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Happy Memoral Day everybody. Let's all take a moment, remove your hats, and bow your head. Remember the many sacrifices that were made so that we would have the freedom we enjoy today. Find a military veteran and make sure to say "thank you for your service". Don't just say the words, mean them. They will know the difference.
Now down to business:
We have an urgent message from Allan "All" Johnson, one of our Reel Cowboys and a "REAL" cowboy. Click Here to see the message.
Note: Our friend, Julie Ream is a curator at the Valley Relics Museum in Van Nuys, California. She is hoping you will all cast your vote for the "Best of the Southland" at bestofthesouthland.com website. Scroll down to the "Museum" section and cast your vote for the Valley Relics Museum. The deadline for this is June 21st, 2021.
Note: Happy Birthday to John Wayne. Last week (May 26th), we celebrated the birthday of a true American icon. He was born in Winterset, Iowa in 1907 and starred in 185 films. He directed five (5) films and produced twenty-one (21) films over the course of his long career, which spanned from 1926 to 1976. The Duke may be gone, but he will NEVER be forgotten.
Note: Tomorrrow (May 31st) is Clint Eastwood's 91st birthday. Celebrate by watching the Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
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| FEATURED ARTICLE |
Passing of a Childhood Hero
~Ed Pierce |
After falling and breaking my left elbow, I wasn't paying much attention to the news as the month of May began, but as I slowly became aware of the death of one of my favorite childhood actors, I officially count myself as old now.
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| CHRONICLE OF THE OLD WEST |
County Seat War
~Dakota Livesay |
| County seats are normally determined by a vote. At least that's the way it was for Gray County, Kansas. But there were those who were not happy with the outcome, and they did something about it. |
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| 10 Things Your Didn't Know |
| ~Elizabeth Haynes |
| In 1911, Elmer McCurdy mistakenly robbed a passenger train he thought contained thousands of dollars. The disappointed outlaw made off with just $46 and was shot by lawmen shortly thereafter. McCurdy’s corpse was then embalmed with an arsenic preparation, sold by the undertaker to a traveling carnival and exhibited as... |
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| The Clanton Gang |
| ~Legends of America |
| The Clanton family and their ranch hands were a loosely organized gang of outlaws who operated along the Mexican border, stealing cattle, robbing stagecoaches, ambushing teamsters, and committing murder. They were commonly known as the Clanton Gang or simply the “Cowboys.” |
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click here to read more... |
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| Sharpshooter Extraordinaire |
| ~Patrica Grimshaw |
A sharpshooter who toured with none other than “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West show, Annie Oakley is renowned as a star and has obtained legendary status in American history. But who was Annie Oakley really, and how did she come to play such a prominent role?
Annie Oakley was born in Ohio in 1860 as Pheobe Ann Mosey – the sixth of a total of nine children in her family. Her parents, Susan and James, were Quakers, and her father fought in the War of 1812. Unfortunately, he died of pneumonia when Annie was only about 6 years old. Her mother remarried about a year later but was widowed... |
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| Civil War Myths |
| ~Becki Robins |
You probably think the American Civil War ended in 1865, but it only sort of did. Today, more than 150 years after the North and South stopped fighting each other, we're still bickering about the details. Some facts aren't in dispute — with more than 620,000 Americans dead, the Civil War beats out World War II by more than 200,000 casualties as the bloodiest war in American history.
The motives, history, and facts of the Civil War are still hotly debated, and one of the probable reasons for all the disagreement is because it's difficult to really comprehend why so many people had to die. As General Ulysses S. Grant famously said... |
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| Influence of Wyatt Earp |
| ~Douglas Brode |
Once upon a time (circa 1928), in a Hollywood of our mythic imagination rather than historic reality, a 21-year-old aspiring actor named Marion Michael Morrison (later to become more well known as John Wayne) met 80-year-old former marshal Wyatt Earp. The aged gunfighter had been hired to appear in one of those newly invented “oaters” that had become a part of popular culture following the cinematic success of The Great Train Robbery (1903).
The two met on the set of a Western being directed by genius-in-embryo John Ford and the living legend of the Old West hit it off with... |
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click here to read more |
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| R.I.P. Johnny Crawford (1946-2021) & Bobby Crawford tell how it all began! |
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| POETRY CORNER |
Peace at the End?
~Susan O'Connell
His is one of the West's most enduring tales,
long after the man himself is gone.
History has a way of blending truth and myth
so our heroes will always live on.
Wyatt Earp has been glorified,
a legend of America's past.
But trying to find the real man in the myth
might reveal the truth at last.
He had the same faults as you or I.
He had his share of adventure and betrayal.
Was he a hero or a man with flaws?
It depends on who tells the tale. |
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Johnny Crawford and Kids |
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Go to the OFFICIAL website |
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| click on the image for a larger version |
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