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CONTENTS 3-11 COVER FEATURE END of TRAIL — A Look Back and a Peek at the Future 12 EDITORIALS PUBLISHED BY THE WILD BUNCH Skinny’s Soapbox THE COWBOY CHRONICLE, JULY 2021 13-14 NEWS VOL. 2 #23 SASS Western Regional Update Single Action Shooting Society® PO Box 2340, Moriarty, NM 87035 16-19 COSTUMING CORNER 505-843-1320 • Fax 877-770-8687 www.sassnet.com Memories of Past END of TRAIL Costumes © 2021 All rights reserved 20-25 ANNUAL MATCHES EDITORIAL STAFF Legends 2021 — Four Corners Regional and Wild Bunch Territorial Championships Range War 2020 — Michigan State Championship EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Skinny 26-31 GUNS & GEAR MANAGING EDITOR Dispatches From Camp Baylor — Everything About Black Powder Misty Moonshine Dillon 650 Primer Punch Tool EDITORS EMERITUS 32-36 HISTORY Tex & Cat Ballou Dirty Deals — The Compromise of 1877 ADVERTISING MANAGER Little Known Famous People Way Out West — Porter Rockwell Square Deal Jim 410-531-5456 | [email protected] 37-42 PRODUCT REVIEW GRAPHIC DESIGN Cimarron Firearms/Uberti 1866 .44-40 Carbine Mac Daddy 44 PROFILES SASS® Trademarks Essay by 2020 SASS Scholarship Recipient Smoke N’ Ash SASS®, Single Action Shooting Society®, The Cowboy ChronicleTM, Cowboy Action ShootingTM, END of TRAILTM, The 45-47 TRAILMARKERS World Championship of Cowboy Action ShootingTM, Founders RanchTM, SASS Western Hoss Aimright Heritage Museum & Cowboy Action Shooting Hall Of FameTM, SASS Scholarship Icelady TM TM Foundation , Wild Bunch , Wild Bunch Iron Horse Jim Action ShootingTM — are all trademarks of The Single Action Shooting Society®. Any Lobo Joe use or reproduction of these marks without the express written permission of SASS® is strictly prohibited. 48 WILD BUNCH Bending in the Breeze The Cowboy Chronicle (ISSN 15399877) is published quarterly by the Single Action Shooting Society®, 215 Cowboy Way, Edge- 52-64 SASS AFFILIATED CLUB LISTINGS wood NM 80715 for the benefit of its mem- bers. Periodicals Postage paid at Plattsburgh, 2021 Monthly and Annual Shooting Schedules NY and additional mailing offices (USPS #032 Permit #20591). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Cowboy Chronicle, PO Box 2340, Moriarty, NM 87035. DISCLAIMER: The Single Action Shooting Society does not guarantee, warranty, or en- dorse any product or service advertised in this publication. The publisher also does not guar- antee the safety or effectiveness of any prod- uct or service illustrated. The distribution of some products/services may be illegal in some areas, and we do not assume responsibility thereof. State and local laws must be inves- tigated by the purchaser prior to purchase or use of products/services. WARNING: Neither the author nor The Cowboy Chronicle can accept any respon- sibility for accidents or differing results obtained using reloading data. Variations in handloading techniques, components, and firearms will make results vary. Have a component gunsmith check your firearms before firing. PRINTED IN CANADA COWBOY CHRONICLE 1 Preserving Western Heritage Music, Poetry& OF THE AMERICAN WEST FOR 35 Years BECOME A MEMBER TODAY! Volume 30 Issue 4 Fall 2020 $5.95 The Official Publication of the International Western Music Association THE Volume 30 Issue 2 Spring 2020 $5.95 GUITARS FOR VETS PAGE 12 ENSURING THE International Western Music Association Legacy THE THROUGH YOUTH RECEIVE PAGE 19 The Official Publication of the 2020 Hall of Fame CROSSHAIRS: Inductees CROSSHAIRS: PAGE 24 Susie AWARD-WINNING AND MULTI-TALENTED Knight JIM JONES MULTI-TALENTED PRESERVES THE ENTERTAINER CULTURE OF THE WEST Volume 31 Issue 4 Winter 2021 $5.95 PAGE 6 THE PAGE 6 The Official Publication of the International Western Music Association Swingin’ in SacramentoPAGE 10 Volume 30 Issue 1 Winter 2020 $5.95 Legacy of Jack Thorpe PAGE 12 THE H H H The Official Publication of the International Western Music Association THE 2019 Award of Excellence Official Quarterly Publication of the CROSSHAIRS: Recipients 2020 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE NOMINATION BALLOT INSIDE, PAGE 46 H H H BAXTER BLACK GARY ALLEGRETTO HAILEY SANDOZ Male Performer Instrumentalist with lifelong friend of the Year of the Year International Western Music Association JIM SHAFER SHOOTING ARROWS IN THE SKY WITH MEMBERSHIP PAGE 6 THE COWBOY WAY Group of the Year IN THE IWMA AWARDS ecognition CROSSHAIRS FREE R onnections RUSTY Creative C PAGE 28 RICHARDS TOM SWEARINGEN TERESA BURLESON Male Poet Female Poet A MAN OF THE WEST & ONLY $22 2004 IWMA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE Kristyn Harris OR SUBSCRIBE FOR PAGE 6 Entertainer of the Year Female Performer of the Year SEE ALL AWARD RECIPIENTS AND IWMA 2019 COVERAGE INSIDE! CONTACT THE IWMA FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER AND SUBSCRIBE TO WESTERN WAY 505.563.0673 • [email protected] iwesternmusic.org • westernmusicassociation 2 COWBOY CHRONICLE The first match was pretty basic. Targets were still largely cardboard and required taping between shooters. Props were minimal, as were most of the costumes. to Kansas… the herd had been sold, the TRAIL sported 12 stages of Cowboy END OF TRAIL drovers had had a bath, been paid, pur- Action. All through these early years it chased new clothes, drank a little whis- was the Wild Bunch that designed the A LOOK BACK AND A PEEK ky, played some cards, and experienced event, produced the event, and hosted AT THE FUTURE… the favors of the lovely Kansas ladies. It the event. Everyone had an assignment By Tex, SASS #4 was time to CELEBRATE! and was held accountable. By the end And celebrate they did! Coto had a of each match, everyone was exhausted large, covered equestrian arena, which and nobody was speaking to anybody! IN THE BEGINNING… was to be the site of the inaugural cel- The most memorable part of this time owboy Action Shooting™ actually ebration. Chili was cooked, whisky was the Wild Bunch meeting at the Cstarted in 1979, or thereabouts. was drunk, and guns were fired! The Judge’s home, sitting on the floor, eat- The Judge (SASS #1) and the General expensive thoroughbreds stabled near- ing and drinking, and designing stages (SASS #2) were members of an action by all freaked out and loud discussions — and laughing… a lot! The problem pistol club in Southern California and ensued. Long story short, the cowboys was, the next morning no one had any wondered if their game could be played were disinvited from any further cel- idea what wonderful ideas had been with “cowboy guns.” For the next cou- ebrations in the covered arena! This fleshed out the afternoon before… so ple of years “cowboy” style matches could have been the end! we learned we had to write things down were held at Coto de Caza, a wonder- as we went! ful, gated community in the foothills of The Wild Bunch learned a lot Orange County, California. After a few THE EARLY YEARS… about stage design during this period… years, the notion of an annual match The early years were all in Coto de balanced stages (time wise) was one of was hatched… and the rest is history! Caza, from the first END of TRAIL in the first things. Several times it got dark The planning was set in motion, 1982 through 1991. There were two before all the competitors had complet- costumes were required, and the rules bays left over from the 1980 Olym- ed the day’s shooting. The stragglers were… “well understood” by everyone pics where the pentathlon was held. were up first the next morning and then interested in playing the game. It would Two stages could be set up on each bay the bay had to be broken down and be called “END of TRAIL”… marking and the bays could be rearranged each reset for the new day’s shooting! Anoth- the end of the months-long cattle drives day for four stages. Early on, END of er lesson learned was “one shooter – one COWBOY CHRONICLE 3 entry!” One of the early competitors entered END of TRAIL six times — as six different competitors. He dressed as six different Hollywood cowboy stars, all with distinctive costumes. He com- pleted the match shooting as all six dif- ferent cowboys, all in costume, and he ended exhausted from all the costume changes! Rank scoring had been used from the beginning. Initially there were no computer programs available, so scores were recorded on small “tickets” that Overall winners didn’t make any sense to could be collected, sorted, and manually some of the Wild Bunch ... that’s why we have shooting categories. Accordingly, tabulated. Time was irrelevant, place of in 1989 and ‘90, no overall winners were recognized. However, the will of the finish was all that counted. shooters ultimately prevailed, and the Target size and placement were overall trophies for those two years were awarded at the beginning of the still a work in progress. There was no 1991 END of TRAIL. Paydirt, SASS #411, is seen here accepting his trophy. consistency… some liked small, dis- tant targets and others wanted a bar room fight where all the targets were Shotgun Red from Las Vegas entered the Costume Contest as the Electric man sized at ten feet! Ruger Black- Cowboy. He entered late as the judging hawks with their adjustable sights were was wrapping up, stepped forward, and bang!… all the electric lights came on! favored because of cost and ability to The other contestants simply wilted… hit small targets more reliably. Colts and he walked away with the prize! were used but were definitely in the minority. The posse concept did not exist. When a shooter was ready to shoot a stage, he simply got in line and waited his turn. It wasn’t until the Duran- go Kid (SASS #8) hosted a match in Durango Colorado that the posse sys- tem was invented.