Mass Shootings

Mass Shootings

Angus, a federal marshal in 1880s New Mexico, knew something mass shootings. Had you been around in those days and asked him, he might have one or two mass shootings. It happened mostly when the U.S. Army came into close contact with Indians. The worst one happened on...
Stillness

Stillness

Up high on a ridge line at 10,000 feet, stillness humbles a man. At least, that’s what it did to Angus in the 1880s. Could be those hard to reach places are just as still now as they were back then. I don’t mean quiet. Still feels different—it can have sound—wind or...
Truthiness

Truthiness

Truthiness is a word that didn’t exist in the 1880s. It hardly exists now, except in the political and entertainment worlds. A funny guy named Stephen Colbert invented it to carry a TV show about fake truth. It was made up stuff, what Angus would have called lies. But...
Detailed Descriptions

Detailed Descriptions

Rule Number 8 in Elmore Leonard’s book on writing says, “Avoid Detailed Descriptions of Characters.” I agree. Angus apparently did too because he rarely told us much about how other Ten Shoes Up characters looked. Hemingway once described a central character this way....
Masks

Masks

In the American West, masks were worn by lots of people. Outlaws tied bandannas around their necks, snugged up over their noses to keep folks from recognizing them during a stage coach holdup. Angus saw his share of those masks. Indian tribes wore masks as part of...