More Short Stories from The Mammoth Book of Westerns

Trying to recall something you maybe read sixty year's ago puts my brain on "Heat." I'm talking about the Cisco Kid and O. Henry. O. Henry invented the Kid and Hollywood went on to make several movies with the Cisco Kid as the main character. My brainwaves never connected O. Henry and the Cisco Kid, and reading The Caballero's Way didn't put them together in my cranium either. It was explained in the short author's bio preceding the story, that it was the introduction of the Kid.

In the story, the Cisco Kid is up to his old tricks of rustling, killing, and having his way with the pretty women. The Texas Rangers send Lieutenant Sandridge to the Lone Wolf Crossing of the Frio River where Cisco hangs out at his girlfriends house. Sandridge and Cisco's pretty senorita, Tonia, set a trap to catch the bad man, and I'm sure most readers know what happens. The "Ceesco Keed" was one of the worst outlaws around and enjoyed his reputation as such and his way with the women. I was entertained by this story as I read it and enjoyed it. The movies were fine entertainment, too.

Stephen Crane, author of Red Badge of Courage, wrote some western stories, too, including The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky in this anthology. His short bio states "These stories introduced realism and irony into the Western form and in some ways Crane has been the most influential Western stylist." I can't argue with that. In the story, the Sheriff of Yellow Sky, Jack Potter, takes some time off and gets married. Scratchy Wilson is known to get drunk and become belligerent. When Jack and his bride return to Yellow Sky, a drunken Wilson is itching for a fight, but no one falls for it. Everyone knows he is dangerous when in his cups and avoids him. No one else available, Wilson calls out the sheriff when he hits town after his trip not knowing of the marriage. This leads to an interesting and exciting confrontation, making a fine story.

Willa Cather also wrote western stories and everyone pretty much knows that, and On the Divide is one of them. It is a story of large Norwegian named Canute Canuteson who lives alone in his shanty with the rattlesnake skins on the front door. He is a big and tall man and drinks his alcohol straight, and I don't mean whiskey, it's pure alcohol. He tells his neighbor one day that he is going to marry the neighbor's daughter. She doesn't want any part of marrying him, but things come to pass before the story ends. I thought the story was funny to an extent, but life is so tough it makes it difficult to laugh much.

And right after that story is another about a cowboy who likes to go on a "tear" now and then. This one is by the pioneer female writer, B. M. Bower, author of many early western novels and one of the few women at that time to write westerns. The name of the story is Bad Penny. Penny is a cowboy and he is one of the ranch hands on this trail drive. His boss calls him a terrific hand on the ranch because he knows how to cowboy and handle cattle and horses, but he doesn't want Penny to get drunk again and ruin the drive. Penny has been sober for a while, but it's getting near the end of the trail and he is hankerin' for a drop to wet his whistle. What happens is a great ending to the story, making it fun to read.

In my mind, the stories in the book make great entertainment and puts me in the mood to do some writing of my own. I will be commenting on more of the stories as time goes by. The book is 531 pages long.  

More Misprints

The Phoenix Gazette, Apr 24, 1978:

I hope they built these condos right-side-up!

------------------

Phoenix Gazette 11/16/81:

Headline: AFL-CIO's Kirkland Mocks The White House

Excerpt:  "Rejecting any sympathy for budget director David Stockman for his publicized scolding by the president [Reagan], Kirkland called Stockman 'the original interior decorator of this economic house of ill repute.'

'What provoked his candor one can only guess,' Kirklnd said. 'But you don't have to be an old sailor to know what it means when the smartest rat on board heads for the hawsepipe.'

"Kirkland who started his career in the maritime unions referred to the pipe on which rope or cable from a ship is wrapped to hold it to the dock."

Comment: The reporter should check his nautical terms. A hawsepipe is the iron castings in the bow through which anchor chains run. A rope or cable is wrapped around a bitt (metal post) to moor to the pier.

---------------------

Phoenxi Gazette 7/19/90:

Headline: Gunshot kills man

Excerpt: "A Phoenix man was found shot to death in his home Tuesday, police said.

"Jack Sutherland was found by his wife about 10:30 p.m., police Sgt. Kevin Robinson said. The victim had spoken to his wife on the phone about two hours."

Comment:I don't think that's any reason to shoot him, or maybe it was

------------------

I don't know where this Want Ad was first printed:

"HEALTH CLUB
Must sell immediately
Because of illness.
Will Accept First Best Offer.
258-2405"

-----------------

That's all for today, stay tuned next Thursday..

The Mammoth Book of Westerns

Been read reading The Mammoth Book of Westerns published by Running Press Book Publishers, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, printed and bound in the UK. It was edited by Jon E. Lewis with a Foreword by Rick Bass.

It contains a selection of short stories and novel excerpts by authors from Wister to McMurtry. I fnished reading stories by Bret Harte and Frederick Remington, and a novel excerpt by Mark Twain, in the first pages and will continue on to the end over the next weeks or months.

Bret Harte's The Outcasts of Poker Flat is a classic. I first read it in the 1940's in high school, but didn't remember exactly what I read. This reading reminded me it wasn't exactly a comedy, but a sad story of some people who were banned from the town of Poker Flat for one reason or another relating to their illegal or criminal activity. It didn't end on an upbeat note, since the outcasts were caught in a mountain snow storm and struggled to survive. I think this is the first western story written about non-heroes, but maybe not. Anyway, I enjoyed re-reading it after all these years.

I also enjoyed Mark Twain's excerpt from Roughing It. He had me laughing out loud over his description of stage coach travel, jack rabbits, mules, and the lady passenger who wouldn't stop talking. I always meant to read the book, but haven't got around to it, yet. I know it'll be a fun read.

Frederic Remington, the western painter of Indians and cowboys, also wrote quite a bit, too. This was all new to me, though, having only heard of his great artistic efforts. His story here was A Sergeant of the Orphan Troop, a dramatic telling of a couple of skirmishes with the Indians in Nebraska not far from Fort Robinson. His writing is direct and straightforward as he recounts the battles and suffering of both the Indians and the soldiers.

More Funny Stuff

I'm happy to see that mistakes are made by someone besides me.

This is from a TV Guide probably in the 1980's, but can't say for sure:

This is about as large as I can make it. If you look at "Thriller" on the bottom row, there is a picture of  Jonathan Winters, but the caption reads "That lovable, sinister, master of horror, Boris Karloff in some of TV's eeriest hours." (Well, that could fit Jonathan Winters at times.)

Next to that is a picture of Boris Karloff (with a candle up his nostril, it looks like), but it reads "Wacky World of Jonathan Winters" and "Comedy variety with the incomparable wit and wonder of Jonathan Winters and special guest stars."
- - - - - - - - - -
Next is one from the Phoenix Gazette of 9/14/87, with the headline "Woman raped by man after accepting car ride".

Excerpt from article:  "The man then released her and drove away. He is described as 27-30 years old, 6 feet tall, 250-300 pounds with blue hair and brown eyes. He was driving a brown late 1970s van."

Comment: This suspect should be fairly easy to spot, being so large with BLUE hair.

- - - - - - - - -

From the Arizona Republic 7/27/97, headline: "Mars rover's 'find rock' program works"

Excerpt: "On Saturday, the Sojourner rover used its alpha proton X-ray spectrometer to study the chemical composition of the rock, named for a fluffy desert [Souffle], a day after guiding itself 10 feet to reach it."

Comment: Fluffy? desert? The desert around here doesn't look "fluffy" to me, but I guess it depends on how you look at it. I think souffle is a dessert.
- - - - - - - - - -

More next Thursday.

Mysteries and Legends

The title above is not complete. It is a long one, Mysteries and Legends - Utah - True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained, a book by Michael O'Reilly.

Being from Utah, I found the book interesting and some of the legends I never heard of while living there, like Chapter 10, The Ghosts of Heritage Park. I had never heard of Brigham Young's Farmhouse being haunted by the ghost of Anna Eliza Young, Brigham's nineteenth wife. But maybe no one talked about it back in the 1930's and '40's. Mister Young had several houses and I'm sure most of 'em were haunted looking back on it now.

Another Chapter tells about Charlie Steen, the Uranium King, and his life as a millionaire and before he hit the jackpot.

There is a chapter on aliens that are seen now and then in the area of my hometown. My niece mentioned the strange things happening on her ranch a few years back. Aliens? Maybe?

And there is the Chapter on the long hunt for Rafael Lopez, the murderer of the early 1900's at the Bingham copper mine. They, the law, never caught up with him while he was alive. Woops, I let some of it out of the bag, but you will be surprised where it comes to the end.

There is more, like on Bigfoot, the tragedy at Mountain Meadows, the handcart fiasco, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, of course, and even more.

The book is a 6"x9" paperback published by The Globe Pecquot Press in Connecticut, a part of Morris Book Publishing who holds the 2009 copyright. The author has a Master's Degree from the University of Utah and lives in Salt Lake City.

I give it a good three and a half stars for its entertainment, writing, and amount of interest it was to me..

Funny Stuff

Back a few years and up 'til now, I've kept my eye out for miscues, misprints, mistakes in newspapers and other published material and have a few that tickled my funnybone. Will post a couple per day, here goes:

Phoenix Gazette 3/8/89:

Headline: Woman's death warrant signed.
Partial Text:
"_______ _______ Jackson is scheduled to be electrocuted in the Florida State Prison at Starke May 9. Martinez signed the death warrant, which is Jackson's first, Tuesday."

My comment:
How many death warrants do you usually receive?
_________
Arizona Republic 7/18/77:

Headline: 3 gunman steal $700 at tavern.
Partial Text:
"Everyone laid face-down on the floor. They took the mens wallets, went through the ladies' purses, and took the money from the cash register."

Police said one robber was armed with a shotgun, another with a lever-action rifle and the tird with a revolver.

 My comment:
The last guy was what?
_________
No paper referenced on this next one. It is an ad for Efferdent Denture Tablets:

Price without coupon 1.19
WITH COUPON . . . 1.49
Coupon effective: THURS. . FRI. .SAT. .12-28, 29, 30

My comment:
What? Throw away the coupon and have a Happy New Year.

More coming up on 6/16/16 (next Thursday).

Dusty Richards' "Pray for the Dead"

Pray for the Dead is another novel in the Byrnes' family series by the wonderful story teller and writer Dusty Richards. This one was given to me by my wife while on the Kansas trip and I'm glad she did. Although I'm missing a novel or two before this one, it picks up at the Byrnes ranching empire and Chet Byrnes has been made a Deputy U. S. Marshal. The novel is generally about the progress of the ranching business and takes on another big job to provide a stage coach line across northern Arizona from Gallup, New Mexico, to the Colorado River. Chet's daily routine is frequently interrupted by someone asking for help to catch cattle rustlers, horse thieves, killers, and rapists. He takes on thse tasks with a vengeance with his two main cohorts Jesus and Cole, who work for him on the ranches and are capable gunmen. Oh, yes, his wife Liz, goes along with them whenever she can. She looks after the horses on these forays when they become dangerous.

In this story, Chet also has to track down some stage coach robbers, which requires him getting his southern border force involved to help him out in Tucson and Tombstone.  Some of these episodes are bloody and involve women who are taken advantage of.

I'll give this story four stars for all the action in it and the enjoyment I got from it. The publication was a pocket book, 376 pages long, put out by Pinnacle Books. Dusty Richards has written many westerns and they always provide great entertainment.

A Writer's Conference and . . .

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

I received a notice in the mail this week with information on the University of New Mexico Writer's Conference coming up Jul 24-31, 2016, in Santa Fe. There will be a Faculty and Editors, Agents & Guests to provide lots of information on writing and publishing. The cost excludes me, being  $700 for the week or $400 for the weekend. The conference used to be the Taos Summer Writers' Conference. Contact unmwritersconf.unm.edu for more information.

Along with that, the New Mexico Book Coop has a very active schedule of events with a monthly luncheon, book signings, classes, and "Cover Reads", a promotional pub that goes out once a month. They have several Awards in their writing programs for Arizona and New Mexico stories. Contact: nmbookcoop.com for more info.

Writing is a great pastime or career.

Kansas, Here We Come!

That's right, Kansas, been there and done that. It was the worst trip I ever made as for as traveling goes! The day before we left (we = my step-daughter, wife, and yours truly) I "cotched" a cold and it kept getting worse the longer we traveled. And on top of that, being the only gentleman along, I had to "rassle" luggage in and out of motel rooms, something I normally would think nothing of, but they got heavier and heavier as we went along. One motel had outside stairs to the second floor and that was a hard one.

Why Kansas? Well, it was my wife's 73rd high school reunion and I couldn't back out of it. Someone had to drive, and the daughter did most of it. I didn't have any time for book-looking or library research, museums, etc. It was visiting relatives here and there around Topeka. My wife figures it was going to be her last Kansas trip, so we made the most of it.

It rained one day in Topeka, not very hard, and one night in north central Kansas where the storm just brushed by. Nice weather, otherwise, but I was too sick to notice.

I crashed when we finally got home and it's taken me another ten days to get feeling half-way decent. I told the wife, "I'm never leaving home again." She said,"You will, your family reunion is coming up and you don't want to miss that." "We'll see, we'll see, right now I'm stayin' home!"

Weather Report - Short Stories II

The header picture is through my windshield showing the rain. April ended with a cloudburst that left almost an inch of rain in the gauge on my front patio, although the TV news only reported .12 of an inch. We get very little rain in April, May, and June and this was appreciated.

The rest of the story about the Zane Grey short stories in The Westerners Frontier Stories from a couple posts back.

1. The Camp Robber is about a sneaky thief that sneaks onto the ranches and camps in the area and steals minor things. The ending is a good one and comes as a big surprise to the main character, a cowboy named Wingfield. I thought this was an entertaining tale and liked it very much.     

2. The Westerners was not the traditional western of the shoot 'em ups, but it's setting is Reno, Nevada, in the 1920's or '30's when it was widely known as being the divorce capital of the world. Katharine Hempstead meets a handsome cowboy, Phil Cameron, on the street and they are both trying to prevent their parents from divorcing their spouses. This story is rather long, but I found it interesting and absorbing as it works its way to a happy ending.

3. Monty Price's Nightingale - Monty Price is a stand-offish type of cowboy and a little irritating to some of the men he works with. This story of him and a forest fire I found exciting and emotional and enjoyed it, too.

4. On Location - This one is about an Arizona cowboy, who ends up as a double for an actor in a movie near the Painted Desert and and a female double. They both are stand-ins for the big stars of the movie and he gets into a knock-down, drag-out with the fellow he is standing in for. A nice, fun  story which I enjoyed.

5. Death Valley - Grey writes about a trip through Death Valley that he and a friend took and gives a good description of the area and their reaction to it. Interesting indeed, since I have never been there, and I don't think I care to go now at my age.

6. Strange Partners at Two-Fold Bay - This is the whale story I mentioned in that previous blog. I didn't know whether to believe it or not, but the story following by Loren Grey makes it pretty clear what happened. It takes place in Australia and Zane relates that some Killer whales (Orcas) helped the men to round up and kill the bigger whales they used for oil, the gray and sperm whales.

7. Of Whales and Men - Loren Grey made the trip to Eden, Australia, which is the town near Two-Fold Bay and talks to one of the old whalers who substantiates his father's story of the orcas.  There was one whale, called Old Tom, whose bones were saved and put in a museum in 1938 to commemorate the orcas who helped the whalers and tell the story to all who visit the museum. I still find it hard to believe, but some animals are smarter than we think thy are.