Waco's Badge (18 page)

T
HE READER MAY BE WONDERING WHY THE PRESENT
“expansion” differs so drastically from the episode which first appeared in THE HARD RIDERS.

When we asked Dustine Alvin “Cap” Fog about this, he said the descendants of Major Bertram Mosehan at the period in which our source of information was produced felt it unwise to allow the true facts to be known; particularly in connection with the escape of Belle Starr. However, “Cap” and Andrew Mark “Big Andy” Counter persuaded the present generation that their illustrious forebear's memory would not be affected adversely by the disclosure of what really happened and permission was granted for us to do so.

Left an orphan almost from birth when Waco Indians—from whence came the only name he ever knew—raided the wagon train in which his parents were travelling, Waco had been raised as a member of a North Texas rancher's large family.
¹
Guns had always been a part of his life, starting with an old Colt Model of 1851 Navy revolver and progressing through a brace of Colt 1860 Army
²
to two Colt “Peacemakers.”
³
Leaving his adopted home shortly before his sixteenth birthday, he had become a member of Clay Allison's “wild onion” CA ranch crew. Like their employer, the CA cowhands were notorious for their reckless and occasionally dangerous behavior. Living in the company of such men, all older than himself, he had become quick to take offense and well able, eager even, to prove he could draw his guns with lightning speed and shoot very accurately. It had seemed only a matter of time before one shootout too many would see him branded as a killer and fleeing from the law with a price on his head.

Fortunately for Waco, that day did not come!

From the moment Captain Dustine Edward Marsden “Dusty” Fog saved the youngster's life, at considerable risk to his own, a change for the better had
come.
⁴
Leaving Allison, with the blessing of the Washita curly wolf who wanted to see him attain a better life, Waco had become a member of the OD Connected's floating outfit.
⁵
The other members of this elite group had treated him like a favorite younger brother and had taught him their respective specialized skills. Mark Counter gave him instruction in bare handed combat. The Ysabel Kid had shown him how to read tracks and perform other tricks of the scout's trade. From a friend who was a gambler, Frank Derringer,
⁶
had come information about the ways of honest and crooked members of his profession.

From Dusty Fog, however, had come the most important lesson of all!

When—Waco already knew
how
—to shoot!

Dusty had also supplied advice which, helped by an inborn flair for deductive reasoning, turned Waco into a peace officer of exceptional merit. Benefiting from such an education, he became noted in law enforcement circles. In addition to the periods during which he wore a badge under the Rio Hondo gun wizard,
⁷
he served with distinction in the Arizona Rangers,
⁸
as sheriff of Two Forks County, Utah
⁹
and finally as a United States Marshal.
¹⁰

Over the years we have been writing, we have frequently received letters asking for various Western terms, or incidents to which we refer, to be explained. While we do not have the slightest objection to receiving such mail, we have found it saves us much time-consuming repetition to include those most often requested in each volume. While our “old hands” have seen them before, there are always “new chums” coming along who have not.

 

1. We are frequently asked why it is the “Belle Starr” we describe is so different from photographs which appear in various books. The researches of Philip José Farmer, q.v., with whom we consulted, have established that the person we describe is not the same as another, equally famous, bearer of the name. However, the Counter family have instructed Mr. Farmer and ourselves to keep her true identity a secret and this we intend to do. How her romance with Mark Counter commenced, progressed and was brought to an end is told in:
Part One, “The Bounty On Belle Starr's Scalp,” TROUBLED RANGE;
its “expansion,”
CALAMITY, MARK AND BELLE; RANGELAND HERCULES; THE BAD BUNCH; Part Two, “We Hang Horse Thieves High,” J.T.'S HUNDREDTH; THE GENTLE GIANT; Part Four, “A Lady Known As Belle,” THE HARD RIDERS
and
GUNS IN THE NIGHT.
Belle also makes “guest” appearances in:
HELL IN THE PALO DURO; GO BACK TO HELL; THE QUEST FOR BOWIE'S BLADE
and
Part Six, Calamity Jane in “Mrs. Wild Bill,” J.T.'S LADIES.

2. Although Americans in general use the word “cinch” for the broad, short band made from coarsely woven horsehair, canvas, or cordage, and terminated at each end with a metal ring, which—together with the
“latigo”—is used to fasten the saddle on the back of a horse, because of its Spanish connotations, Texans employ the term “girth” and pronounce it, “girt.” As Texans fastened the end of the rope to the saddlehorn when working cattle, or horses, instead of using a “dally” which could be slipped free in an emergency, their rigs had two girths for added security.

3. “Light a shuck”: cowhands' expression for leaving hurriedly. It derives from the habit in night camps of trail drives and open range roundups of supplying “shucks”—dried corn cobs—to be used for illumination by anybody who had to leave the campfire and walk in the darkness. As the “shuck” burned away very quickly, a person had to move fast if wanting to benefit from its light.

4. “Make wolf bait”: to kill. It derives from the practice in the Old West when a range was infested by predators—not necessarily wolves alone—of killing an animal, poisoning the carcass and leaving it to be devoured.

5. We suspect that the trend in film and television Westerns made since the early 1960s to portray all cowhands as long haired, bearded and filthy stems less from the desire of the production companies to create “realism” than because there were so few actors—to play supporting roles particularly—who were clean shaven and short haired and because the “liberal” elements who began to gain control of the entertainment industry appear to have an obsession for dirty conditions or filthy appearances. In our extensive reference library, we cannot find a dozen photographs of cowhands—as opposed to Army scouts, mountain men and old time gold prospectors—with long hair and bushy beards. In fact, our reading on the subject has led us to believe the term “long hair” was one of opprobrium in the Old West and Prohibition eras, as it is in cattle country today.

6. The sharp toes and high heels of the boots worn by cowhands were purely functional. The former could enter, or be slipped from, a stirrup iron very quickly in an emergency. Not only did the latter offer a firmer grip in the stirrup iron, they could be spiked into the ground to supply extra braking power when roping on foot.