsor is not responsible for lost/late/misdirected entries or computer malfunctions. Entrants may be automatically enrolled into the Louis L'Amour email program (no purchase necessary to receive the email program, and entrants may cancel the email program at any time).
WINNER SELECTION:
One (1) Grand Prize Winner and ten (10) First Prize Winners will be selected in a random drawing from all eligible entries, conducted on or about January 6, 2006, by the Bantam Dell Marketing Department. All decisions are final. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
PRIZES:
One (1) Grand Prize A four (4)-day/three (3)-night trip for two (2) to Durango, Colorado, consisting of round-trip Economy Class air transportation, three (3) nights' hotel accommodations (double occupancy) in the famed Strater Hotel, a tour of the L'Amour family ranch, $500 spending money, and a complete Bantam L'Amour library consisting of approximately 120 books. (Approximate Retail Value - $3,900); Ten (10) First Prizes A hardcover copy of each of the first three hardcover volumes in The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour (ARV - $66.00 each). Items not listed in Grand Prize, including but not limited to ground transportation, meals, room service and all other personal and incidental expenses, will be Winner's responsibility. Grand Prize Winner must travel by December 15, 2006, and travel dates are subject to availability and blackout periods. All travel must be from the major airport nearest to Grand Prize Winner's residence, and Winner will be responsible for any travel to and from that airport.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE:
Open to legal residents of the U.S, who are 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2005. Employees of Random House, Inc., The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, their parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, agencies and immediate families and persons living in the same household of such employees are not eligible. Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited.
GENERAL CONDITIONS:
Taxes will be the responsibility of the Winners. Potential Grand Prize Winner will be required to execute an Affidavit/Publicity/Liability Release within 14 days of attempted notification, or prize will be forfeited and an alternate Winner selected. Grand Prize Winner's traveling companion must be 18 years of age or older and must execute a Liability Release within the same time period. Non-compliance with any condition will result in disqualification and selection of an alternate Winner. Grand Prize Winner will be notified by mail on or about January 13, 2006, and First Prize Winners will be notified by mail on or about February 10, 2006. No transfer/cash substitution of prize is permitted. Sponsor reserves the right to post, remove and/or modify this sweepstakes on the Internet at any time. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries from anyone tampering with the Internet entry process. If, for any reason, the sweepstakes or any drawing is not capable of running as planned by reason of damage by computer virus, worms, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, technical limitations or failures, or any other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, could compromise, undermine or otherwise affect the Official Rules, administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the sweepstakes, the Sponsor reserves the right and absolute discretion to modify these Official Rules and/or to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the sweepstakes. In the event of termination or cancellation, the Winners will be selected from all eligible entries received before termination. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to the site. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to any computer, other equipment, or person relating to or resulting from participation in the sweepstakes, or from downloading materials or accessing the site. Sweepstakes is subject to applicable laws and regulations. Participants release the Sponsor, its agencies, and assigns from any liability and/or loss resulting from participation in sweepstakes or acceptance or use of any prize. By their entry, participants agree to these rules. By acceptance of prize, Winners agree to rules and Sponsor's use of their name/likeness for commercial purposes without notification/compensation, except where prohibited by law.
TO OBTAIN THE NAMES OF THE WINNERS:
For the names of the Winners, available after February 17, 2006, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to be received by January 27, 2006 to: Louis L'Amour "Duo in Durango" Winners, Dept. CWS/24-3, Bantam Dell Publishing Group, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Promotion Sponsor is The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Nipper's Grammar Nits
by Pat Decker Nipper
Among vs. Between
The distinction here is fairly easy to remember. Between; applies when comparing two items. Among; applies when comparing more than two. For example, The rancher built a fence between his mares and his stallions. And: The rancher scattered hay among his horses, donkeys, and mules.
Between can also connote the relationship of three or more items when they are considered one at a time, or when action takes place between only two of the several at once. Ranchers met to discuss conflicting laws between the local government and the county, state, and federal districts.
Pat Decker Nipper
PRESIDENT LINCOLN REINSTATES
GENERAL McCLELLAN
September 2, 1862
McClellan placed back in full command. President Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disaster at Second Bull Run on August 29 and 30. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, saw much of his army transferred to Pope's Army of Virginia after his failure to capture Richmond during the Seven Days' Battles in June 1862.
The Amazing Tom Mix
by Richard Jensen
The Most Famous Cowboy of the Movies is now on sale!
The most famous movie cowboy of the movies died violently in 1940 and is
virtually forgotten today because all but ten of his films were silent
movies.
Tom Mix was a town marshal and cowboy in the Oklahoma Territory, a rodeo champion and a wild west show performer. With his devil-may-care attitude, quick wit and penchant for doing breath-taking stunts on his wonder horse,Tony, Tom Mix went on to become the #1 movie cowboy of silent films, earning millions of dollars at a time when movie tickets cost pennies. Mix performed for over 71,000,000 fans through his film and live performances and became famous the world over for his squeaky clean image. In his time he was as famous as baseball great Babe Ruth and world champion boxer Jack Dempsey, both of whom were his friends.
While he basked in this incredible acclaim, Tom Mix lived in fear that his
deep, dark secrets would be discovered and his career and his cherished
image would be destroyed.
Celebrated author Richard D. Jensen has spent more than 30 years researching the life of Tom Mix, the man hailed as "the idol of every American boy."
With incredible detail, much of it gained from hundreds of original letters,
records, documents and eyewitness accounts of Mix's life, The Amazing Tom
Mix cuts through 100 years of public relations mythology, tall tales and
outright lies to bring the true and inspiring story of a man whose Saturday
matinee cowboy image would become the standard for all of the movie cowboys who rode the silver screen after him.
"Here is Tom Mix as he really was...a captivating biography ... brilliant
... delightful ... It is a splendid book."
Richard S. Wheeler, five-time Spur Award winning author of Trouble In
Tombstone.
"... the most complete biography of Mix's life of trials, tribulations and
victories."
John Duncklee, author of Bull By The Tale.
--
Richard D. Jensen
Visit my website @www.cowboynovels.com
Your chat hosts,
Marge, Sandy, Kim
WESTERN WRITERS CHAT WEBSITE
Our website is now updated and ready to use:
WESTERN WRITERS Home Page
http://members.aol.com/avtopaz/westernw.htm
© 1997 - 2005 Western Writers Chat
on aol. All rights reserved.
|
