OLD GUNSLINGERS NEVER DIE
LONG AFTER THE SETTLERS CROSSED THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS AND SETTLED THE WEST WITH DETERMINATION, FORTITUDE, BLACK POWDER AND LEAD. TELEVISION WAS INVENTED AND LO
AND BEHOLD HISTORY HAS BEEN RE-ENACTED UNTOLD TIMES. IN THE 1950’S WE HAD A MULTITUDE OF TELEVISIONS SHOWS DEPICTING LIFE IN THE OLD WEST. NOW DON’T GET ME WRONG, I’M NOT TRYING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE MOVIE INDUSTRY WHERE ROY ROGERS AND
GENE AUTRY RODE ACROSS THE SCREEN. WE HAD ON TELEVISION SUCH SHOWS AS GUNSMOKE, WYATT EARP, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, RAWHIDE ETC. EVERY WEEK A NEW SHOW DREW ME TO THE TV SET. WE SAW MANY A GUN FIGHT SETTLED IN THE STREET BY THE GOOD GUYS VERSUS THE BAD
GUYS.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A GUN ADVOCATE AND BEING STATIONED IN THE CALIFORNIA MOHJAVE
DESERTWITH THE USNAVY, I SAW IN A GUN MAGAZINE AN ADD ABOUT GUN FIGHTER RIGS. THE ADD WAS BY ARVO OJALA OF HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. I HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS, BUT I WANTED ONE OF HIS RIGS. I ONLY LIVED A HUNDRED MILES FROM THERE, SO OFF I WENT TO SEE ABOUT HAVING ONE
MADE. I WAS VERY FORTUNATE AS THE DAY I CHOSE TO GO TO HIS STORE IN HOLLYWOOD, ORVA WAS THERE. THE NEXT THING I KNEW WE WERE TALKING ABOUT LEARNING TO FAST DRAW. FOR GENERAL INFORMATION, HE WAS THE PREMIER INSTRUCTOR FOR THE TV AND MOVIE INDUSTORY. NOT TO TAKE AWAY FROM ROD REDWING AND ANDY ANDERSON. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER I WAS NOTIFIED MY RIG WAS READY FOR ME. RATHER THAN WAIT FOR THEM TO SHIP IT TO ME I WENT BACK TO PICK I UP. ARVO WAS THERE AND WE ENDED UP IN A BACK ROOM WITH HIM GIVING ME LESSONS ON HOW TO THUMB. I WAS HOOKED FROM THAT DAY ON. THAT WAS IN 1956. I FOUND THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SPORT AND I ATTENED EVERY MEET I COULD. IN THOSE DAYS WE SHOT LIVE AMMO, STANDING SIDE BY SIDE AND JUDGES WOULD DECIDE WHO FIRED FIRST AND THEN WE
WOULD CHECK THE TARGET FOR HITS. MT ORIGINAL RIG ORVA MADE FOR ME, WHICH I STILL HAVE, HAS TWO HOLES IN THE BACK AND DOWN THE LEG BACK. WE ALSO USED 5 IN 1 BLANKS LIKE THEY USE IN THE MOVIES. AND WE SHOT AT BALOONS IT WAS SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE WE STARTED TO USE WAX AND LIVE AMMO WAS OUTLAWED. I WONDER WHY. I WAS HONORED TO GET TO DRAW AGAINST JAMES ARNESS OF GUNSMOKE, HUGH OBRIEN OF WYATT EARP, RICHARD BOONE OF HAVE GUN AND CLINT EASTWOOD OF RAWHIDE. THEY WERE DOING PUBLICITY APPEARANCES AT THE TIME. I THINK
THAT IS ENOUGHOF NOSTALGIA.
I DROPPED OUT OF THE SPORT IN THE LATE 1960”S AND THOUGHT THE SPORT HAD FADED INTO
THE ARCHIVES OF HISTORY. BY THE WAY I MET TWO OF THE DEAREST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IN 1965 AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HELD IN TOLEDA, OHIO. DALE AND SUSIE SEARLS. WE LOST CONTACT AFTER THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN STANTON, MO. IN 1967. I FOUND THEIR NAME AND ADRESS ON MY COMPUTER ON THE WEB PHONE DIRECTORIES. AFTER GETTING TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN AFTER 35 YEARS, I FIND FAST DRAW IS ALIVE AND WELL. THESE BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS CAME THROUGH LEXINGTON, KY PICKED ME UP AND I GOT TO ATTEND THE SHOOTOUT IN DAYTON, TN ON SEPT 28 & 29 2002.
I MET SOME OF THE FRIENDLYEST AND WARMEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. NEEDLESS TO SAY THINGS HAVE CHANGED TREMENDOUSLY IN THE SPORT, AS I WAS SOON TO LEARN. RIGS HAVE CHANGED, TIMERS HAVE CHANGED AND THE RULES AND REGS HAVE
CHANGED. ATTENDING THE SHOOT WAS AN HONOR AND A PLEASURE. I WISH TO
THANK RICK AND JUDY JENKINS FOR THEIR GREAT HOSPITALITY. AND THANK YOU EVERYONE
FOR MAKING ME WELCOME AND FEEL LIKE I HAD NEVER LEFT THE SPORT.
I DID JOIN THE OFDA AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING AT ALL THE SHOOTS I
CAN. I AM AGAIN PRACTICING AND TRYING TO RE-LEARN A GREAT SPORT.
AS YOU CAN SEE OLD GUNSLINGERS NEVER DIE------THEY JUST ARE A LOT
SLOWER-----ONCE YOU GET THE SMELL OF GUN SMOKE IN YOUR SYSTEM, SHOULD I SAY
MORE…
FRED “HONDO” BRATTON.
LONG AFTER THE SETTLERS CROSSED THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS AND SETTLED THE WEST WITH DETERMINATION, FORTITUDE, BLACK POWDER AND LEAD. TELEVISION WAS INVENTED AND LO
AND BEHOLD HISTORY HAS BEEN RE-ENACTED UNTOLD TIMES. IN THE 1950’S WE HAD A MULTITUDE OF TELEVISIONS SHOWS DEPICTING LIFE IN THE OLD WEST. NOW DON’T GET ME WRONG, I’M NOT TRYING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE MOVIE INDUSTRY WHERE ROY ROGERS AND
GENE AUTRY RODE ACROSS THE SCREEN. WE HAD ON TELEVISION SUCH SHOWS AS GUNSMOKE, WYATT EARP, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, RAWHIDE ETC. EVERY WEEK A NEW SHOW DREW ME TO THE TV SET. WE SAW MANY A GUN FIGHT SETTLED IN THE STREET BY THE GOOD GUYS VERSUS THE BAD
GUYS.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A GUN ADVOCATE AND BEING STATIONED IN THE CALIFORNIA MOHJAVE
DESERTWITH THE USNAVY, I SAW IN A GUN MAGAZINE AN ADD ABOUT GUN FIGHTER RIGS. THE ADD WAS BY ARVO OJALA OF HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. I HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS, BUT I WANTED ONE OF HIS RIGS. I ONLY LIVED A HUNDRED MILES FROM THERE, SO OFF I WENT TO SEE ABOUT HAVING ONE
MADE. I WAS VERY FORTUNATE AS THE DAY I CHOSE TO GO TO HIS STORE IN HOLLYWOOD, ORVA WAS THERE. THE NEXT THING I KNEW WE WERE TALKING ABOUT LEARNING TO FAST DRAW. FOR GENERAL INFORMATION, HE WAS THE PREMIER INSTRUCTOR FOR THE TV AND MOVIE INDUSTORY. NOT TO TAKE AWAY FROM ROD REDWING AND ANDY ANDERSON. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER I WAS NOTIFIED MY RIG WAS READY FOR ME. RATHER THAN WAIT FOR THEM TO SHIP IT TO ME I WENT BACK TO PICK I UP. ARVO WAS THERE AND WE ENDED UP IN A BACK ROOM WITH HIM GIVING ME LESSONS ON HOW TO THUMB. I WAS HOOKED FROM THAT DAY ON. THAT WAS IN 1956. I FOUND THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SPORT AND I ATTENED EVERY MEET I COULD. IN THOSE DAYS WE SHOT LIVE AMMO, STANDING SIDE BY SIDE AND JUDGES WOULD DECIDE WHO FIRED FIRST AND THEN WE
WOULD CHECK THE TARGET FOR HITS. MT ORIGINAL RIG ORVA MADE FOR ME, WHICH I STILL HAVE, HAS TWO HOLES IN THE BACK AND DOWN THE LEG BACK. WE ALSO USED 5 IN 1 BLANKS LIKE THEY USE IN THE MOVIES. AND WE SHOT AT BALOONS IT WAS SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE WE STARTED TO USE WAX AND LIVE AMMO WAS OUTLAWED. I WONDER WHY. I WAS HONORED TO GET TO DRAW AGAINST JAMES ARNESS OF GUNSMOKE, HUGH OBRIEN OF WYATT EARP, RICHARD BOONE OF HAVE GUN AND CLINT EASTWOOD OF RAWHIDE. THEY WERE DOING PUBLICITY APPEARANCES AT THE TIME. I THINK
THAT IS ENOUGHOF NOSTALGIA.
I DROPPED OUT OF THE SPORT IN THE LATE 1960”S AND THOUGHT THE SPORT HAD FADED INTO
THE ARCHIVES OF HISTORY. BY THE WAY I MET TWO OF THE DEAREST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IN 1965 AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HELD IN TOLEDA, OHIO. DALE AND SUSIE SEARLS. WE LOST CONTACT AFTER THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN STANTON, MO. IN 1967. I FOUND THEIR NAME AND ADRESS ON MY COMPUTER ON THE WEB PHONE DIRECTORIES. AFTER GETTING TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN AFTER 35 YEARS, I FIND FAST DRAW IS ALIVE AND WELL. THESE BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS CAME THROUGH LEXINGTON, KY PICKED ME UP AND I GOT TO ATTEND THE SHOOTOUT IN DAYTON, TN ON SEPT 28 & 29 2002.
I MET SOME OF THE FRIENDLYEST AND WARMEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. NEEDLESS TO SAY THINGS HAVE CHANGED TREMENDOUSLY IN THE SPORT, AS I WAS SOON TO LEARN. RIGS HAVE CHANGED, TIMERS HAVE CHANGED AND THE RULES AND REGS HAVE
CHANGED. ATTENDING THE SHOOT WAS AN HONOR AND A PLEASURE. I WISH TO
THANK RICK AND JUDY JENKINS FOR THEIR GREAT HOSPITALITY. AND THANK YOU EVERYONE
FOR MAKING ME WELCOME AND FEEL LIKE I HAD NEVER LEFT THE SPORT.
I DID JOIN THE OFDA AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING AT ALL THE SHOOTS I
CAN. I AM AGAIN PRACTICING AND TRYING TO RE-LEARN A GREAT SPORT.
AS YOU CAN SEE OLD GUNSLINGERS NEVER DIE------THEY JUST ARE A LOT
SLOWER-----ONCE YOU GET THE SMELL OF GUN SMOKE IN YOUR SYSTEM, SHOULD I SAY
MORE…
FRED “HONDO” BRATTON.
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