How did you choose your alias?

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Born by the Stillwater river, in Stillwater County, Montana... The town of Columbus, Montana, on the banks of the Stillwater River, was once named Stillwater also.

Bill

Yeah, but do you run deep? 

[Dr. Bob]

Dan'l,

I don't run any more unless it is extremely necessary!!  Neve ran deep.           

[RattlesnakeJack]

S'pose I might as well join in here .....

One of the most prominent aspects of local "old west" history was the posting, here at Medicine Hat, during Canada's 1885 North West Rebellion, of two Troops of the Rocky Mountain Rangers, a non-uniformed, mounted provisional militia unit composed mainly of ranchers and cowboys from the area of Fort Macleod (then headquarters of the North West Mounted Police) located about 140 miles west of here. One of the three Scouts serving with the Rocky Mountain Rangers was a fellow with the colorful name "John M. 'Rattlesnake Jack' Robson" .... which I adopted as my own "alias within an alias".   I generally go by just "Rattlesnake Jack", as I imagine he did when serving as a Scout .....

Subsequent research revealed that John Robson had served two years as a NWMP constable, before requesting early discharge and going on to other pursuits in the west ..... including some bootlegging, judging by a couple of recorded convictions!  Some photos of the original "Rattlesnake Jack" exist - one taken when he was in the NWMP (1878-1880) and the other taken after the 1885 Rebellion, since he is wearing the medal issued to all who served in that conflict ... perhaps the occasion for the photograph was receiving the medal, which would make the likely time frame about 1886 ....

 

I was even able to find some records pertaining to him in the National Archives of Canada -

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[Daniel Nighteyes]

Dan'l,

I don't run any more unless it is extremely necessary!!...

The only time I run is when something big and bad is chasing me, and even then I can't run far...

[River City John]

In the olden days one of the nicknames for Omaha City (Omaha today) was River City. My name is John, so "River City John" I became.

[Harley Starr]

The only time I run is when something big and bad is chasing me, and even then I can't run far...

I know that feeling!

[Lightning Lee]

My wife picked it. She has been calling me that ever since I retired and decided there was no reason to do anything in a hurry anymore.

[Devil Anse Hatfield]

I picked my Alias because its the family name. Fits the time period. My main job is in the Timber industry,Im a Jobsite Superintendant for a construction compay on other days of the week. The family fued was drug back up by a money hungry lawyer wanting the  timber ground . I figured dont have to build up something when you are part of something so rotten.

Dale Hatfield

[Stillwater]

I picked my Alias because its the family name. Fits the time period. My main job is in the Timber industry,Im a Jobsite Superintendant for a construction compay on other days of the week. The family fued was drug back up by a money hungry lawyer wanting the  timber ground . I figured dont have to build up something when you are part of something so rotten.

Dale Hatfield

Not meaning to stray to far off of the subject. However, I own a fairly new Hatfield muzzleloader rifle made by one of your relatives.

Bill

[Whiskey James SASS#85199]

I like Whiskey...a lot, and my middle name is James.

That's all I've got...

[northwestgrizzly]

I like Whiskey...a lot, and my middle name is James.

That's all I've got...

That rhymed.

[fourfingersofdeath]

My Cowboy Action alias is 'Four Fingers of Death'

I lost a finger being a sticky beak at my mate's backyard garage bullet moulding business. He had bought a lot of gear which came with the Magma master caster machines he had. One was an old WW1 303 bullet sizer. It was the old style machine with a big belt driven flywheel which drove all sorts of cranks and connecting rods, etc. As I left the shop, I said 'I love this old machine' and gave the flywheel a spin. My hand was stopped by the reduction gears behind the flywheel and the next spoke of the flywheel whacked my right ring finger off between the nail and the first joint. When i went to hospital, they trimmed it back to the first joint and stitched her up.

When I was working in the prison system, I was sent in to a cell block where the staff had lost control of the prisoners just before they were to be locked up. There are always a few fools about that will do the heavy lifting and I was one of them. Way better than being one of the ones that always hung back and avoided any rough stuff. Probably not as smart and I now have a lot of parts that ache some, but my conscience is clear and I am well thought of.

 I was in the company of an old school mate, he is a Vietnam vet who would fight a circular saw and the other guy is a big kick boxer who loved his food and was a bit on the plump side.

As we entered the yard where the prisoners were milling about, we walked up to them and I pointed to their cells and said in my loudest voice 'into your cells now!'

The movie Star Wars had just come out and some wag amongst the prisoners said 'they've sent Agent Orange, Jabba the Hut and Four Fingers of Death.'

Most of the prisoners laughed at this and they broke up and wandered off into their cells, much to our relief.

It sort of stuck after that.

There was also a boss in the Department who had been a willing hand when he was one of the troops, lost a finger and was also called Four Fingers of Death. Because I sounded exactly like him on the phone, I got son of four fingers and son of death as well, but the FFD stuck.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Four Fingers, that was one of the coolest stories about getting tagged with a moniker that I've ever heard!

-- Daniel (what is impressed as all get-out) Nighteyes

[Bad Lee Ames]

I started out thinking of a name related to my other interests, the one thumb/four toes/humerous western names, and then places I've lived. I came up with a handful of good ones, but when I hit Ames, Iowa, I had an aha moment.  Ames, aims.  And then worked that until I came up with Bad Lee Ames.  That was the one all the other ideas had to measure up against.

[rebsr52339]

It is truly interesting, the stories behind the "handles" we now share. I guess collecting Antique and modern type Bowie Knives did it for me. I was just going to use the handle "Bowie Knife". My wife, bless her, said why not Bowie Knife Dick. That way people will remember your handle and at least your first name. So be it.

[TomBullweed]

1972.  Me (eight years old) and my two younger bothers riding in the back of our Dodge Polara across Oklahoma with my parents showing us the west.  My brother wanted to collect a blowing bush since he had never seen own.  My Dad did not want the thing in the car and said, "No we can't.  They are tumbleweeds". 
We thought that he meant, "No we can't.  They are Tom Bullweed's", as if they belonged to someone else.
It was easy to want to be Tom Bullweed.
Sometimes I even shoot like I am moving without a purpose or caught up in a fence.

[Short Knife Johnson]

Bah ha ha ha    Tom Bullweed's... top marks on that one!

[Capt. Jack McQuesten]

My original alias comes from the area of New Mexico where I have my ranch (Arabela)...... it used to be an "Overnite stop" on the road through the Capitan Mountains in Lincoln County, New Mexico.....According to local legend, the area was named "Arabela" after the daughter of one of the early settlers of the area......

[Fairshake]

In my very early teens,15 or so my friends and I was working on a old Indian Chief. It belonged to my friend Jimmy and I wanted it so bad it was all I thought about. I told Jimmy if he would leave the bike at my house for a few days that i would get it to running and then we could settle up. A few of his friends that were standing there and one spoke up saying Jimmy you could be screwed and he can cheat you on the bike. My friend Buddy spoke up and said David does not cheat anyone; he gives every one a fair shake. I also ended up with the ownership of that bike.

[Russian]

A shooting friend years ago encouraged me to join up in CAS and I repeatedly spurned him, for whatever reason I didn't think it was 'cool' or appropriate (don't know what I was thinking at the time..... )  Anyhow....I finally took my friend up on the offer to at least go out and watch a match at our local range.  I don't think me and my wife were there for five minutes after the shooting started and I looked at her and said that we were getting into it.

So as we're talking to the folks, it becomes clear that one needs a 'persona' and me being someone who likes to be wildly different and unique but also likes to love what I am doing it took me a while to figure things out.  Lots of reading, lots of research, trying the family history route, bouncing ideas off the wife when I stumbled onto my thing.

I collect Imperial Russian firearms, pre-1917 stuff and it was one of my first collections when I got into shooting.  When I discovered that the Grand Duke Alexei of Russia came over to the US while on a round-the world tour to buy S&W revolvers, participate in one of the last great Buffalo hunts with Sheridan and Custer I had found my connection.

When I started off, my name was the Grand Duke Alexei blah blah......but danged if you could guess, no one could remember.  Everyone resorted to 'Hey...Russian.....'  So sometimes simple is better.  When people want to know the story I tell 'em.

Last year in Cody, Wyoming, we were at the Irma, me in my Russian Generals uniform and a couple pretty Russian girls gravitated over to ask what was up, they recognized some of the accoutrements.  They thought I was a little nuts, but after explaining the connection, they had a better appreciation.

Anyhow, that's my long blown out story.