Panhandle Cowboys
Gazette
April 2013
Bill of rights - Second amendment
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Panhandle cowboys contacts
President – High Card – [email protected]
Vice President – Ned Whiskey – [email protected]
Secretary – Sammy Jo – [email protected]
Treasurer – Pancho Via – [email protected]
Match Director – Mad Dane – [email protected]
Territorial Governor – Navajo Kid – [email protected]
Trophy Wrangler – Grundy – [email protected]
Webmaster – Jeb Stuart – [email protected]
Gazette Editor – Rocky Lane – [email protected]
Curt Uber
It was with great sadness we learned of the passing of Curt Uber of
Uber’s Lock and Gun in Pensacola. On Tuesday, April 16, A. J.
Martin, President of the Escambia River Gun Club, upon learning of
Curt’s passing, sent the following message to ERGC members.
“ERGC’s very dear friend and business partner Curt Uber of Uber’s
Lock and Gun on Fairfield Drive passed away shortly after midnight
this morning. Curt was deeply involved with ERGC and would be
seen frequently at the range a number of years ago before he became ill. Although Curt was not
able to shoot at the range for the past several years he was a huge supporter of our club and sold
ERGC memberships at his business for many years. He continued to maintain his membership
even though he could not physically go to the range to shoot. For those that may not have
known Curt he was kind, friendly and a brilliant man that loved his family and friends and his
gun club. He will be deeply missed by all that knew him and the ERGC membership.”
High Card sent a condolences card to Curt’s family from the Panhandle Cowboys expressing
our deepest sympathies.
April match
With the very real threat of a very nasty
match day, featuring heavy rain, thunder and
thunder’s accompanying friend lightning, the
April match was cancelled. Cancelling the
April match also, cancelled the scheduled
April Panhandle Cowboys officer elections.
The election is now scheduled for the May
match. The only contested position is for our
Territorial Governor where incumbent Navajo
Kid is being challenged by Alabama Shootist.
The Long Range Rifle side match for April
has been rescheduled for the May match. It
will be a precision long range match with no
time keeping. You can use a match rifle/carbine in its pistol-type cartridge chambering, or you
can use your lever action, single shot, or pump action rifle/carbine chambered in a rifle cartridge
(.30-30, 38-55, .45-60, .45-70, etc). If you like, you can use a single shooter chambered in a
pistol-type cartridge; lots of options available.
Fonts
It has been brought to our attention that a couple of the fonts (lettering styles) used in the
Gazette are not factory loaded into all computers. The two fonts in question are Gold
Rush and saloon. These two fonts are available at Rattlesnake Jack’s Old West Clip
Art Parlor at members.memlane.com/gromboug. When Rattlesnake Jack’s home page comes
up, scroll down the page to FONT GALLERY. Left click FONT GALLERY, scroll down the
page to Gold Rush, left click, then click save. Then scroll down to SALOON, left click, then
click save. Then locate the font downloads on your computer and follow whatever process your
operating system uses to install the new fonts. Of the two Windows 7 systems I (Rocky Lane)
have full access to; the downloaded fonts have to be installed differently. Incidentally, the file
for Gold Rush may be named Rosewood. (Being considerably computer illiterate I’m
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not even going to try to figure that one out.)
By downloading and installing these two fonts you will be able to see the Gazette as it is
written. Without downloading and installing these fonts your operating system will choose, in
theory, a similar font, however, the font selection by my second computer made the Gazette
look like something written by a complete literary incompetent (idiot in other words). After
seeing how my second computer, that did not have the above mentioned fonts downloaded and
installed, opened my USB stored files, I was appalled, ashamed, and embarrassed that this
information had not been discovered by myself sooner. So if you have had some question as to
why some article titles are all capitalized and other titles are lower case, downloading and
installing the fonts mentioned above should make the Gazette look like it is written.
I was born and reared in the South, so I must be slow. Sorry Folks!
Looking For
Mad Dane is looking for an Uberti
Model 1873 Winchester replica to buy
or trade for; does not matter which
cartridge it is chambered for. Mad Dane
can be contacted at [email protected], or you can contact him at the May match.
Gun show
The Pensacola gun show was held at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds on April 20 & 21.
Capt Bobbie D, Wild Country, and Sedalia talked Cowboy Action Shooting™, for both days, to
anyone who expressed an interest in our shooting sport. Reports are the gun show was not as
packed with people as they have been, but the turnout was still very good. A special
‘THANKS’ goes to the cowboys handling the Panhandle Cowboys tables, as other cowboys
and cowgirls who usually help with the gun show were participating in the Showdown in
Purgatory and the Mississippi Black Powder State Championship.
Showdown in purgatory 2013
By my count we had fourteen Panhandle Cowboys members shoot in the Showdown in
Purgatory 2013, combined with the Mississippi Black Powder State Championship. This match
is presented by the Mississippi Peacemakers near Mendenhall, Mississippi. This match is one
of the premier annual matches available in our part of the country. Thanks to Sammy Jo for the
match winner’s information provided below. As you can see our Panhandle Cowboys did very
well.
Black Powder Frontier Cartridge – Second Place – Ranger John Paxton
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Cattle Baron – Fifth Place – Billy Diablo
Elder Statesman – Eighth Place – Cody Breaker
Black Powder Ladies Frontier Cartridge Champion – Sammy Jo
Black Powder Ladies Frontier Cartridge – First Place – Kat Herder
Cowgirl – First Place – Lady Banderas
Grand Dame – Second Place – Texas Sweetpea
Ladies Forty-Niner – Fourth Place – Cassidy Jane
Frontier Cartridge Gunfighter – First Place – Alabama Shootist
Second Place – Mad Dane
Senior Duelist – Third Place – Rooster Cogburn
Fifth Place – Dal Sackett
Silver Senior – Ninth Place – Jeb Stuart
Tenth Place – Grundy
In addition to the positions attained by our Panhandle Cowboys, in their respective category, the
following cowboys and cowgirls received the following additional awards:
Cody Breaker – Clean Match
Billy Diablo – Best Dressed Man Around Town
Texas Sweetpea – Spirit of the Game on her posse
Cassidy Jane – First Place – Ladies Big Bore Long Range Rifle (rifle caliber) & Spirit of the
Game on her posse
Lady Banderas – Clean Match & First Place – Ladies Pocket Pistol/Derringer
Rooster Cogburn – Clean Match
Congratulations to all of our cowboys and cowgirls for your fine shooting performances in
Mississippi. It seems inadequate to say “Good Shooting”, but that is exactly what it was.
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Good Shooting Panhandle Cowboys!!!
Smokin’ guns at rabbit ridge
Smokin’ Guns at Rabbit Ridge is the Mississippi State Championship match held in Byhalia,
Mississippi. Match dates are May 24-26. Information can be found at
mississippiriverrangers.com or mississippipeacemakers.com. Pre-registration is required.
north Alabama regulators
The North Alabama Regulators, of Woodbury, Alabama, have announced “The Triple Crown”
for 2013. This is the Alabama State Championship match and the words ‘triple crown’ could
led one to wonder about three State Championship matches. No other information has been
released about “The Triple Crown” at this time.
Siege at saint Augustine
The Ghost Town Regulators of Saint Augustine have presented the Florida State Championship
match the last year or so in January. At this point, no information has been posted on their
website about a January 2014 match; however, it may be a bit early for such postings.
gun shows
June 8 & 9 – Fort Walton Beach, Florida – N.W. Florida Fairgrounds
June 22 & 23 – Pensacola, Florida – Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds
July 6 & 7 – Dothan, Alabama – National Peanut Festival Facility
July 20 & 21 – Robertsdale, Alabama – Baldwin County Fairgrounds
September 14-15 – Mobile, Alabama – Abba Shrine Center
September 28-29 – Dothan, Alabama – National Peanut Festival Facility
The Panhandle Cowboys attends the Pensacola gun shows to promote Cowboy Action
Shooting™. If you are able to help with manning the tables and are willing to talk CAS™
shooting for one or two days contact Mad Dane, our gun show coordinator, at
[email protected].
March cowboy
Our March Cowboy was born Stuart Maxwell Whitman in San Francisco, California on
February 1, 1926. (There is some question about his year of birth, some sources indicate 1928,
or 1929.) His parents traveled a great deal and he attended twenty different schools by the time
he graduated from high school. After high school he spent three years in the Army Corps of
Engineers, and while there he won thirty-two light-heavyweight fights. After leaving the Army
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Corp of Engineers, he enrolled in Los Angeles City College, then discovered he was interesting
in acting and enrolled in the Los Angeles Academy of Dramatic Art.
In 1951 he landed his first movie role, an uncredited role in the movie The Day the Earth Stood
Still. He also appeared in the film When Worlds Collide that same year. After 1955 his movie
roles were no longer uncredited. Over the years he found a niche as a tough guy, either good
guy or bad guy. In 1959 in appeared in the Fabian Forte film Hound Dog Man; in 1960 he
appeared in Murder, Inc.; in 1961 he
appeared with John Wayne in The
Comancheros, and in the film The Mark
where he played a child molester and was
nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Actor.
Stuart Whitman appeared in over two
hundred motion pictures and television
movies and TV programs. Other movies of
note he appeared in were: The Longest Day,
Rio Conchos, Those Magnificent Men in
Their Flying Machines, American Dream,
Eaten Alive, The White Buffalo, Guyana: Crime of the Century, and The President’s Man with
Chuck Norris which was Stuart Whitman’s last credited role. Very few of his movies were
westerns.
About 1952 Stuart Whitman began appearing in television programs; programs such as Range
Rider, The Roy Rogers Show (three episodes), Gunsmoke, Have Gun-Will Travel, Highway
Patrol, Night Gallery (two episodes), Fantasy Island (five episodes), Murder, She Wrote (four
episodes), Walker, Texas Ranger, as well as playing Jonathan Kent on the TV series Superboy.
Stuart Whitman’s career peaked about the mid 1960’s , just as his TV series Cimarron Strip was
broadcast on CBS in the 1967-68 season. He played US Marshall Jim Crown in the Cimarron
Strip (primarily the Oklahoma Panhandle), an area
encompassing ten million square miles with him as
the only Federal law around. He had his hands full in
every episode. Cimarron Strip was a ninety minute
western with a per episode budget of $250,000.00, a
very high budget for a TV program in those days.
However, the high budget resulted in quality scripts,
high production values, and the ability to get high
dollar guest stars, such as; Richard Boone, Joseph
Cotton, Telly Savalas, Broderick Crawford, Warren
Oates, and Suzanne Pleshette, among others.
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The supporting cast for Stuart Whitman’s Cimarron Strip turned out to be weak, unlike
Gunsmoke which had a strong supporting cast. The weak supporting cast, coupled with low
ratings, and the high production cost resulted in the cancellation of the program after one
season. A Stuart Whitman formed production company produced the twenty-three episodes of
Cimarron Strip. Randy Boone, a member of the supporting cast was a nephew of Richard
Boone, and related to singer Pat Boone and Pat’s daughter Debby Boone, all of whom being
related to American frontiersman Daniel Boone.
Apparently Stuart Whitman was an astute investor, as he is credited with having amassed a
financial worth of $100 Million dollars by the year 2000. Stuart Whitman is still with us.
Navajo Kid and Mad Dane identified Stuart Whitman as our March Cowboy.
Cowboy lexicon
Once again, we go to the book Western Words – A Dictionary of the Old West by Ramon F.
Adams.
Granger – Farmer. This term is used principally in the Northwest, the Southwest’s term being
nester
Chaparral fox – A sly, tricky person, a sneak. One of those fellows who, in the words of Frank
Ortego, you “wouldn’t trust as far as y’u could throw an elephant ag’in’ the wind.”
Persuader – Slang name for a six-gun; also a spur.
Straddlin’ down the road – A good cowboy description of a bow-legged man walking on high
heels.
Hubbing – Driving a wagon so that the hubs will strike gateposts or other objects.
Hot stuff – A slang name for heated branding irons; Also a slang expression for something good
or extraordinary.
Sourdough bullet – A slang name for a biscuit, not called this within hearing of the cook.
Load – To deceive by tall tales, to lie.
Load of hay on his skull – Said of a long-haired man.
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April cowgirl
I did not find a great deal of information about our April Cowgirl,
so she may be very difficult to identify. She was billed with the
first name of Jacqueline in her first film Stick to Your Guns
starring William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy released in 1941. In
1942 her first name billing was changed to the name she wanted
in the first place, which was the first name she used for the rest of
her acting/personal appearance career. Her last name billing, the
one she was born with, was always the same.
She was the daughter of an extremely successful western
character actor, and the sister of another extremely successful
western actor. Her favorite film was the Eddie Dean film entitled
The Hawk of Powder River in which she played the masked
leader of a gang of outlaws. It was also one of the last films she made. Different sources
indicate she appeared in 45 or 47 movies and serials with something like 37 of her film
appearances being in westerns. Email Rocky Lane at [email protected] with your ID of
our April Cowgirl
A NOTE FROM ALABAMA WAY AND MO M DOWN
Shortly after the April match was cancelled due to weather, High Card received an email from
Alabama Way and Mo M Down. It seems they were driving through northern Alabama and
through Tennessee in the same storm that cancelled our match, and with poor driving conditions
on Interstate 69 through Indiana. After entering Canada on Wednesday, they decided to spend a
couple of days with Alabama Way’s sister in Parkhill, Ontario. On Friday, they headed home to
Woodville enduring five hours of nasty crosswinds. (Remember, they are in a rather highprofile camper.) Then, to make matters really interesting, when they awoke on Saturday
morning, there was two inches on snow in the ground. The good news is our ‘Snowbirds’ got
home safely. See you both in the fall.
Adios
That’s it for now cowboys and cowgirls. Be safe and shoot straight.
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