"I don't want any perverts coming down here." - Jeff Costigan, Germantown resident
"We really don't draw the trench coat crowd." - owner Mark Wilson
Both quoted from a 2-10-06 article in the Milwaukee Journal regarding an argument over a store that sells underwear in Germantown, Wisconsin
Friday, February 10, 2006
The Wolf and the Buffalo
The Wolf and the Buffalo: An historical novel of the Black Soldier in the American West by Elmer Kelton (1980)
The novel alternates between the viewpoints of Gray Horse Running (a Comanche warrior) and Gideon Ledbetter (a buffalo soldier). This sometimes results in the same event being told from both sides. It works.
Gray Horse obtains a spirit guide in the form of a wolf. Sometimes his medicine is strong, sometimes not. It seems particularly strong when his shield (made with his own hands, "hard as flint") deflects rifle bullets. Gray Horse and his best friend Limping Boy are an inseperable pair. They are loyal to each other no matter what adversity they face.
Gideon Ledbetter is a former slave, now a soldier in the 10th Cavalry. His is a hero's journey, where he traverses the darkness and emerges transformed. Most of his adversity is prejudice by white people. Gideon is accompanied throughout the novel by his best friend Jimbo. They served as slaves together, and joined the 10th Cavalry together. Jimbo has a special affinity for horses, which makes him a particularly valuable resource for the cavalry.
The novel includes many of the great stories of the old west like Adobe Walls and the Forlorn Hope.
Gray Horse is part of a mixed attacking force of several tribes at the battle of Adobe Walls. In this version, the medicine man who leads the attack is Isotai ("Hind End of a Wolf"). After the attack fails, he is renamed Coyote Droppings. [Most modern histories say the name of the medicine man was Eso-tai ("Coyote Dung'), both before and after the attack.] "The Shot" by an anonymous buffalo hunter kills an Indian warrior from a mile away. [Some modern accounts say that it was Coyote Dung that was killed, and all modern accounts say that Billy Dixon was the shooter, from a distance of 1500+ yards.] The attackers, already demoralized by losses, call off the assault when they realize that the buffalo hunters can kill them from such an extreme distance.
Gideon Ledbetter is a member of the tragic expedition known as the Forlorn Hope, which suffered The Staked Plains Horror. It was a particularly droughty year, many of the known water sources had dried up. When they ran out of water, desperate soldiers drank horse urine. This version attributes the disaster to bad luck, whereas modern accounts blame inept leadership by white officers. If not for the heroic efforts of Gideon, constantly encouraging his comrades to persevere, propping them up when they fell, using blankets draped over scrub to furnish shade, the whole expedition would have perished. The novel omits the subsequent court martial fiasco where black enlisted men were used as scapegoats to shield the white officers.
The novel documents the destruction of the Comanche nation. Their whole way of life revolved around war and buffalo hunting. The buffalo hunters reduced the herds to the point that they were insufficient to support the Comanches. The buffalo soldiers forced them onto reservations. As one Comanche put it, "We became white people." Given the way that Comanches despised white people, this was about the worst thing that Comanches could say about themselves.
One of the most interesting scenes in the novel is where a deserter (a former slave) steals horses and seeks out the Comanches with the intention of joining them in their fight against white people. The Comanches skewer him with arrows and scalp him before he is dead.
Most the white people in the novel are portrayed in a very bad light. The Comanches viewed white people as less than human. If they acted like this, I can see why.
The novel alternates between the viewpoints of Gray Horse Running (a Comanche warrior) and Gideon Ledbetter (a buffalo soldier). This sometimes results in the same event being told from both sides. It works.
Gray Horse obtains a spirit guide in the form of a wolf. Sometimes his medicine is strong, sometimes not. It seems particularly strong when his shield (made with his own hands, "hard as flint") deflects rifle bullets. Gray Horse and his best friend Limping Boy are an inseperable pair. They are loyal to each other no matter what adversity they face.
Gideon Ledbetter is a former slave, now a soldier in the 10th Cavalry. His is a hero's journey, where he traverses the darkness and emerges transformed. Most of his adversity is prejudice by white people. Gideon is accompanied throughout the novel by his best friend Jimbo. They served as slaves together, and joined the 10th Cavalry together. Jimbo has a special affinity for horses, which makes him a particularly valuable resource for the cavalry.
The novel includes many of the great stories of the old west like Adobe Walls and the Forlorn Hope.
Gray Horse is part of a mixed attacking force of several tribes at the battle of Adobe Walls. In this version, the medicine man who leads the attack is Isotai ("Hind End of a Wolf"). After the attack fails, he is renamed Coyote Droppings. [Most modern histories say the name of the medicine man was Eso-tai ("Coyote Dung'), both before and after the attack.] "The Shot" by an anonymous buffalo hunter kills an Indian warrior from a mile away. [Some modern accounts say that it was Coyote Dung that was killed, and all modern accounts say that Billy Dixon was the shooter, from a distance of 1500+ yards.] The attackers, already demoralized by losses, call off the assault when they realize that the buffalo hunters can kill them from such an extreme distance.
Gideon Ledbetter is a member of the tragic expedition known as the Forlorn Hope, which suffered The Staked Plains Horror. It was a particularly droughty year, many of the known water sources had dried up. When they ran out of water, desperate soldiers drank horse urine. This version attributes the disaster to bad luck, whereas modern accounts blame inept leadership by white officers. If not for the heroic efforts of Gideon, constantly encouraging his comrades to persevere, propping them up when they fell, using blankets draped over scrub to furnish shade, the whole expedition would have perished. The novel omits the subsequent court martial fiasco where black enlisted men were used as scapegoats to shield the white officers.
The novel documents the destruction of the Comanche nation. Their whole way of life revolved around war and buffalo hunting. The buffalo hunters reduced the herds to the point that they were insufficient to support the Comanches. The buffalo soldiers forced them onto reservations. As one Comanche put it, "We became white people." Given the way that Comanches despised white people, this was about the worst thing that Comanches could say about themselves.
One of the most interesting scenes in the novel is where a deserter (a former slave) steals horses and seeks out the Comanches with the intention of joining them in their fight against white people. The Comanches skewer him with arrows and scalp him before he is dead.
Most the white people in the novel are portrayed in a very bad light. The Comanches viewed white people as less than human. If they acted like this, I can see why.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Crumbly Granola Bars
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup nuts
1 cup dried fruit
Preaheat oven to 300 degrees.
Generously butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.
In very large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
Press mixture into prepared pan.
Bake 30 minutes.
Personal Note: This recipe was a failure. I would rate it 1/10. Flavor was ok, texture was too crumbly. Needs some kind of binder. Maybe the character from the Zelazny novel could help. Binder? Get it?
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup nuts
1 cup dried fruit
Preaheat oven to 300 degrees.
Generously butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.
In very large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
Press mixture into prepared pan.
Bake 30 minutes.
Personal Note: This recipe was a failure. I would rate it 1/10. Flavor was ok, texture was too crumbly. Needs some kind of binder. Maybe the character from the Zelazny novel could help. Binder? Get it?
The Border and the Buffalo
The Border and the Buffalo: An Untold Story of the Southwest Plains by John R. Cook (1938)
Edited by Milo Milton Quaife
Fascinating first person accounts by John Cook (most of the book), Sol Rees (one chapter), and Wild Bill Kress (one chapter).
Cook was in Kansas during the Civil War, and claims to have met Quantrill.
John Cook tried his hand at prospecting, then became a skinner, and finally crawled up the food chain to be a buffalo hunter.
Cook once wandered away from a camp in the wilderness with neither a gun nor a knife, became lost, starved for days, and almost died. He lost a shoe in quicksand while crossing a river. A very odd anecdote. [Would an experienced frontiersman really do this?]
Cook relates the tale of Wrong Wheel Jones. Jones broke a wheel on his wagon, recalled seeing another broken down wagon miles back on the trail, and went back to salvage a wheel. When he got there, he realized that the same wheel was broken on the abandoned wagon. Without a wheel, he returned to his own wagon in disgust. It was only much later that he realized that all of the wheels were interchangeable. [If Jones was really this stupid, how could he ever have survived to reach this point?]
Cook was a participant in the incident known as "The Staked Plains Horror" where buffalo soldiers died of thirst.
Cook makes it clear that the buffalo hunters were not only in it for the money, but also to cut the means of support out from under the tribes and thus make the frontier safe for settlement by whites.
Cook seems defensive about the criticism that the buffalo hunters were the dregs of the frontier. Cook feels that they were fine men doing their patriotic duty.
Cook refers to killing an Indian as making him "a good injun."
Cook once scalped an Indian before he was dead. The Indian asked Cook to wait, but Cook was in a hurry.
The chapter by Sol Rees contains an anecdote concerning the widow of Kit Carson. It would be interesting to find out who the woman really was, since Kit Carson's wife died before Carson did.
It is alleged that Zane Grey's novel The Thundering Herd was based on Cook's memoirs.
Edited by Milo Milton Quaife
Fascinating first person accounts by John Cook (most of the book), Sol Rees (one chapter), and Wild Bill Kress (one chapter).
Cook was in Kansas during the Civil War, and claims to have met Quantrill.
John Cook tried his hand at prospecting, then became a skinner, and finally crawled up the food chain to be a buffalo hunter.
Cook once wandered away from a camp in the wilderness with neither a gun nor a knife, became lost, starved for days, and almost died. He lost a shoe in quicksand while crossing a river. A very odd anecdote. [Would an experienced frontiersman really do this?]
Cook relates the tale of Wrong Wheel Jones. Jones broke a wheel on his wagon, recalled seeing another broken down wagon miles back on the trail, and went back to salvage a wheel. When he got there, he realized that the same wheel was broken on the abandoned wagon. Without a wheel, he returned to his own wagon in disgust. It was only much later that he realized that all of the wheels were interchangeable. [If Jones was really this stupid, how could he ever have survived to reach this point?]
Cook was a participant in the incident known as "The Staked Plains Horror" where buffalo soldiers died of thirst.
Cook makes it clear that the buffalo hunters were not only in it for the money, but also to cut the means of support out from under the tribes and thus make the frontier safe for settlement by whites.
Cook seems defensive about the criticism that the buffalo hunters were the dregs of the frontier. Cook feels that they were fine men doing their patriotic duty.
Cook refers to killing an Indian as making him "a good injun."
Cook once scalped an Indian before he was dead. The Indian asked Cook to wait, but Cook was in a hurry.
The chapter by Sol Rees contains an anecdote concerning the widow of Kit Carson. It would be interesting to find out who the woman really was, since Kit Carson's wife died before Carson did.
It is alleged that Zane Grey's novel The Thundering Herd was based on Cook's memoirs.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
John Selman
John Selman: Texas Gunfighter by Leon Claire Metz (1966)
Leon Metz was one of the authors prominently featured on the Gunfighters DVD.
Very interesting book about one of the least known of the gunfighters. The author feels that history has treated Selman unfairly, relegating him to second class with people like John McCall (who shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back) and Bob Ford (who shot Jesse James in the back).
Selman had a long and eventful life. He was a vigilante and a cattle rustler. It is shocking by modern standards how chaotic and lawless the old west was. Lynchings and murders were commonplace. According to the book, murders were so common that law officers did not even consider them worth the time to handle. Stealing a horse, however, was a hanging offense.
The book is the first and only one that I have read that debunks the myth of the Texas Rangers. We have all heard the "one man, one riot" story but this book paints the Rangers in a much worse light. There were Texas Rangers that wanted to clean up the mess but they were foiled by corrupt superiors. Part of the problem was that some judges and law officers were heavily engaged in criminal enterprises.
John Selman, notorious vigilante, murderer, and rustler, later became a law officer.
Selman's best friend and mentor was John Larn. Larn was arrested for cattle rustling and executed (in jail) by vigilantes. Selman narrowly escaped being killed by the same vigilantges.
John Selman's main claim to fame was that he was the one who killed John Wesley Hardin. Hardin was one of the most notorious gunfighters. According to some, Hardin was the most lethal of all the gunfighters.
There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the Selman-Hardin gunfight. Some contemporary accounts stated that Selman shot Hardin in the back of the head. Selman was charged with murder. Witnesses testified that Hardin, who was rolling dice in a saloon, turned and drew his gun when Selman entered the saloon, and that Selman shot Hardin in the face. Forensic evidence presented at the trial was that Hardin was shot in the face. Selman was acquitted. There is a photograph of Hardin's corpse, front view only. Modern forensic experts say that the gunshot wound to the face appears to be an entrance wound. Since there is no photograph of the back of the head, no evaluation of that aspect can be made.
The author makes the case that Selman's motive for killing Hardin was that Hardin would not share money taken from a man named Morose. Morose had allegedly been murdered by Hardin, Selman, and a deputy US Marshall named Scarborough.
Selman was gunned down in an alley by Scarborough. Evidence presented at the time indicated that Selman was first shot in the back. Selman's last words were reported to be, "Don't try to kill me like that." Scarborough was charged with murder, but acquitted.
Scarborough died 4 years later from a wound suffered in a gunfight with alleged remnants of the Butch Cassidy gang.
Leon Metz was one of the authors prominently featured on the Gunfighters DVD.
Very interesting book about one of the least known of the gunfighters. The author feels that history has treated Selman unfairly, relegating him to second class with people like John McCall (who shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back) and Bob Ford (who shot Jesse James in the back).
Selman had a long and eventful life. He was a vigilante and a cattle rustler. It is shocking by modern standards how chaotic and lawless the old west was. Lynchings and murders were commonplace. According to the book, murders were so common that law officers did not even consider them worth the time to handle. Stealing a horse, however, was a hanging offense.
The book is the first and only one that I have read that debunks the myth of the Texas Rangers. We have all heard the "one man, one riot" story but this book paints the Rangers in a much worse light. There were Texas Rangers that wanted to clean up the mess but they were foiled by corrupt superiors. Part of the problem was that some judges and law officers were heavily engaged in criminal enterprises.
John Selman, notorious vigilante, murderer, and rustler, later became a law officer.
Selman's best friend and mentor was John Larn. Larn was arrested for cattle rustling and executed (in jail) by vigilantes. Selman narrowly escaped being killed by the same vigilantges.
John Selman's main claim to fame was that he was the one who killed John Wesley Hardin. Hardin was one of the most notorious gunfighters. According to some, Hardin was the most lethal of all the gunfighters.
There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the Selman-Hardin gunfight. Some contemporary accounts stated that Selman shot Hardin in the back of the head. Selman was charged with murder. Witnesses testified that Hardin, who was rolling dice in a saloon, turned and drew his gun when Selman entered the saloon, and that Selman shot Hardin in the face. Forensic evidence presented at the trial was that Hardin was shot in the face. Selman was acquitted. There is a photograph of Hardin's corpse, front view only. Modern forensic experts say that the gunshot wound to the face appears to be an entrance wound. Since there is no photograph of the back of the head, no evaluation of that aspect can be made.
The author makes the case that Selman's motive for killing Hardin was that Hardin would not share money taken from a man named Morose. Morose had allegedly been murdered by Hardin, Selman, and a deputy US Marshall named Scarborough.
Selman was gunned down in an alley by Scarborough. Evidence presented at the time indicated that Selman was first shot in the back. Selman's last words were reported to be, "Don't try to kill me like that." Scarborough was charged with murder, but acquitted.
Scarborough died 4 years later from a wound suffered in a gunfight with alleged remnants of the Butch Cassidy gang.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
What happened to Jim Riley?
Kansas, 1871
Jim Riley, 18 years old, never been in a gunfight before, walks into a saloon and sees his best friend gunned down by a gang of Texas cowboys.
Jim Riley draws both pistols and opens fire, killing several men and wounding several others, including friends, innocent bystanders, and the Texas cowboys.
Jim Riley turns and walks out of the saloon. He is never seen again.
One of the greatest gunfighters in the history of the Old Wild West and he vanishes without a trace?
How could this happen?
Jim Riley, 18 years old, never been in a gunfight before, walks into a saloon and sees his best friend gunned down by a gang of Texas cowboys.
Jim Riley draws both pistols and opens fire, killing several men and wounding several others, including friends, innocent bystanders, and the Texas cowboys.
Jim Riley turns and walks out of the saloon. He is never seen again.
One of the greatest gunfighters in the history of the Old Wild West and he vanishes without a trace?
How could this happen?
Black Bart
Black Bart: The True Story of The West's Most Famous Stagecouch Robber (1992) by William Collins & Bruce Levene
A fascinating chapter of American history.
Black Bart was a gentleman and a poet. He apparently held a grudge against Wells Fargo that has never been explained. Various hypotheses include one where Wells Fargo swindled him out of a mining claim.
He also repeatedly stole from the U.S. mail, although he was never prosecuted for the mail crimes.
Unlike vicious criminals like the Younger gang, Black Bart never shot anyone in his numerous holdups.
His poetry has stayed in my own memory every since I was a small boy.
"I've labored long and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches,
But on my corns too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches."
The book contains detailed descriptions of 29 stage robberies.
One of the most incredible things about Black Bart was his extraordinary skills as a long distance hiker. He repeatedly eluded horseback posses, himself on foot, often after being tracked by them for many miles.
He was ultimately apprehended due to his own carelessness with a laundry mark. He reached a plea agreement and served prison time for a single Wells Fargo robbery.
Black Bart disappeared without a trace after he paid his debt to society.
I will always wonder what happened to him.
A fascinating chapter of American history.
Black Bart was a gentleman and a poet. He apparently held a grudge against Wells Fargo that has never been explained. Various hypotheses include one where Wells Fargo swindled him out of a mining claim.
He also repeatedly stole from the U.S. mail, although he was never prosecuted for the mail crimes.
Unlike vicious criminals like the Younger gang, Black Bart never shot anyone in his numerous holdups.
His poetry has stayed in my own memory every since I was a small boy.
"I've labored long and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches,
But on my corns too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches."
The book contains detailed descriptions of 29 stage robberies.
One of the most incredible things about Black Bart was his extraordinary skills as a long distance hiker. He repeatedly eluded horseback posses, himself on foot, often after being tracked by them for many miles.
He was ultimately apprehended due to his own carelessness with a laundry mark. He reached a plea agreement and served prison time for a single Wells Fargo robbery.
Black Bart disappeared without a trace after he paid his debt to society.
I will always wonder what happened to him.
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