3 minute read
Behind the Chutes by Dennis Doty
As usual, we have a lot going on in this issue of Saddlebag Dispatches. This time, we’re bringing you the sights, sounds, faces, and characters of old Dodge City.
A young couple starts life together in the unlikeliest of places. We have a Chinese moonshiner, a half-breed Kiowa deserter, a cowboy who’ll do anything to keep a secret, another bound by a vow he must keep, and a young boy who grows into a man but at a terrible price. And all of that just from the short stories in this issue.
We’ve got Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and “Squirrel Tooth” Alice. Terry Alexander and Paul Bishop take on the Dodge City denizens of Hollywood and the television screen. In Regina McLemore ’s column on Fort Dodge, we meet such notables as Grenville Dodge, Phil Sheridan, George Custer, Dull Knife, Satanta, Kicking Bird, and Standing Bear. Anthony Wood ’s feature details the events and importance of Fort Dodge to both the founding of the city and the trade along the Santa Fe Trail.
We have an excerpt from Bill Markley ’s excellent book, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson: Lawmen of the Legendary West, a 2020 Will Rogers Medallion Award finalist in nonfiction, and another from Thunder Over the Prairie: The True Story of a Murder and a Manhunt by the Greatest Posse of All Time by New York Times bestselling nonfiction author Chris Enss and her writing partner, Howard Kazanjian.
Last, but certainly not least, George “Clay” Mitchell interviews the afore mentioned producer/director Howard Kazanjian who not only was a producer for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series but was second assistant on The Wild Bunch and has co-written with Chris Enss two biographies of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Cowboy and the Senorita and Happy Trails. They also collaborated on The Young Duke: The Early Life of John Wayne and Thunder Over the Prairie.
We are proud to present the winner of theThird Annual Saddlebag Dispatches Mustang Award for Western Flash Fiction, P.A. O’Neil’s “The Great Burro Revolt,” as well as the other three finalists: Brandon Barrows’s “Use Your Head,” Sharon Frame Gay’s “Tricks of the Trade,” and Donise Sheppard’s “Strong Enough.”
There’s still ample time to enter the First Annual Longhorn Prize for Western Short Fiction. Stories of 2,000 to 5,000 words are accepted until August 1st. Please use standard Shunn manuscript format with no headers or footers in your submissions. First prize is $300 and publication in our Winter 2023 issue coming out in December.
Finally, it is with deep sadness that I must announce the passing of two great western writers, Bob Giel and Velda Brotherton. Bob was my Managing Editor and strong right arm here at Saddlebag Dispatches, as well as the author of his own great western novels. Velda was a legendary journalist, mentor, teacher, adventurer, short story writer, novelist, and my go-to writer when I needed a special feature. She never failed to deliver near-perfect copy on time about any subject I threw at her. It breaks my heart to say goodbye to these two fine people. They were more than just colleagues and business partners, they were true friends we will all miss. They’re now sitting around the campfire with our co-founder, Dusty Richards , and I’m sure they’re swapping lies and tall tales over coffee. Maybe I’ll hear them myself one day.
