I have a long history with that book, "Vigilante Days and Ways." amazon.com It was republished in the 1950s with a forward by Dorothy M. Johnson, the author of "The Hanging Tree",http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052876/ "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", imdb.com "A Man Called Horse," imdb.com and many many other short stories and novels. She autographed my copy for me. I was a kid at the time, and have loved it ever since. The movies of those three stories starred (in order) Gary Cooper and Karl Malden and George C. Scott, John Wayne and James Stewart and Lee Marvin, and Richard Harris.
I was at the premiere of "The Hanging Tree" in the town where both Dorothy Johnson and I lived. Marty Robbins sang the title song on stage and introduced Dorothy Johnson to the audience. lyricsondemand.com He later made an entire album of songs called "Gunfighter Ballads."
In 1965, between my Junior and Senior years at college, I was hired to lay out timber sales in the Magruder Corridor web.camasnet.com where the massacre happened in 1863. Due to public pressure, the timber sale plans were abandoned and the countryside is pretty much the same as it has been for thousands of years, give or take a forest fire or two. I was transferred to another district, but lost all my supervisory responsibilities so at the time I was not too happy about the decision to quit planning the timber sales. Now, however, I'm very glad that we have the untrammeled country. It's the longest and roughest road in the lower 48 states, 116.5 miles, with no pavement and no services.
Now I am an old man, grateful that I can still make the tough trip through paradise. Not too happy about the giardia I picked up, but I'll get over it. My own fault.
Here are a few photos of my trip. I have many more. www2.snapfish.com |
