Journal Notes

I’ve starting the month of November making changes to the various manuscripts I’ve completed. I’ve hired the independent editing firm B K Williams from the Phoenix area and they are exceptional. I have great hope that the work I submit to my publisher will now read better. I get in a hurry when I write. I am guilty of that at signings as well. I once autographed a copy of The Cowboy and the Senorita with “Best of Luck and Happy Trials.” With B K Williams I can hopefully avoid such blunders. I’ll be working on the Sam Sixkiller book again today. Sheriff Sixkiller lived in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. That area was no stranger to lawlessness. It took men like Sam to make it fit for people to live in peace. That’s just what a group of lawmen were doing there on this day in 1892. A sixteen man posse attacked Ned Christie’s fort near Tahlequah with a small cannon. After firing 30 rounds to no effect the breech failed, but they didn’t give up. Christie’s fortress was eventually penetrated and he was shot and killed by Deputy Wess Bowman. Sam Maples, another member of the posse, emptied his revolver into Christie’s lifeless body. Sam’s father had been killed by Christie in 1885. Oh, how I love frontier justice. The Many Loves of Buffalo Bill Cody book came out earlier this year and was reviewed by Clark Isaacs for Midwest Book Reviews. I’m including it in today’s post. I’ve got three preview copies to give to readers. All you need to do is send me an email and tell me why you love Buffalo Blle. I mean, Bilie. No, Buffalo Bill! As I noted, I’m not a strong speller. Here’s the review. “More than 100 books and articles have been written about the man who made the Wild West come alive. “The Many Loves of Buffalo Bill” by Chris Enss adds another dimension to the stories about the life of William F. Cody. He was a showman extraordinaire, a scout for the United States government, a soldier in the Civil War, an Indian fighter, and above all, he loved the ladies. Enss, who has written many books about Western culture, its people and the lives of many interesting personages of the Old West, has assembled a succinctly remarkable characterization of who Buffalo Bill really was… Cody’s life as depicted in this non-fiction account was about bravery, honesty and courage that made him a righteous man even though he had an eye for the ladies. His love of this land was more important than his indiscretions. The legendary career of Buffalo Bill Cody, the only Western hero mentioned in Who’s Who in America, makes this book a must-read.

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine my high school reminded me of a Biblical truth. I’ve thought about it a lot since she shared it with me. In a story told in I Kings 20: 4-8. We see how God wins our battles and how the devil tries to defeat us in the valleys. The story is of Ben-Hadad, King of Aram. He sends word to Ahab, King of Israel, that he is coming to take all his silver and gold. King Ahab relents and sends word back saying, “just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours.” King Ben-Hadad sends another message to Ahab saying, “oh but I will take all that you have, your gold and silver, your wives and your children. I will seize everything you value and carry it away.” Ben-Hadad is a picture of the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy. The devil is never satisfied with taking only one thing from you, but he wants it all, your spouse, your money, and your children. We become Ahabs when we agree to let the devil have anything. I became an Ahab when it came to my brother. I didn’t stand up right from the beginning and say no, you won’t take anything I have. Rather, I consented to giving the devil some of what he wanted. I won’t make the same mistake again. The people who hurt my brother and subsequently my family will not win. The Bible tells us, “God will deliver him and his armies into the right hands, and they will know that he is the Lord wherever his people are. He’s the God of the mountain and he’s the God of the valley too.” I’m sure it seems strange that I can write about gunning down enemies in the street one day and mention God the next. I know I’m nothing but a sinner. Nothing I ever say about wanting vengeance or revenge for what’s happened to Rick takes away from God’s goodness. I struggle. It’s hard to watch my brother die. I appreciate the Old West because the metal of a person then was defined by standing up to what was wrong and saying no. On this day in 1879, Cowboy John Dean got to whooping it up in Caldwell, Kansas and when he went to drunkenly waving his pistol around the law was called in. Marshall George Flatt and Deputy Red Bill Jones attempted to arrest Dean as he was riding out of town. They both pursued him on foot firing as they ran. But Dean galloped to safety. I like the fact that the Marshall and Deputy pursued the bad guy on foot. They were dedicated to not letting evil come and take over without a fight. John Dean learned his lesson. He knew if he ever returned to Caldwell he would be taken down. Consequently, Dean never went back.

1879 – the Civil War is over, and the resulting economic explosion spurs the great migration west. Farmers, ranchers, prospectors, killers, and thieves seek their fortune. Cattle growers turn cow towns into armed camps, with murder rates higher than than those of modern day New York or Los Angeles. Out of this chaos comes legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, retiring his badge and gun to start a peaceful life for his family. Earp’s friend, John, Doc Holliday, a southern gentlemen turned gunman and gambler, also travels west, hoping the dry climate would relieve his tuberculosis. Silver is discovered in Arizona. Tombstone becomes queen of the boom towns where the latest Pairs fashions are sold from the backs of wagons. Attracted to this atmosphere of greed, over 100 exiled Texas outlaws band together to form the ruthless gang recognized by the red sashes they wear. They emerge as the earliest example of organized crime in America. They call themselves, The Cowboys. A hundred twenty-nine years ago today a :30 gunfight made history. In the famed Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona the Earps and Doc Holliday killed Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne were both unharmed and wisely scampered to safety. Tom McLaury was unarmed too. But he didn’t scamper fast enough. The following is one of my favorite exchange of dialogue from the movie Tombstone. Wyatt Earp: All right, Clanton… you called down the thunder, well now you’ve got it! You see that? [pulls open his coat, revealing a badge] Wyatt Earp: It says United States Marshal! Ike Clanton: [terrified, pleading] Wyatt, please, I.… Wyatt Earp: [referring to Stilwell, laying dead] Take a good look at him, Ike… ’cause that’s how you’re gonna end up! [shoves Ike down roughly with his boot] Wyatt Earp: The Cowboys are finished, you understand? I see a red sash, I kill the man wearin’ it! [lets Ike up to run for his life] Wyatt Earp: So run, you cur… RUN! Tell all the other curs the law’s comin’! [shouts] Wyatt Earp: You tell ’em I’M coming… and hell’s coming with me, you hear?… [louder] Wyatt Earp: Hell’s coming with me! There must have been great satisfaction in warning the bad guys to run because the law was coming. I live for that day. It’s fast approaching.

After more than a year waiting to hear back on a book proposal submitted to FarCountry Press I finally got a call about the work. Bedside Book of Bad Girls: Outlaw Women of the Midwest will be released in mid-2012. I’m excited about this title and the women I can begin investigating. One of the ladies was a serial killer in the late 1880s. She murdered several men and buried them on her family’s farm. Too bad the focus of this title is limited to the frontier days. I know a pair of female murderers that would be perfect for the volume. I suppose I’ll have leave those bad girls for the Kansas City Star to write about – I predict their fate will be played out in the news in the not too distant future. New evidence has been uncovered that will be changing the course of their lives. Lies will be revealed and proven. Perhaps visitors to this site from the Southwest Baptist University or the University of Missouri are hoping to find just that. Who knows? I do know they’re watching. Feel how still the air is? Like just before a cyclone, or a storm, or an arrest. Most people do not associate women with outlawry in the Old West, but there were a high number of female bandits and killers. I enjoy the research portion of writing so much more than the actual writing and I enjoy traveling through the Midwest finding the items I need to use in the book. I’ll be making a trip through the area in February and then again in May. The special edition of the American Cowboy magazine about John Wayne is doing very well from what I hear. I’ve noticed an increase in the sales of The Young Duke so I believe the statement to be true. John Wayne is one of my favorite actors – always has been. My office is covered with posters from the movies he starred in. I’ve always been inspired by the character he portrayed in The Searchers. I admired the character’s determination and conviction to right a wrong. That’s how I feel about the wrong that was done to my brother. A new movie set to be released next month features another determined character worth admiring. Hilary Swank plays a woman who spends her life working to prove her brother is innocent of murder. Based on a true story the movie is called Conviction. The movie trailer alone is stirring. Visit www.conviction.com. I hope the film is huge success.

Home again and back to work. I’m dividing my day between revising and adding to the book Outlaw Tales of California, revising and adding to the book Hearts West: Mail Order Brides on the Frontier, writing Chapter 2 of the Sam Sixkiller story, and planning the launch for the Elizabeth Custer book due to be released in May 2011. Since I haven’t really slept a full night since 2002, I’m able to cram a lot into a 24 hour period. The researching is so interesting I have a hard time setting it aside anyway. Take for example what I learned happened on this day in 1868. To better support his new fiancé Deputy Marshal Big Steve Long had begun moonlighting as a mugger. He tried to ambush and rob the prospector, Hard Luck Harrison near Laramie, Wyoming. Hard Luck didn’t stay shot very long and when Big Steve stepped from cover Hard Luck shot him. Big Steve had his wound dressed by his fiancé but when she found out how he got himself shot she ratted him out to the vigilantes and they lynched him the next day. It’s so hard to know who to trust sometimes. I read a book during my travels on that very subject. The book is entitled My Lie: A True Story of False Memory by Meredith Maran. Ms. Maran accused her father of molesting her, but it never happened. She confesses that she lied about the abuse in the book and shines a light on the numerous people who make such false accusations and what they get out of it. She was brave to come forward and admit what she’d done. The lives she destroyed because of the lie will never be made whole however. Incalculable harm comes from such a heinous lie. I know what it’s done to me, my family, my life. How distrusting it’s made me of most women. With few exceptions I see most women as conniving as Big Steve’s fiancé. With that in mind it’s a bit ironic that I primarily write about women.

In doing the research for the book about Cherokee lawman Sam Sixkiller I’ve come across a lot of information about Cherokee outlaw Ned Christie. Christie was a blacksmith who lived near Tahlequah, Oklahoma in the 1880s and 90s. He sold guns, stole horses, and ran whiskey. In 1885 Christie drove away a lawman who attempted to take him into custody. For the next seven years, a state of siege existed between Christie and the government. On this day in 1892, a posse of federal Marshals assaulted Ned Christie’s fort and two of them were wounded. The posse then tried to set Ned’s fort on fire but they just burned down an outhouse. Then they tried to dynamite him out but that failed too. Finally they gave up. Christie’s outlaw days would soon come to an end however. Deputy Wess Bowman found Christie in the woods near his fort. The two drew on one another and the Deputy shot Christie in the head. Sam Maples, whose father had been killed by Christie in Tahlequah in 1885, emptied his revolver into Christie’s lifeless body. People are driven to do desperate things when justice is a long time coming. For a while now my brother’s tremors have been so bad he can’t hold a fork or spoon. Parkinsons is a horrible disease. Because he can’t hold a fork or spoon he can’t feed himself. The prison is suppose to be getting medicine to him soon, but in the meantime, he’s forced to eat by putting his face into his plate. It‘s heartbreaking and some days I don’t think I’m going to make it. I almost wish I didn’t know. The only thing that keeps me moving forward at times are the books. I’m off this week to do a series of signings in Arizona. I’m getting the Spirit of the West Alive award on Saturday, October 16th in Phoenix. I’m grateful, but would trade it all to save my brother.

Guns are part of this country’s DNA, they’re inextricably woven into the fiber of our psyche. The gunplay in most every western I’ve ever seen is something to behold. From Shane to the Quick and the Dead, everyone in the movies know how to handle a weapon. And they sound good doing it too. Some of my favorite dialogue about gunplay are from Two Gun Lady and the Outlaw Josey Wales. In Two Gun Lady, made in 1956, a bar owner pulls a sawed-off double barrel shotgun from behind the bar and covers the gunfighter threatening to kill him. The gunfighter says, “You’re hands are shakin’.” The bartender replies, “The shot spreads better. The gunfighter responds, “You weren’t this brave before.” The bartender retorts, “I’m not that brave now. That’s what makes me so dangerous.” And then there’s the great lines from the Outlaw Josey Wales. Wales asks a group of Rebel soldiers in the flick, “You gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?” My personal experience with guns is varied. I thought I had died and gone to heaven last year when I had a chance to hold Bill Tilghman’s and Bat Masterson’s guns. I went target shooting my brothers and Dad several years ago and enjoyed that time immensely. It was the last time we were all together actually. My first encounter with a gun didn’t have the same feel as the movies portray. My brothers were there, but there was nothing entertaining about it. My bio-father had showed up out of the blue and threatened to shoot my mother. He held the barrel of the gun against her forehead and begged her to give him a reason to pull the trigger. I was panicked. He eventually lowered the gun, laid it on the dryer, and pretended to have a fainting spell. Outside of a good western or an afternoon of target practice with my brothers, I don’t have much use for guns. It seems to me that the police have powerful weapons and the criminals have powerful weapons and the rest of us are left with eight dead bolts, a nine-hundred-dollar-a-month cable bill, and we’ve been reduced to asking the pizza boy as he slips the deep-dish, meat lovers pie under the door, “Hey, have the leaves turned out there yet?” I’ve been thinking about this a lot since being asked to speak at the Single Action Shooting Society Convention in Las Vegas in December. The organization promotes gun safety and gives incredible demonstrations of Old West shooting styles. They teach you that a gun is good or bad as the person using it. What happens with SASS shouldn’t be confused with the heinous acts of the average thug or a crazed sperm donor frightening a mother and her children. I’m honored to have been asked to be a part of the convention and am looking forward to the event, but the invitation has triggered certain memories. Wonder whatever became of the man who threatened my mother’s life? I know what would have happened to him if this were a western. If this were the movie The Maverick Queen, Barbara Stanwyck’s character would have leveled her weapon at him and announced, “The only way you leave here is feet first.” I’ll be at the SASS Convention on Friday, December 10 from 3 pm to 6pm at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.

The John Wayne collector’s edition of American Cowboy magazine was released this past week. It’s a wonderful tribute to the legend. One of the articles I wrote about Wayne’s younger years appears in the periodical as well as a half page ad for the book The Young Duke. I’ve been a fan of John Wayne since I was 8 years old. My dad took my brothers and I to see True Grit and I was hooked on Wayne and westerns from that point on. The remake of the picture looks promising and I’m anxious to see it. The only problem I had with American Cowboy’s Wayne edition is that they spelled my name wrong. In the “contributing author” section my name is spelled Chris Enns. My name is spelled correctly in the ad in the body of the magazine however. It only bothers me that my name is misspelled because of what happened to my brother Rick. Shortly after he was arrested the prosecuting attorney ran a check on the name Rick Enns to see if there were any prior convictions. There were, but our name is not spelled that way. Under the name Rick Enss there were no prior convictions, but that didn’t serve the P-A’s purpose. She announced in court that my brother had prior convictions. She announced to the newspapers that my brother had prior convictions. She was told by the court not to do that, but she did it anyway. It worked out in her favor. You say something like that about a person who is arrested and everyone listens. You retract it, which she never did, no one cares. It’s important that your name be spelled correctly. It’s really all you’ve got. And it could mean the difference between going home or 20 years to life. True Grit being one of my favorite movies and my brother continuing to struggle, I’d like to leave this entry with a quote from that unforgettable movie that seems to fit the circumstances in my own life right now. Mattie delivered the line to Rooster Cogburn when she was referring to the man who killed her father. “I won’t rest until I see Tom Chenney barking in hell.” That’s how I feel about the people who cost me my brother.

I can generally spot a liberal if I see them. The dyed-in-the-wool liberals are generally dressed in their threadbare “Al Gore for President” T-shirts having a decaf latte and a nonfat three-berry chocolate chip scone a Barnes & Noble coffee bar, reading Joan Didion. It’s harder for me to identify a liberal over the phone. Without the immediate talk of my recycling habits or my favorite organic food category, I can’t readily pick them out. I suppose there are some universities and museums that are known for their liberal stance, but I wasn’t up on any of that when I called various institutions looking for a venue to host the launch of the Elizabeth Custer bio. I knew that George Custer was a controversial person, but wasn’t aware Elizabeth was thought to be just as controversial. It’s that controversial impression that prompted all of the places I phoned yesterday to turn me down. One university told me that the name Custer is on par with the name Hitler. That comment may be a tad extreme. The book is Elizabeth’s life with and without George. Her experiences traveling the frontier, living in tents, and how she survived after George’s death. It’s not the first time I’ve heard professors and museum directors suggest we gloss over certain aspects of history, but I’m just as surprised as I was the first time it was mentioned. After speaking with the fifth and final Attila-like professor and being accused of being a racist for writing such a book at all, I decided to contact the one place I knew would be welcoming – Dodge City, Kansas. I wasn’t disappointed. History lover Brent Harris, also known as the face of Dodge City, seemed pleased to hear from me, eager to accommodate the book launch, and willing to display some of Elizabeth’s personal items. Unless something unusual happens, the launch will be held at Dodge City and all will be invited to attend. I’ve never made it a secret that I love Dodge City and I’m thrilled that I’ll have a chance to return for the event. Some of the most decent people in the world live there. I’m a little ashamed I didn’t contact the Front Street Museum first. The response I received from many West Coast colleges and museums about forgetting certain accounts in America’s past reminds me of a Sioux proverb. “A people without history is like wind on the buffalo grass.”

A big part of being a writer is promoting your work. I’ve been busy the last few days trying to do just that for the Elizabeth Custer book due to be released in April 2011. I’m excited about the launch, not only because the book will be out and available for everyone to read, but because several of Elizabeth’s personal items are set to be on display at the occasion. I contacted a women’s history museum in hopes that the book and the never-before-seen items would prompt the folks at the facility to say, “Yes! We’d love to host the book launch!” They didn’t say that. They couldn’t have been less interested. I’ll move on – confused by the response, but wiser. Maybe there’s a men’s history museum that will be more receptive – or a fashion museum. Elizabeth Custer was a very stylishly dressed woman. She created a variety of new looks out on the plains using cavalry jacket’s and military caps. She was daring. Trendsetters always are. People like Elizabeth Custer have been obsessed with trends and fashion ever since the Garden of Eden when Eve said to Adam, “You know, that fig leaf you have on is so last season.” I think most everyone is a bit obsessed with trends and fashion. Fashion is the way humans provide what nature didn’t. It’s our plumage, our fur, our scales. Now, since Our Maker, who by the way designs for the House of God, did not provide us with fancy tail feathers, we wear clothing. During the prehistoric times everyone wore the same thing every day. I mean, look at Wilma Flintstone. She’s always sporting the same tight, short skirt with the shredded zigzag cut three inches above her knee. Oh, that Wilma! As I’ve been reviewing the photos I have of Elizabeth Custer I’ve been admiring her style and thinking about my own tired look and I’ve come up with three basic rules for fashion: 1 – Never wear a Budwiser cap with a Coors T-shirt. Commit. 2 – Hey, Levi Strauss. 501’s? 505’s? 509’s? What am I, buying pants or catching a train? 3 – When using a Magic Marker to color in your ankle to cover a hole in your sock, make sure the Magic Marker color matches the socks. If Elizabeth’s sole contribution to history was the fact that she was sporting the military look long before it was considered chic, I could see why a women’s museum wouldn’t be interested in a showing of her things. But that’s not the case with Libbie. She was an author, lecturer, and a faithful army wife who witnessed first-hand the taming of the wild frontier. She’ll be remembered long after the women’s history museum has been closed for lack of funding and torn down to make room for a mall filled with shops selling cavalry style jackets and military caps.