Life in the Old West

We have atomic clocks that can keep track of the “real” time in millionths of seconds — but how did someone living in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, etc., in, let’s say 1855, know what time it was?

Obviously, people living then in the Old West or anywhere else in the U.S., would have had timepieces, probably windup pocket watches. But who kept the “master timepiece,” i.e., who knew what the time zone was they were living in — or were there such things in the 1850s as “time zones”? — and how did they keep that all straight.

Read more on How did people in the Old West really know what time it was?…

In the fabled “Gunsmoke” television series, the Long Branch Saloon was the favored hangout and chief watering hole of Marshal Dillon, Chester, Festus, Doc, and most of the other main characters. It was owned by the dazzling but business savvy “Miss Kitty” — Kitty Russell, as I recall. It was, depending on the mood of the moment and the plot of the show, a convivial place filled with music, fun, card players, lovely ladies, and hard working trail hands, town merchants, and company.

Read more on There really was a ‘Long Branch’ in Dodge City, but no Miss Kitty…

I don’t know as I’ll ever find the answer to this one — why some of the post-Civil War cartridge belts used in the West were called “Fair Weather Christain” belts — but I’ve got a couple of things to pass along on the matter:

1. Well, sir, or ma’am, a friend of mine who’s one heck of a Western writer (probably a couple of hundred Western novels written and published), name of Frank Roderus, had never heard the term in relation to gun belts. His comment: “Fair weather Christian I’ve heard of. Cartridge belt I’ve heard of. But the two together … nada.” So, after Frank’s email, I went back to Google, even tried Yahoo! Search, and found nothing I hadn’t mentioned in my earlier post.

Read more on Follow-up on that ‘Fair Weather Christian’ cartridge belt…

I was browsing through some Western history sources this morning and the phrase “Fair Weather Christian cartridge belts” caught my eye.

But I have spent much of the morning Googling and digging through books in my library — and no where can I find anything about the origins of that name and what in the world it had to do with the M1876 Cartridge Belt. Yes, I got that specific information from a site that makes and sells leather holsters, belts, and other Old West leather gear. They made reference in passing on that site to troops who had fought in the Civil War adapting some of their military belts to hold cartridges. I even found reference somewhere to a replica of Frank James’ 1875 Remington .44-.40 pistol, which showed a picture of the gun and a handmade replica of James’ holster and “Fair Weather Christian” belt.

Read more on Anyone know origins of name ‘Fair Weather Christian’ cartridge belts?…

A friend of mine who’s quite a Western writer in his own right tipped me off to a great book, and a snippet of information in that book actually discusses clothing and fashion in the Old West — with a clever explanation of why old Abe Lincoln so often appears in photos wearing baggy pants obviously in need of a good pressing.

Old Abe wore the baggy pants because he was in style for the mid- to late-1800s in men’s clothing and fashions.

Read more on Ever wonder why Abe Lincoln wore such baggy pants?…

One of the most respected lawmen of the Old West was Wild Bill Hickock. He and his faithful sidekick, Jingles, adventured throughout the west, settling into various jobs as deputies and marshalls, foiling the occasional stagecoach robbery or bank holdup.

Oh, wait, no. That was the 1950s television series, “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock.” The lead was played by a handsome young actor named Guy Madison. The television folks, conditioned by the success of 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s Western movies that always included a sidekick, cast Andy Devine as Madison’s jolly but whiny sidekick, Jingles.

Read more on Truth about gunfighters: It was hard to tell ‘good guys’ from ‘bad guys’…

Richard S. Wheeler’s novels run the gamut from shoot-em-up rip roarin’ tales to gripping historical novels set in the West. He does traditional westerns and he does terrific historicals.

Wheeler’s best known series novels are those crafted around a scruffy renegade mountain man named Barnaby Skye. At last count, there were 16 Barnaby Skye novels in print, though I haven’t kept up personally in recent years. The Skye character was shanghaied into the British Navy, jumped ship in the Pacific Northwest, and settled in as a mountain man, trapping and living with the Indians. He earned a reputation as a man of true justice, fearless courage, fearsome battle, and tenderness with his two Indian wives, Victoria and Mary.

Read more on Western writers of note: Richard S. Wheeler — no one does it better…