Civil War Reenacting: Safety

By Matthew Pizzolato

Safety at a civil war reenactment is a point of concern that encompasses more than just firearm safety, and it is the primary focus at every event.

Although the rifles that we use are replicas, they can be live fired. However, at the reenactments, all we do is burn powder in them.  No projectiles of any kind are permitted at an event.  All weapons are inspected before each battle to make sure they are in good working order and to make sure they are cleared.

Even though there are no projectiles, burning black powder still shoots a spout of flame from the end of the barrel.  All firing is done at an elevated angle and never aimed directly at another person.  Weapons are also never fired within 25 yards of the opposing forces.

Cannons also add another element of danger and some events feature pyrotechnics to simulate the blast of a cannon ball, but those areas are always away from where the reenactors and are clearly marked off.

The other risks are the same kinds of things that are inherent in any outdoor activity.  Sometimes people step into holes marching across a field. Reenacting during summer months raises the risks of dehydration. Threatening weather always shuts down an event because we don't want to be carrying rifles or swords while lightning is striking.

Some reenactments feature cavalry battles and there's always the chance of a horse being spooked.  There are always EMTs on hand in case something does happen.

Taking hits during a battle is usually done at the individual's discretion, but care is taken when falling not to land in an ant bed or to fall in someone else's way. 

Hearing protection is worn a lot of times using flesh colored ear plugs that can't be seen or by using pieces of cotton because everything has to be as historically accurate as possible. 

As reenactors, we are portraying something that was originally done with deadly serious intent, yet we strive to be as safe as possible.  Sometimes accidents do happen, but they are few and far between.

Matthew Pizzolato's short stories have been published online and in print.  He writes Western fiction that can be found in his story collections, THE WANTED MAN and TWO OF A KIND as well and the novella, OUTLAW.

Matthew is the Editor-in-Chief of The Western Online, a magazine dedicated to everything Western. He can be contacted via his website or on Twitter @mattpizzolato.

MAKE USE OF THE GOLD: DUSTY RICHARDS' WRITING THE WEST BY JEREMY L.C. JONES

I've never met Dusty Richards. But I feel like I have. I know that's a common feeling for readers and I've read a fair number of Richards' novels. My sense of knowing Mr. Richards--that intimacy beyond the storyteller/audience relationship—comes, though, not so much from his dozens of novels so much as from his “real how-to book”Writing the West with Dusty Richards: A Western Novel Roundup (High Hill Press, 2010).

This "other" relationship, is sort of a cross between the teacher/student and the editor/writer relationship.

Writing the West contains sixteen chapters by Richards followed by five written by friends of his who, as the cover puts it, are "folks who sell the sagebrush scented pages," including John Duncklee , Mike Kearby, John Nesbitt, Jory Sherman, and Jodi Thomas. The book is illustrated with artwork by Michael Andrews.

The first 141 pages from Richards alone would've been enough to satisfy even the most persnickety consumer. The roundup of experts at the end is a drink on the house just because... well, just because. It feels like Richards saying, "I've said my piece, now my friends here are going to pitch in on romance, young adults, mountain men, traditional westerns, and some mistakes you want to avoid. Don't get fidgety, you're in good hands."

As I indicated above, I haven't met Mr. Richards, so I don't know if that's how he talks. I'm merely speaking to the effect.

I'm get ahead of myself, though. Let's take a step back and look at Writing the West from the beginning-approach it in the order Mr. Richards intended.

"Between this book's covers is how to write a western novel," he writes in the introduction. "This isn't your usual how-to-write book. You can buy books all day long that will instruct you in writing basics. What I intend to show you are the things I've learned in the process of writing close to one hundred books. These are the little details that make the difference and bring your book to life."

You "may have to read this book two or three times," Mr. Richards warns, and that is the appeal, here—both the need to read and re-read, to dig for those nuggets of gold, to sift for a little color in your pan.

But I don't mean that the way it sounds. You don't have to take a pick axe to the worthless rock and dirt or spend hours crouching by a stream with numb hands, aching back, and high hopes that you'll strike it rich. You will strike it rich. The claim will pay out. It's all valuable. The gold is there--everywhere.

All the reader needs to do is persist, focus, put in the time. And be willing to notice the color, the vein of yellow or the flakes in the top layer of pay dirt. And to make use of it.

"If you want to be a selling writer, that's what you must do," says Richards. "Write and read all the time. Your fingers need to be spilling things on that screen or, if you don't have a computer handy, writing in a log or diary. Carry a notebook and make notes about people, their dialogue, how they look, so you can steal parts of them for your characters."

I'm not sure why I wrote those sentences in here. Not, yet, anyway. Perhaps, they illustrate and reinforce Mr. Richards’ belief in the seemingly little things and the fact that you need to be aware. Watch. Sift. Notice. Read. Write. Steal from life for your writing. Be ready to see the value of the world around you.

Reading through my now ragged copy of Writing the West, I’m struck by how much of my own ink is splattered all over the pages. I’ve underline and made notes, gone away, and returned to do more of the same.

Of all the chapters in all the writing books I own, Chapter Four of Writing the West just might be the one I've returned to the most often since the book came out. "Novels Must Take a Path or Tack" seems like a straightforward enough title and, indeed, the chapter's discussion of "laying out your book" is just shy of overly simplified.

And that's exactly where it should be: just shy of. It teeters on the edge. Perfectly balanced. Glorious.

"A book comes in four sections," says Mr. Richards, "so quarter your book as you write it."

This idea--a novel as having four sections--isn't revolutionary unless you've never heard of it before.

The four sections of a book are, according to Mr. Richards: "Your main POV character is LOST", "Your hero is an ORPHAN", "He becomes an emerging HERO", and "He becomes a HERO/MARTYR". He explains what he means, but I’ll leave a little to your imagination and also not spoil the fun when you get your own copy and flip straight to Chapter Four and Mr. Richards’ Four Quarters plotting strategy.

"This," he says, "is the simplest way to write a book."

Yep. You can say that again.

"A simple guide," Mr. Richards reiterates, "without much restraint, yet it makes a book flow."

Exactly how I like it. Structure without restraint. Guidelines without shackles. A nice room with windows and a view.

And a book that flows.

Because when the book flows, the writer finishes it and the reader reads it, and gold surfaces.

I don't know Mr. Richards, but I am pretty sure that he was thinking of me--a guy with a whole lot of technical training in creative writing, but an inability to contain all those ideas into a coherent novel--when he wrote Chapter Four.

I just know he was thinking of me and folks just like me.

A moment ago, I cracked open Writing the West and noted the first underlined passage that caught my eye.

"High notes, then low notes," says Mr. Richards. "But I would find one thing that could be used to further the story line and use it."

Find something that furthers the story line and use it. Sounds like a good plan, Mr. Richards.

A.C. LYLES: GENTLEMAN OF THE WEST BY C. COURTNEY JOYNER

A.C. AND ME – A reunion at CBS studios. It was about a hundred and ten degrees, and
I was falling apart, but A.C. remained cool and collected, as he always was.

I was fortunate in knowing producer A.C. Lyles for more than twenty years. I’d grown up watching his late-night, low-budget westerns that he made for Paramount in the 1960’s, and I knew that he was considered the studio’s “goodwill ambassador.”


We did many interviews over the years, and he helped me countless times, but this was his favorite, a lengthy piece that was eventually a chapter in my book THE WESTERNERS (McFarland and Co.)

Always dapper, always courteous, and always ready to step up, it was a real delight, and honor, for me that A.C. considered me a friend, and his death (at the amazing age of 95), is a loss for anyone interested in the history of Hollywood, because no one knew it like A.C. – because no one else had lived it the way he had.
******
Upon meeting producer A.C. Lyles, the first word that comes to mind is “gentleman.” Never the clichéd cigar-chomping huckster type of the 30’s (although he worked for them) or the screaming Joel Silver-styled producer of today, Lyles is Paramount Pictures’ ambassador of good will to the world. After sixty-plus years in the business, he seems to have known (and liked) virtually everyone and when one of the giants of the Golden Age passes, Lyles is the first person called for a comment.

Working his way up from office boy to Paramount’s director of publicity, Lyles's tenacity was rewarded and he became the studio’s leading producer of modestly budgeted films. He soon became known for a string of westerns marked by their veteran casts, “King of the B’s” directors and short schedules. At a time when the western was steering toward a darker horizon thanks to the talents of directors like Anthony Mann, Lyles embraced a classic, Saturday matinee-style for his films that seemed old fashioned even when they were made. Populated by stand-up sheriffs, snake-eyed outlaws and heart-of-gold saloon gals, these horse operas were endearing time capsules that are still popular today with western fans.

Using straightforward scripts and filling his casts with familiar Hollywood faces, Lyles created a niche that was uniquely his own. As Hollywood (and the world) changed in the 60’s, Lyles stuck to his traditional formula. While Peckinpah was breaking ground with The Wild Bunch, Lyles was on the backlot pitting good Marshal Barry Sullivan against black hat John Russell in Buckskin. If the westerns of the 50’s and 60’s reflected a harsher social reality, the optimistic Lyles would have none of it in his films. He is the Champion of the B’s; a filmmaker who believes in the kind of movies that assured front-row kids that good guys win out in the end and there is a law for the lawless.

The proceeding was written about ten years ago, when this interview was conducted. In the interim, I’ve gotten to know A.C. better, and have always found him to be gracious, full of wonderful stories, and the true ambassador of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

And, in his 80’s, he became the producer of DEADWOOD.

DEADWOOD – In his 80’s, A.C. lent his expertise as an advising producer on this ground-breaking, and sometimes profane, HBO western.

Created by writer David Milch, HBO’s groundbreaking western series, exploded taboos of language and violence. Milch wanted a “western man” as consulting producer, and went to A.C., who guided the show for two seasons. Ironically, DEADWOOD blasts apart all of the old values that A.C. held so dear in his series of Paramount films. It’s a fascinating contradiction, and one to keep in mind while reading the words of this old-world gentleman, who is still one of the most savvy and forward-thinking producers in town.

****
Could you talk about your first job at Paramount? Legend has it that you started as a messenger boy.


Legend? (laughs) Okay, Courtney, I went to work for Paramount in 1929 in Jacksonville, Florida, at the Florida Theater, which was Paramount owned. It was a Paramount/Publix theater, and I went there in twenty-nine, handing out handbills and things. And the next year - no, I went there in twenty-eight - and the next year, in twenty-nine, they put me on salary as a pageboy. And I was there from twenty-nine until thirty- seven when I came to the theaters. And how that came about is that I became a pageboy, and then I became an usher when I was fourteen. Adolph Zukor built the Jacksonville, and I met him, and he took a liking to me, and he told me to finish high school, and keep in touch with him. So I wrote him a letter every Sunday for four years, and then when I got out of high school, I came out. I got on a day coach and came here to Hollywood, I was seventeen - maybe I was eighteen by that time - and I got on the day coach and came here with two jars of peanut butter, and two sacks of clothes, and a sack of apples, I came here. I came to the studio, and Mr. Zukor remembered me, and gave me a job as his office boy. So that’s how I got started here at Paramount, coming here - to the studio - in nineteen thirty-seven, which is over sixty years ago.

You began working in publicity for Pine-Thomas Productions in the 30’s?

Well, I got different jobs on the lot. I went into publicity, and then became publicity director for Pine and Thomas - William Pine and William Thomas. And they left the lot, and when they left the lot, I started making the kind of pictures they did. Which was sort of the program pictures.
They were doing a lot of aviation pictures, with people like Richard Arlen and later, adventures like CAPTAIN CHINA with John Payne…

CAPTAIN CHINA – Lyles was a young publicity man for Pine-Thomas productions at
Paramount for more than twenty years, churning out ad copy and posters for second-tier
Action flicks.

Oh, yes. Well, they did aviation pictures, they did all kinds of pictures, and when they left, I started making the type of pictures they did, but instead of making aviation pictures, I went a different way (with) action, and got into the making (of) the westerns.

Wasn’t your first film as a full-fledged producer SHORT-CUT TO HELL in 1957, the remake of THIS GUN FOR HIRE?

The studio had rights to THIS GUN FOR HIRE and they wanted to re-do it, and they asked me if I’d be interested, and I said, indeed that I did.

How did James Cagney come to direct it?

My two closest friends in life had been Ronald Reagan and Jim Cagney, and they both attended my wedding forty-one years ago, and sort of stood up for me. And I asked (Cagney) if he’d like to direct it, and he said he certainly would. And he did do it.

It’s a good little picture.

Yes, I always liked that one. It was the one and only picture Jimmy ever directed, and he just did that to get me started producing.

Did that film lead directly to LAW OF THE LAWLESS in ‘64? That was the first of your western productions.

THE LAW OF THE LAWLESS was indeed the first picture, the first western that I made. But before I did that, to learn about westerns - the studio wanted me to learn about westerns - I went on sort of a loan-out, as a deal for CBS on a series they had sometime ago, and it became a big, big hit. And we had several - Eric Fleming was the lead, but in the other cast was a kid named Clint Eastwood that sort of took off, and the show was called RAWHIDE. So I did the first group of those, and then went back to the studio to start making my own westerns. And I did LAW OF THE LAWLESS, it was sort of like a pilot is for a television series. That was just to see if I could do pictures on a strict budget and a strict schedule, see what it would do, and it was very successful, and I just started making many, many more of them as a result of that.

Steve Fisher, who wrote DEAD RECKONING and some other great Film Noirs, was your primary screenwriter on those films.

Steve Fisher, who was an old friend of mine, did a lot of pictures like I WAKE UP SCREAMING - some Bogart pictures. And he had this script, and I bought it from him, and it became LAW OF THE LAWLESS, and as a result of that Steve was with me a number of years, just writing one western script after the other, and he became one of my good friends.

William F. Claxton directed. He was doing a lot of western television shows.

I’d always admired (Claxton) as a director. He had been working here (Paramount) on a series, BONANZA, which was very successful, and I knew Bill through that, so I asked Bill to direct this, and he did it and did it very well.

Around this time, westerns started becoming a bit darker in their attitudes; movies like APACHE, LAST TRAIN TO GUN HILL, the Anthony Mann pictures, and even Ford’s SERGEANT RUTLEDGE put aside a lot of black hat vs. white hat sensibility. But your films really stayed traditional in their approach.

I went back to doing a more traditional western, where the good against the evil, and the evil losing out and the good winning, and in all that confine having all of the action. Because the western, I think, is the most moral story you can tell. Good against evil.

APACHE UPRISING – Rory Calhoun and Arthur Hunnitcutt hold off Injuns in this typical Lyles production, co-starring Lon Chaney and DeForrest Kelly.


Your casting on these films was always fun. Could you talk about your policy of hiring all these veterans for your films? Even the smallest roles were played by familiar faces.

Why did I hire so many great veterans for these pictures? Actually, I didn’t honor them half as much as they honored me. They were very good friends of mine, and some people I never made a picture without them, like Richard Arlen, and Lon Chaney and a lot of people like that. Because they were my buddies, they were so good, they just knew what they were doing, and it was my honor to have them on the set. And as I said, we were buddies, and we just got along well, and it was like a family. And the pictures were quite successful, I don’t want to go into cost and budget and things like that, but every one of them did well for Paramount, and for me. But the main thing is, I enjoyed making these so much, that it just pleased me.

I think STAGE TO THUNDER ROCK really stands out among this series. That was originally an episode of the TALES OF WELLS FARGO television series, wasn’t it?

STAGE TO THUNDER ROCK – Belgian poster for my favorite Lyle’s western,
Starring Barry Sullivan and Ralph Taeger. I told A.C. that it was “Petrified Forrest as
A western,” and he hooted, “That’s it!”

Yes, it was. STAGE TO THUNDER ROCK was just a good, basic kind of picture that lent itself to the type of schedule and type of budget that I had.

It really was THE PETRIFIED FORREST goes to the way station, but the tone was different from some of your other films. It was darker, and there was more of an atmosphere of violence.

You know, you said that THUNDER ROCK was a darker, more violent story, and I just - looking at that and wondering about it - I guess at the time I didn’t realize that it was darker - I didn’t think of it as a darker or lighter script, I just did stories that I liked the theme for, and I liked the messages. And when I say “messages” I never made a picture for a message, but in the confines of the western you can get a lot of action. That was certainly a picture I enjoyed very much with all the people in it. And the script came in about forty pages too long, and I just went through it, and we never cut a scene, we just cut dialogue and things in it, and made it a little more crisper. And I thought it turned out well, and people in it did very well, and it did very well at the box office, and certainly on television.

Barry Sullivan was great as the wounded lawman.

Barry Sullivan had done a number of important pictures at Paramount years before and so I was lucky to have him. We were good friends, and I used him again in BUCKSKIN. I always tried to have parts (in my pictures) for a lot of my good friends, and things like that, and I enjoyed it very, very much. Doing that with people like Rory Calhoun, and all the others, and Marilyn Maxwell. There were so many good stars who would appear in my films, and they were good friends.

Lon Chaney did excellent work for you over the years.

Lon Chaney was in so many of the pictures, and years before - when he did pictures on the Paramount lot, he did pictures with Bob Hope, and everybody - I got to know Lon very, very well, and I admired him, and we had a good, warm friendship. And when I started these series, I certainly wanted him to be a part of it, and I called him, and I said, “Lon, I’m going to start these westerns, do you want to be in them.” And he said, “Hold on just a minute,” and I said, “What are you doing?” And he said, “I’m packing my makeup kit, I’ll be right over.” And when he was available, he was in every one that I did.

Patsy Chaney said that her husband loved working in these pictures; that at this time in his life, they really bolstered his spirits, and morale.

Well I tell you, he boosted MY spirits, and certainly boosted my morale, because this man, I never saw him when he wasn’t professional. He arrived on the set every morning, he knew what he was going to do every minute of the day, and I would often times call him, and say, “Lon, I’m starting a picture in two weeks.” And he said, “Just send me whatever you got, and I’ll be there.” And he did it. Somebody (mentioned Patsy Chaney’s comment) to me, and Patsy I adored. Lon was just a remarkable, remarkable man, and he was the most interesting person, and he never caused me a moment’s hesitation of any kind of a part. He was the most professional actor. He was wonderful, and a good friend, and I just absolutely adored Lon. He and I were good buddies. And I’m happy that Patsy said that because that pleases me. The other way around was, when he was doing the pictures, he made me a happy fellow.

That’s great to hear. You worked with a number of actors who had pretty solid reputations as drinkers. Scott Brady, John Ireland, Lon Chaney and lots of others…

That’s true. Really, looking back at all the pictures, and we did have some actors who were known for drinking some, and even talked about it openly - I’m not telling anything out of school - and Dana Andrews later became a spokesperson, sort of, for Alcoholics Anonymous. And we had others, I remember one time on one picture, I went into one of the actor’s dressing rooms, and we were on location, and the five main actors on the picture were having an AA meeting. And I thought, “My god, boy, if these fellows ever decided to go on a toot, I would be in deep trouble.” (laughs)! But I mean this sincerely, I never had any problems with it. They were always so anxious to help me, knowing that I was making pictures on strict schedules and strict budgets and they just leaned over backwards to help me any way they could.

END OF PART ONE
Used By Permission of Joyner/McFarland Press

IT IS A MATTER OF WEIGHT BY JERRY GUIN

Consider what the pioneers faced when trudging their journey west. Perhaps they chose a Conestoga wagon (the largest of the wagons) being up to 18 feet in length and eleven feet high while four feet wide. Depending on the weight of the cargo (up to 6,000 pounds),they used teams of as many as eight mules or draft horses or perhaps up to a dozen hardy oxen to pull the heavy loads.

Many westward travelers opted to take their journey in much lighter Prairie Schooners or farm wagons, sometimes employing two. The wagons weighed 1300 pounds empty and capable of carrying 2500 pounds of freight each.

If you can imagine, the cargo placed in one of these vehicles had to be staggering. The list of food for an average wagon carrying the sustenance of 3 or 4 travelers for 3 to 6 months of travel might look something like this,(all in pounds): Flour 150, corn meal 50, rice 5, beans 15, sugar 10, coffee 15, dried fruit 5, Saleratus (baking soda) 2, tea 5, meat (ham and bacon in barrels) 200. That list alone is around 500 pounds. Then add by choice, pickles, cheese, pickled eggs and canned goods. Many expected to supplement supplies with fish and wild game along the way.

There were utensils to cook with to consider. Dutch ovens, skillets, pots, pans, steel tripods. Two changes of clothes per person and multiple boots. Boots and shoes wore out in weeks to months on the trail. Then there was bedding, maybe a folding mattress, tent, lantern, personal items and first aid supplies. Shotguns and rifles, hand tools for wagon repairs, harnesses, rope, wagon jack, wheel chains, perhaps a spare wheel or wagon tongue, farm tools which might include a plow, broad axe, hoe, shovel, rake, mallet, hammer, nails, saw and such to be used hopefully at the end of the journey. Water at 10 pounds per gallon carried in a barrel strapped to the side of the wagon as needed. For washday, a washboard and tub, 25lbs. soap, alcohol, tobacco, some grain for the animals. Then there were other items to consider; books and bibles, possibly a sheet iron stove or a cook stove, a table, grandma’s rocker, hope chests, musical instruments and, and……..

Much to the pioneer’s chagrin, after a time on the trail, many found that though the wagon could hold all their cargo stacked to the top of the bows, it was a chore to move along on less than flat hard packed ground. River crossings became a big challenging nightmare as well as steep mountains. Animals tired out quickly from pulling the massive loads. Pa (usually the one who cared for and drove the animals) recognized it quicker than ma did. The load was too much and in need of lightening. All kinds of goods including stoves, hope chests, furniture, tables and chairs, beloved organ, metal tools and a potpourri of other items including food was jettisoned to give ease to the already overtaxed animals. Some traveled as far as Fort Laramie, labeled “Camp Sacrifice,” because of the large amount of items discarded to lighten the load, before continuing the journey.

The Pony Express certainly considered weight. The advertisement for riders told it all, Wanted –young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred!”

Young, (meaning they wanted someone with endless energy). Skinny, (they were considering the weight that the horse would carry) preferring the rider to weigh no more than 130 pounds. Perhaps the idea being that a heavier rider might exhaust his horse, which was most likely a mustang pony, before the next relay station. Taking in consideration that the riders urged their horses to a flat out run to get going (possibly for show) but surely slowed the animal to cool off after a time.

The custom made saddle itself, the horse’s bridle and the special made 1/8” thick leather mailbag (mochila) together weighed an average of 13 pounds.

There were 157 relay stations spaced out, at five to twenty miles apart, over 1840 miles of trail. The expected time to complete the delivery, using various relay riders and horses, was 10 days. To start with, the rates charged were $5.00 per half ounce of mail. That fee later reduced some. The short-lived Pony Express (18 months – April 1860 to October 1861) was doomed to extinction when telegraph lines strung from Missouri to California, reduced the delivery time of messages to mere minutes. Ironically, much of the lines followed along the Pony Express’s very route.

In a modern setting, when I sold lumber, I had to consider the weight of the lumber before offering the product for sale and making up various loads. At the sawmill, the fresh cut lumber is sorted, according to size, length, and grade then offered for sale by the board foot. A one-foot long piece of a 2x6 contains one board foot. One foot of a 2x4 contains two thirds of a board foot (.6667 on the calculator) so a bit of cyphering has to be done in order to come up with the correct board foot figures for various sizes and lengths.

The weight of the finished product is a big deal when presented for sale because trucks and railcars have a cargo weight limit. Trucks in California, mandated by law, weight no more than 80,000 pounds (weight of the truck and the cargo combined) when traveling the streets and highways. Other states vary, some as low as 76,000 pounds. An average flatbed truck and trailer will weigh in at about 28,000 pounds. Some weigh more and some a little less. That means the cargo can weigh no more than 52,000 pounds. If found to be over that weight limit, then the driver of the load is subject to a fine and in some cases taken to jail if the infraction is considered blatant. Railroad flat cars also have weight limits. The originator of the load would be the responsible party.

A freshly cut log, from the forest, weighs more than a log that has been stored (decked) for a lengthy time. Density of the wood (ring count) comes into play also. Let us take Douglas fir for an example: Larger sizes, such as timbers, are the first choice, cut from the middle of the log then smaller sizes from the remaining portion of the log. Due to the curvature of the log, the last size cut is 2x4making it the most volatile in weight range.

In the winter, the tree’s sap is down and contained near the bark. In the summer, the sap feeds the foliage. The 2x4 cut from fresh cut logs sometimes weigh 4200 pounds per thousand board feet. Meaning a truckload would amount to about 12,300 board feet. The 2x4 cut from older decked logs that have dried some, have less water content. An average load would be less than 3500 pounds per thousand board feet or a load would equal around 15,000 board feet. Is this too much math for you?

It all comes down to dollars and weight. Based on weight, the 12,300 board feet load cost the same to haul as the 15,000 board feet load. Retailers have to consider freight cost when pricing their products for sale and adjust accordingly.

Automobile and truck license fees, based on the weight of the vehicle, rise with the weight of the vehicle. Even the airlines today consider the weight of your baggage when charging you for passage. One airline has recently indicated that they may start charging customers by their own body weight rather than just a one for all ticket.

History records weight when considering freighting various goods. Our lives today revolve around the weight of almost every tangible item we buy. Retailers charge accordingly for freight or simply label the cost as shipping and handling.

Jerry Guin's short story, ASA PEPPER'S PLACE, appears in Wolf Creek: Book 6 HELL ON THE PRAIRIE is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Creek-Hell-Prairie-ebook/dp/B00DPPFUPM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381010190&sr=1-1&keywords=Hell+on+the+Prairie


His most recent novella, CHARLIE'S MONEY, is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Charlies-Money-Jerry-Guin/dp/1622084071/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1381010260&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Drover%27s+Vendetta

The Western Fictioneers Library is Growing

West of the Big River: The Lawman

By New York Times bestselling author James Reasoner, the first novel in a new series from the Western Fictioneers, West of the Big River. The Lawman features William M. "Bill" Tilghman facing perhaps his greatest and most dangerous challenge.

West of the Big River: The Avenging Angel

Award-winning author Michael Newton spins an action-packed, historically accurate yarn about Orrin Porter Rockwell who is more than just a deputy United States marshal and a deadly gunfighter. He's a member of the Mormon Danites, the group of enforcers known as the Avenging Angels

West of the Big River: The Artist

Acclaimed author Jackson Lowry spins as entertaining a tale as any of those from Charlie Russell himself in this superb new historical novel.

Coming: West of the Big River:

West of the Big River: The Ranger

James J. Griffin, noted for his fine stories of the Texas Rangers, joins the West of

the Big River stable with THE RANGER, a short novel featuring real-life Ranger Sergeant J.S. Turnbo.

West of the Big River: The Forty-Niners

Charlie Steel's story of courage, romance, and danger is based on historical incidents of the California Gold Rush, and vividly illustrates a compelling chapter in American history, recreating a lawless era that exemplifies both the best and the worst in a vital young nation!

MORE  TO COME

Other Western Fictioneers Books

The Traditional West

The classic American Western returns in this huge collection of brand-new award winning stories by some of the top Western writers in the world today.

Six-guns and Slay Bells: A Creepy Cowboy Christmas

Put on your Santa hat and saddle up for this collection of creepy Christmas stories from the Western Fictioneers, the world's only organization of professional authors devoted solely to Western fiction.

The Peacemakers

Collections of 4 award winning western stories in each volume

Volume I

Volume II

Volume III

Volume IV

Peacemaker Tales

This volume includes works by everyone who has been nominated for the Best Short Story Peacemaker in the first three years of its existence, including the winners. You will be hard-pressed to find such a collection of new classics in one book. These stories represent the finest in Old West fiction being written today.

Wolf Creek:

Here you will find many of your favorite authors, working together as Ford Fargo to weave a complex and textured series of Old West adventures like no one has ever seen.

Book 1: Bloody Trail

Book 2: Kiowa Vengeance

Book 3: Murder in Dogleg City

Book 4: The Taylor County War

Book 5: Showdown at Demon's Drop

Book 6: Hell on the Prairie

Book 7:  The Quick and the Dying

Coming: Book 8: Night of the Assassins

Book 9: A Wolf Creek Christmas

The Western Fictioneers Library

RAW DEAL AT PASCO SPRINGS by Clay More

LEAVING KANSAS by Frank Roderus

JUDGE ON THE RUN by Clay More

RANGER'S REVENGE by James J. Griffin

REACHING COLORADO by Frank Roderus

DEATH STALKS THE RANGERS by James J. Griffin

A ROPE FOR SCUDDER by Clay More

DEAD MAN'S GUN AND OTHER STORIES by Ed Gorman

GUN FOR HIRE by Jory Sherman

FINDING NEVADA by Frank Roderus

THE TRAIL BROTHERS by Troy D. Smith

THE CAST-IRON STAR AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Robert J.

Randisi

STAMPEDE AT RATTLESNAKE PASS by Clay More

A DISGRACE TO THE BADGE AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Ed Gorman

BUZZARD BAIT by Jory Sherman

RED TOMAHAWK by Jory Sherman

ENEMIES AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Ed Gorman

FAST HAND by Karl Lassiter

HOME TO TEXAS by Frank Roderus

THE LONG RIDE BACK AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Ed Gorman

Coming in The Western Fictioneers Library

POTTER'S FIELDS by Frank Roderus

DOUBLE-DEALING AT DIRTVILLE by Clay More

CHARLIE AND THE SIR by Frank Roderus

IRON HEART by Jory Sherman

JASON EVERS: HIS OWN STORY by Frank Roderus

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, J. AUBREY WHITFORD by Frank Roderus

http://www.westernfictioneers.com

THERE'S BAD AND THERE'S BRUCE-DERN BAD by Marc Cameron

When I was in the fifth grade, I had a huge crush on a girl named Barbara Jo Phillips. She was…well, to tell you the truth, hanging out with my bride of thirty years has eclipsed the faces of my childhood crushes, but I do remember I had one and that Barbra Jo was worthy of it. I thought she liked me as well, but one day I overheard her and her friend, Paula on the swing set talking about boys. I came around the corner just in time to hear Paula ask: “What about Marc?” Barbara Jo turned up her nose and said something like: “He’s way too nice. I like Ryan. He’s a bad boy—wild and dangerous.”

Apart from the soul-crushing realization that Barbara Jo had actually turned up her nose at the very mention of my name, I remember trying to figure out how a fifth grader could be more wild and dangerous. As far as I could tell, Ryan was sort of a jerk, but the only thing that made him any more ‘bad’ than me was that he knew more curse words and smoked pieces of grapevine behind the gym. In any case, Barbara Jo Phillips sensed something I did not. I’m not certain, but it’s possible this was the moment when I subconsciously decided on a career putting bad guys in jail.

I’m betting that when folks from my generation think of a bad guy, Bruce Dern is on their list—or at least his character, Asa Watts—the longhaired no account who shot John Wayne in the back in THE COWBOYS.  Wayne is said to have warned Dern: “America will hate you for this.” Dern replied, “Yeah, but they’ll love me in Berkley.”

Asa Watts was as bad as they come.

You’d think, over twenty-nine years in law enforcement, I would have met a considerable number of Asa Watts personality types. I did have the chance to get to know my fair share of outlaws, but the fact is, I could likely count the really bad ones on both hands…and maybe a toe or two. Even the semi-bad ones are interesting. There is a lot to each outlaw that might be difficult to see at first blush.

I once arrested an outlaw biker who was an incredible pencil artist, rivaling anything I have ever seen. He was also a killer and will have plenty of time to draw. We had a long talk about life and his art when I transported him to federal prison in south central Texas. Had I not been a deputy and he a prisoner, we probably could have had much the same discussion in an art class. I took the long route to the jail with another arrestee because he was a great southern chef and I wanted him to give me his recipe for chicken fried steak. Another fugitive was a fellow Kipling fan. I’ve already written a long essay about misunderstood prostitutes so I won’t go further with that.

I’m always looking for ways to make the bad guys in my stories more real and, at the same time, extra bad. The basically good, philosophical artist who gets wrapped up in something bad makes for an interesting character—but rarely an arch villain for our hero.

Over the years, I did cross paths with some people I would consider truly evil--otherwise rational people who seem to feed on the misery of others.  Though plenty layered, these were still evil, and get the Bruce Dern award for baddies in my book—and literally, in my books.  

I worked the Genaro Camacho trial in Dallas early in my Marshals Service career. Camacho was convicted of murdering three people, including a woman and her three-year-old son, who, according to a witness, he marched to a hole in the ground and shot, one after the other, then covered up with kitty litter to hide the stench. There was also testimony about him putting another girl through a wood chipper. An evil dude if I ever looked one in the eye. I remember one of the deputies gave him a breath mint during a break in the trial and I snatched it back from the table before he could eat it. Some people just don’t deserve breath minds. He was executed in 1998.

 

At the time of Faron Lovelace’s arrest, he looked up at me from where a deputy sheriff and I were smearing his face into the grass and said, “It’s obvious you are more racially pure than I am or you would never have gotten me.” We were in a ditch on the side of the road and he had two handguns, a can of bear spray, a butcher knife and a roll of duct tape, on his way to rob a rich Mexican gun dealer—who we had made up in order to lure Faron out of his mountain stronghold.  He eventually admitted to holding a Jewish couple prisoner in their home in Spokane and the kidnapping and murder of a fellow white supremacist. I spent many hours looking for this guy when he was a fugitive and during the investigations after his arrest.  I have not met many with his disregard for human life. At his trial, he took the stand and said: “I promise to tell the truth as long as it benefits me.”

He was sentence to death but the sentence was commuted to life.

There is a girl on the list.  Frankly, I should probably save her for another post. She deserves much more than a paragraph to describe her evil. As far as I know, she wasn’t a cannibal, but that’s about all the good I can say about her.  Yep, I’ll save her for later when it’s not getting dark outside and I’m not alone in the house…

One of the worst outlaws I ever met was during my first three years with the Marshals. We’ll call him Dean because I think some of his case is still under appeal.  Dean had gone to prison for sexual assault in his late teens. When he got out, a family friend, a man who’d mentored him in junior high, picked him up from prison to make the drive back across country. On the way, Dean decided he needed the man’s car more than the man did and after telling him he heard something wrong in the rear axle, beat this family friend to death on the side of the road with a rock. He did another two decades in prison where he no doubt ruled the roost because of his physical size and pure evil demeanor. When he got out, he convinced some poor woman to marry him, got her pregnant, then when she left him, he kidnapped her and the two-year-old son, threw her in the trunk and took her to Oklahoma where he tortured her in front of the kid for a couple of days before getting bored. As U.S. Marshals, we came onto the picture at this point, after he was a fugitive for this crime.

Dean was one of the few prisoners I ever dealt with who earned a designated shooter in court, that is, someone whose sole job it was to shoot Dean in the head if he broke bad. We explained this to him and he just nodded as if such a warning made all the sense in the world. 

On the way to prison, Dean felt we weren’t giving him enough air conditioning in the back seat of our caged Impala. So he beat his head against the side window until the glass broke and he could get some air—A real problem solver who had to be the one in charge.

I’ve said it before, but as a writer, the time I’ve been able to spend with these criminal minds has been invaluable—and I hope some of the reality has seeped into my stories.

As it turns out, Barbara Jo was pretty good at identifying bad boys, even back in the fifth grade. We moved away from that small town, but her family stayed, and she eventually married Ryan. He ended up in jail for beating the snot out of her—a couple of times. Last I heard they were still together. I guess she sees something about his character that eludes me. 

Marc Cameron is a retired Chief Deputy US Marshal and 29-year law enforcement veteran. His short stories have appeared in BOYS’ LIFE Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post. He has published nine novels, six of them Westerns (several as a ghost writer and two under his pen name, Mark Henry).  His present Jericho Quinn series—NATIONAL SECURITy, ACT OF TERROR, STATE OF EMERGENCY and TIME OF ATTACK (February 2014 Kensington) features an adventure motorcyclist, Air Force OSI agent and renaissance man who spends his days sorting out his life and kicking terrorist butt.  Marc lives in Alaska with his beautiful bride and BMW motorcycle.

Visit him at:

www.marccameronbooks.com

http://www.facebook.com/MarcCameronAuthor