Sidekicks - Chronicle of the Old West

paraphrase a song from our past, “we can get by with a little help from our friends.” For the past five and a half years, while publishing Chronicle of the Old West, and later producing our radio shows we’ve met some of the greatest people on this wonderful planet…many have been from other countries.

We regularly get offers of assistance in spreading information about the history of our American West. Quite often, we take our friends up on their offer. We have truly appreciated their help. But, we’ve never had anything official or Smiley Burnette

organized to offer them.

In the early western movies, were it not for the sidekick, chances are, the good guy would not have come out victorious in the end. Why should we be any different? So, to paraphrase a branch of the military, “we’re looking for a few good sidekicks.”

We’re assembling an elite outfit of volunteer men and women who are enthralled with the Old West and want to help us spread the word about the history of our American West. Obviously, this is a brand new program. And, we’re not quite sure what all it entails. Part of the excitement is that our sidekicks can help us determine Andy Devine

that.

Keep an eye on this page as we add more sidekicks and further identify this program.

If you’re interested in becoming a sidekick, give us a call or send us an email. (888/DOG-JAKE or Dakota@RavenHeart.com).

Below is a listing of those fine ladies and gentlemen who are true to the traditions of the Old West:

Gordon is the Sidekick #1 Gordon Eaton

person who actually inspired us to develop the program. He works for the post office in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Even though Gordon is an Old West enthusiast, the Old West isn’t his only passion. In the background of the picture is a small portion of his baseball glove collection. But, Gordon doesn’t just collect baseball gloves; he’s been collecting left-handed baseball gloves for ten years.

Gordon says, “With my newly rediscovered fondness of the Old West, the smell of good leather transcends the present to the past.”

Gordon is spreading the news about Chronicle of the Old West newspaper, and working hard at getting the Chronicle of the Old West radio shows in Tulsa.

Ken is the manager of C.I.D. (Center For Individual Development). C.I.D. is a regional recreation center for people with disabilities their families and friends.

Each year Ken puts on an Old West Harvest Fair over the first two weekends in November. American Cowboy Magazine has selected his event as one of the best Cowboy Gatherings in the United States.

Ken is spreading interest in the Old West in the Inland Empire of Southern California.

Deborah

Coppinger Hill, Sidekick #003, works on the 4DH Ranch in Foyil, Oklahoma. She travels extensively for the ranch and as a performer of Western Humor and poetry. She also writes a humor/poetry column called Riding Drag. Debra was recently honored with a Citation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and performed Cowboy Poetry on the floor of the House.

Deborah also traveled to Ireland in 2005 where she and her associates traveled full circle in bringing Cowboy Poetry and Music back to its roots. She will return in July of 2006 with an armload of Chronicle of the Old West newspapers to share.

Our sidekick #004 Sidekick 004 Les Freeman

comes all the way from Northland, New Zealand. His name is Les Freeman.

Les is a fan of Louis L’Amour. Although he lives a few miles from Louis L’Amour territory, he enjoys reading about the area in Bert Murphy’s regular “Tailing Louis L’Amour” articles in Chronicle of the Old West.

New Zealand look out. The Old West is coming your way in the form of Les Freeman.

(He has his picture on the way to us via Pony Express. Yes, horses can swim.)
* Update from Les: Checking the website, people looking at Sidekick #4 are probably thinking the pony drowned! Above is the long-awaited picture.

I have a rather eclectic collection of things "Western" but behind me are my three miniature "Remingtons".

My books however include a full set ot Louis L'Amour leatherette and innumerable non fiction accounts of the development of the USA. As a regular visitor to the Louis L'Amour website I have of course chatted with your regular contributor Bert Murphy and have both his Trailing LL books and am eagerly awaiting his next in the series.

Kia Ora (Maori for good health, thank you and anything else that fits.)

Jo Ann

Shimamoto, Sidekick #5, has been helping us for some time. She’s even listed as a staff member of Chronicle of the Old West the newspaper. Her job is layout assistant. Jo Ann takes the photocopies of the 1800’s newspapers, and retypes them so they can be used as a part of the publication. Good eyesight and typing skills are essential.

Although Jo Ann is now retired, and living in Show Low, Arizona, during her career, she worked for the Small Business Administration.

Frank Freeland has been a fan of the Old West since he was a kid watching Hopalong Cassidy on a black and white TV.

He’s a retired Marine and police officer. Frank lives in Newville, Alabama, and, as he says, he plays with a reenactment group call the “Southern Gunslingers.

Sidekick #007 is our covert operator. Because he’s an undercover agent, we will not be able to publish his picture or share biographical information.

We did get permission to share his name and the town where he resides. He is Frank Pinney, and he resides in Salinas, California.

Tom Maxwell, a resident of Columbiaville, Michigan, has worked as a Public Safety Officer for almost 25 years. He has been interested in reading about the history of the American West since he was a kid. Western books dominate his library today.

Tom is an active member of SASS (Single Action Shooter’s Society). His alias is “Wolf Creek Tom.”

Shannon Thomas Casebeer is a regular listener to the daily Chronicle of the Old West radio show as aired on KUNQ in Houston, Missouri.

Shannon was born and raised in Hangtown, now known as Placerville, California. Placerville is located in the area where gold was discovered in 1848.

Although his ancestors were probably mining the gold fields back then, Shannon gave up on the “diggins’” and now lives in Willow Springs, Missouri.

Ed LeRoy is Old Cowtown Museum’s Manager of Special Projects. A 5th generation Kansan (“Born on the Santa Trail and turned twenty-one on the Chisholm Trail”) the history of the Old West and particularly the part Kansas played has always been close to Ed’s heart.

Angela (Angie) Smith was born in Wyoming and she still lives there. She was raised around horses and other animals. A single mother with four children around the house, she also works as an office manager.

Angie is a welcome addition to our Sidekick program as she has volunteered to transcribe 1800’s newspaper articles into a format we can use for Chronicle of the Old West.

About our Sidekick program....