Have you ever wondered what pranks looked like in the Wild West? Well, imagine being a naive, greenhorn man stepping into one set up by the seasoned regulars at the Dodge House. This episode whisks you into a wild adventure, spun from the tale of a man who fancied himself a lady killer being played by the cunning men of Buffalo City. Notably, a place where men far outnumber women, sparking a unique dynamic.
Get ready to go further, as we peel back the layers of the intriguing characters we've come across in our books, 'A Man in a Black Derby Hat' and 'Tales of the Frontier Return of the Great Hunters'. Discover the motivations and experiences that shaped these Wild West folks, and how startlingly familiar they might seem, resonating with our own realities. So pour a glass of whiskey, settle in, and let's explore together the gritty, colorful saga of the Wild West. Just don't forget - the tales are thrilling, but the truth is even wilder.
Return of the Great Hunters
Cattle Drives Website
Legends of Dodge City Website
Order Books
Have you ever wondered what pranks looked like in the Wild West? Well, imagine being a naive, greenhorn man stepping into one set up by the seasoned regulars at the Dodge House. This episode whisks you into a wild adventure, spun from the tale of a man who fancied himself a lady killer being played by the cunning men of Buffalo City. Notably, a place where men far outnumber women, sparking a unique dynamic.
Get ready to go further, as we peel back the layers of the intriguing characters we've come across in our books, 'A Man in a Black Derby Hat' and 'Tales of the Frontier Return of the Great Hunters'. Discover the motivations and experiences that shaped these Wild West folks, and how startlingly familiar they might seem, resonating with our own realities. So pour a glass of whiskey, settle in, and let's explore together the gritty, colorful saga of the Wild West. Just don't forget - the tales are thrilling, but the truth is even wilder.
Return of the Great Hunters
Cattle Drives Website
Legends of Dodge City Website
Order Books
Thanos the Greenhorn. I can say with the lack of any contention that the proclaiming of a Greenhorn has many setbacks in achieving credibility. They are among those who are not well served through experience. The Greenhorn establishes themselves as the vulnerable human on the planet. They pose themselves fresh from the city and have no idea how to deal with the rugged frontier. The color green alone has long been used to mean something immature. For example, young trees often have a greenish tinge to the wood and sometimes in the bark. Anyone who has tried to start a fire with green wood knows it does not burn well. It is too damp, too new, only seasoned or old wood burns well. It's interesting to note that young oxen horns have a greenish tinge to them. They lose this coloration as the horn gains age and thickness. When you team the horn coloration with the inexperience of a young oxen team, it's easy to see how green and horn came to be paired together. Whatever the reason, a green horn is firmly embedded in the language of the frontier. They are the young, naive or inexperienced person who is likely to get into trouble. That is until the person gets a little seasoning.
Speaker 1:It was late November of 1872. I was bored as a blind guy watching a roaster and a chicken copulating in the barnyard. It was like having no whiskey to drink and being a midget in a circus full of a crowd as stilted onlookers, absent of any interesting perspective. At the time I was employed by Mr Robert Hem, wright's general star. He hired me as a cleric and fetch it man, my boss. Mr Wright was a lot like Columbus he left not knowing where he was going, got there not knowing where he was and left not knowing where he'd been, and did it all unborrowed money.
Speaker 1:Mr Wright of Blandenburg, prince George County in Maryland, had this notion to come out west. When he was sixteen he settled in Missouri and worked on a farm near St Louis until 1859. He made an overland trip with Oxen in the next year, reaching the town of Denver in May. He crossed the plains four times by wagon and twice by coach. He worked for three years out on the nine mile ridge as a contractor for Sanderson and Company. He cut hay who would and hauled grain from the Cimarron trading post until he was appointed postmaster at Fort Dodge in 1867. Mr Wright was a jack of all trades, being a farmer, a stockman, contractor, postmaster and merchant. That is until one day he got crossways with the commander of Fort Dodge for selling whiskey to the soldiers. He was then that Mr Wright had to decide what to do next. So he and another group of men decided to lay out a township and call it Buffalo City. That's how this year general's start got started.
Speaker 1:The afternoon, air was warm, the wind roared, kicking up, dirt swirling in the streets as if it were some wild dark cavern deep in a forgotten land. Front street clamored with audibles of wagons loaded with hides and meat, long trail outfits with supplies, railroad gangs, desperados, vigilantes, soldiers all a moving show of a newly developed outpost on the Kansas plains. Frustrate, located north of the railroad tracks, included Colonel Isaac Young's Harness Shop, a Herman J Fringer's drugstore, roth and Wright's general merchandising, the Dodge House and Tom Sherman's Dance Hall. Even though stores and saloons were open 24 hours a day and those who tended to more 12-hour shifts, the spart of Dodge in the dull season, had plenty of leisure To do them justice.
Speaker 1:Early, members of the Dodge City Gang tried hard to fill the makeshift town with gaiety. It was mid-afternoon when a tall, handsome fellow of a fair complexion, not more than 26 years of age, entered the store. His violet-blue eye is Pierce Shrewdy, afternoon's son. His hair, beneath a stiff derby hat, being brown and almost black, gave off the impression he was some kind of businessman with a flair for delicate clothes. He walked over to the sales counter where I was stacking canned peaches on the shelves behind a counter. I looked over the counter and noticed a man was wholly unarmed. —what can I do for you, I asked. —well, sir, he replied. My name is John Wesley Moore and I'm looking for my brother Josiah. My brother Josiah told me he would be about town and I should come here to this place to find him. I could tell from the looks at this man that he was a greenhorn, which brought all kinds of Machiavellian dots running through my head. —have you been in town long, I asked. —i arrived a week ago, replied John.
Speaker 1:I spent some very uncomfortable nights at the Dodge House. They did not give me enough bedding to keep me warm. Plus, I ran into a few rough fellas who played a trick on a man who fancied himself a lady killer. Well, I replied, we have lots of those bachelor types around this place, especially at Tom Sherman's dance hall. All of them are heavy into the idea of looking for some female companionship. There's less women in this town than men. You know I was interested in John's story, especially when it came to local pranks played on a greenhorn. So I stopped shelving the canned goods and leaned to the sales counter to give John me full attention. So what happened to this here man who fancied himself a lady-killer, I asked? Some of the boys who bartered at the Dodge House were struck by the antics of the young fella, said John.
Speaker 1:The man, the so-called lady-killer, as he called himself, began telling stories of his easy ways with the ladies. To hear him tell it, he simply infatuated maidens and matrons, old and young. His fellow barters were at first astonished at his brags, then amused and finally everyone was tired of him. Well, all I can say is that that must have got the boys going, I said with a chuckle under my breath. Now, nobody could deny the men at Dodge was such impunity. I can say with any doubt that the boys began to think about social discipline. They must have needed to apply some type of test to the lady-killer's claim. Yes, you're right, proclaimed John.
Speaker 1:The masher's tall tales of deep fleeting with an accumulation of the affection of the heart became speculation among the fellow barters. The barters concluded to check the lady-killer's mad career. They conspired to open up a correspondence with him under various fictitious names of imaginary females of unstable character. Each morning they would meet in the lobby of the hotel over breakfast. They conspired to write letters to the lady-killer. John continued. Day by day his mail grew more substantial and within a week he was kept busy answering not less than forty letters which he put on exhibit at the hotel. John reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a conglomerate of folded paper. He sorted through the papers and placed them on the counter in front of me. Here are two of the letters I pulled from the hotel bulletin board said John. You can read them if you like.
Speaker 1:Dear Herb, I know it was our joint decision for you to go off on a buffalo hunt for the year, but it's so hard not having you here. I want to be married. Doesn't it make sense that we should be together? I'm so miserable without you. It's almost like you're still here. Love Ann, dear Herb, you're like my asthma. You take my breath away Like dandruff. I can't get you off my head Like my horse and buggy. You drive me crazy Like false teeth. I can't smile without you. Love Matilda, after reading the letters I had to respond, giving me thoughts at the plot and exposed to proclaimed lady killer in his claim to be man about town.
Speaker 1:Well, you can't blame the lady killer. I said why not"? John asked. I can only say that progress is made by lazy men looking for an easier way to do things. I replied Well, john replied. I can say that Herb was not lazy, for he received several photographs of supposedly enamoured girls and was easily persuaded that he ought to buy an album to hold them, which cost him two dollars. It sounds as if the Herb lady killer swallowed the prankster's deception hooked line in Sinker. I said yes, john responded.
Speaker 1:The tormentors concocted a letter full of tender words suggesting a meeting with one of the imaginary female correspondents. They all wished to be in on the joke. Therefore, the place they suggested for the rendezvous was the Lumberyard east of the depot, ten o'clock at night. Here's the letter. John unroute the third letter and placed it on the counter in front of me. The letter read Dear, I'm so glad to inform you that I've fallen in love with you since the first day I met you. I'd like to present myself as a prospective lover. Our love affair would be on probation for one week. Upon completion of this probation, there will be a performance appraisal leading to your promotion from lover to spouse. Please meet me tomorrow night at ten pm in the Lumberyard near the depot, love marry time. That's some kind of letter, I replied.
Speaker 1:So what happened next? One of them I think his name was Luke hired the blackest, dirtiest, ugliest wench in Dodge City to enact the role of the enchanted maiden in search of a husband. The boys checked her out in spotless white with gloves to match. Her face was heavily veiled. How do you know? The man's name was Luke that hired this girl, I asked. Well, replied John, with some puzzlement. I never laid eyes on the man they called Luke, but all the boys about town kept saying Luke would get the job done. This leads me to more significant curiosity. I said you must tell me what happened next.
Speaker 1:Well, before the appointed time, some fifty men stowed themselves away from the stacks of lumber to wait in silent glee for the fun to begin. I could not resist, so I had to go along to see how far the event would play out among the locals. Well, I said, I don't blame you at all. I'm blessed. It is the season which engages the whole world in the conspiracy of love. John took a breath of air and then sighed.
Speaker 1:The lady-killer arrived early, taking a cigar from his pocket and lit it. He sat down on a railroad-tie to meditate his approach in bliss. Just then she turned the corner and hurried to his embrace. Herber rose bowed, politely, smiled and gave her good evening. John looked over at me and smiled with a glimmer of excitement as he continued his story. The boys and I seated ourselves in a quiet alley of the yard, directly under the eyes of the audience, and in a few minutes we're on familiar terms.
Speaker 1:What we witnessed next was simply amazing. The heavily veiled lady, all dressed in white, seemed to invite some physical contact. With a motion for Herb to move closer, john paused and swallowed. The words just wouldn't come out of his mouth correctly. He tried to slow down, but that just made him sound worse. John took a big breath and busted out With her head down and her hand covering her eyes. She said I'm ashamed, I cannot face you, I'm afraid. Her other hand reached out with emotion, saying touch me, treasure me, make contact with me. So Herb the lady-killer did just that. He hugged and squeezed her to his heart's content and called her many tender names. John paused and snickered under his breath. I knew this must have been Herb's first encounter with love. Said John, what do you think that? I asked Because John replied. Herb the lady-killer said to this fine lady in question these words I'm strong, I can stand alone and take care of everything I need to. So all I need from you, my fine lady, is a sense of mutual love and nurture. I want someone with me when the sun gives way to the stars and when it returns to reignite the colors of the daytime. All I want is your kisses, your hugs and that smile I will see in your eyes.
Speaker 1:John tried to conceal his laughter as he continued to express his humor with this event. This put a severe strain upon the self-control of all of us. Delighted spectators continued John, we could hardly master the spasms of laughter that convolts within us. Fortunately, we did not have to hold the laughter long for when Herb eagerly tore away the veil from her face to kiss her. We all let go and the air was rant with the loud shouts and peels of mirth.
Speaker 1:I don't know why I found myself laughing so hard, but all of a sudden I couldn't stop. My breath came in quick gasp. Between my unstoppable giggles, tears gathered in the corners of my face threatening to spill over. I could barely hold back my laughter. I could see John himself too excited to continue, so I gave him time to recover his words. What happened next, I asked, as I felt my laughter seeping up within me.
Speaker 1:When Herb discovered his mistake and realized how he'd been taken in, he tore off down the railroad track, replied John. Herb ran like a speckled frog with a striped snake after him. His coatail rolled in the billowy undulations behind him. His legs slapped together like the loose end of a lightning rod against the gavel end of a barn. Did Herb the lady killer ever show himself again at the Dodge House? I asked. I've not seen him, nor even the ghost of him has appeared before me, replied John. All I can say is it sounds as if the boy's lesson to the lady killer was a great success. I said After all, you know the Saiyan who has lived well, laughed often and loved much. I looked over the counter, stuck out my right hand in John's direction and said Welcome to the Dodge City Gang. My name is Luke, luke McGlue. What can I do for you, sir? I asked.
Speaker 1:We would like to thank all you folks for joining us in our stories and adventures here at Wild West podcast.
Speaker 1:Join us in our next podcast for a little more background information on some of the characters that you have heard and read about, not only in the podcast itself but in our two books that have been published now, the first being a man in a black derby hat, and our newest release, tales of the Frontier Return of the Great Hunters.
Speaker 1:Many of the folks and gentlemen, ladies, characters, the various deal that we have talked about in these stories. You get some of the information, but we'd like to give you a little bit more, go a little bit deeper in some of these folks, to give you a greater understanding of who they were and really how, how very similar these folks were to to us. Like we always say here, people haven't changed, times haven't changed. There's just more of us now and information travels a little faster. That that's all. But these were great people with interesting lives, motivations, great characters, and we'd like to share a little bit more in depth about them with you Coming up next we're going to drink a little whiskey and have a good time, so join us back for another whiskey and westerns coming up soon.