Brazos John

Thanks, Colorado, I never knew the history of the market hunters. Thanks. I lived West of Houston 20 years ago, and the Canadian Geese would land in the rice fields just north of my house. When they took off and flew over, you could hear the flapping of their wings. It was incredible! There were thousands of them, spread over the rice fields. I even heard whoopers flying over, but never saw them land. Since I moved away from the Katy Prairie, they have built houses, schools, and, of course, a Wallyworld. I guess the migratory route either shifted West, or they fly over Katy now. It's too bad. They were so cool. Thanks, Flash, I started into the article, but I'll have to get back to work, so I saved it. Your great-uncle sounds like an amazing man. It was a whole different world back then. And as much as I like the cowboy days, I don't think I could have kept up with any of those men back then. Thank ya both for the info. I bet that I'm not the only one that learned a thing or two.

Howdy, Colorado, and anyone else that might know, Tell me more about the market hunters. I know about the buffalo hunters, but who used shotguns? I googled it, but didn't find any useful hits. "Perceived" is right. I've seen SxS shooters that can load 2 and shoulder just as fast as I could shoulder and pump once. And stoking on the clock takes forever, but blasting away with a full magazine sure is fun. And still, that's how they would have done it back then.

SOG? I bet the cowboys stoked their '97s and '87s as SOP. Why else would there be magazines? And, you can stoke your rifle off the clock, so why do the rules prevent stoking a pump or lever shotgun? BTW, THSS writes stoking into all stages. Comments?

I got it in Monday's mail. Thank you much. Check the SASS Wire for a topic titled The Cowboy Way. Thanks again, Brazos John

Trusting a stranger is pretty much unheard of in today's world. That's why this group of cowboys is so special. I found something in Classifieds that I couldn't live without, a little pre-1900 specialty. I contacted the seller, Dakota Fox, and put a PO MO in the mail at lunchtime on Friday, and pm'ed him to tell him. I checked the mail box on Monday, and there it is, waiting for me. It made me feel good that a stranger trusted me enough to send his package before my money arrived. "Stranger" might not be the right word, maybe "friend that I haven't met yet". Anyway, I just wanted to tell others about a stand-up cowboy that I encountered, and would ride the trail with any day. Thanks kindly, Dakota Fox.

I had to look up Equanimous, and found this: Equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies. This may be a handicap on the Wire. It's more entertaining when people get all worked up over something. YMMV. (I stole this from someone on the Wire - Your Mileage May Vary - meaning that your opinion or results might be different.)

This is just too dang cute! I'll take it! I'll pm you with my details tomorrow - I'm heading home now. See you down the trail, Brazos

It turns out that Santa Anna was successful. The reenactment of the battle of San Jacinto has been cancelled because of the fire. Just wait until next year! Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! God Bless Texas!

We've passed the siege of The Alamo, and San Jacinto Day, April 21, is approaching. To prevent another celebration, Santa Anna has set fire to the San Jacinto Battlefield, and is trying to capture the San Jacinto Monument. But on April 13, the Texas Army will re-enact that glorious battle on the same battlefield where it occurred, and we will, again, whip Santa Anna's butt. Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! God Bless The Lone Star State! Actually, this is the ITC Refinery fire in Deer Park, outside of Houston, taken Tuesday morning. It's miles away from the San Jacinto Monument. The fire is out now, but it sure put a lot of smoke into the air.

I made a deal on the hand made Bowie with the concho. It arrived quickly, and was well-protected with lots of padding. I'll be picking up that shredded paper for days! It's bigger than I expected, and I really like it. I'll be wearing it proudly in Houston's St. Patrick's Day Parade with the Texas Army on Saturday morning. Erin go bragh! Texas go bragh!

I've got one of those, but it doesn't run anywhere near that fast!

11. XXX - What's That, Friend? I was edited. You can guess what it was....

The safest city in America, since the Wall was built!

Dang! 12 minutes too late!

Howdy, Devlin, The Texas Historical Shootist Society's next shoot is this coming Sunday. Go to www.thss.org. It's fixing to get real cold for Texas (in the 30's), so I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but there will be lots of good folks that'll make you feel right warm. Look for Texas Billy, Crazy Ed, and Doc Boedecker. They'll steer you straight. It's free to watch, and your first shoot is free, too. Tell'em I said so. Hope to meet you in Gunsmoke some warmer day. Brazos John

Man, that's sure purty.