Father Kit Cool Gun Garth

See bottom of page for "HOW I DEVELOPED MY ALIAS"

(as presented in the April 2020 Cowboy Chronicle, pages 98 & 99 (edited version))

• I am currently RETIRED.
• My last position worked was as a Financial Coordinator for a local government in Lake County, Florida.
• I was the Office Manager/Accountant for a Law Firm for 18 years, and before that the Operations Manager/Accountant for a major Wine & Spirits Distributor for 13 years.
• Graduate of the University of South Carolina with BA in Accounting.
• Served in the Air Force for 4 years as a Communications Specialist with a Top Secret Security Clearance, working with the Crypto guys.
• Graduate of Okaloosa-Walton Jr. High with a AS in Drafting & Design Technology.

     I first became interested in Cowboy Action Shooting after seeing photos of a SASS Mounted Cowboy posted on our Intranet website. I met with him to talk about what he did, and was directed to the Lake County Pistoleros who shoot at the Eustis Gun Range in Tavares, Florida.

     I went to a couple of their matches and was hooked.

     Then began the process of learning as much as I could about Cowboy Action Shooting and SASS, and using the Internet, researched every aspect of the sport, including watching as many videos as I could.

     After becoming a member of SASS and reading the SASS WIRE I discovered that there wasn't a process for a person who might be interested in the sport, to learn more about what it entails to become a Cowboy Action Shooter. Since I was already committed to the sport, and a new shooter myself, I decided to start posting threads specifically designed to be followed by those interested in CAS to learn "the ropes" and hopefully "steer" them to joining, as we need to increase the membership as much as we can.

     As a new member of SASS, I found a lot of the threads included Abbreviations and Acronyms that I did not understand, and with the help of Ms. Allie, a specific thread was created to address this issue. I still use it as a reference myself.

     Hopefully, my endeavors will help potential shooters want to join SASS.

HOW I DEVELOPED MY ALIAS FOR SASS

Once I had considered joining Cowboy Action Shooting and applying for membership with the Single Action Shooting Society, I wanted to create an alias that was unique and yet as mysterious as the “Old West” itself. My alias had to tell a...no, it had to be a story unto itself. And so the journey began.

I have always loved anagrams, words whose letters can be re-arranged to create other words. For example, taking the letters of “Clint Eastwood”, you can use those same letters to spell “Old West Action”.

With this as my compass, I began working on my own anagram, putting together the name I would be known by in the SASS Community. This name would not only represent my bio, but could transform itself into a story of the most famous gunfight in the Old West.

That name became: Father Kit “Cool Gun” Garth.

My BIO was then developed as a preacher who, after graduating from the Seminary in West Virginia, and later joining the Union Army to fight for independence, married and settled down in Fairbank, Arizona to open his first church. After his wife was killed by a group of Cow-Boys, he left the church in search of those who must face his revenge. This led him to the nearby town of Tombstone, Arizona.

But the real story lies in a Deck of Cards I created to tell the tale of the Earps and their confrontation with the Clantons and McClaurys in Tombstone.

THE KEY PLAYERS

In preparing my deck of cards, I assigned the face cards to the Earps and Doc Holliday, choosing Aces for Wyatt, Kings for Virgil and Queens for Morgan. The Jack was chosen for Doc Holiday representing his “Jack of all Trades” characteristics of dentist, gambler and gunfighter.

Wyatt Earp                                                    Virgil Earp

Morgan Earp                                                 Doc Holliday

The remaining players were given numeric card values.

           Ike Clanton                            Billy Clanton

         Frank McLaury                                 Tom McClaury

                                       Billy Claiborne

Only Sheriff Began was given the honor of being assigned the Joker, primarily based on his role leading up to the ensuing gunfight.

THE CARD LAYOUT

This special deck of cards consists of only twenty-one (21) cards, with the back of each card having a letter assigned to it.

When the full Deck of Cards is laid out it spells out my Alias:

Father Kit “Cool Gun” Garth

These same cards can be broken out into four (4) separate common playing hands along with the Joker.

They are the…

                             Straight

                        Full House

                        Royal Flush   

                      Aces & Eights

THE STORYLINE

October 26, 1881

Tombstone, Arizona

There was trouble brewing between the Clanton Gang and the Earps.

The Cowboys were calling out the Earps in a showdown.

Virgil, Wyatt & Morgan Earp along with Doc Holliday headed STRAIGHT to the corner of Fremont and Third Street to disarm the Cow-Boys.

When they arrived at the lot next to C.S. Fly’s Photographic Studio, they saw a FULL HOUSE – Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury along with young Billy Claiborne.

The JOKER of a Sheriff, Johnny Behan had said the Cow-Boys were unarmed.

Likewise, the Cowboys saw the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday and not expecting a foursome they became FLUSH.

A gunfight ensued where some 30 shots were fired in less than 30 seconds and when the dust settled, three (3) Cowboys revealed their DEAD MAN’s HAND.

When the same Deck of Cards is now laid out it spells out:

Gunfight at the OK Corral

THE ANAGRAM DESIGN

This is the process I used to come up with the final version of cards.