My Career as a Gunslinger!

Let me tell you about the last gunfight I had. This was back in the summer of '06 or so. Word came from the town of Round Rock, Texas that the outlaw Sam Bass was coming to rob the bank. 

They said they needed a bunch of Texas Rangers. What they got was us.
You see, this sort of thing happens when you're a gunslinger. Several times a year somebody gets a notion to bust loose and shoot it out. So, we get called, me and my pals.

The first time was back about '81. We were most of us new back then, untried and nervous. We actually had to try out for the job. It didn't pay much, practically nothing, in fact. The deal was, we ride into town, get there before the outlaws, stop their plans, protect the citizens, ride out again. Nobody wanted the gunslingers around after.
Can't blame them much. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was who. The man you rode with last year might be on the other end of the gun this time. A mite confusin' it was, too! Me, I always rode true. Always took the side of the law, never went down. Heck, it's in my blood, I reckon. Lawmen on both sides of my family.
Anyway, back to Sam Bass. Funny thing, he's been doing this about a hundred fifteen years and then some. The gang is out gunned. 
 



Sam gets it in the back, code of the west, I guess, barely makes it out of town. The gang's shot up real bad, blood everywhere.
In the pic on the left, I'm about middle in the background, doing my two-gun thing.
I've got shaving cream on my face. You see, I was Ranger Dick Ware, running out in the middle of a shave.

Surprisingly, Bass comes back for more, sometimes two, three times a day.

Of course the townfolks whoop it up considerable between the violence. Drinking, playing, dancing, buying and selling goods. If old Sam had opened up a booth selling confetti eggs he'd a made a sight more money, and lived, instead of inheriting a hole in the ground.

That's me on the right! Sam's on the run and I'm a'chasing!




Too bad Sam didn't stick around for the dancing girls at least!

Yeah, sometimes a gunslinger's lot is a hard one!













Frontier Days, Round Rock, Tx is still going on, but I moved on after more than 20 years shooting it up. I bet I drew my gun and fired on the desperados more than most peace officers ever get to. 


I did a few other shooting gigs as well. For almost 20 years I was the official starting gun of the Outlaw Trail 100 bike rally in Round Rock.

There I am, my trusty .44 at the ready, and a 10-speed. I tell you, the bike was a challenge with spurs on!


I've still got my guns, but I've hung them up for now. I clean them up occasionally and practice a draw now and then.