SIX GUN TERRITORY: A RIDE THROUGH ONE MAN’S MAGIC KINGDOM

The life and times, then and now, of a beloved Wild West-themed park in Florida.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA

The American Shooting Journal’s name sums up all the great things about our country. As a noun, “American” is defined by the idea of equal opportunity for any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. To achieve one’s dreams, life takes you on several journeys, usually documented in one type of journal or another.

In forming this great country, people expanded west. Knowing the dangers, they were prepared for trouble by arming themselves with firearms. The ones who were proficient with firearms became so by shooting extensively.

I am honored to have the privilege to share with you, dear reader, my observations on firearms, training and self-defense-related issues in this great magazine. As such, I would love to share with you my points of origin as to how my journey and journal came to be. First, I must honor those who warrant the credit for my success.

First and foremost, to my Lord God. Being an American, our great country was founded on the freedom of worshipping God free of condemnation or persecution, a right I take full advantage of.

The second major influence was my dad. My dad was my blessing in life, a hero who raised me and a man whom I adored. He served in World War II with the 82nd Airborne Division, making four combat jumps and sustaining injuries at the Battle of the Bulge (a story recently featured in American Shooting Journal). My dad was my everything. As a man’s man, he was always doing manly things. Being a seasoned combat veteran, he always taught me to thank God. Dad thanked God for surviving the war, and in doing so, he promised God he would strive to be as good a man as possible. He kept his word.

OUT OF A young man’s curiosity, I would ask him what helped him survive the war, other than God. My dad said he read everything he could on the Western cowboy/gunfighter and became an expert on the subject. My dad shared his thoughts on Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tom Horn, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, Jesse James and others he knew about.

My dad studied how the gunfighters traveled deep into enemy territory, either chasing bad guys or evading good guys, while trying to avoid Native Americans or Mexicans who did not take kindly to them encroaching on their lands. Their remedy was to do their very best to stop them by killing them.

Many of the most famous cowboy gunfighters were veterans of the Civil War from one side or the other. These men were proficient in land navigation and living off the land; they knew how to hunt and skin game and learned how to fish and forage off the land. In addition, they knew how to survive in extreme cold and scorching hot weather.

For survival purposes, the cowboy gunfighters were proficient in any form of violence, whether in a fistfight, brawl or knife fight (the best in the world). In addition, they were skilled with all firearms, including handguns, shotguns and rifles.

When my dad spoke on these