History Buffs

[Jeremiah Sullivan]

WadWatson Ellis remarked: " My father's family fought in Pennsylvannia regiments (I believe) down the Eastern Seaboard. After the war, they too put down their weapons and returned to the plowshare.

"I wish more of both sides of my family would have put more into written history ... most of what I have handed down is a hearsay of misspelled names and regiments, with little or no way of backtracking...."

In my family we had the partial tale of a grandmother somewhere along the line who hated Mr. Lincoln, till the day she died, blaming him for her brother's death.  Not much to go on.  Well my wife has become a genealogist (degreed graduate librarian by trade, since retired) and in the course of her searches for this and that discovered names and birth dates in various census and city records, these led to the U.S. Pension Files in Wash, DC which delivered to her hands my great great grandmother's original handwritten depositions of dependency (got to look actually, copy but not keep) that qualified the family for a pension for the service of Sgt Patrick Farrington 83rd (I think it was) NY Volunteers.  Other notes fleshed out the family of a boy literally just off the boat at Castle Garden enlisting just before the outbreak of the war, his campaigns leading up to his wounds on July 3rd, 1863 and his death at Gettysburgh on July 10th, 1863. 

She herself is on the trail of a great great grandmother who deserted her husband and child in Denver in the 1880's and disappeared from the family history.

Keep looking, never forget them, and you may be able to put flesh and bones onto some of those awfully thin family memories..

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Historical accuracy and...period correctness....is what I strive for, and lastly shooting. Do I consider myself a stitch counter? yes and proud of it. If that is what you are looking for, then NCOWS is for you. There are plenty of individuals in our organization (National Congress of Old West Shootists) that will help you achieve those goals if that is what appeals to you.

Bill

[Texas Lawdog]

They have a state prison facility near Dilley, I have been there many times to pick up prisoners to take back to Fort Worth for trial.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Lawdog,

If you find yourself in Dilley with some time on your hands (prisoner not ready, etc.), look up the Covey Chapel Cemetary ... there you will find the resting place of the original Wadd Watson Ellis, his wife Celia Barrow Ellis , and his son Samuel Houston Ellis .... as well as many other Ellis and Elkins.


I am including the only pic I have ov Wadd Watson Ellis ....

[Roscoe Coles]

In response to the original question, I find that there are very few people involved in SASS that have any interest in actual history.  They say they do, kind of, but most have no idea what the actual history is and can't be bothered to find out.  Its a "sport" to most folks, and when they do get "historical" they quote a lot more movies than they do books.  When they do quote books, they tend to be the wrong ones.

NCOWS is something different.  While there are some odd ducks there too, in general, they are very interested in actual history.

As for me, listening to the stories of my family as a child made me a history nut.  We have been in what would become America since 1670 and fought in just about every war we have ever had.  We have a medal of honor winner, a confederate, doctors, miners, a millionaire, teachers, college professors, gunsmiths, farmers, cowboys, rustlers and just about every other thing in the family.  We were always on the frontier and facing west. 

My love of history led me to a degree in American History, a masters and, if I don't explode before February, a Ph.D. in historical archaeology.  While this background makes me something of a skeptic when dealing with the American west (lots of fantasy passes for history in the field) I am always looking to improve my impression and my equipment.  Like Bill, I'm happy to be a thread counter.  But that don't mean I can't shoot!

[jrdudas]

I am quite interested in history, but that is not what brought me to CAS.  I am a long-time target shooter and most interested in the guns of the late 1800's along with military weapons.  I began to find some of the organized target shooting events to be over-the-top as far as competition; to the point where fun was one of the last elements in the equation.  While I would like to see a bit more emphasis on accuracy than on elapsed time in CAS, I still think that fun is the main focus of the activity. 

As for the western dress; I dress the same for CAS events as I do every day.  I have always been a cowboy (which is essentially a state of mind) even though I made my living in other areas.  I think the everyday western attire of today is not much different than the authentic attire of the mid to late 1800's.  Yes we have zippers instead of buttons in some cases, and belts instead of suspenders, but generally the styles are not much different.  When you analyze the typical western dress I find that much of its particulars are the result of deciding what makes the most sense.  Jeans are tough and durable; snap button shirts are much more sensible when you are doing physical things that often result in the loss of buttons.  Boots protect your feet and ankles; riding heels help keep you feet in the stirrups.  Western hats protect you from the desert sun (if you have never lived in the desert your can't fully appreciate this), and big belt buckles provide protection from shots to the belly; OK that one is a joke.

So for me, CAS represents the convergence of two or three interests; shooting, history, and western dress.  And most of the folks you meet put more value in having fun than in ending the day with their name at the top of the leader board.

JR
     

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi Y'all,

I too came to SASS and CAS through shooting ... I got tired of firing my Webley MK VI and 7X57 Mauser on traditional firing ranges (ready on the left, ready on the right .... etc).

In 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' Sundance asks in frustration if he can 'move'  ... I felt the same frustration ... guns had to be carried in in a special manner ... loaded during special times  ... and fired in certain times. God forbid if a person wanted to wear his sidearm and draw from a holstered position!  Heresy!

It is so nice to be more natural about shooting ... plus the historic tie-in is fun and enlightening ... for instance, the first time I wore spurs I quickly learned why cowboys walked slightly pidgeon toed .... as I picked myself up off the ground and untangled my spurs .... LOL

[Stillwater]

I came by my interest in history in what I call the right way.

My family has been in America since 1630. The first officially recorded birth was in 1637. Counting backwards from me, and in four generations we go from my birth in 1936 to my great, great grandfathers birth in 1757.

My family, has always been a family of movers, never staying one place very long. They moved from 1757 Connecticut, to arriving in Mentor, Ohio, before the 1804 birth of my great grandfather. They were in Clarinda, Appanoose county, Iowa for the 1850 birth of my grandfather. My grandfather was a tough old nut, he lasted until the fall of 1950.

My family has participated in every action our country has been involved in from before the French and Indian War, to the Viet-nam war.  And, participated in some localized conflicts such as the Johnson County War, to the Lincoln County War. Two of my ancesters off spring, Robert Beckwith, and Marmaduke Beckwith, were killed in the Lincoln County War.

My grandfather, as a young man, had been in Montana since 1866 and was a scout, hired by Gibbons, to lead the cavalry toward what later proved to be the Little Big Horn battlefield. Gibbons and his cavalry arrived the day after the Custer debacle. They got to clean up the battlefield and bury the dead.

In doing genealogy I found that the Maria Fitzgerald that married Emanuel Custer, was my own fathers, great aunt, Her maiden name was Ward. She had a prior marriage to a man named Fitzgerald, and three children, before she married Emanuel Custer, and bore him three children. They were George Armstrong Custer, Thomas Ward Custer, and Boston Custer.

In doing genealogy I also found that there was a Privateer (legal pirate), named Seth Beckwith, who had papers of Marque issued to him during the American War of Independence, by the Colonial government so he could legally capture British ships and bring them to American ports. Shareing the prize derived, with the Colonial Government.

I was born in Columbus, Montana which is just a short ways from the Little Big Horn Battlefield. I could always count on a spring time horse back ride, from our home in Columbus, to the Little Big Horn. We would stay for a few days, walk the battlefield with my grandfather pointing out where facets of the action, happened.

What piqued my interest in history, at an early age, was much closer at hand. It was my grandfather. He used to tell me Montana fur trapping stories, Indian fighting stories, Buffalo hunting stories, bad guy hanging stories by the hour. He had an avid listener in me.

I found our local library, even though a small town library, was an excellent source of Western Americana. Evidentially whoever put the books together, for the library, was also an Old West History Buff. After that there was no turning back.

I have tried to visit every area where a major event took place. I have walked every battlefield from Adobe Walls, to the Little Big Horn, to the Hayfield fight , to the Wagon Box fight. I still have quiet a few eft to visit. If I live long enough I'll make them all.

I have visited Tombstone, AZ, Dodge City, Kansas, and a lot of other places where action happened in the Old West era. It is a passion with me.

When I was young, I never wanted to play baseball, or foot ball, I just wanted to read books about the Old West.  I got a lot of harassment for that from the other school kids. Usually, and hard over hand right, to the loud mouths nose stopped the verbal harassment.

If I wasn't reading a book, I was out shooting, or hunting. My first rifle was a 22 caliber Stevens Crack shot.

I came by my love of the Old West by living with a person, my grandfather, who participated in so much of it, in the Montana, Wyoming area. Anything else, pales into insignificance, beside the Old West in my manner of thinking.

I have an extensive library of Western Americana. I have original books, I have bison books reprints of western Amricana books, from the University of Nebraska Press. The University of Oklahoma Press also reprinted Western Americana books. I have a few books from the Univesity of New Mexico Press.

I have sought out authors such as Robert M. Utley, Paul I. Wellman and other well respected Western Americana authors. I have nothing but contempt to Dee Brown, who wrote "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

I have Western American in my family, my birth and in my avocations. I love the Old West and it's characters.

What I enjoy doing, is taking someone who doesn't know the Old West, introduce them to it, and watch their interest grow.

However, being extremely protective of my books, as I am with my firearms, I don't lend books, firearms or Western movies. I know, some will think thats very selfish, but it keeps track of them and keeps them in good condition...

Bill

[Will Ketchum]

Stillwater, that was a great post!  I sure envy you your time with your grandfather.  It must have been awe inspiring to walk the Little Bighorn battlefield with a man who was there.  What an opportunity!

Will Ketchum

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Okay,

In 1490, Thomas Baker, from a line o findependent farmers, bought a lovely estate in Southern England called Sissinghurst.

The Bakers continued up the aristocratic ladder; one of my multi- great grandfathers was Henry VII's and early Elizbeth 1's court chronicler (I.e. historian) ...

All would have contined well had not the family become Quakers, losing their money, titles and land. They came over with the second wave of Penn's people, eventually founding what is now Buck's County PA.

The Bakers continued west, the branch that is my family settling int the Waynesburg/Washinton area  (south of Pittsburg, PA.

The Bakers were well represented in thethe Indian Wars (i.e. East Coast 18th Century), and the Civil War. After that I kind of quit reading the Baker geneology.

But back to my grandfather; a poor coal miner too young for WWI and too old for WWII.

My father served as an instructor pilot in the Army Air Corps, was RIF'd after WWII and recalled for the Korean 'Police Action'

I 'volunteered' in 1969 (i.e. my draft # was 2 so I joined the Air Force). After 8 years in Pararescue, I switched to the Reserves and became an Aeromed Tech, providing care to soldiers and civilians on C141- As and ...

And that is my father's side ...