Custer Book & the High Fives

The bulk of this past week I’ve been consumed with rewrites on the Elizabeth Custer book. I’ve rechecked facts, corrected timelines, reviewed endnotes, etc.. It’s a long, involved process and you never know if you’ve caught every misspelling or grammatical problems. This is my least favorite part of the writing process and I come away from the experience with the utmost respect for editors. They have the responsibility of polishing the drafts submitted. That’s seem grueling too. What I like best about this job is having written. I particularly like having written about the Old West. On this day in 1896 in the Old West, Black Jack Will Christian and his gang, the High Fives, robbed a bank in Nogales, Arizona. Newsman Frank King spotted them and opened fire with a .41 Colt wounding two of the horses. The outlaws fled town with an empty sack. Can you imagine a day when newsmen carried weapons. Not that they need much coaxing, but politicians and celebrities would certainly be more willing to give an interview at the point of a Colt.  I received a few more threats today via email.  Oddly enough the threats were tracked to Windermere Baptist Conference Center.  Life is grand.