Wild West eMonday - What's in a name?

Nicknames, aliases and fancy monikers were popular in the Old West - often people would assume a name in order to hide from the law but sometimes it was in order to build a reputation.More often again these colourful monikers were attached to a person by friends or enemies and the name would stick whether they liked it or not.

Below is a list of Wild West nicknames followed by given birth names.

Annie Oakley was actually Phoebe Ann Mozee
Billy the Kid was actually William Bonney (or Henry Antrim depending on which story you believe)
Apache Kid was actually Sergeant Joe Kid
The Baron of Arizona was actually conman Jim Addison Reavis
Bat Masterson was actually Bartholomew Masterson
Big Foot Wallace (pictured) was actually William Wallace, Texas Ranger.

Often the non-de-plume attached to a person would be descriptive of their appearance or manner. Thus the cold hearted bandit Charles E. Bolton became known as Black Bart and Frank Lelsie, a Tombstone gunman became known as Buckskin Frank.

Some more aliases were:



Theodore Roosevelt was wildly known as Bullmoose because of his hunting skills.
Ella Watson who was lynched for rustling in Wyoming was known as Cattle Kate
Crawford Goldsby was known as Cherokee Bill
Nat Love (pictured), an African American cowboy was known widely as Deadwood Dick
O. C. Hanks, a member of Butch Cassidy's wild bunch was known as Deaf Charley
Mountain man, James Capen Adams was known as Grizzly Adams
Texas outlaw, William Martin was known as Hurricane Bill.



Alice Tubbs, a mining town gambler was more commonly known as Poker Alice
Conman and saloon owner Jefferson Smith who was eventually lynched in Alaska was Soapy Smith. Be sure to check out Jeff Smith's Blog - he a descendant of the famous conman and writes much about the old scoundrel.
General George Armstrong Custer was known as Longhair.
Sam Bass, outlaw, had the rather romantic title of, The Robin Hood of Texas and fellow outlaw, Charles Fallon was known as Rattlesnake Jake.

These are just a few of the colourful nicknames that abounded in the Old West - it has been an hobby of mine to document as many of these as possible over the last few years and I have a list running into two hundred names..

Next on The Wild Bunch Wednesday Story Challenge

Check out the most recent part HERE - There are also links to all previous instalments.

Dave's took the story off in an unexpected direction and the author who takes over part five, next Wednesday is none other than Jack Martin - Yep, probably biting off more than I can chew, I have stepped forward and taken the virtual pen....

NEXT WEDNESDAY - WILD BUNCH WEDNESDAY STORY CHALLENGE PART FIVE - HERE ON THE TAINTED ARCHIVE.

THE WILD WEST WEB

The Wild West Web is particularly active today - Over on Lance Howard/Howard Hopkins' blog, Dark Bits the reins are handed over to Andrea Hughes, Welsh writer and huge western fan (it's her Welsh genes, you know) , talks about her involvement in the Black Horse Western Forum and also her story in the Where Legend's Ride anthology. Writing as Kit Churchill, Andrea wrote the marvellous story, Desert Surrender and now Andrea tells us, she is confirmed for the forthcoming second anthology from Express Westerns.

The Wild Bunch Wednesday story challenge - in which a different author takes over the reins each week with the view to eventually completing a novel by many hands for western fans to read online - is over at the Davy Crockett's Almanack. The project, the brainchild of Joanne Walpole, is a fun thing and no one's excluded from taking part - it's chaos but it's organised chaos. So check out the story now.

Later today on The Archive there will be a look at the second film in John Ford's cavalry trilogy - the movie's She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and it's a great western from two masters of the genre - Ford and Wayne. Also on The Archive this evening we will have an interview with author and current president of The Western Writers of America, Johnny D. Boggs - president, no less - think of him as Obama only slightly more important.

And the announcement of the full line up of the second anthology from Express Westerns, that's the so far untitled, follow up to the successful Where Legends Ride, is imminent. So far we know the new volume will contain stories from Jack Giles, Lance Howard, David Cranmer, Jack Martin, Ian Parnham and Kit Churchill. Editor Nik (Ross) Morton promises to announce the full list of contents for this anthology on the 27th August - that's tomorrow, yippee!!!

Wild West Monday the fourth is just around the corner - well, up the street some-ways and then around the corner. If you haven't done so already then please scroll down the right hand sidebar of this blog and sign our petition in support of the western. The more signatures the more ammunition we'll have to arrange full media coverage of the next Wild West Monday.

Most of you will know that western legend, Elmer Kelton passed away earlier this week - much has been written on the wild west web about this great man and his legacy but I wanted to bring everyone's attention to the article HERE.

WILD BUNCH WEDNESDAY WEEK FOUR

OK - this week myself and the other authors (links at bottom of post) are posting extracts from pretty much whatever we want. The previous three weeks themes have been set but this time head honcho, Joanne Walpole has left it up to the writers involved to select whatever extract they want to post.

So far I've given you a bit of Tarnished Star as well as my forthcoming hardback, Arkansas Smith. However this time I'm going to take a leap forward and post a snippet from High Noon Boyo - my current work in progress which is not a western but a historical crime. It's set in South Wales in 1903 and concerns events that happen around the visit of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus. The book is three quarters complete in first draft form and I like it because I am able to play around with western conventions in a non western setting. The research into William Cody's actual visit has been great fun and has led me to meet a man who is a descendant of one of the Native Americans who remained behind in Wales when the circus moved on. And so I dedicate this snippet to Lone Wolf Evans.

The scene here is the aftermath of a cattle stampede in the industrial Welsh town.

‘Like in the cowboy books.’ Davies said. This was just too much for the young constable and in his eyes Cody seemed to have a golden aura surrounding him, like a god walking amongst them.

Cody brought his magnificent white horse up alongside the policeman and he removed his sombrero and waved it about above his head in a theatrical gesture. The Indian rolled his eyes and rode past keeping the cattle moving forward.

‘Where do you want these walking steaks?’ Cody asked.

Dumbfounded, speechless, Parade pointed towards the stockyard entrance.

‘It is my great pleasure.’ Cody said and spurred his horse forward. The creature circled the cattle for a moment and then came to a perfect stop and stood facing the cattle, the horse held its head high and then reared up on its hind legs before trotting on its master’s command towards the cattle.

‘Get them in, Chief.’ Cody shouted to the Indian who nodded his understanding and drove the cattle in through the gates and past the two drovers who were pushed back against the wall, eyes full of awe as they stared up at the red man on horseback. With the sun behind him the Indian’s eyes seemed to glow like those of a cat in the shadows of his face.

Cody watched the last of the cattle go into the yard and then he dismounted and walked his horse back to the two policemen.

‘The livestock are secure.’ Cody said and bowed to the two policemen. He looked around and smiled with satisfaction when he noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch the rather unusual event. No doubt he was thinking of the increased ticket sales that this incident would inevitably provoke. This had been better than any publicity stunt he could have dreamed up and for a brief moment the Wild West had come to the grey environs of industrial South Wales.

For other Wild Bunch antics go here.

Terry James

Jack Giles

Lance Howard

Ian Parnham

Tonight on the Archive we have the scoop on the new Black Horse Extra as well as some news on the new Misfit Lil Paperback.

WILD BUNCH WEDNESDAY

It's the third Wild Bunch Wednesday - the brainchild of Terry James, AKA Joanne Walpole, in which several Black Horse western writers post small section of their new, past or forthcoming books all linked by a theme. This week's theme is a pivotal event. Last week I posted a piece from Tarnished Star which is available now and this week I'm offering a piece from Arkansas Smith which is out March 30th 2010 from Robert Hale LTD. Below my offering you will find links to the other members of The Wild Bunch

The small piece posted here shows us of the aftermath of an Indian attack and is surely a pivotal part of Arkansas' origin...


ARKANSAS SMITH (c) Gary Dobbs
Reproduced with kind permission of Robert Hale LTD


Walter shuddered and held the rifle tightly to his chest. At his feet there was a dead girl, a child really, no more than ten or eleven. Her head had been split down the middle by a heavy axe. The gory gash parted her head and her eyes were so many inches apart they could have belonged to two different people.

He said a silent prayer and stepped over her.

Everywhere he looked there were dead bodies, many of them with arrows protruding from their bodies, some mutilated, scalped, others with no obvious wounds. Many of them were naked and a good number of them had been burnt, charred clothing sticking to blackened flesh. Ahead of him there were a pile of bodies, maybe ten to twelve people, all stacked up one atop the other. Into this gruesome heap the Indians had shot arrow after arrow and then set it alight only the flames hadn’t taken and it was a ghastly sight.

It looked like some bizarre human totem pole.

Other than the gentle flapping of the canvas on his wagon behind him, there was nothing to be heard, and standing there Walter felt a chill run the length of his spine. The place became eerie in its silence and Walter decided to get out of here and report this at the nearest army post.

Didn’t look like he could do anything for these folks, in any case. The only one who could help them now was the Almighty himself. And it seemed as if he had forsaken this place, relinquished the land rights to the Devil. He looked up into a clear sky and saw several buzzards circling, waiting for him to move on so they could claim the flesh that now belonged to them.

For more extracts check out

Joanne Walpole

Ian Parnham

Ray Foster

Howard Hopkins

WILD BUNCH WEDNESDAY

This is the brainchild of Black Horse writer Terry James, AKA Joanne Walpole - for the next few weeks Jo, myself, Jack Giles, Lance Howard and I. J. Parnham will be posting themed extracts of our work. This week it's the turn of the hero - I like this idea as it should give readers a taste of a diverse bunch of writers and so throughout July this wild bunch will be riding every Wednesday.

Hopefully Jo can make this a regular thing and feature another bunch of western writers next time because this is a great way to highlight the wealth of writing talent collected together under the Black Horse imprint. Check out the entire range here

So here's my extract - It's from Arkansas Smith which will be published by Robert Hale LTD on their Black Horse Western imprint in March 2010. And remember The Tarnished Star is available now anywhere books are sold - click on the picture in the side bar for more details.

ARKANSAS SMITH (c) Gary Dobbs. Posted with kind permission of Robert Hale LTD

Arkansas reached out a hand and helped the old man up onto the cart and then, ignoring the two men, drove in the direction of the doctor’s place.

‘You really Arkansas Smith?’ The old man asked as they turned the cart onto First Street. ‘I knew you was someone. Yep, you can tell that from the way you hold yourself. Mighty proud, like a strutting rooster.’

‘You calling me a chicken?’

For a moment the old man looked unsure of himself, scared even, but then deciding Arkansas was joshing on him he smiled. ‘Don’t think I’d call the great Arkansas Smith a chicken or anything else for that matter.’he laughed. ‘Hell no. Arkansas Smith, a chicken – no siree.’

Arkansas looked at him, said nothing, and merely offered a grim smile in reply. He cast a glance over his shoulder and noticed the two men called Clay and Jim had not moved and were still standing in the street. He guessed they’d try and put a bullet in his back if they could only be sure of killing him.

‘I heard of you.’ Rycot said. ‘Everyone’s heard of you. They say you were born on a battlefield. They say you’re faster than all other men rolled into one. They say you once faced off six men all on your lonesome and put three of them down before they’d even cleared leather. They say you’re so fast the wind can’t even catch you from a standstill.’ The old man became particularly animated and he slapped his thigh in delight.

‘Is that what they say?’ Arkansas considered the old man with some amusement.

Find the other members of the Wild Bunch here
lance Howard
Terry James
Jack Giles
I. J. Parnham

WILD BUNCH WEDNESDAY

Oh you lucky western fans -First we had Wild West Monday and now we have Wild Bunch Wednesday - head over to Joanne Walpole's Blog for details. There are also details on Howard Hopkins/Lance Howard's corner of the blogosphere.

This should be fun and allow for a peek into the world of several Black Horse Western writers.