I knew that the character Deets was based on an actual person... but that's all I knew. I never got around to the research. That was fascinating.
The epitaph set my mind to reeling. It was very close to discovering that one of your favorite fictional characters from an old western movie or TV show was actually quite real... as if a character from a comic strip suddenly stepped off the pages into real life... or the 'too good to be true' ramrod from an old 50's TV western TV show was actually a bibliographical account.
forgive me this aside, ZN... in the late 70's they made a movie in northern Ca. near Weed, Ca. They used my cousin's ranch for some of the scenes. My cousin also provided them some 'props' to use in the film. My old band "The Mountain Oysters" had only recently disbanded... it was made of up of myself, a cousin, and another cousins - owner of the ranch in Weed I am referring too. Somehow Gary, (my cousin), got us hired... our job was to play music between the shooting of scenes to entertain the cast and crew.
The movie was 'Standing Tall'... a made for TV movie. A western but set in the early 1900's, I think near 1920. The glory years of movie Westerns had passed, not died, but were taking their dying breath. In the movie many of old western movie actors were hired, (not the headliners which were Robert Forrester and Linda Evans)... making for: a living, breathing, walking and talking museum of actors from the glory days of westerns. I met many. Spoke with many. Got pie-eyed with many.... and perhaps hard to believe but I swear it's true...participated in a full on bar room brawl with at a small place called "The Shamrock Inn" one day after shooting had ceased for the day.
Timothy Scott, Pea Eye in Lonesome Dove, was NOT one of the actors there that day but then again he was... other's quite similar, many of them, were hired. Actors from many old western movies and TV shows. Most I knew not their names... but their faces? Old friends.
Well, I don't have a point here... just pointing out one of the truly great experiences of my life. - JamesJM
